Bug-Byte

Bug-Byte Software Ltd. was a video game company founded in 1980 in Liverpool, initially producing software for the Acorn Atom and ZX80. Bug-Byte's first hit was Don Priestley's Mazogs which was one of the most successful titles for the ZX81. In 1983, it published Manic Miner, considered to be one of the most influential platform games of all time.[2] The company went into liquidation in 1985 but their name and logo were purchased by Argus Press PLC for use as a budget software label.

Bug-Byte Software Ltd
IndustryVideo games
FoundedMay 1980[1]
DefunctJune 1985
HeadquartersMulberry House, Canning Place Liverpool, England
Key people
Tony Baden, Tony Milner
ProductsMazogs, Manic Miner, Twin Kingdom Valley

Formation

Bug-Byte was founded by Tony Baden and Tony Milner, two Oxford chemistry graduates.[3] In 1981 they paid £75 for The Damsel and the Beast for the ZX81, the first game produced by Don Priestley, a former teacher who had learned programming from a night school course.[4][5] Priestley produced two further games considered to be classic ZX81 titles, Dictator and Mazogs,[6][7][5] before becoming a director of rival publisher DK'Tronics.

Early success

In 1982, Bug-Byte published the first commercially produced games for the BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum, Spacewarp and Spectral Invaders,[8][9] both developed by David Lawson. Lawson used the profits from his next game, Spectres, to set up Imagine Software with Mark Butler, another Bug-Byte employee.[9] Spectral Invaders was the number one game for the ZX Spectrum in the first UK video game charts published by Popular Computing Weekly in December 1982.[10][11]

In 1983, Bug-Byte published Styx, the first game from a three-game contract with Matthew Smith. His second, Manic Miner, originated in a request from Bug-Byte's Despatch Manager Alan Maton for a Donkey Kong style-game.[12] Manic Miner became the best selling video game in the country within weeks of its release,[13] but a dispute over royalties led to Smith creating his own publishing company Software Projects, and taking Manic Miner, and Maton, with him.

The company had several lesser hits over the next year including The Birds and the Bees (written by Matthew Smith's school friend Adrian Sherwin[14]), the sequel Antics and the text adventure Twin Kingdom Valley which reached number one in the BBC micro charts.[15] In early 1985 it was being reported that the company was having cash flow problems[16] which soon led to liquidation.[17]

Use as a budget label

Later in 1985 the rights to their name and logo were purchased by Argus Press PLC for use as a budget software label.[18] Along with original releases, they re-issued titles from the Argus Press Software back-catalogue and games previously published by Quicksilva and Starcade, which it had also recently acquired.[19][20] In 1986, Tennis topped the BBC charts[21] and their re-releases of American Football and Alien both reached the all-formats top 10 budget chart.[22]

In 1987, Argus Press Software was purchased by its managing director, Stephen Hall, renamed Grandslam Entertainment[23] and the Bug-Byte range was given a rebranding.[24] The rights to Domark's games were also obtained resulting in re-releases of games including A View to a Kill and Split Personalities. The final few games were published under the name "Bug-Byte Premier" at a slightly higher price.

Software products

Published by Bug-Byte
  • Backgammon (1981)
  • Breakout (1981)
  • Chess (1981)
  • Invaders (1981)[25]
  • The Damsel and the Beast (1981)
  • Asteroids (1982)[26]
  • Dictator (1982)[27]
  • Dragon Quest (1982)[28]
  • Mazogs (1982)
  • Panic (1982)
  • Space Pirates (1982)[29]
  • Spacewarp (1982)[30]
  • Spectral Invaders (1982)[31]
  • Spectres (1982)[32]
  • Another Vic in the Wall (1983)[33]
  • Aquarius (1983)[32]
  • Cavern Fighter (1983)[34]
  • City Defence (1983)
  • Cosmiads (1983)
  • Galaxy Wars (1983)[35]
  • Manic Miner (1983)
  • Old Father Time[36]
  • Pool (1983)
  • Scramble (1983)
  • Sea Lord (1983)[37]
  • Space Invaders (1983)
  • Styx (1983)[32]
  • The Birds and the Bees (1983)
  • The Castle (1983)[38]
  • Twin Kingdom Valley (1983)
  • Up up and away (1983)
  • Vic Men (1983)
  • Vic Panic (1983)[39]
  • Fridge Frenzy (1984)
  • Kung-Fu (1984)
  • Rapscallion (1984)
  • Star Trader (1984)
  • Turmoil (1984)
  • Automan (1985)
  • Stay Kool (1985)
  • The Birds and the Bees II: Antics (1985)

