CDS Software

For CDS, the Canadian software publisher, see Commercial Data Systems.

CDS Software (also known as CDS Micro Systems for its earlier titles) was an independent publisher and developer of computer game software based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK.

History

The company was founded by Ian Williams, a computer programmer from Doncaster who started developing games for the Sinclair ZX80 shortly after its launch. After the initial company success he employed Giles Hunter (A manager from Doncaster W.H Smiths) to help expand the business. He sold his company to Giles Hunter to pursue other interests in 1985.

In 1985, the company launched the Blue Ribbon budget label.

In 1988 CDS Software, under the CDS group of companies changed its name to Nimrod Holdings Ltd. Publishing continued under the CDS Software Label until the early 1990s. The company name eventually changed to Guildhall Leisure Services and from 2002 to the present day it is known as iDigicon Ltd.

Games

The first games released in 1982-3 were for the 16k ZX Spectrum consisting mainly of clones of arcade games. The company expanded to different formats with titles like Steve Davis Snooker and Colossus Chess seeing releases on most platforms of the day. The launch of the budget label Blue Ribbon saw simple arcade type games diverted to that label with CDS concentrating on full price titles, often incorporating tie-in licences such as Brian Clough's Football Fortunes and Sporting Triangles. They also released the computer game crossed with a board game, TankAttack. The Complete Home Entertainment Centre was a compendium of games that were later split and sold as stand alone titles by Blue Ribbon (such as Video Card Arcade and Dominoes).

In the early 90s, CDS re-issued or picked up UK distribution of games for companies such as D&H (e.g. Multi-Player Soccer Manager), MicroIllusions (e.g. Fire Power) and Artworx (e.g. the Strip Poker games).