- Hewson Consultants
Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced games for home computers in the mid 1980s. They had a reputation for high quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable of and can be compared favourably with other ground-breaking software houses like
Ultimate Play the Game andBeyond . 14 of their games (58.33%) was awarded "Megagame" byYour Sinclair . [http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/bycompany/Hewson.htm]Hewson was founded by
Andrew Hewson in the early1980s . He became interested in computers while working at theBritish Museum when their first machine arrived. After learning to program, Andrew wrote a programming guide book entitled "Hints and Tips for the ZX Spectrum". Following the publication, bedroom coders began to send Andrew the games they had programmed on cassette tape, giving Andrew the idea to publish the games. Hewson Consultants was born, and initially released games via mail order advertisements in computing magazines. Andrew was also a columnist inSinclair User magazine throughout the 1980s.Andrew and other members of the Hewson management team went on to form
21st Century Entertainment after Hewson shut down in the early1990s , releasing several chart topping games such asPinball Dreams ,Pinball Fantasies andPinball Illusions . Andrew was also the founder ofELSPA (European Leisure Software Publishers Assosiation) which continues to be the European regulating body for the video games industry.Although Hewson Consultants has been closed down since
1991 , their games are still covered in Retro gaming press, and the hit titleUridium , originally released forCommodore 64 in1986 , was recently launched on Nintendo'sVirtual Console game download service.Their address was 56B, Milton Trading Estate, Milton,
Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RX.They were heavily involved with the design team
Graftgold who produced many of their titles.Notable Releases
* "
Quest Adventure " - 1983.
* "3D Space-Wars " - 1983.
* "3D Seiddab Attack " - 1984.
* "3D Lunattack " - 1984. Reviewed in Crash issue 4 - 90%
* "Avalon" - 1984. Reviewed in Crash issue 10 - 91%
* "Technician Ted " - 1984. Reviewed in Crash issue 13 - 96%
* "Dragontorc " - 1985.
* "Astro Clone " - 1985.
* "Uridium " - 1985.
* "Paradroid " - 1985.
* "Pyracurse " - 1986.
* "Quazatron " - 1986.
* "Southern Belle" - 1986
* "Cybernoid " - 1987.
* "Exolon " - 1987.
* "Zynaps " - 1987.
* "Nebulus" - 1987.
* "Ranarama" - 1987.External links
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