26 Green Guide Thursday 10 September HOME M T E R S Games manufacturer right on the beam IKE SOME punch-drunk boxer, the economy has tried to stagger from the canvas. This is no ordinary match; it has not been fought to Queensberry rules, the spectators feel every blow and the reigning champ was seen to slip something heavy into both gloves. The crowd jeers scornfully at the referee and his selective blindness to each foul blow. So, was this the contest we had to have? Rather than watch the referee sink his boot in to finish the poor guy, some members of the audience have decided to make sure this is a clean fight. Beam Software is in the ring, with its sleeves rolled up. It has stayed off the ropes since 1980, an uncommon situation in any industry, let alone anything as mercurial as the software business. Even if a company has a strong product line, there are no real guarantees of survival. In addition to rising development and production costs, a software house has to contend with a highly competitive market, high licensing fees and the twin threats of "grey traders" and software piracy. Faced with such daunting prospects and uncertain futures, it is a wonder that any company could survive, let alone prosper ... And yet, this is the case with Beam Software, which began operation next to Melbourne House, a publishing company founded in 1978 by Alfred Milgrom. After determining that a market existed among Sinclair ZX-80 computer users, his company published a book of programs for that machine. Although its sales of 6000 copies may LEE PERKINS be considered modest by some standards, it had set the direction in which Melbourne House was to move. Beam Software evolved in 1980, producing programs for Sinclair, Commodore and BBC microcomputers. One of the more notable releases at this time was The Hobbit, a strategic adventure based on J. R. R Tolkien's novel. In 1987, Melbourne House (UK) was sold to Mastertronic, part of Richard Branson's Virgin group of companies. From this point, Beam Software consolidated its position within the industry. The company exhibited a strong growth pattern and has successfully moved into an area seemingly reserved for the "big time" players; the design and production of video-game cartridges, as well as software for the IBM PC. Beam Software is unique in its position in Australia; there are no other local companies supplying the console market 1 to any significant degree, although this situation may change as the economy achieves some measure of stability. This is not a game for the faint-hearted, especially as far as cartridges are concerned. Milgrom says the standard of quality demanded by companies such as Nintendo, Sega, Dis- ney and Lucasfilm Games precludes any haphazard approach to such a project. Beam Software has taken the TQC (total quality control) approach from its earliest days; a strategy that has ensured its "survival with style" in these uncertain times. A cartridge-based program is more expensive to operate than the process of bulk duplication of floppy-disks for PC use. This is one of the prime considerations behind the pursuit of high quality, although my visit to Beam Software yielded something much more personal motivation. In my tour of Beam's Park Street, South Melbourne, facility, I gained the impression that each person genuinely enjoyed working there, and took an artisan's pride in his or her creations. B' ly EAM tem, for the although Software's Nintendo the flagship company range Entertainment also is primari- creates Syswares for Gameboy, Super-NES, PC-9801, CDRom, PC Engine, Sega Megadrive and IBM-PC. As the overseas market is Beam's main target, all software is developed on NTSC format, to create a readily saleable product. In the five years that Beam has been involved with development of Nintendo products, it has released more than 40 titles for the NES, 10 for the Game Boy, and three for the promising Super-NES format. A good many of these are "name" titles, such as Star Wars, The Hunt for Red October, Days of Thunder and the Back to the Future series. An impressive tally, and the merest portion of them, at that! Beam has approximately 14 further titles in various stages of development. Hot on the heels of runaway best-seller Aussie Rules Footy is International Cricket, ready for release around October/November. As an unashamed fantasist, these titles do not stir me to wax lyrical, although their arrival is awaited with bated breath elsewhere. My interests lie elsewhere, far from the sweat and grunt of athletic prima-donnas: I look forward to the release of Shadowrun - a mix of magic and cyberpunk and Battletech; another FASA Corporation role-playing conversion. Even viewed from my "kid-in-a-toyshop" frame of mind, I was able to see how Beam had managed to remain viable during lean times. The idea of "working smart" had taken root back in the days of Melbourne House, and has carried over to the present. Milgrom has tested the waters cannily and concentrated upon servicing the booming console-game industry, as opposed to a reliance on a more uncertain PC software market. The company employs 54 staff and will embark upon a recruiting drive soon. Few software houses have this measure of confidence in their product in this economic climate. Very few Australian companies can echo this same quiet achievement but there is much to gain for those who would dare to try. Beam Software Pty Ltd. 51-53 Park Street, South Melbourne, Vic, 3205. Tel. (03) 699- 6155. Fax: (03) 690 8337.
