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Creative Sparks
Thorn EMI
2751 Centerville Rd # 205
Wilmington, DE 19808
USA
Year Founded: 1979
Year Defunct: 1996
Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979 when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it demerged again in 1996.
In the early-to-mid 1980's, Thorn EMI Video Programmes released a number of games for several home computer formats, initially under their own name. They received a lukewarm reception with no major hits. These included Gold Rush, Road Racer and Volcanic Planet (1983) and River Rescue (1982). The label was later renamed Creative Sparks.
Thorn EMI Computer Software was a British video games software house set up in the early 1980s as part of the now-defunct British conglomerate Thorn EMI. They released a number of games in the early 1980s, mainly for the Atari 8-bit family and later ported to other platforms. The division was caught up in the general disorganization of the parent firm and became dysfunctional by 1984.
The division was sold off and reorganized as Creative Sparks, continuing to sell the original Thorn games as well as adding new titles of their own. Newer releases moved away from the Atari platforms, and appeared mostly on the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. Creative Sparks also used the Sparklers label for budget-priced reissues of their old software. Sparklers was best known for the "199" brand of £1.99 games.
Later, the low-cost software label Alternative Software acquired the distribution rights to several Creative Sparks titles.
As a result, many games were issued on more than one label, sometimes appearing on all four at various stages. An example of this is River Rescue; this first appeared on the Thorn EMI label, then later reappeared in Creative Sparks packaging. It was next reissued on the budget Sparklers label, before finally being distributed in new packaging (also at a budget price) by Alternative.
2751 Centerville Rd # 205
Wilmington, DE 19808
USA
Year Founded: 1979
Year Defunct: 1996
Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979 when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it demerged again in 1996.
In the early-to-mid 1980's, Thorn EMI Video Programmes released a number of games for several home computer formats, initially under their own name. They received a lukewarm reception with no major hits. These included Gold Rush, Road Racer and Volcanic Planet (1983) and River Rescue (1982). The label was later renamed Creative Sparks.
Thorn EMI Computer Software was a British video games software house set up in the early 1980s as part of the now-defunct British conglomerate Thorn EMI. They released a number of games in the early 1980s, mainly for the Atari 8-bit family and later ported to other platforms. The division was caught up in the general disorganization of the parent firm and became dysfunctional by 1984.
The division was sold off and reorganized as Creative Sparks, continuing to sell the original Thorn games as well as adding new titles of their own. Newer releases moved away from the Atari platforms, and appeared mostly on the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. Creative Sparks also used the Sparklers label for budget-priced reissues of their old software. Sparklers was best known for the "199" brand of £1.99 games.
Later, the low-cost software label Alternative Software acquired the distribution rights to several Creative Sparks titles.
As a result, many games were issued on more than one label, sometimes appearing on all four at various stages. An example of this is River Rescue; this first appeared on the Thorn EMI label, then later reappeared in Creative Sparks packaging. It was next reissued on the budget Sparklers label, before finally being distributed in new packaging (also at a budget price) by Alternative.