Datel

Datel ( ; previously Datel Electronics) is a UK-based electronics and game console peripherals manufacturer. As of 2025, Datel Electronics Limited is an active company registered in the United Kingdom, continuing to develop and manufacture video game peripherals and enhancement products . The company is best known for producing a wide range of hardware and peripherals for home computers in the 1980s, for example replacement keyboards for the ZX Spectrum, the PlusD disk interface (originally designed and sold by Miles Gordon Technology) and the Action Replay series of video game cheating devices. Datel was founded by Mike Connors, who still runs the company and was featured in the Sunday Times Rich List as one of the UK's top thousand richest people.

Datel ( ; previously Datel Electronics) is a UK-based electronics and game console peripherals manufacturer. As of 2025, Datel Electronics Limited is an active company registered in the United Kingdom, continuing to develop and manufacture video game peripherals and enhancement products . The company is best known for producing a wide range of hardware and peripherals for home computers in the 1980s, for example replacement keyboards for the ZX Spectrum, the PlusD disk interface (originally designed and sold by Miles Gordon Technology) and the Action Replay series of video game cheating devices. Datel was founded by Mike Connors, who still runs the company and was featured in the Sunday Times Rich List as one of the UK's top thousand richest people. ===1980s=== Datel started off selling AM CB radio transceivers in the UK. These AM-band radios were made illegal in the UK and even the importing of them was deemed illegal until 1981. Datel then started to import the CB radios in component form and build them up. The company started to manufacture products related to home computers that were popular in the 1980s such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. Such devices included light pens and memory expansion. One of their first commercial successes was joystick interfaces for the ZX Spectrum. The greatest commercial success of Datel was the Action Replay, first for the Commodore 64 and then the Amiga. The Commodore 64 version was designed by Richard Bond, with six versions ultimately developed in all. The Amiga version was authored by two German students, Olaf Boehm and Joerg Zanger, who had been inspired by the Commodore 64 version. The Commodore 64 and Amiga Action Replays included the ability to save the entire contents of a home computer's memory to floppy disk or compact audio cassette, and then to reload very quickly. This proved very popular with people, especially when the Commodore 64 could take 20 minutes to load a game from notoriously unreliable tape. It also did not escape people's attention that they could use Action Replays to copy games. The name Action Replay referred to the fact that could instantly restart a game from the position that had saved it. The OCP Art Studio painting software was also successful, in part due to the bundled mouse, which was a novelty on 8-bit systems. Another feature the Amiga and Commodore 64 versions had in common was the ability to add POKEs, or cheats. They also had a system for finding pokes called a Pokefinder, or a trainer. ===2000s=== After numerous unsuccessful attempts at breaking into the sizable US market, Datel found an American partner, InterAct Accessories that was willing to distribute their products under a new name, GameShark. InterAct Accessories made cheat devices for most major consoles from the third through seventh generations. The GameShark's success helped InterAct dominate the video game accessory market with 70 percent share, the most successful being the ones for the Game Boy, and the PlayStation 1 and 2. When InterAct's parent company, Recoton was going through financial difficulties, it decided to discontinue the GameShark name and website by the end of September 2002. In January 2003 Mad Catz acquired the GameShark brand for $5 million after Recoton went bankrupt. As a result, Datel started selling Action Replay products directly to the North American market. In 2003, Datel released the Advance Game Port as an alternative to the Game Boy Player. In 2004, Datel released , a compilation of games for the GameCube, to negative reception. In addition to the Max Media Dock line, Datel also makes hard drive add-ons and wireless adapters for PSP, Nintendo DS and Wii. There is an active homebrew community surrounding the Max Media Dock for Nintendo DS. In 2008, the company released the Wii Freeloader, which allowed users to circumvent regional lockout on the Wii. However, it was rendered inoperable shortly thereafter on any Wii running firmware 3.3 or later, which targeted unauthorized modifications of the system. In 2009 the TurboFire was released for the PS3. It has a modified design and offers turbo functions for the buttons. Unlike most aftermarket controllers the TurboFire uses Bluetooth and connects wirelessly to the PS3 without the need for an adapter. Datel operated the TV station Max TV, on Sky Digital, Channel 675 until its closure in 2010. ==References==

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