Mirrorsoft was a British video game publisher founded by Jim Mackonochie as a division of Mirror Group Newspapers. The company was active between 1983 and 1991, and shut down completely in early 1992.
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder | Jim Mackonochie |
| Defunct | 1992 |
| Fate | Administration |
| Parent | Mirror Group Newspapers |
History
editIn the early 1980s, Jim Mackonochie worked as development manager for British communications company Mirror Group Newspapers.[1] On a trip to the U.S., Mackonochie got a hold of a Commodore PET personal computer, alongside a copy of VisiCalc, a spreadsheet application for the system.[1] This combination led him to believe that Mirror, as a communications company, should be working more closely with computer software, wherefore he approached Mirror's board of directors in 1983, suggesting that they launch a software label under Mirror Group's name, and thereby diversifying the group's non-newspaper operations, which already included Mirror Boats and Mirror Books.[1] The division, named Mirrorsoft, was officially launched in late 1983, and Mackonochie was allowed to task several of his staff from his department at Mirror Group to aid him with establishing the division.[1]
In July 1984, Mirror Group was acquired by Robert Maxwell-owned Maxwell Communications.[1] Initially, Mirrorsoft was unaffected by the ownership change, until Mackonochie received a call from Maxwell's son, Kevin, on Boxing Day 1984, in which he was told that he would be permanently moved from development manager of Mirror Group to full-time managing director of Mirrorsoft.[1]
In 1986, Mirrorsoft released a desktop publishing program, Fleet Street Publisher, for Atari ST.
On 5 November 1991, Robert Maxwell died after having previously disappeared from his yacht.[1] Unaware of his fate, Mirrorsoft continued operations as usual, including the publishing of First Samurai, Mega-Lo-Mania and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Coin-Op through Image Works and good projections for Christmas sales,[1] but subsequent to Maxwell's death, Maxwell Communications declared bankruptcy in 1992. Arthur Andersen was appointed administrator for Maxwell's companies, including Mirrorsoft, near the end of November.[1] With the arrival of the administrators, they took over all day-to-day operations at the company, and shut down all Mirrorsoft sales, the division's only source of revenue.[1] Several visits from potential buyers, including Infogrames and MicroProse, were arranged hastily, and a management buyout was considered, but the easiest option was found to be closing the company down and selling off its assets.[1] The majority of Mirrorsoft's staff was laid off on New Year's Eve 1991, with a remaining few being kept for further 1–2 months to help with winding down the company.[1] Several business assets were subsequently sold to Acclaim Entertainment.[1][2]
After the decline of Acclaim in 2004, Throwback Entertainment purchased some of Acclaim's catalogue,[3] and in 2020, Throwback Entertainment relaunched Mirrorsoft as MIRROR Soft, releasing back catalogue titles.
List of games
edit- First Steps with the Mr. Men, 1983[4]
- Caesar the Cat, 1983[4]
- Quick Thinking, 1983[4]
- Mastermind, 1984[5]
- Mastermind Quizmaster, 1984[5]
- The Joffe Plan, 1984[5]
- Know Your Own Personality, 1984[5]
- Know Your Own Psi-Q, 1984[5]
- Star Seeker, 1984[5]
- Word Games with the Mr. Men, 1984[6]
- Here and There with the Mr. Men, 1985[7]
- Caesar's Travels, 1985[8][9]
- 737 Flight Simulator, 1985[10][11]
- Ashkeron!, 1985[12]
- Boulder Dash, 1985 (UK distribution, Atari 8-Bit and Amstrad CPC versions)[13]
- Dynamite Dan, 1985
- Mr. Men Magic Storymaker, 1985[14]
- The Invisible Mr. Men, 1985[14]
- Spitfire 40, 1985
- Dynamite Dan II, 1986
- Sai Combat, 1986
- Biggles, 1986
- Zythum, 1986[15]
- Bismarck, 1987
- Pegasus Bridge, 1987
- Sorcerer Lord, 1987
- Tobruk, 1987
- Zig Zag, 1987
- Legend of the Sword, 1988
- Intrigue!, 1988
- Tetris, 1988
- Firezone, 1988
- Austerlitz, 1989
- Conflict: Europe, 1989
- Falcon, 1989
- Final Frontier, 1989[a]
- Waterloo, 1989
- Battle Master, 1990
- Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, 1990
- The Final Battle, 1990
- Champion of the Raj, 1991
- J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan, 1991
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Unrelated to the 1989 DOS game Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Hewison, Richard. "Reflections of Mirrorsoft". Retro Gamer. No. 9. Imagine Publishing. pp. 82–97.
- ^ "Acclaim Entertainment Purchases Mirrorsoft LTD.; Also Acquires U.S. Subsidiary, Arena Entertainment". PR Newswire. 6 January 1992. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2022 – via TheFreeLibrary.
- ^ Sinclair, Brendan (10 July 2006). "Q&A: Throwback CEO Thomas Maduri". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
- ^ a b c "News - Software? Look in the Mirror". Home Computing Weekly. No. 37. Argus Specialist Publications. 15 November 1983. p. 7.
- ^ a b c d e f "News - Leisure software". Home Computing Weekly. No. 86. Argus Specialist Publications. 30 October 1984. p. 4.
- ^ "Mr Men, morse and magic - Word games with the Mr Men 48K Spectrum £9.95". Home Computing Weekly. No. 93. Argus Specialist Publications. 18 December 1984. p. 58.
- ^ "In Brief". ZX Computing. Argus Specialist Publications. February–March 1985. p. 81.
- ^ M.W. (March 1985). "Software Spotlight - Caesar's Travels". Your Commodore. No. 6. Argus Specialist Publications. p. 54.
- ^ Malone, Steve (April 1985). "Action Replay - Caesar's Travels". Your 64. No. 8. Sportscene Specialist Press. p. 43.
- ^ "Dossier Scramble! - 737 flight simulator". Tilt (in French). No. 20. Editions Mondiales S.A. April 1985. pp. 71, 74.
- ^ Swiergiel, Stefan (July–August 1986). "über den Wolken". Aktueller Software Markt (in German). No. 6/86. Tronic-Verlag. p. 75.
- ^ Textgate Computers Ltd. "Ashkeron! - World of Spectrum". World of Spectrum. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ Peter Liepa, Chris Gray. "Boulder Dash". Atarimania - The World's Finest ATARI Database. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ a b "The Christmas Mr. Men Collection". Your Computer. Vol. 5, no. 12. IPC Electrical-Electronic Press. December 1985. p. 38.
- ^ "Reviews". Computer Gamer. Retrieved 1 November 2023.