publication_date laser squad
Commodore International ( or Commodore International Limited ) was a North American home computer and electronics manufacturer . Commodore International ( CI ), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Machines ( CBM ), participated in the development of the home  personal computer industry in the 1970s and 1980s . The company developed and marketed one of the world ' s best - selling desktop computers , the Commodore 64 ( ___MASK96___ ) and released its Amiga computer line in July ___MASK19___ . The VIC - ___MASK42___ ( Germany : VC - ___MASK42___ ; Japan : VIC - 1001 ) is an 8 - bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines . The VIC - ___MASK42___ was announced in ___MASK54___ , roughly three years after Commodore ' s first personal computer , the PET . The VIC - ___MASK42___ was the first computer of any description to sell one million units . The Commodore PET ( Personal Electronic Transactor ) is a line of home / personal computers produced starting in ___MASK16___ by Commodore International . A top - seller in the Canadian and United States educational markets , it was Commodore ' s first full - featured computer , and formed the basis for their entire ___MASK5___ - bit product line , including the Commodore 64 . The first model , which was named the PET ___MASK92___ , was the third personal computer ever made available to retail consumers , after the Apple II and TRS - 80 . Guinness World Records , known from its inception in ___MASK94___ until ___MASK29___ as The Guinness Book of Records and in previous U . S . editions as The Guinness Book of World Records , is a reference book published annually , listing world records and national records , both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world . The book itself holds a world record , as the best - selling copyrighted book of all time . As of the 2017 edition , it is now in its 63rd year of publication , published in 100 countries and 23 languages . The international franchise has extended beyond print to include television series and museums . The popularity of the franchise has resulted in " Guinness World Records " becoming the primary international authority on the cataloguing and verification of a huge number of world records ; the organisation employs official record adjudicators authorised to verify the authenticity of the setting and breaking of records . Motorola , Inc . is an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg , Illinois , United States . After having lost $ ___MASK93___ . 3 billion from 2007 to 2009 , the company was divided into two independent public companies , Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January ___MASK93___ , 2011 . Motorola Solutions is generally considered to be the direct successor to Motorola , Inc ., as the reorganization was structured with Motorola Mobility being spun off . Motorola Mobility was acquired by Lenovo in 2014 . In ___MASK59___ , Kazuhiko Nishi ' s and Gates ' paths became separate and he left Microsoft to devote himself mostly to ASCII Corporation together with NEC executive Kazuya Watanabe . ASCII was once the biggest multimedia empire on the west side of the Pacific , but after its expansion and failure , it became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004 , and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April ___MASK33___ , 2008 , and became ASCII Media Works . Since ___MASK59___ Nishi has written for newspapers and authored a number of books . He sat in several committees on behalf of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry , and he is a member of the Committee for World Economy in the 21st Century . Nishi is the president of MSX Association , a private organization originating from an assembly of people with affinity with the MSX standard , and the president of Digital do MaiN , audio engineering company . The ZX Spectrum is an ___MASK5___ - bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd . It was manufactured in Dundee , Scotland , in the now closed Timex factory . The Atari ST is a line of home computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari ___MASK5___ - bit family . The initial ST model , the 520ST , saw limited release in the spring of ___MASK19___ and was widely available in July . The Atari ST is the first personal computer to come with a bit - mapped color GUI , using a version of Digital Research ' s GEM released in February ___MASK19___ . The 1040ST , released in 1986 , is the first personal computer to ship with a megabyte of RAM in the base configuration and also the first with a cost - per - kilobyte of less than US $ 1 . Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in ___MASK16___ , and becoming common during the 1980s . They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that , for the first time , were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user . These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business , scientific or engineering - oriented computers of the time such as the IBM PC , and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability . However , a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporaneous business computers . Their most common uses were playing video games , but they were also regularly used for word processing , doing homework , and programming . History . ___MASK16___  ___MASK7___ : Founding and first projects . ASCII was founded in ___MASK16___ by Kazuhiko Nishi and Keiichiro Tsukamoto . Originally a publisher of a magazine with the same name " ASCII ", talks between Bill Gates and Nishi led to a creation of Microsoft ' s first overseas sales office , ASCII Microsoft , in ___MASK32___ . Nishi was also known for being the creator of the MSX in 1983 , an 8 - bit standard computer well known in the former USSR and Japan . In 1984 , ASCII engaged itself in semiconductor business , followed by a further expansion into commercial online service in ___MASK19___ under the