Collector’s Guide: Software Projects
Our latest collector’s guide focuses On software Projects and its lesser-known budget label, software supersavers. from astronut to Ziggurat and everything in between, we rummage around the 8-bit Publisher’s back catalogue
Richard Burton shares everything he knows about collecting for the 8-bit publisher
In 1984 Software Projects was formed by its three directors; Alan Maton, Tommy Barton and programmer Matthew Smith. Based in Woolton, Liverpool, in the Bear Brand Complex, Software Projects produced games across a multitude of formats. While the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad
CPC were all well catered for, the company also released games for, among others, the Oric, MSX, Dragon 32, Amiga and Tatung Einstein.
Software Projects’ games were always fullprice, from £5.95 for ZX Spectrum rising to £8.95 for Amstrad CPC releases, but it became apparent that with the ever-expanding success of budget games that it needed to get a low-cost software arm itself. Soon after, the Software Supersavers label was born with 12 initial releases; eight titles for the Spectrum, two for the C64 and one each for the VIC-20 and Amstrad CPC. Sadly, those 12 games would be the first and last releases.
Software Projects frequently licensed out its most popular titles and as such we have included these in the final games checklist overleaf. It includes Tynesoft’s disk and cassette releases of Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner and Revelation’s conversion of Manic Miner for the Sam Coupe.
So what curios and rarities are to be found in the Software Projects back catalogue? For the painful combination of ‘hard to find’ and ‘eyewateringly expensive’, look no further than the Tatung Einstein games. JSW and Manic Miner were released individually, while a duo of two game compilations containing Manic Miner/jsw2
and Jsw/harvey Smith Showjumper were also released. Dragon’s Lair was licensed out to Merlin Software and was the fifth and final release.
All are difficult to pick up and, given the limited popularity of the Einstein, you can expect to pay £100 for the individual disk versions and £50 each for the two game compilations and Dragon’s Lair.
While not in the same collecting echelons of price or rarity, a handful of the cassette releases prove troublesome to find, too. Keep an eye out for Lode Runner 128K for the Spectrum, Galactic Gardener for the C64, Space Swarm and Space Joust for the Commodore VIC-20, JSW and Manic Miner on the Dragon 32 as well as Manic Miner for the Oric. While not wallet busting, they will set you back £10 each. The exception to this being Lode Runner 128K, which is particularly sought after with a good clean copy likely to cost around £30.
The Commodore 64 version of BC’S Quest For Tires is quirky in that it has two distinctly