Flair Software

aka(s): Microvalue, Microvalue-Flair, Flair

Flair Software was a software developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England. It was incorporated on 5th June 1990. They have developed software on most console platforms as well as for the PC and continue to produce top quality software on the cutting edge of techology. They have been developing and publishing their own computer games and sometimes involving external publishers such as the industry's giants like Konami and EA.

They were approached by EA with their top selling Rugby Union game on the Megadrive, and asked to convert the game to Rugby League for sale in Australia. This was obviously a major task, as the difference between the two sports codes is considerable. The result was Australian Rugby League. The project was completed on a very tight time scale and released to rave reviews, selling out in most Australian stores. It spent considerable time at number one.

Konami, having seen their excellent track record, were taken by one of their products on the SNES, an isometric puzzler called Whizz, and were very interested in having a Playstation and a Saturn version coded. Whizz had enjoyed a long and successful life on the Amiga, the PC and the SNES and Konami believed it could continue to do so on the Playstation and the Saturn.

While coding on the industry's cutting edge hardware, Microvalue has also continued to produce a constant stream of classic PC titles. These games have encompassed all different genres, from arcade shoot 'em ups, to realistic sport sims, driving games and absorbing adventures.

They currently enjoy a very strong relationship with many top software development teams and publishing houses all over England and especially in Europe. Their latest range of software, developed over the past 2 years is primarily made up of 3D titles. After being aproached by American company Valu-Soft in 1998 to produce a range of 3D hunting titles, they have produced a steady stream of such 3D titles ever since. Since September 1998, they have produced over eight full 3D games, utilising various 3D engines, along with several other non 3D titles.

The company dissolved on 22nd January 2002.

Notable collaborators: Martin Lasser, Wilfried Reiter, Hannes Seifert, Phillip Nixon and Albert Lasser