[go: nahoru, domu]
Jump to content

Sirius Software: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m recat
updated link
 
(72 intermediate revisions by 37 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Video game publisher}}
{{Distinguish2| the current Sirius Software located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, which sells add-on products for the [[Model 204]] database}}
{{for|other companies and software called Sirius|Sirius (disambiguation)}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2009}}
'''Sirius Software''' was a California-based publisher of video games for the [[Apple II series|Apple II]], [[Atari 8-bit computers]], [[Commodore 64]], and [[VIC-20]]. Most games were written for the Apple II, then ported to other systems. The company was founded in 1980 by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley and released over 160 games before folding in 1984. Sirius also developed games for the [[Atari 2600]] which were published in 1982 and 1983 by 20th Century Fox Video Games. Fox's failure to pay Sirius resulted in company's downfall. [[Nasir Gebelli]] wrote some of the early hits from Sirius, establishing his reputation as an Apple II game programmer.


== History ==
'''Sirius Software''' was a [[video game publisher]] of [[Apple II]], [[Commodore 64]] and [[Atari 8-bit family|Atari]] computer games in the early 1980s.
[[File:Computer Gaming World issue 2.3 (page 23 Sirius Software).jpg|thumb|Sirius Software at the 1982 [[West Coast Computer Faire]]]]


⚫
The company was founded in 1980 by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley. It gained attention for its dramatically quick rise to prominence and its equally quick collapse in 1984 after [[20th Century Fox]] (Fox Video Games) failed to pay over [[United States dollar|USD$]]18 Million in owed royalties.<ref name="ReferenceA">S. Levy, ''Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution'', Doubleday, Garden City, 1984</ref> Sirius Software designed and marketed more than 160 computer [[video game]]s, software products and hardware devices worldwide. Jewell was profiled by author [[Steven Levy]] in his book ''[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution|Hackers]]''.
== Founding and early history ==
⚫
The company was founded in the early 1980s by Jerry Jewell and [[Nasir Gebelli]].<ref>{{Moby developer|id=82501|name=Nasir Gebelli}}</ref> It gained attention for its dramatically quick rise to prominence and its equally quick collapse in 1984 after [[20th Century Fox]] (Fox Video Games) failed to pay over [[United States dollar|USD$]]18 Million in owed royalties.<ref>S. Levy, ''Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution'', Doubleday, Garden City, 1984</ref> Sirius Software designed and marketed more than 160 computer [[video games]], software products and hardware devices worldwide. Jewell was profiled by author [[Steven Levy]] in his book ''[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution|Hackers]]''.


Sirius' quick rise was due in part to a chain of hits by [[game programmer|programmer]] [[Nasir Gebelli]].<ref>S. Levy, ''Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution'', Doubleday, Garden City, 1984</ref> Gebelli's breakthrough game was ''[[Gorgon (computer game)|Gorgon]]'', which brought the gameplay of the arcade's ''[[Defender (game)|Defender]]'' to the Apple II. His creativity and Jewell's sales and marketing skills combined to create in a single year a multi-million dollar enterprise operating out of a rented apartment.{{Fact|date=March 2009}} Within a year, by June 1982, the game had sold 23,000 copies, making it one of the [[List of best-selling PC video games|best-selling computer games]] at the time.<ref name="cgw_1982">{{Cite document|work=[[Computer Gaming World]]|year=1982|month=September-October|volume=2|issue=5|page=2|title=List of Top Sellers}}</ref>
Sirius' quick rise was due in part to a chain of hits by programmer [[Nasir Gebelli]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Gebelli's breakthrough game was ''[[Gorgon (video game)|Gorgon]]'', which brought the gameplay of the arcade's ''[[Defender (1981 video game)|Defender]]'' to the Apple II. His technical ability and Jewell's sales and marketing skills combined to create in a single year a multimillion-dollar enterprise operating out of a rented apartment.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} By June 1982 the game had sold 23,000 copies, making it one of the [[List of best-selling PC video games|best-selling computer games]] at the time.<ref name="cgw_1982">{{Cite magazine|magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]]|date=September–October 1982 |volume=2|issue=5|page=2|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1982&pub=2&id=6 | title=List of Top Sellers}}</ref> By early 1984 ''InfoWorld'' estimated that Sirius was the world's 15th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $11 million in 1983 sales.<ref name="caruso19840402">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kC4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80 | title=Company Strategies Boomerang | work=InfoWorld | date=1984-04-02 | accessdate=10 February 2015 | author=Caruso, Denise | pages=80–83}}</ref>


