Digital Leisure

Last updated
Digital Leisure, Inc.
Company type Private
Industry Video games
Founded Ontario, Canada
(August 1997)
Headquarters Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Key people
David Foster
Paul Gold
Website www.digitalleisure.com

Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software. The company formed in 1997 with the aim to acquire, remaster and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as the Don Bluth-animated titles Dragon's Lair , Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace . Over time, they have acquired the publishing rights to various full motion video games, which they have re-released on a variety of modern formats. In more recent years, they have produced original games as well.

Contents

History

Digital Leisure was formed by former employees of Readysoft. [1] In its initial years of existence, Digital Leisure acquired the publishing rights to many full motion video games. In addition to the Don Bluth titles, the company acquired the North American rights to publish Tender Loving Care , an interactive movie on DVD-ROM and CD-ROM featuring Academy Award nominee John Hurt in early 1999.

In early 2000, the company added the development and publishing rights of Dragon's Lair creator Rick Dyer's arcade game Hologram Time Traveler which was released in the fall of 2000 on multiple formats. The game was the first arcade game to simulate 3D holographic images. Later that year, the company acquired the worldwide publishing rights to Dyer's Kingdom II: Shadoan for DVD-ROM, DVD-Video and CD-ROM. [2]

In 2001, the company acquired the development and worldwide publishing rights to the entire American Laser Games catalog of nine full motion video arcade titles including Mad Dog McCree , Crime Patrol and Who Shot Johnny Rock? These titles have been released on CD-ROM and DVD-Video with Space Pirates and Fast Draw Showdown released in late 2005.

Digital Leisure signed a distribution agreement with Empire Interactive in 2003 to release the "Virtual Music Studio" brand eJay to the North American market. In 2008, Empire Interactive was purchased by Silver Star Holdings and Digital Leisure ceased all distribution of the eJay product line.

In 2007, Digital Leisure in partnership with Bluth Group Ltd, restored and remastered some of its more popular titles to high definition to be played in Blu-ray and HD DVD players. [3]

The company began development on a line of Wii-based titles in the summer of 2008, and released their first title, The Incredible Maze on Nintendo's WiiWare service on October 24, 2008. Digital Leisure followed up this release in November 2008 with Sudoku Challenge! . On March 27, 2009, Digital Leisure released Texas Hold'em Tournament on the WiiWare service.

In 2010, Digital Leisure began creating content for PlayStation Home. Over the course of the next four years they released Dragon's Lair and Space Ace branded content for the platform as well as their own original avatar clothing, private spaces and public gaming spaces including the Western Frontier and Paradise Springs Casino spaces. The Casino became one of Home's most popular spaces, with chip sales in the top 10 items sold for several months running. [4] Due to the success of both this space and Texas Hold'em Tournament on the Wii, Digital Leisure began working on a new standalone social casino game. On Feb 18, 2015, after the announcement of Home's closure, Digital Leisure released the Early Access version of The Four Kings Casino and Slots on Steam. [5] [6]

Games

DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD

WiiWare

Wii

Nintendo DSi/DSiWare

PlayStation Network

Mobile devices

Steam

Nintendo Switch

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuon (DVD technology)</span> Video game console

Nuon is a technology developed by VM Labs that adds features to a DVD player. In addition to viewing DVDs, one can play 3D video games and use enhanced DVD navigational tools such as zoom and smooth scanning of DVD playback. One could also play CDs while the Nuon graphics processor generates synchronized graphics on the screen. There were plans to provide Internet access capability in the next generation of Nuon-equipped DVD players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Huelsbeck</span> Musical artist

Christopher Hülsbeck, known internationally as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German video game music composer. He gained popularity for his work on game soundtracks for The Great Giana Sisters and the Turrican series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Bluth</span> American filmmaker and animator (born 1937)

Donald Virgil Bluth is an American filmmaker, animator, and author. He is best known for directing the animated films The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), Anastasia (1997), and Titan A.E. (2000), for his involvement in the LaserDisc game Dragon's Lair (1983), and for competing with former employer Walt Disney Productions during the years leading up to the films that became the Disney Renaissance. He is the older brother of illustrator Toby Bluth.

<i>Space Ace</i> LaserDisc based videogame

Space Ace is a LaserDisc video game produced by Bluth Group, Cinematronics and Advanced Microcomputer Systems. It was unveiled in October 1983, just four months after the Dragon's Lair game, followed by a limited release in December 1983 and then a wide release in Spring 1984. Like its predecessor, it featured film-quality animation played back from a LaserDisc.

<i>Dragons Lair II: Time Warp</i> 1990 video game

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp is a 1990 laserdisc video game by the Leland Corporation. It is the first true sequel to Dragon's Lair. As with the original, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp consists of an animated short film that requires the player to move the joystick or press a fire button at certain times in order to continue. It takes place years after the original Dragon's Lair. Dirk has married Daphne, and the marriage has produced many children. When Daphne is kidnapped by the evil wizard Mordroc in order to be forced into marriage, Dirk's children and his mother-in-law are clearly upset by the abduction of Daphne, and Dirk must once again save her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D3 Publisher</span> Japanese video game developer and publisher

D3 Publisher Inc. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded on February 5, 1992. The company is known for the Simple series of budget-priced video games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii U, Android, and iOS.

