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Phoenix Software...softwares....

Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:11 pm
by Strident
As you might expect, there was more than one company called Phoenix Software and we'd got everything listed under a single "publisher" so I've just been detangling everything.

I've split the US publisher Phoenix Software...
https://solutionarchive.com/list/company%2C577/

...from the Middlesex, UK publisher Phoenix Software...
https://solutionarchive.com/list/company%2C2053/

...whose rather bizarre publishing strategy was bundling both an arcade game and a text adventure together and not letting players play the text adventure until they got to a certain point in the arcade one! Madness!

We were actually missing at least five or six games from their catalogue, so I've added place-holders for those. I'll attempt to get around to adding more details to those entries; as most of the missing games are on Mocagh.

There's still at least another Phoenix Software, as I don't think this one is the same...
https://solutionarchive.com/list/company%2C2054/

(There's also a Phoenixx Software that I know about)

Re: Phoenix Software...softwares....

Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:14 pm
by Strident
One game that I found that didn't seem to fit was this one...

Time Slip, for the Vic-20
https://solutionarchive.com/game/id%2C7 ... +Slip.html
Time_Slip_1.png
Time_Slip_1.png (1.6 KiB) Viewed 2441 times
Time_Slip_2.png
Time_Slip_2.png (771 Bytes) Viewed 2441 times
There's not really any details in the database, but it looks/sounds/feels vaguely familiar as though I've played something like that recently.

We do have another Time Slip in the database...
https://solutionarchive.com/game/id%2C3 ... +Slip.html
...listed as "unreleased" by a Griffin Software. The same game, perhaps?
time-slip.PNG
time-slip.PNG (139.21 KiB) Viewed 2446 times
But, I do think I've at least played something similar recently, so I will do a bit of trawling through the database later... So many "Time" games.

Re: Phoenix Software...softwares....

Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:20 pm
by Strident
I'm guessing that the Griffin Software "Time Slip" is by G. Saunders...
g-saunders.PNG
g-saunders.PNG (51.18 KiB) Viewed 2445 times
saunders2.PNG
saunders2.PNG (92.49 KiB) Viewed 2445 times
(Possibly Graham John Saunders)

Edit: Yes, the G is for Graham Saunders as the Northumberland computer club he ran is mentioned in several Personal Computer News issues, with that address.

Re: Phoenix Software...softwares....

Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2021 5:47 am
by Garry
Good detective work. To summarise:

'Time Slip' and 'Treasure Island' were written by Graham John Saunders and published by Griffin Software for the VIC-20, C64 & Spectrum ZX. No dumps of these games have been recorded.

'Time Slip' was written by an unknown author and published by Phoenix Software for the VIC-20. A dump of this game has been recorded.

We just have to establish whether the two 'Time Slip' games are the same or different. If they're the same, then the latter must be attributed to the wrong publisher. The only way to check this is to find dumps of the Griffin Software games.

Re: Phoenix Software...softwares....

Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2021 7:27 am
by Garry
There's a review of the VIC-20 version of the Griffin Software games in Home Computing Weekly, issue 28, 13 September 1983, p. 37, so they must have been released. The one-sentence description of 'Time Slip' in that review sounds very similar to the Phoenix game, so they may well be the same. Is it coincidence that both publishers are named after mythical beasts?

Re: Phoenix Software...softwares....

Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:05 am
by Strident
Garry wrote: Sun Sep 26, 2021 7:27 am Is it coincidence that both publishers are named after mythical beasts?
Well, Greek and other myths were popular inspirations for software house names. There are several Griffin (and Gryphon) Softwares out there too... that also get confused with each other, despite them operating in very different spaces and publishing very different material.

The Time Slip case does seem too much of a coincidence. Or it would do if there weren't so many games with similar Time-based names which must push up the odds.

Is the Phoenix Software of that Vic-20 version referenced in the game or the listing? I can't find a download for that but I presume someone must've grabbed a copy to make the CASA screenshots?

Re: Phoenix Software...softwares....

Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:16 am
by Garry
I probably did the screen grabs. I've got the BASIC listing and it has no reference to the author or publisher, whereas the other Phoenix Software games ('Four Gates to Freedom' and 'The 'O' Level Caper') have very clear credits to the author and publisher on the title screen. That's what makes me wonder whether 'Time Slip' may have been credited to the wrong publisher.