Codemasters
Type	Video game developer and publisher
Founded	1985
Headquarters	Warwickshire, United Kingdom
Key people	Richard Darling, David Darling
Industry	Video games
Products	TOCA Touring Car series, Colin McRae Rally series, Dizzy series, Brian Lara Cricket series
Website	http://www.codemasters.co.uk/

Codemasters (earlier known as Code Masters) is one of the oldest British video game developers. The CEO is Rod Cousens, formerly of Acclaim. In 2005, Codemasters was named as the top independent games developer by "Develop magazine", an international monthly journal for video game developers [1]. Image File history File links Codemasters logo, vectorized from a Mega Drive box by wolfensilva. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A detailed map Stratford-upon-Avon Kenilworth Castle Warwickshire (pronounced /ˈwɒɹɪkˌʃə/, /ˈwɔːɹɪkˌʃə/, or /ˈwɔːɹɪkˌʃɪə/) is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in central England. ... Pac-Man is one of the most recognizable video games ever created. ... TOCA is a racing video game series developed and published by Codemasters, initially focusing specifically on Touring car racing but more recently expanding to cover a wide variety of motorsport. ... Colin McRae Rally is a racing video game series developed and published by Codemasters for the PC, Sonys PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable consoles, Nintendos GameCube and Game Boy Advance, Microsofts Xbox and the N-Gage. ... A poster of Dizzy. ... The Brian Lara Cricket series is a series of five games that are endorsed by the West Indian cricketer Brian Lara and published by Codemasters. ... This page as shown in the AOL 9. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

Founded in 1985 by Richard and David Darling (who worked previously for Mastertronic), Codemasters quickly established themselves in the growing ZX Spectrum market, mostly with action games that required the player to solve simple puzzles by combining different objects. One of the best examples of these games are the Dizzy series, which turned Dizzy into the un-official Spectrum mascot. While Codemasters found their roots in the ZX Spectrum, they did not exclusively write for this one computer - they also released software (including the Dizzy series) for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST. 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost (budget) computer game software founded in 1983. ... The ZX Spectrum is a home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. ... A poster of Dizzy. ... Mascots at the Mascot Olympics in Orlando, Florida. ... The Commodore 64 is the best selling single personal computer model of all time. ... The Amstrad CPC was a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad during the 1980s and early 1990s. ... Atari built a series of 8-bit home computers based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU, starting in 1979. ... Amiga is the name of a range of home/personal computers using the Motorola 68000 processor family, whose development started in 1982. ... The Atari 520ST Atari 1040STF with SC1224 color monitor The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ...

They were famous for releasing a long series of games called "Advanced Something Simulator" or "Professional Something Simulator". This led to the parody "Advanced Lawnmower Simulator" being developed, praised to the skies and then published by Your Sinclair magazine as an April Fool's Day stunt. Your Sinclair magazine logo Your Sinclair Issue 1, January 1986 Your Sinclair or YS as it was affectionately known, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, specifically the ZX Spectrum. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Codemasters games in the 1980s were unique for the fact that they only released low-retail-price titles. Hence when, in 1992, they began to cut down on the budget releases in favour of full-price titles, they attracted the ire of many fans and the gaming press, the latter questioning the commercial logic behind it as Codemasters had known a great deal of success from their budget titles. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... The Suggested Retail Price (SRP) of a product is the price the manufacturer recommends that the retailer sell it for. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

As the 8-bit computer market diminished, Codemasters turned to developing for the 8-bit and 16-bit console markets, as well as moving away from their budget title legacy to more full-price games on the 16-bit computers - 1993 saw the last title in the budget Dizzy series, Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, although they released a full-price Dizzy game, Fantastic Dizzy later. They had major success with the Micro Machines series and Pete Sampras Tennis on the Sega Mega Drive. Both franchises featured the J-Cart, allowing two extra controllers to be attached to the game cart without requiring EA's 4 way play or SEGA's four player adaptor. 8-bit refers to the number of bits used in the data bus of a computer. ... In computer science, 16-bit is an adjective used to describe integers that are at most two bytes wide, or to describe CPU architectures based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Dizzy was the first game in the Dizzy series of computer games. ... Screenshot of gameplay from the Amiga version. ... Fantastic Dizzy (The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy outside Europe & Australia) is a 1991 video game developed by Codemasters. ... A Micro Machines Dodge Viper compared to a Matchbox version of the same car. ... Pete Sampras Tennis was the first game of three of this celebrity endorsed tennis video game series, released by british software house Codemasters. ... Sega Corporation ) is an international video game software and hardware developing company, and a former home computer and console manufacturer. ... Sega MegaDrive 2 European version with joypad, game cart + box Sega Mega Drive (Japanese: メガドライブ Mega Doraibu) was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega. ... The J-Cart was a special cartridge developed by Codemasters for the Mega Drive/Sega Genesis console, and increased SEGAs 16-bit console from two joypad ports to four. ... EA redirects here. ... Sega Corporation ) is an international video game software and hardware developing company, and a former home computer and console manufacturer. ...