brand of ASCII - NET . As the popularity of home video game systems soared in the 1980s , ASCII became active in the development and publishing of software and peripherals for popular consoles such as the Family Computer and Mega Drive . After Microsoft ' s public stock offering in 1986 , ASCII Microsoft was dissolved . At around the same time , the company was also obliged to reform itself as a result of its aggressive diversification in the first half of the 1980s . The company went public in 1989 . Laser Squad Nemesis (" LSN ") is a ___MASK91___ multiplayer turn - based tactics video game developed by Codo Technologies for the PC . Its lead designer , Julian Gollop , previously designed the " X - COM " series and the original " Laser Squad ". The Amiga is a family of personal computers sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s . Based on the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors , the machine has a custom chipset with graphics and sound capabilities that were unprecedented for the price , and a pre - emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS . The Amiga provided a significant upgrade from earlier ___MASK5___ - bit home computers , including Commodore ' s own C64 . MicroProse was an American video game publisher and developer founded by " Wild " Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in ___MASK96___ as MicroProse Software Inc . It developed and published numerous games , many of which are regarded as groundbreaking , classics and cult titles , including starting the " Civilization " and " X - COM " series . Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games . The Commodore 64 , also known as the C64 , C - 64 , C = 64 , or occasionally CBM 64 or VIC - 64 in Sweden , is an ___MASK5___ - bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International . It is listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest - selling single computer model of all time , with independent estimates placing the number sold between ___MASK98___ and 17 million units . Volume production started in early 1982 , marketing in August for . Preceded by the Commodore VIC - 20 and Commodore PET , the C64 took its name from its of RAM . It had superior sound and graphical specifications compared to other earlier systems such as the Apple II and Atari 800 , with multi - color sprites and a more advanced sound processor . Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in ___MASK61___ , currently by Atari Interactive , a subsidiary of the French publisher Atari , SA ( ASA ). The original Atari , Inc . founded in ___MASK61___ by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney was a pioneer in arcade games , home video game consoles , and home computers . The company ' s products , such as " Pong " and the Atari 2600 , helped define the electronic entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid - 1980s . The Atari ___MASK5___ - bit family is a series of ___MASK5___ - bit home computers introduced by Atari , Inc . in ___MASK32___ and manufactured until 1992 . All of the machines in the family are technically similar , and differ primarily in packaging . They are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU running at ___MASK33___ . 79 MHz , and were the first home computers designed with custom co - processor chips . This architecture allowed the Atari designs to offer graphics and sound capabilities that were more advanced than contemporary machines like the Apple II or Commodore PET , and gaming on the platform was a major draw . " Star Raiders " is widely considered the platform ' s killer app . Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of computers and video game consoles from ___MASK4___ to ___MASK2___ . Atari Corp . was founded in July ___MASK4___ when Warner Communications sold the home computing and game console divisions of Atari , Inc . to Jack Tramiel . Its chief products were the Atari ST , , Atari 7800 , Atari Lynx , and Atari Jaguar . The company reverse merged with JTS Inc . in ___MASK2___ , becoming a small division , which itself closed when JTS liquidated the IP to Hasbro Interactive in ___MASK29___ . Laser Squad is a turn - based tactics video game , originally released for the ZX Spectrum and later for the Commodore 64 , Amstrad CPC , MSX , Amiga and Atari ST and PC computers . It was designed by Julian Gollop and his team at Target Games ( later Mythos Games and Codo Technologies ) and published by Blade Software , expanding on the ideas applied in their previous Rebelstar series of games . Laser Squad originally came with five mission scenarios , with an expansion pack released for the ___MASK5___ - bit versions , containing a further two scenarios . Reaction from gaming magazines was positive , gaining it high review rating and several accolades . The legacy of the game can be seen in other titles like the X - COM series , especially the acclaimed UFO : Enemy Unknown which was also created by Julian Gollop and was initially conceived as a sequel to Laser Squad . Julian Gollop is a British designer of strategy games and strategy video games , and the founder of now - defunct game studios Mythos Games ( Target Games ) and Codo Technologies . Gollop has designed many video games for numerous systems since the early 1980s . His most popular work to date is the " X - COM " series of science fiction games , in particular the first and third games in the series , on which he worked together with his brother , Nick , for MicroProse . Codo Technologies was a video game developer founded by Julian Gollop and others , including brother Nick Gollop , continuing the line of sophisticated strategy war games started at their previous company Mythos Games . Gollop is especially known for his role in the creation of the " X - COM " video game series . Codo Technologies has released two games : " Laser Squad Nemesis ", a PC turn - based tactics game and "", a Game Boy Advance turn - based tactical role - playing game . In late ___MASK17___ , Codo Technologies closed up shop , shortly after negotiating turning control of the " Laser Squad Nemesis " servers and maintenance to the long term fans of the game . The ( abbreviated as GBA ) is a 32 - bit handheld video game console developed , manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color . It was released in Japan on March ___MASK68___ , ___MASK92___ , in North America on June ___MASK28___ , ___MASK92___ , in Australia and Europe on June 22 , ___MASK92___ , and in the People ' s Republic of China on June 8 , 2004 ( excluding Hong Kong ). Nintendo ' s competitors in the handheld market at the time were the Neo Geo Pocket Color , WonderSwan , GP32 , Tapwave Zodiac , and the N - Gage . Despite the competitors ' best efforts , Nintendo maintained a majority market share with the Game Boy Advance . As of June 30 , 2010 , the Game Boy Advance series has sold 81 . 51 million units worldwide . Its successor , the Nintendo DS , was released in November 2004 and is also compatible with Game Boy Advance software . AmigaOS is the proprietary native operating system of the Amiga and AmigaOne personal computers . It was developed first by Commodore International and introduced with the launch of the first Amiga , the Amiga ___MASK43___ , in ___MASK19___ . Early versions of AmigaOS required the Motorola 68000 series of ___MASK24___ - bit and 32 - bit microprocessors . Later versions were developed by Haage & Partner ( AmigaOS 3 . ___MASK45___ and 3 . 9 ) and then Hyperion Entertainment ( AmigaOS 4 . 0 - 4 . 1 ). A PowerPC microprocessor is required for the most recent release , AmigaOS 4 . The Motorola 68000 ("' sixty - eight - thousand '"; also called the m68k or Motorola 68k , "" sixty - eight - kay "") is a 32 - bit CISC microprocessor with a ___MASK24___ - bit external data bus , designed and marketed by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ( later Freescale Semiconductor , now NXP ). Introduced in 1979 with HMOS technology as the first member of the successful 32 - bit m68k family of microprocessors , it is generally software forward compatible with the rest of the line despite being limited to a ___MASK24___ - bit wide external bus . After 37 years in production , the 68000 architecture is still in use . X - COM ( sometimes stylized as " X - Com ") is a science fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth . The series began with the strategy video game "" created by Mythos Games and MicroProse in ___MASK39___ . The original line up by MicroProse included six published and at least two cancelled games , as well as two novels . The " X - COM " series , in particular its original entry , achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games ; including the creation of a number of clones , spiritual successors , and unofficial remakes . The IBM System / 360 introduced byte - addressable memory with ___MASK5___ - bit bytes , as opposed to bit - addressable or decimal digit - addressable or word - addressable memory , although its general purpose registers were 32 bits wide , and addresses were contained in the lower ___MASK55___ bits of those addresses . Different models of System / 360 had different internal data path widths ; the IBM System / 360 Model 30 ( 1965 ) implemented the 32 - bit System / 360 architecture , but had an ___MASK5___ bit native path width , and performed 32 - bit arithmetic ___MASK5___ bits at a time . Mythos Games was a British video game developer company founded by Julian Gollop in ___MASK22___ as Target Games and best known for its acclaimed 1994 strategy game "". Following the bankruptcy of Mythos Games in 2001 , Gollop founded Codo Technologies . Microsoft Corporation ( commonly referred to as Microsoft or MS ) is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond , Washington , that develops , manufactures , licenses , supports and sells computer software , consumer electronics and personal computers and services . Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems , Microsoft Office office suite , and Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers . Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet lineup . As of ___MASK49___ , it was the world ' s largest software maker by revenue , and one of the world ' s most valuable companies . The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information . Its recommended unit symbol is MB , but sometimes " MByte " is used . The unit prefix " mega " is a multiplier of ( ___MASK98___ ) in the International System of Units ( SI ). Therefore , one megabyte is one million bytes of information . This definition has been incorporated into the International System of Quantities . Dundee , officially the City of Dundee , is Scotland ' s fourth - largest city and the 51st - most - populous built - up area in the United Kingdom . The mid - year population estimate for ___MASK70___ was 148 , 210 which gave Dundee a population density of 2 , 477 / km or ___MASK1___ , 420 / sq mi , the second - highest in Scotland . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay , which feeds into the North Sea . Under the name of " Dundee City ", it forms one of the 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland . The Amstrad CPC ( short for " Colour Personal Computer ") is a series of ___MASK5___ - bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and ___MASK7___ . It was designed to compete in the mid - 1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum , where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom , France , Spain , and the German - speaking parts of Europe . MSX is the name of a standardized home computer architecture , first announced by Microsoft on June ___MASK24___ , 1983 , and marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi , then Vice - president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation . Microsoft conceived the project as an attempt to create unified standards among various hardware makers of the period .