Company type | Limited |
---|---|
Industry | Interactive entertainment |
Founded | 2005 |
Defunct | 2010 |
Fate | Dissolved |
Headquarters | Luton, England |
Key people |
|
Products | Eternity's Child GT Racers (GBA) Etrom Power of Destruction Concrete Surfer (DVD) Johnny Morris: The Magic Memoirs (DVD) |
Website | www.alten8.com |
Alten8 Ltd. was a British video game developer and publisher. It produced both licensed retro games and current format video games, including the emulation code for C64 titles on Nintendo's Virtual Console service. [1]
Alten8 ceased trading in December 2010.
The company was formed by Paul Andrews after his involvement with the website Retro-Trader, which led him to be commissioned to gather retro game licenses for a plug-into-TV video game console using games such as Ant Attack (originally on the ZX Spectrum). When this was never realised he formed Alten8 to make use of the gathered licenses and expanded its remit, gaining Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii and Xbox 360 developer status. [2] An initial GBA release, GT Racers , through another publisher convinced Alten8 to self-publish all titles where possible from that point onwards, or to develop console titles under contract only from major publishers, billing itself as the "Alten8 way of publishing games".
Alten8 published over 500 licensed retro games across formats such as the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amiga. Many mobile phone games were both developed and owned by Alten8, [3] with other licensed PC and Nintendo DS games published across the globe, including the DS remake of the popular homebrew Dreamcast game, Cool Herders. [4] As well as developing the code for several retro titles on the VC, Alten8 also worked with new pioneering mobile phone companies such as Greystripe and Vollee.
In March 2006, Alten8 declared it would be publishing the mobile phone game Office Massacre. This led to a torrent of community and media backlash, with many people offended by the potentially gory and violent content. Bethesda Softworks founder Christopher Weaver even went to the lengths of name-calling Alten8 "... [a] bunch of idiots who don't understand the first thing about social responsibility". [5] The game was quickly cancelled, with Alten8 stating "No offence ... was intended by this game, and we resent the comments made [and] the unfair and unjust comparison of this game to other extreme games." [6] Office Massacre re-appeared, some months later as a reskinned, censor-friendly Office Zombies. [7]
In 2008, Alten8 came under fire inadvertently, after an independent contract designer Luc Bernard who had done a single phone game for Alten8 did an independent interview. Bernard's anti-holocaust-themed DS game 'concept' was discussed, and then subsequently misdescribed by the press in an interview with the NY Times, Imagination Is The Only Escape, which was then immediately met with a media 'controversy' storm, with everyone from Destructoid who stated the concept was "the evolution of gaming, and the chance for videogames to tackle sensitive issues" [8] to The New York Times itself having a distorted view on the interview they themselves carried out. [9] But despite the initial press fuelled public confusion over the concept, an official quote from the Anti-Defamation League spokeswoman Myrna Shinbaum in which she appeared to actually endorse the game concept being made stating "We certainly believe that we have to find new ways of teaching lessons of the Holocaust as new technologies are being developed“ [10] According to several erroneous internet sources, Nintendo themselves claimed that the game would never be released, however, this was confirmed to not be the case, [11] [12] and the game never went past the developers concept art. [13] Imagination and its well-meant intentions by the developer was strongly backed by Alten8, [14] but Alten8 itself had never known of its concept prior to the media storm, nor had any contract with the developer to produce it. Bernard went on to try to crowd fund and develop the game himself in 2013, but was unsuccessful.
As well as video games, Alten8 also licensed material for release on DVD, as well as publishing its own content. In particular, the Johnny Morris DVD, "The Magic Memoirs" is a poignant release, as it was the last recorded Animal Magic episode, and was co-hosted by Terry Nutkins.
In 2008, Alten8 restructured its corporate layout to accommodate the many new staff [15] and many new directions the company was heading in. [16] Whilst the name of the company was the same, Alten8 itself was more of an umbrella term for the many studios underneath its banner, as well as the publishing brand for upcoming releases. Games development created with new IP were to be created by the Skull Monkey Games division, whilst Retro-Soft took care of the licensing and recreation of classic game brands owned by the company, such as the virtual console conversions and retro content for the iPhone. Film and CGI group mangledpixel provided the group with FMV for all internal projects, as well as the creation of external projects like shorts and 4D films; with its first outing, A Dream of Christmas 4D debuting at Babbacombe Model Village. [17]
A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing players to carry them and play them at any time or place.
The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations on minicomputers and mainframes. Spacewar! was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first such games on a video display. The first consumer video game hardware was released in the early 1970s. The first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, and the first arcade video games were Computer Space and Pong. After its home console conversions, numerous companies sprang up to capture Pong's success in both the arcade and the home by cloning the game, causing a series of boom and bust cycles due to oversaturation and lack of innovation.