Sirius also published a line of graphical adventure games in an attempt to compete with [[Sierra Entertainment|Sierra On-Line]], but without much success.{{Fact|date=March 2009}} Most of the company's games were launched on the [[Apple II family|Apple II]] line of computers, but they also released some titles for other platforms, notably the [[Atari 8-bit family|Atari 400/800]] machines and [[Commodore 64]].<ref>S. Levy, ''Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution'', Doubleday, Garden City, 1984</ref>
Sirius also published a line of graphical adventure games in an attempt to compete with [[Sierra Entertainment|Sierra On-Line]], but without much success.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} Most of the company's games were launched on the [[Apple II series|Apple II]] line of computers, but they also released some for the [[Atari 8-bit computers]], [[Commodore 64]], and [[VIC-20]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>


⚫
The [[Smithsonian Museum]] produced a "living history" video of Jewell's role in the early personal computer industry.<ref>[http://siarchives.si.edu/oldsite/siarchives-old/research/videohistory_catalog9533.html Smithsonian Institution Archives<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
== Jerry Jewell ==
Jewell currently runs a children's non-profit organization in [[Rancho Cordova, California]] that teaches teens teamwork and leadership skills through challenging performing arts projects.{{Fact|date=March 2009}} The Jewell Performing Arts Center, Inc. produces "Scary U", the nation's only [[haunted house]] school. Scary U won the coveted "Golden Bucky" award in 2004 for the best professional haunted house in the country.{{Fact|date=March 2009}} Jewell also designs and manufactures professional [[animatronics]] for the [[Halloween]] industry.{{Fact|date=March 2009}} He has one child, a daughter, Kathryn.{{Fact|date=March 2009}}

⚫
The [[Smithsonian Museum]] produced a "living history" video of Jewell's role in the early personal computer industry.<ref>[http://www.si.edu/archives/ihd/videocatalog/9533.htm Smithsonian Institution Archives<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


==Games==
==Games==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|'''Action'''
===Arcade-style games===


[[Image:Sneakers (Apple II) title.png|thumb|280px|The title screen from Sirius Software's ''Sneakers''.]]
* ''[[Both Barrels]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Both Barrels]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Cyber Strike]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Cyber Strike]]'' (1980)
⚫
* ''[[Star Cruiser (game)|Star Cruiser]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Phantoms Five]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Phantoms Five]]'' (1980)
⚫
* ''[[Star Cruiser (game)|Star Cruiser]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Autobahn (game)|Autobahn]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Autobahn (game)|Autobahn]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Gorgon (computer game)|Gorgon]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Beer Run]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Outpost (1981 computer game)|Outpost]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Epoch (video game)|Epoch]]'' (1981)
* ''Gamma Goblins'' (1981)
⚫
* ''[[Gorgon (video game)|Gorgon]]'' (1981)
* ''Minotaur'' (1981)
⚫
* ''[[Outpost (1981 video game)|Outpost]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Pulsar II]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Pulsar II]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Sneakers (Apple video game)|Sneakers]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Sneakers (1981 video game)|Sneakers]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Space Eggs]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Space Eggs]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Beany Bopper]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Bandits (video game)|Bandits]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Deadly Duck]]'' (1982)
* ''Free Fall'' (1982)
* ''[[Lemmings (1982 video game)|Lemmings]]'' (1982) <!-- This is not the same as [[Lemmings (video game)]], it's a completely different video game with the same name -->
⚫
* ''[[Fantastic Voyage (video game)|Fantastic Voyage]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Fast Eddie]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Free Fall]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Bandits (game)|Bandits]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Turmoil (1982 video game)|Turmoil]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Type Attack]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Worm War I]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Snake Byte]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Snake Byte]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Bandits (game)|Bandits]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Type Attack]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Flash Gordon (game)|Flash Gordon]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Wayout]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''Buzzard Bait'' (1983)
* ''[[Capture the Flag (video game)|Capture the Flag]]'' (1983)
* ''Copts and Robbers'' (1983) <!-- "Copts" is correct -->
* ''Final Orbit'' (1983)
* ''Moogles'' (1983)
* ''[[Plasmania]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Plasmania]]'' (1983)
* ''[[The Earth Dies Screaming (game)|The Earth Dies Screaming]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Repton (1983 video game)|Repton]]'' (1983)
⚫
* ''[[Repton (1983 computer game)|Repton]]'' (1983)
⚫
* ''[[SpaceMaster X-7]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Squish 'em]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Squish 'em]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Wavy Navy (video game)|Wavy Navy]]'' (1983)


