Automata UK
| Private | |
| Industry |
Computer and video games Interactive entertainment |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Founded | United Kingdom |
| Founder | Mel Croucher, Christian Penfold |
| Defunct | 1985 |
| Headquarters | Portsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom |
|
Key people
|
Mel Croucher, Christian Penfold, Robin Evans (artist), Andrew Stagg (programmer) |
| Products | Pimania, My Name Is Uncle Groucho, You Win A Fat Cigar, Automonopoli, Deus Ex Machina |
Automata UK was a software house which developed and published ZX Spectrum video games between 1982 and 1985. Significant releases included My Name Is Uncle Groucho, You Win A Fat Cigar (1983) and Deus Ex Machina (1984).
Automata was established by Mel Croucher on November 19, 1977, as the first video games company in the UK. In 1979 he was joined by Christian Penfold. The two had previously worked together in radio, producing a show for Independent Radio Authority, which led them to publishing travel guides and produce multimedia entertainments.
Croucher had purchased a ZX-81 and, whilst the two were on location creating a guide for Sealink to the Channel Islands, began to plan out their first mainstream software releases. Automata's first commercial successes were Can of Worms and The Bible. For Pimania (1982), one of Automata's first ZX Spectrum releases, Penfold was highlighted as C&VG's "Designer of the Month".
Automata became known for its support of non-violent game concepts, cartoon-strip adverts and appearances at ZX Microfairs. Penfold and Croucher perceived the effects of middlemen, distributors and retailers on the software industry as damaging. Automata itself was largely a mail-order business, and charged wholesalers the same rate as individual customers.
By June 1985, Automata had ceased publishing after Croucher sold his stake in Automata to Penfold.
In November 2012, Croucher reformed Automata as Automata Source, with leading figures from the video games, online marketing and music industries. He has written a history of the company as an insider's story of the foundation of the video games industry, titled Deus Ex Machina: The Best Game You Never Played In Your Life.
Automata's mascot was Piman, a pink humanoid with a large nose. He was the protagonist in many of their games, starting with the text adventure Pimania (1982) which was designed by Croucher and Penfold. Artist Gremlin Evans drew the Piman cartoons, which began to feature an extended family of Pi-people such as Morris, Rastapiman and Swettibitz. Many of the Piman games were programmed freelance, arriving as unsolicited tapes, which were then slotted into the Piman storyline.
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