Mikro-Gen
Mikro-Gen was a UK software company based in Bracknell, Berkshire that produced games for home computers in the early to mid-1980s. The company was formed by Mike Meek and Andrew Laurie in 1981, in order to capitalise on the growing boom of microcomputers in the home. The company had a solid reputation but became more prominent with its series of games featuring Wally Week and his family, all of which got excellent reviews in the highly respected computer magazine Crash.
Also recorded as Mikro-Gen Ltd
Mikro-Gen
- Name
- Mikro-Gen
- Founded
- 1981
- Headquarters
- Bracknell
- Activity
- video game industry
- Dissolved
- 1987
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Documentary summary
Mikro-Gen was a UK software company based in Bracknell, Berkshire that produced games for home computers in the early to mid-1980s. The company was formed by Mike Meek and Andrew Laurie in 1981, in order to capitalise on the growing boom of microcomputers in the home. The company had a solid reputation but became more prominent with its series of games featuring Wally Week and his family, all of which got excellent reviews in the highly respected computer magazine Crash.
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wikidata · Q666624 · wikipedia · Mikro-Gen
In this article
Overview
Overview
Later, the company produced the Mikro-Plus add-on for the ZX Spectrum. The company was bought out by Creative Sparks Distribution in 1987, which subsequently went into receivership six months later.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Mikro-Gen • Industry — Computer software • Fate — Acquired by Creative Sparks Distribution • Founded — 1981 • Founder — Mike Meek, Andrew Lawrie • Defunct — 1987 • Hq Location City — Bracknell • Hq Location Country — England
Wally Week series
Wally Week series
• Automania - 1984. Reviewed in Crash with an overall score of 88% • Pyjamarama - 1984. Reviewed in Crash issue 10 - 92% • Everyone's A Wally - 1985. Reviewed in Crash issue 14 - 93% • Herbert's Dummy Run - 1985. Reviewed in Crash issue 18 - 90% • Three Weeks in Paradise - 1985. Reviewed in Crash issue 26 - 93%
Mikro-Plus
Mikro-Plus
The Mikro-Plus was an add-on for the ZX Spectrum computer. While this computer was limited to 48KB of usable RAM, the Mikro-Plus let it load 64KB programs by storing 16KB as a shadow ROM in the add-on itself, and loading the remaining 48KB from cassette tape as usual. Mikro-Gen invested £130,000 in producing it. Bundled with the game Shadow of the Unicorn, it reached no. 5 in the ZX Spectrum charts and no.9 in the All Formats charts in October 1985. It sold 11,000 copies, almost 30,000 short of the number needed to break even and no further Mikro-Plus games were produced.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United Kingdom
Releases
• Star Trek - 1982. • Knockout - 1983. • Mad Martha - 1983. • Genesis II - 1984 - written by Dale & Shelley McLoughlin. • Witch's Cauldron - 1985 - written by Dale & Shelley McLoughlin • Laserwarp - 1983; Reviewed in Crash with an overall score of 77% • Air Traffic Control - 1984 - by Dale McLoughlin • Shadow of the Unicorn - 1985. Reviewed in Crash issue 24 - 7/10 - required Mikro-Plus Expansion Unit to run • Battle of the Planets - 1985. Reviewed in Crash issue 26 - 71% • Equinox - 1986. Reviewed in Crash issue 30 - 87% • Stainless Steel - 1986.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Mikro-Gen”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q666624: Mikro-Gen
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Wally guide to Mikro-Gen. Sinclair User. 37. 1985.
- 2.David Lester. Risen from the ashes. Popular Computing Weekly. Focus Magazines. 6. 49. 32. 10-16 December 1987.
- 3.CRASH 17 - Witch's Cauldron.
- 4.CRASH 2 - Index.
- 5.Future Publishing. From The Archives: Mikro-Gen. Retro Gamer. 86. 40. 23 April 2009.
- 6.CRASH 7 - Automania.
- 7.Shadow of the Unicorn. Crash. 20. 1985.
- 8.Graeme Kidd. Breathe new life into the user port. Crash. 19. 1985.
- 9.Sunshine Publications. Charts. Popular Computing Weekly. 43. 35. 24 October 1985.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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