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{{Short description|Video game publisher}}
{{for|other companies and software called Sirius|Sirius (disambiguation)}}
{{for|other companies and software called Sirius|Sirius (disambiguation)}}
'''Sirius Software''' was a [[video game publisher]] of [[Apple II]], [[Atari 8-bit family|Atari 8-bit family]], [[Commodore 64]], and [[Commodore VIC-20|VIC-20]] games in the early 1980s. Sirius also developed games for the [[Atari 2600]] which were published by 20th Century Fox Video Games.
'''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 ==
== History ==
[[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 the early 1980s 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 games]], software products and hardware devices worldwide. Jewell was profiled by author [[Steven Levy]] in his book ''[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution|Hackers]]''.


⚫
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]]''.
⚫
Sirius' quick rise was due in part to a chain of hits by [[game programmer|programmer]] [[Nasir Gebelli]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> 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 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 journal|work=[[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&lpg=PA80&pg=PA80#v=onepage&q&f=false | title=Company Strategies Boomerang | work=InfoWorld | date=1984-04-02 | accessdate=10 February 2015 | author=Caruso, Denise | pages=80–83}}</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.{{Citation needed|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]] and [[Commodore 64]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

⚫
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>
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>


==Games==
==Games==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|'''Arcade Games'''
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|'''Action'''
⚫
* ''Bandits'' (1982)


'''Action games'''
* ''[[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)
* ''Beer Run'' (1981)
* ''[[Beer Run]]'' (1981)
⚫
* ''Gamma Goblins'' (1981)
⚫
* ''[[Gorgon (computer game)|Gorgon]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Epoch (video game)|Epoch]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Epoch (video game)|Epoch]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Outpost (1981 computer game)|Outpost]]'' (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)
⚫
* ''[[Bandits (video game)|Bandits]]'' (1982)
* ''Free Fall'' (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 -->
⚫
* ''[[Bandits (game)|Bandits]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Type Attack]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Snake Byte]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Snake Byte]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Type Attack]]'' (1982)
⚫
* ''[[Wayout]]'' (1982)
* ''Buzzard Bait'' (1983)
⚫
* ''[[Capture the Flag (video game)|Capture the Flag]]'' (1983)
* ''Copts and Robbers'' (1983) <!-- "Copts" is correct -->
* ''Copts and Robbers'' (1983) <!-- "Copts" is correct -->
* ''Final Orbit'' (1983)
* ''Final Orbit'' (1983)
* ''Moogles'' (1983)
* ''Moogles'' (1983)
* ''[[Plasmania]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Plasmania]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Repton (1983 computer game)|Repton]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Repton (1983 video game)|Repton]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Squish 'em]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Squish 'em]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Wavy Navy (video game)|Wavy Navy]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Wavy Navy (video game)|Wavy Navy]]'' (1983)


'''Adventure games'''
'''Adventure'''
* ''[[Blade of Blackpoole]]'' (1982)
* ''[[The Blade of Blackpoole]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Critical Mass (1982 video game)|Critical Mass]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Critical Mass (1982 video game)|Critical Mass]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Escape from Rungistan]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Escape from Rungistan]]'' (1982)
Line 49: Line 55:
* ''[[Alpine Encounter]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Alpine Encounter]]'' (1985)


'''Maze games'''
'''Strategy'''
* ''[[Wayout]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Cyclod]]'' (1981)
⚫
* ''Dark Forest'' (1981)
⚫
* ''[[Capture the Flag (video_game)|Capture the Flag]]'' (1983)
⚫
* ''[[Call to Arms (1982 video game)|Call to Arms]]'' (1982)

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


'''Atari 2600 games'''
'''Atari 2600'''
* ''[[Beany Bopper]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Beany Bopper]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Deadly Duck]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Deadly Duck]]'' (1982)

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
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