| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Nick Lambert |
| Defunct | 1990 |
| Headquarters |
|
| Products |
Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s.
Quicksilva was founded by Nick Lambert in 1979. The name Quicksilva was inspired by a particular guitar solo in a track on the album Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service. [1] Quicksilva mainly released games for the ZX81, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, but also did conversions and some original games for the VIC-20, Dragon 32/64, Oric-1/ Atmos, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron home computers.
One of their earliest titles was QS Defenda (originally QS Defender), a clone of the Defender arcade game for the ZX80 and ZX81 home computers. [1] Greater success followed with later releases, including a Star Raiders-style game entitled Time-Gate which reached the top of the ZX Spectrum charts in December 1982. [2] Amongst the company's other successes were Jeff Minter's Gridrunner (1983), [3] Bugaboo (1983, a.k.a. La Pulga) and Fred (1983, titled " Roland on the Ropes" on the Amstrad CPC), two titles licensed from Spanish software house Indescomp S.A. Sandy White's Ant Attack (1983) for the ZX Spectrum featured revolutionary 3-D graphics for which a patent application was made. [4]
In early 1984, they published their first licensed title, The Snowman, an adaptation of the 1978 book by Raymond Briggs. [5] [6] Software Manager Paul Cooper ruled out an adaption of Briggs' When The Wind Blows stating "nuclear war can upset a lot of people". [5]
Later years
In May 1984, the company was bought by Argus Press Software [7] [1] [8] which later became Grandslam Entertainment. Paul Cooper and Managing Director Rod Cousens left to establish Electric Dreams Software in 1985 when Argus moved the company from Southampton to London. [9] [10]
The company continued to publish licensed products, including the first official home computer conversion of Atari's Battlezone, Eric Bristow's Pro Darts, [11] two different games based on Strontium Dog from the 2000 AD comic [11] and Fantastic Voyage (an official licence from the 1966 film), [12]
In late 1984 they developed The Thompson Twins Adventure (an adaptation of the Thompson Twins single Doctor! Doctor!) which was published by Computer and Video Games magazine on a flexi-disc, [13] and published Sandy White's follow-up to Ant Attack, Zombie Zombie. [14]
The following years brought further tie-ins including games featuring Rupert Bear in Rupert and the Toymaker's Party, [15] The Flintstones in Yabba Dabba Doo! [15] and Max Headroom [16] It also produced popular original titles such as Glider Rider and two more arcade ports, Taito's Elevator Action in 1987 [17] and the final[ citation needed] Quicksilva game, Namco's Pac-Land in 1989. [18]
References
- ^ a b c A first-hand account of Quicksilva and its part in the birth of the UK games industry, 1981–1982
- ^ "Top 10". Popular Computing Weekly. Vol. 1, no. 36. Sunshine Publications. 30 December 1982. p. 31. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Code Britannia: Sandy White". Eurogamer. 8 March 2013.
- ^ "3D Ant Attack". CRASH (1).
- ^ a b "Quicksilva goes soft with the Snowman". Your Computer. No. 3. IPC. March 1984. p. 49. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Now book is a game". Home Computing Weekly. No. 49. Argus. 14 February 1984. p. 6. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Quicksilva Introduction". Computer Gamer. No. 1. April 1985. p. 85. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Your Spectrum 06 - Frontlines".
- ^ Goodwin, Simon (September 1985). "Planning our Future". CRASH (20). Retrieved 2007-11-09.
- ^ "Births, marriages and deaths". Sinclair User. No. 39. EMAP. June 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Norman's on the warpath". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 38. Sunshine Publications. 20 September 1984. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Fantastic Voyage". Crash. No. 16. Newsfield. May 1985. p. 132. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Meet The Pop Twins!". Computer and Video Games. EMAP. October 1984. p. 11. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Deserted City". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 40. Sunshine Publications. 4 October 1984. p. 68. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Taskset".
- ^ "Max Headroom". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 15. Sunshine Publications. 10 April 1986. p. 24. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Elevator Action". Computer and Video Games. No. 65. EMAP. March 1987. p. 38. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Ultimate Guide: Pac-Land". Retro Gamer. No. 127. Imagine. 27 March 2014. p. 72.