A short entry for now thanks to Bertrand / AtariMania, who found a multi-platform advert regarding a light pen and some software from a Liverpool-based company called Startech in 1983.
The advert mentions the light pen coming with free software in a June 1983 advert, but then there is nothing more advertised. The only other mention is in May 1983, where the game is named Concentration.
Additionally, there are two other games mentioned as coming soon – including a Star Trek clone and a game called Plague (a text adventure game). Both were for the Commodore 64, with Plague to be ported later to the ZX Spectrum. The light pen itself was due for Atari 400/800, VIC-20, BBC Micro and Commodore 64.
Here is what Bertrand had to say whilst digging a bit further:
“From what I could gather, Startech was a software retailer for various systems that started advertising in early 1983. It seems the company went on to concentrate on the Commodore systems after several months but released their light pen on four computers in May.
Things get a little confusing in late 1983. I couldn’t find anything about Startech after October 1983 when the company had its regular ad for a VIC-20 RAM Pack (imported or its own, no idea). In early 1984, at the same Liverpool address, Enigma Software – known for The Game on the Commodore 64 – started advertizing (it seems this was the publishing arm of a dealer called Home Computer Centre).
I’m really not sure Startech and Home Computer Centre / Enigma Software have anything in common. While the address is the same, the phone number isn’t. It’s quite possible Startech went bust and it was replaced by another computer retailer (which took some two months to move in).”
We’re not sure if the pen ever got sold and if any copies of the software are out there in any shape or form. The company doesn’t seem to have any relation to Stack Electronics, who also sold a light pen. If you spot anything, please let us know.
With thanks to Bertrand / AtariMania.com for highlighting and Archive.org for the scans.
Gallery
Was light pen support common in such games at the time? By the time I had one later in the 80s, the only compatible games I found were what came with it, but any light pen popularity may have been well over by then.
* I meant to say above, in spite of no clear connection to Stack Electronics as mentioned in the post, I think it was likely the same device and software.
I think you could well be right Michael – it seems a bit too co-incidental that two companies in the same sort of area were selling light-pen devices. Perhaps Startech had just purchased the tech from Stack. In which case – it might just be the software that needs to be preserved.
Apologies for the double comment addendum, feel free to delete the near-dupe. My wi-fi connection at this morning’s cafe was being dodgy.
No worries Michael – all sorted :)
I suspect this was the same thing as the Stack lightpen, which was available for all the same systems. Here’s video of the VIC-20 version of Concentration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-SIbbp8ay8
Maybe, maybe not… There were many companies releasing light pens back in the day. As for Concentration, it is about the most common game you can find on 8-bit systems along with Hangman and Blackjack.