Is the Force with Taskset's Skywalker?
- By Chris Jenkins
- Published 08/27/2006
- Taskset
- Unrated
What's the secret behind the success of Andy Walker's 64 games software company?
Chris Jenkins visits Bridlington to find out.
Andy Walker – “I don’t see any sign of the game software boom ending"
IT'S TAKEN some time for the software houses to take the Commodore 64 to their hearts. Many still rely heavily on converting versions of Spectrum games, often with no attempt to improve them. Even worse, many companies simply reproduce the same tired old variants of Pac-Man, Frogger and Space Invaders ad nauseam.
Zap! Kerash! Wallop! - enter Andy Walker and Taskset, fearless crusaders in the cause of original games and the lovable Commodore 64.
Taskset may not be the biggest or best-known of software companies - Andy Walker says he wouldn't want it to be, not under the Taskset name anyway - but it's pretty certain that most 64 owners will have seen and probably bought a Taskset game by Christmas.
Taskset's headquarters are situated in Bridlington, Yorkshire, a small seaside town kept going by the annual hordes of holidaymakers. "We're here for historical reasons," explained Andy "I've moved around a lot in the last ten years, and somehow I ended up here. Once you get onto the motorway it's a reasonable drive to London, so we don't feel too cut off. One great advantage is that if someone comes to visit Taskset we know they really want to talk to us - they can't claim that they just happened to be passing!"
Andy's path into the games software industry was not a straightforward one. Though he might be described as a "whiz", he's no "kid" - his experience in the industry stretches back through many years involved in the arcade business.
Chris Jenkins visits Bridlington to find out.
Andy Walker – “I don’t see any sign of the game software boom ending"
IT'S TAKEN some time for the software houses to take the Commodore 64 to their hearts. Many still rely heavily on converting versions of Spectrum games, often with no attempt to improve them. Even worse, many companies simply reproduce the same tired old variants of Pac-Man, Frogger and Space Invaders ad nauseam.
Zap! Kerash! Wallop! - enter Andy Walker and Taskset, fearless crusaders in the cause of original games and the lovable Commodore 64.
Taskset may not be the biggest or best-known of software companies - Andy Walker says he wouldn't want it to be, not under the Taskset name anyway - but it's pretty certain that most 64 owners will have seen and probably bought a Taskset game by Christmas.
Taskset's headquarters are situated in Bridlington, Yorkshire, a small seaside town kept going by the annual hordes of holidaymakers. "We're here for historical reasons," explained Andy "I've moved around a lot in the last ten years, and somehow I ended up here. Once you get onto the motorway it's a reasonable drive to London, so we don't feel too cut off. One great advantage is that if someone comes to visit Taskset we know they really want to talk to us - they can't claim that they just happened to be passing!"
Andy's path into the games software industry was not a straightforward one. Though he might be described as a "whiz", he's no "kid" - his experience in the industry stretches back through many years involved in the arcade business.
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Article Series
This article is part 3 of a 3 part series. Other articles in this series are shown below:
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Is the Force with Taskset's Skywalker?