Formed in 1984 by two advertising executives who had noticed how poorly computer games were often promoted, Domark’s place in the games industry cannot be underestimated. But it almost didn’t happen. “We did a game called Eureka!,” begins Dominic Wheatley, the ‘Do’ or ‘Dom’ of Domark. “And it didn’t do [the business] we thought it would do. We thought it would either be a big success and we’d make a fortune or nothing, and we’d go bankrupt.” In the end, Eureka!, a graphic adventure set across time and written by Domark investor Ian Livingstone, did neither, despite frequent promotion, especially regarding its competition and an enormous £25,000 prize. Undeterred, Dominic had a brainwave. Roger Moore’s final outing as 007, A View To A Kill, was in the cinemas and proving popular despite its star’s advancing years. Having acquired the rights to a homecomputer version of the movie, Domark put all its promotional powers into gear, hiring Tigress Marketing and Softstone to design and program the game, respectively. A View To A Kill was decently received on the ZX Spectrum but savaged on the Commodore 64. “After the mega publicity, I thought this game was going to be something special. Unfortunately, it isn’t… highly disappointing considering its hype,” remarked an acerbic Julian Rignall in Zzap!64 magazine.
A View To A Kill was Domark’s sole release in 1985. “At this point, our company was seriously on the skids,” says Dominic. “It was really grim stuff – my mother was paying my mortgage. But we still thought we were really onto something.” Domark had gambled on A View To A Kill and, like Eureka! before it, it secured middling sales. Then, another timely brainwave. “My family and I were playing this board game at home all the time,” he recalls. “So I wondered – could we license this too?”
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 263-Ausgabe von Retro Gamer.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 263-Ausgabe von Retro Gamer.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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EVERCADE EXPANDS
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Rock Band Unplugged
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In a world where additional extras are often hidden behind microtransactions and downloadable content it’s rather refreshing to find a game that comes loaded with an obscene amount of extras.
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THERE WERE SEVERAL GAMES ON THE MEGA DRIVE FEATURING THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS MOUSE, SOME VERY GOOD (CASTLE OF ILLUSION), SOME VERY BAD (FANTASIA). AND THEN THERE WAS MICKEY MANIA, AN IMPRESSIVE TECHNICAL SHOWCASE FROM TRAVELLER'S TALES
PARKER BROS
BY USING ITS CONTACTS IN THE ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR AND FORMIDABLE MARKETING CLOUT, PARKER BROTHERS BROUGHT TITLES LIKE STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, SPIDER-MAN AND FROGGER TO THE ATARI 2600 AND ITS RIVALS. RETRO GAMER HIGHLIGHTS THE FIRM’S BEST RELEASES
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AS HIDEO KOJIMA HAS BECOME A RARE CELEBRITY IN THE GAMING WORLD, SO HIS OLDER WORKS ARE INCREASINGLY REVISITED. BUT HIS 1988 CYBERPUNK ADVENTURE SNATCHER IS ALMOST UNPLAYABLE TODAY, LEGALLY, AND ONLY RECEIVED ONE ENGLISH PORT – WHICH HAS ONLY INCREASED ITS CULT APPEAL, AND COST
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IN 1986, A SMALL SOFTWARE HOUSE ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY LICENSED THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BOARD GAME FOR HOME COMPUTERS. IT CHANGED DOMARK – AND THE UK GAMES INDUSTRY – FOREVER
Donkey Kong
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