267:(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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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.
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I am tone-deaf. I can understand the concept but I cannot follow it all. For Mel it was the crescendo of an idea, an emotional achievement. On my side, I have been flattened by the lack of response and sales despite the wonderful things said about it. I sit here and feel heart-broken at the pathetic
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put it top of its list of games to buy for
Christmas. Despite this positive critical response, retailers did not want to stock it, partially due to Automata's policy on charging wholesalers full price for small orders. By February only 5000 copies had been distributed. Due to this, Penfold and
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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 game industry, titled
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on
November 19, 1977. 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
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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
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was
Automata's most ambitious project; an attempt at an "epic computer movie". Published in 1984, it was a multi-stage game based on
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received excellent reviews in the press, coverage in the national media, Croucher was interviewed by Barry Norman and the
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By June 1985, Automata had ceased publishing after
Croucher sold his stake in Automata to Penfold.
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227:(1982), one of Automata's first ZX Spectrum releases, Penfold was highlighted as
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and, whilst the two were on location creating a guide for
Sealink to the
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Deus Ex
Machina: The Best Game You Never Played In Your Life
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http://www.lysator.liu.se/adventure/Automata_UK_Ltd.html
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The
Automata game rights were later sold to Subvert.
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between 1982 and 1985. Significant releases included
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622:Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom
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530:"The one-hour life of a 1980s video game auteur"
394:My Name Is Uncle Groucho, You Win A Fat Cigar
177:My Name Is Uncle Groucho, You Win A Fat Cigar
134:My Name Is Uncle Groucho, You Win A Fat Cigar
617:Video game companies disestablished in 1985
234:Automata became known for its support of
612:Video game companies established in 1977
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477:"Sinclair User - Can of Worms and Bible"
202:and produce multimedia entertainments.
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483:(37). EMAP. April 1985. Archived from
554:"Deus Ex Machina » Acorn Books"
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320:way the retailers have handled it
325:Christian Penfold, Sinclair User
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528:Campbell, Colin (2013-09-25).
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161:which developed and published
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582:http://www.automatasource.com
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379:(1983) - Croucher wrote the
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231:'s "Designer of the Month".
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517:(39). EMAP: 5. June 1985.
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502:(27): 15. January 1984.
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513:"Sinclair User".
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20:Automata UK, Ltd.
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116:Mel Croucher
88:Headquarters
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46:1977 in the
25:Company type
441:Olympimania
298:Jon Pertwee
286:Shakespeare
180:(1983) and
166:video games
163:ZX Spectrum
155:Automata UK
37:Video games
606:Categories
564:2016-12-24
539:2023-06-30
456:References
427:Pi-in-'ere
111:Key people
93:Portsmouth
434:Piromania
377:Bunny/ETA
343:The Bible
219:The Bible
97:Hampshire
83:Dissolved
588:Automata
500:C&VG
402:Piballed
331:Releases
323:—
294:Ian Dury
229:C&VG
186:(1984).
174:(1982),
123:Products
33:Industry
534:Polygon
421:Pi-Eyed
350:Pimania
264:Pimania
224:Pimania
190:History
171:Pimania
128:Pimania
70: (
65:Defunct
54:Founder
43:Founded
28:Private
451:(1984)
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367:(1983)
361:(1983)
353:(1982)
345:(1982)
339:(1982)
221:. For
157:was a
415:Dartz
257:Piman
207:ZX-81
288:'s "
217:and
80:Fate
72:1985
68:1985
590:at
381:ETA
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464:^
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74:)
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