Time Traveler or Hologram Time Traveler is a LaserDisc interactive movie arcade game. It was designed by Dragon's Lair creator Rick Dyer, and released in 1991 by Sega. Its plot is that an American old west cowboy named Marshal Gram travels to various timelines to rescue Princess Kyi-La and defeat the evil time lord Vulcor. The game is best known for its arcade cabinet which displays a "holographic" like projection, produced using optical technology from Dentsu.

<i>Mad Dog McCree</i> 1990 Western-themed arcade video game

Mad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games. It originally appeared as an arcade game in 1990.

<i>The Last Bounty Hunter</i> 1994 video game

The Last Bounty Hunter is a live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games in 1994. Like almost all of the games produced by the now-defunct company, it is a rail shooter and, like the two installments in the Mad Dog McCree series before it, is set in the Old West. However, it takes a more comedic approach than the Mad Dog McCree games in both its story sequences and the characters' comically exaggerated reactions to being shot. Filmed at Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona, it was one of the company's last releases before it was forced to close down. It was re-released by Digital Leisure in 2002 and was eventually packaged with Fast Draw Showdown by Global VR as an arcade cabinet under the name Six Gun Select.

<i>Thayers Quest</i> 1984 video game

Thayer's Quest is a LaserDisc video game initially developed by RDI Video Systems in 1984 for their unreleased Halcyon console, and later released in arcades as a conversion kit for Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. In 1995 it was ported to home consoles and PC under the title Kingdom: The Far Reaches. The arcade machine had a membrane keypad for controls instead of a joystick. To help players learn the daunting—for an arcade game—controls, a small holder containing instructional leaflets was attached to the cabinet. A sequel, Kingdom II: Shadoan, was released in 1996.

<i>Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold</i> 1992 video game

Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold is a live-action laserdisc video game produced by American Laser Games, released for the arcade, Sega CD, 3DO, CD-i and DOS, the first release being in 1992; the quality of the video is the lowest on Sega CD. A sequel to the moderately popular Mad Dog McCree, the game abandoned the rather simple style of the original, introducing elements that can be considered "Hollywood", including dynamic shootout scenes and in-game music, as opposed to the original's almost complete lack thereof. Like the first game, the player follows the storyline and is required to quickly shoot certain enemies to proceed on the quest. The game was re-released by Digital Leisure in 2003 on DVD-Video and again in 2009 on the Wii as part of the Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack, a compilation that also includes the first Mad Dog game as well as The Last Bounty Hunter.

The Leland Corporation California-based was an arcade video game company formed on June 5, 1987 from the assets of Cinematronics. It was a subsidiary of arcade and home game producer Tradewest, which acquired those assets out of the former company’s bankruptcy. After 1992, the company moved to development of home games to be published by Tradewest and other companies like Williams under the name Leland Interactive Media. In 1994, when WMS Industries acquired Tradewest, Leland was absorbed into their internal development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babaroga (company)</span>

Babaroga, LLC. is a Chicago, Illinois-based video game developer specializing in iOS, Windows, Android, and Feature Phone games. The company has created many licensed games for publishers such as Electronic Arts, and Disney Interactive, as well as original titles with publishers such as Microsoft and Glu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludia</span>

Ludia is a Canadian video game developer based in Montreal, Quebec that creates and distributes cross-platform digital games with mass consumer appeal. Ludia produces original and branded properties based on game shows, television series, movies, books and board games. In addition to developing games for Facebook, iOS, Android and Amazon, Ludia has created games for Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, Mac, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, with Kinect, and Wii in the past.

<i>Dragons Lair</i> (1983 video game) 1983 LaserDisc-based arcade game

Dragon's Lair is an interactive film LaserDisc video game developed by Advanced Microcomputer Systems and published by Cinematronics in 1983, as the first game in the Dragon's Lair series. In the game, the protagonist Dirk the Daring is a knight attempting to rescue Princess Daphne from the evil dragon Singe who has locked the princess in the foul wizard Mordroc's castle. It featured animation by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth.

Dragon's Lair is a video game franchise created by Rick Dyer. The series is notable for its Western animation-style graphics and complex decades-long history of being ported to many platforms. It has been adapted into television and comic book series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paon DP</span> Japanese video game development company

Paon DP Co., Ltd. (株式会社パオン・ディーピー) is a Japanese video game developer. The company was founded in August 2004 as DP Inc. and merged with Paon Corporation, Ltd. in March 2015 to form Paon DP.

ReadySoft was a video game developer and publisher and distributor founded in 1987 by David Foster, based in Ontario, Canada. Products include various emulators as well as home computer ports of Sullivan Bluth's Laser disc game series Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, and their sequels. As a publisher, they frequently handled North American release of games by French developer Silmarils.

References

  1. "Dragon's Lair Goes DVD". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 102. Ziff Davis. January 1998. p. 28.
  2. "Digital Leisure, Inc. | Video Game Publisher | BoardGameGeek". videogamegeek.com. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  3. "HT Talks To... Don Bluth". Sound & Vision. 2007-09-10. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  4. "SCEA Top Ten Items (By Units Sold) For March, With Consumer Trend Analysis | HomeStation Magazine". www.hsmagazine.net. Archived from the original on 2012-04-06.
  5. "The Four Kings Casino and Slots on Steam".
  6. "The Four Kings Casino and Slots Release Information for PC - GameFAQs". gamefaqs.gamespot.com. Retrieved 2024-04-29.