But nothing seems to last long in the computer games industry. "The writing was on the wall for arcades", recalls Walker. "People were ripping each other off blind, producing anything but original offerings. In any case, the growth market was in home computers, "you can't put a keyboard in an arcade." By that he means the sophisticated game control you get from a keyboard couldn't be incorporated into an arcade machine - keyboards are a mite too delicate for arcade zappers.

Andy Walker's arcade experience told him that the two ingredients for success are spectacular graphics and good sound. But that wisdom left him with nowhere to go, a home computer that could do justice to those two requirements still hadn't appeared - as far as Walker was concerned, anyway. Maybe his standards were too high.

But he was immensely impressed when the Commodore 64 appeared on the scene; its sprite graphics and its VIC chip. "We bought a few 64s and took them apart, and found that the VIC chip does the same as a board full of chips on an arcade console - what an awakening for me." Walker will, without hesitation, produce a circuit board the size of a drinks tray for anyone who doesn't believe him.

And his views haven't changed since, "the 64 really is the best value machine on the market. The technology you're buying for the money is terrific. The screen editor is terrific, too". Trouble is, Walker can't comment on its Basic; he doesn't know the language. But on the strength of what he saw, Walker adopted the 64 as his main machine.
Andy Walker Taskset
Andy Walker - Managing Director of Taskset

So Taskset came into being (at a time when Jetpack had just appeared on the Spectrum), with a team of programmers nurtured in arcade work, working for a machine they reckoned could display their talents to the full. But why choose an unusual name like Taskset? Simply because they needed to become a company quickly, so they bought a name off the shelf Walker felt it sounded reasonable.