===Adventure games===
'''Adventure'''
* ''[[Blade of Blackpoole]]'' (1982)
* ''[[The Blade of Blackpoole]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Critical Mass (game)|Critical Mass]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Critical Mass (1982 video game)|Critical Mass]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Escape from Rungistan]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Escape from Rungistan]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Kabul Spy]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Kabul Spy]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Gruds in Space]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Gruds in Space]]'' (1983)
⚫
* ''[[Alpine Encounter]]'' (1985)


===Strategy games===
'''Strategy'''
* ''[[Dark Forest (Apple II game)|Dark Forest]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Cyclod]]'' (1981)
* ''Dark Forest'' (1981)
⚫
* ''[[Call to Arms (Apple II game)|Call to Arms]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Cyclod]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Call to Arms (1982 video game)|Call to Arms]]'' (1982)

'''Atari 2600'''
⚫
* ''[[Beany Bopper]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Deadly Duck]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Fantastic Voyage (video game)|Fantastic Voyage]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Fast Eddie (video game)|Fast Eddie]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Turmoil (1982 video game)|Turmoil]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Worm War I]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Flash Gordon (game)|Flash Gordon]]'' (1983)
* ''[[SpaceMaster X-7]]'' (1983)
* ''[[The Earth Dies Screaming (game)|The Earth Dies Screaming]]'' (1983)
}}


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
⚫
[[Category:Defunct video game companies]]
⚫
[[Category:Defunct software companies of the United States]]
⚫
[[Category:Video game companies of the United States]]


⚫
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States]]
[[de:Sirius Software]]
[[it:Sirius Software]]
[[Category:Software companies based in California]]
[[Category:Companies based in Sacramento, California]]
⚫
[[Category:Defunct software companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in California]]
⚫
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1980]]
[[Category:Video game companies disestablished in 1984]]
[[Category:1980 establishments in California]]
[[Category:1984 disestablishments in California]]

Latest revision as of 17:54, 20 May 2024

For other companies and software called Sirius, see Sirius (disambiguation).

Sirius Software was a California-based publisher of video games for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and VIC-20. Most games were written for the Apple II, then ported to other systems. The company was founded in 1980 by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley and released over 160 games before folding in 1984. Sirius also developed games for the Atari 2600 which were published in 1982 and 1983 by 20th Century Fox Video Games. Fox's failure to pay Sirius resulted in company's downfall. Nasir Gebelli wrote some of the early hits from Sirius, establishing his reputation as an Apple II game programmer.

History

[edit]
Sirius Software at the 1982 West Coast Computer Faire

The company was founded in 1980 by Jerry Jewell and Terry Bradley. It gained attention for its dramatically quick rise to prominence and its equally quick collapse in 1984 after 20th Century Fox (Fox Video Games) failed to pay over USD$18 Million in owed royalties.[1] Sirius Software designed and marketed more than 160 computer video games, software products and hardware devices worldwide. Jewell was profiled by author Steven Levy in his book Hackers.

Sirius' quick rise was due in part to a chain of hits by programmer Nasir Gebelli.[1] Gebelli's breakthrough game was Gorgon, which brought the gameplay of the arcade's Defender to the Apple II. His technical ability and Jewell's sales and marketing skills combined to create in a single year a multimillion-dollar enterprise operating out of a rented apartment.[citation needed] By June 1982 the game had sold 23,000 copies, making it one of the best-selling computer games at the time.[2] By early 1984 InfoWorld estimated that Sirius was the world's 15th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $11 million in 1983 sales.[3]

Sirius also published a line of graphical adventure games in an attempt to compete with Sierra On-Line, but without much success.[citation needed] Most of the company's games were launched on the Apple II line of computers, but they also released some for the Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and VIC-20.[1]

The Smithsonian Museum produced a "living history" video of Jewell's role in the early personal computer industry.[4]

Games

[edit]
Action

Adventure

Strategy

Atari 2600

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c S. Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Doubleday, Garden City, 1984
  2. ^ "List of Top Sellers". Computer Gaming World. Vol. 2, no. 5. September–October 1982. p. 2.
  3. ^ Caruso, Denise (1984-04-02). "Company Strategies Boomerang". InfoWorld. pp. 80–83. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  4. ^ Smithsonian Institution Archives
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sirius_Software&oldid=1224824985"