The history of video game consoles, both home and handheld, began in the 1970s. The first console that played games on a television set was the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey, first conceived by Ralph H. Baer in 1966. Handheld consoles originated from electro-mechanical games that used mechanical controls and light-emitting diodes (LED) as visual indicators. Handheld electronic games had replaced the mechanical controls with electronic and digital components, and with the introduction of Liquid-crystal display (LCD) to create video-like screens with programmable pixels, systems like the Microvision and the Game & Watch became the first handheld video game consoles.
A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone, tablet, PDA to handheld game console, portable media player or graphing calculator, with and without network availability. The earliest known game on a mobile phone was a Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994.
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, released in Japan as The Super Shinobi II, is a 1993 hack-and-slash platform game developed and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It is the direct sequel to the previous The Revenge of Shinobi. The game was intended to be released in 1992 and to be very different from the final version of the game in terms of levels and storyline. Shinobi III received critical acclaim. It's been ranked among the greatest Mega Drive/Genesis games.
Retrogaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the playing and collection of obsolete personal computers, consoles, and video games. Usually, retrogaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued, although ported retrogaming allows games to be played on modern hardware via ports or compilations. It is typically for nostalgia, preservation, or authenticity. A new game could be retro styled, such as an RPG with turn-based combat and pixel art in isometric camera perspective.
The Virtual Console is a defunct line of downloadable video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.
Sun Corporation, is a Japanese electronics manufacturer, video game developer and publisher. They are best known for releasing video games under the brand name Sunsoft.
WayForward Technologies, Inc. is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in Valencia, California. Founded in March 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games for consoles such as the Super NES and Sega Genesis, as well as TV games and PC educational software. In 1997, they relaunched their video games arm, placing the company as a contractor for publishers and working on a variety of licensed assets.
Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD) is a French subsidiary for Nintendo, located in Paris, which develops software technologies and middleware for Nintendo platforms. This includes retro console emulators, patented video codecs, and digital rights management technology.
Ninja Gaiden, released in Japan as Ninja Ryūkenden and as Shadow Warriors in Europe, is a 1988 action-platform game developed and published by Tecmo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Its development and release coincided with the beat 'em up arcade version of the same name. It was released in December 1988 in Japan, in March 1989 in North America, and in August 1991 in Europe. It has been ported to several other platforms, including the PC Engine, the Super NES, and mobile phones.
Bomberman '94 is a video game from the Bomberman series which was developed and published by Hudson Soft for the PC Engine and released on December 10, 1993, in Japan. It was later re-developed by Westone and re-published by Sega as Mega Bomberman on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994 in other areas. The PC Engine Bomberman '94 was later released outside Japan through the Virtual Console and the PlayStation Network.
WiiWare was a service that allowed Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section. Once the user had downloaded the game or application, it would appear in their Wii Menu or SD Card Menu as a new channel. WiiWare was a companion to the Virtual Console, which specializes in emulated games originally developed for other systems instead of original games.
Engine Software is a Dutch video game developer, located in Doetinchem, Netherlands, which specialized in handheld video games and digital platforms until 2011. In the period after (2011-present) they have become more active and known for high-end ports and adaptations of games to modern consoles, mobile, PC and streaming services like Stadia and Luna. Some of the best known games they have worked on include Puzzle Quest for the Nintendo DS, Terraria for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Wii U, Killer7 Remastered for PC, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for Nintendo Switch and No More Heroes / No More Heroes 2 for Nintendo Switch.
The Japanese multinational consumer electronics company Nintendo has developed seven home video game consoles and multiple portable consoles for use with external media, as well as dedicated consoles and other hardware for their consoles. As of September 30, 2021, in addition to Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has sold over 863.07 million hardware units.
G-Mode Corporation is a Japanese company that specializes in games for Java-compatible mobile phones. The company also licenses content for mobile telecommunications operators, as well as being involved in the original equipment manufacturing of mobile phone games.
A video game console emulator is a type of emulator that allows a computing device to emulate a video game console's hardware and play its games on the emulating platform. More often than not, emulators carry additional features that surpass limitations of the original hardware, such as broader controller compatibility, timescale control, easier access to memory modifications, and unlocking of gameplay features. Emulators are also a useful tool in the development process of homebrew demos and the creation of new games for older, discontinued, or rare consoles.
5th Cell is an independently owned American video game developer founded in 2003 as 5th Cell Media, LLC. led by Jeremiah Slaczka and Marius Falhbusch. The company is most well known for creating the Drawn to Life and Scribblenauts series.
Ninja Studio was a Japanese video game developer for mobile phone and handheld gaming consoles. It was best known for its Izuna the Unemployed Ninja series for the Nintendo DS. Ninja Studio was founded in July 2003 with its headquarters in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. Success was the main publisher for the company's games prior to its decision to pull back from releasing Nintendo DS and console titles. Ninja Studio then worked with D3 Publisher before its own acquisition from Namco Bandai Holdings. Ninja Studio appears to have closed, as their official website was taken offline in May 2010.
Outright Games Ltd. is a British video game publisher focused on licensed games, mainly based on family-friendly properties similar to GameMill Entertainment. The company was co-founded in 2016 by Terry Malham as well as his children, Terry Malham-Wallis and Stephanie Malham. It operates offices in London and Madrid.