The golden age of Spanish software (Spanish: edad de oro del software español) was a time between 1983 and 1992, when Spain became the second largest 8-bit computer entertainment software producer in Europe, only behind the United Kingdom. Many software companies based in Spain launched their career in this period, including Dinamic Software, Topo Soft, Opera Soft, Made in Spain and Zigurat. The widespread adoption of 16-bit technology and rampant software piracy led to it abruptly stopping around 1992. The name Edad de oro del soft español was coined by specialized magazines of the time and has been used to refer to these years until nowadays.
History
Rise (1983–1985) In the year 1983, the first home personal computers started arriving in Spain, all of them 8 bit machines. ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC were the most sold in the country, followed by MSX and Commodore 64 among others. These were simple machines, with lesser resources, therefore easy to manipulate, so many young programmers all over the country started experimenting with them. The Golden Era of Spanish Software officially starts with the launch of Bugaboo, by PACO & PACO, the first Spanish video game to get a massive international distribution. Shortly, Fred (Roland on the ropes for Amstrad), by others authors, this time under the company Made in Spain, was another success, and the owners of Made in Spain decided to create Zigurat, a mother company that would at first be dedicated to distribution, turning Made in Spain into a producing company for Zigurat, which also would at first distribute titles from independent companies. Years later, Made in Spain and Zigurat would completely merge into a single producer and distributor company. Meanwhile, Dinamic Software made their first steps when they launched Yenght for ZX Spectrum, which was a text adventure. And in the field of distribution, Erbe Software, the main Spanish software distributor for more than a decade, started their activity. In their first years, Erbe tried also to produce their own titles, but in this activity they did not last for long.
Peak (1985–1989) In 1985, with the birth of magazines Micromanía and Microhobby, videogames gained massive popularity, and the rest of the top companies of the Era, Opera Soft in 1986 and Topo Soft in 1987 started their activity, the first one with Livingstone, I presume, and the second one with Spirits, after their authors programmed for Erbe Software Las tres luces de Glaurung (Conquestador). The just born Zigurat had their biggest success as Sir Fred and El misterio del Nilo, an unofficial version of the movie The Jewel of the Nile, which caused problems internationally because one of the characters of the game was too similar to Michael Douglas, and the authors were forced to change the graphic design of this character in the international versions. Dinamic had their first huge successes in the Johny Jones trilogy, comprising Saimazoom, Babaliba, and mainly Abu Simbel Profanation. After this, they would start another trilogy, the Moves trilogy, comprising Army Moves, Navy Moves, and much later Arctic Moves. And little by little, publishing titles starring famous sportsmen became popular. Dinamic were the first, with Basket Master starring Fernando Martín, and they were followed by other companies, with titles starring Ángel Nieto, Carlos Sainz, Poli Díaz, Emilio Butragueño and others. Meanwhile, Opera Soft published Goody, Sol Negro, Cosa Nostra, and above all, La Abadía del Crimen, based on Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. On the other hand, Topo Soft, the last of the big ones, quickly arrived on top with titles like Mad Mix Game and its continuation, and Survivor among others. Meanwhile, Dinamic published a text adventure version of Don Quijote, and after that, a section of Dinamic dedicated only to text adventures became independent, and they named themselves Aventuras AD, publishing titles like El Jabato among others.
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