Published by Argus Press
  • Bomber Bob (1985)
  • Cricket (1985)
  • Diagon (1985)
  • Ice Hockey (1985)
  • Jack Attack (1985)
  • Ludoids (1985)[32]
  • Savage Pond (1985)
  • Star Force Seven (1985)
  • Tennis (1985)
  • Zoot (1985)
  • Aardvark (1986)
  • BOP! (1986)
  • Flyer Fox (1986)
  • Hoodoo Voodoo (1986)
  • Hunkidory (1986)[40]
  • Jeep Command (1986)
  • Leaper (1986)
  • Miami Dice (1986)
  • Plan B (1986)[41]
  • Roboto (1986)
  • Sky Hawk (1986)
  • Time Trax (1986)[42]
  • Uranians (1986)[43]
  • Dunjunz (1987)
  • Head Start (1987)
  • Megarok (1987)[44]
  • Nick Faldo Plays The Open (1987)
  • Rubicon (1987)
  • Plan B2 (1987)
  • Spellseeker (1987)
  • Squeakaliser (1987)
  • Star Soldier (1987)
  • Strangeloop (1987)[45]
  • Templeton (1987)[46]
  • The Pay-Off (1987)
  • Piggy (1988)
  • Droid Dreams (1988)
  • STI (Search for Terrestrial Intelligence) (1988)
  • Test Cricket (1988)

Published by Grandslam

on the "Bug-Byte Premier" label:

References
  1. "History for Bug-Byte Software Ltd".
  2. "Contents". Retro Gamer. No. 48. Imagine Publishing. 28 February 2008. p. 4.
  3. "Mersey Byte!". Big K. No. 4. IPC. July 1984. p. 6. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  4. Phil South (July 1987). "King Berk". Your Sinclair. No. 19. Dennis Publishing. p. 41. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  5. "Terry, Arfur and 'Im Upstairs". Crash. No. 34. Newsfield. November 1986. p. 108. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  6. "Full Colour". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 35. Sunshine Publications. 1 September 1983. p. 46. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  7. "The YS Official Top 100 Part 1" Archived 16 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine at The Your Sinclair Rock 'n' Roll Years
  8. "Software debut for the ZX82". Popular Computing Weekly. Sunshine Publications. 1 July 1982. p. 5. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  9. "The New Heroes". Computer and Video Games Yearbook 1984. EMAP. October 1983. p. 10. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  10. "Special Feature: Happy Birthday!". Popular Computing Weekly. 1 May 1987. pp. 14–18 (18).
  11. "Top Sellers". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 33. Sunshine Publications. 2 December 1982. p. 31. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  12. "Matthew uncaged". Sinclair User. No. 33. EMAP. December 1984. pp. 88–92. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  13. "Manic Miner". Personal Computer Games. VNU. December 1983. p. 97. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  14. "Bee line to success". Sinclair User. No. 24. ECC. March 1984. pp. 62–63. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  15. "Charts". Acorn User. No. 21. Redwood. April 1984. p. 16.
  16. "Gossip". Computer and Video Games. No. 43. EMAP. May 1985. p. 19. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  17. "Births, marriages and deaths". Sinclair User. No. 39. EMAP. June 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  18. "Old name – new homes". Home Computing Weekly. Argus Specialist Publications. 10 September 1985. p. 1. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  19. "Argus buys out Quicksilva". Popular Computing Weekly. 7 June 1984. p. 1. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  20. "News". Home Computing Weekly. 23 October 1984. p. 6. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  21. "Charts". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 26. Sunshine Publications. 26 June 1986. p. 46. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  22. "The Charts". Your Computer. No. 2. IPC. February 1987. p. 16. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  23. "Whodunwat". Sinclair User. No. 70. EMAP. 16 December 1987. p. 8. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  24. "Nit Bytes". Crash. No. 56. Newsfield. September 1988. p. 8. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  25. "Invaders - Software - Game - Computing History".
  26. "Asteroids - Software - Game - Computing History".
  27. "Dictator at Spectrum Computing - Sinclair ZX Spectrum games, software and hardware".
  28. "Dragon Quest".
  29. "Space Pirates - Software - Game - Computing History".
  30. "Spacewarp - Software - Game - Computing History".
  31. "Spectral Invaders - Software - Game - Computing History".
  32. https://www.pressreader.com/uk/crash-9YY2/20210225/281543704027534. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  33. "Commodore User Magazine Issue 07". April 1984.
  34. "Cavern Fighter". World of Spectrum.
  35. "Galaxy Wars - Software - Game - Computing History".
  36. "Old Father Time - Software - Game - Computing History".
  37. "Sea Lord - Software - Game - Computing History".
  38. "The Castle".
  39. "Vic Panic - Software - Game - Computing History".
  40. "Hunkidory - Software - Game - Computing History".
  41. "Plan B - Software - Game - Computing History".
  42. "Time Trax (1986, MSX, Bug-Byte Software) | Generation MSX".
  43. "Uranians - Software - Game - Computing History".
  44. "Megarok".
  45. "Strangeloop". Spectrum Computing.
  46. "Templeton - Software - Game - Computing History".
  47. "Grange Hill". Spectrum Computing.
  48. "Monkey Nuts".
  49. "World of Spectrum - Orbix the Terrorball".
  50. "Terramex - Software - Game - Computing History".
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