Abandoned Codemasters logo (1986 to 1990).

The company also attracted both smirks and scorn from the gaming press and the gaming public in the 1980s with gleaming quotes that appeared to come from the gaming press on the packaging of their games (e.g. "This game is absolutely brilliant!" on Fruit Machine Simulator) - a standard feature of game packaging. However, on closer inspection, the quote could be seen to be attributed to none other than David or Richard Darling, the founders of Codemasters^{[citation needed]}. Image File history File links Code-masters-old-logo. ... Image File history File links Code-masters-old-logo. ...

Console Mods

Codemasters is notable for making the large majority of games published by the controversial Camerica company, which bypassed Nintendo's lock-out chip by breaking the 10NES "code" and produced unlicensed NES games. These NES games were known for being shiny gold and silver cartridges that were slightly different from normal NES cartridges in shape, though they still fit into the cartridge slot. Many Codemasters titles were also featured on Camerica's Aladdin Deck Enhancer. Camerica is a video game company that was notable for producing unlicensed Nintendo Entertainment System games and hardware. ... Nintendo Company, Limited (Japanese: 任天堂 or ニンテンドー Nintendō; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 ) is a multinational corporation founded on September 23, 1889[1] in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. ... In a general sense, a lock-out chip is a chip within an electronic device to prevent other manufacturers from using a companys device to perform certain functions. ... The RAMBO-1, a version of Tengens Rabbit lockout chip 10NES was the authentication code for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game console. ... In a variety of electronic equipments, a cartridge (in video game terms, cart, game pack, or Game Pak) can be one method of programming different functionality, providing variable content, or a method by which consumables may be replenished. ... The Aladdin Deck Enhancer, produced by Camerica, was a device that one would plug into a Nintendo Entertainment System. ...

In 1990 Codemasters developed a device called the Power Pak, later renamed the Game Genie. It was cheat cartridge for the NES, released in the US by Galoob and in Canada and the UK by Camerica. Codemasters would later develop a successful game based on Galoob's Micro Machines toy range. This article is about the year. ... Game Genie cartridge for the (clockwise from top) Super NES, NES, Sega Game Gear, and the Game Boy systems. ... NES redirects here. ... Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. ... A Micro Machines Dodge Viper compared to a Matchbox version of the same car. ...

Recent Titles

Codemasters have since continued to release titles for later generation systems, such as the TOCA Touring Car series, Colin McRae Rally series and Operation Flashpoint. They currently own the rights to use the title Operation Flashpoint 2, but there have been legal wrangles with Bohemia Interactive Studio, the developers of the original game. It has been speculated that Bohemia may break with them and release a game independently called Armed Assault - Operation Flashpoint 2 will be developed by a different team. In spite of these rumours, Codemasters released Operation Flashpoint: Elite, developed by Bohemia, for Xbox in October 2005. June 2006 saw the long awaited release of Sensible Soccer 2006 for the PS2. TOCA is a racing video game series developed and published by Codemasters, initially focusing specifically on Touring car racing but more recently expanding to cover a wide variety of motorsport. ... Colin McRae Rally is a racing video game series developed and published by Codemasters for the PC, Sonys PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable consoles, Nintendos GameCube and Game Boy Advance, Microsofts Xbox and the N-Gage. ... Operation: Flashpoint 2 (OFP 2) is the sequel to the popular computer game Operation Flashpoint. ... Bohemia Interactive Studio (BIS) is an independent computer and console game developer based in Prague, the Czech Republic. ... Armed Assault (ArmA) is a computer game by Bohemia Interactive (BI). ... The Xbox was a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft, first released on November 15, 2001 in North America, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June is the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with a length of 30 days. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mega Drive screenshot Sensible Soccer, often affectionately known as Sensi, is a football video game series which was highly popular in the early 1990s and which still retains a cult following. ... PS2 can mean: PlayStation 2 (Sony PS2), sixth-generation video game console PS/2 (IBM Personal System/2 office PCs, or the interface standard for mice and keyboards that the PS/2 series set) Phantasy Star II, second in the Phantasy Star seiries of video games. ...

Behind-the-scenes documentary

In the early 90's, the studio was the focus of an entire edition of "It's a Living", a regional ITV programme that examined unusual careers and companies. The show was able to examine the inner workings of the offices and was primarily concentrated on the development of Cosmic Spacehead, plus the marketing efforts surrounding it. Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 40s - 50s - 60s - 70s - 80s - 90s - 100s - 110s - 120s - 130s - 140s 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 Sometimes the 90s is used as shorthand for the 1990s, the 1890s, or other such decades in various centuries. ... ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of... Cosmic Spacehead (Linus Spaceheads Cosmic Crusade in the NES version) is a 1993 video game developed and published Codemasters for the Sega Mega DriveSega, NES, Amiga and Personal computers . ...

External links

• Official site
• http://www.planetnintendo.com/thewarpzone/camerica.html The Warp Zone - Camerica,
• Advertising material and information from World of Sinclair
• Codemasters category at ODP