Company type | Private |
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Industry | Video games |
Founded | 20 November 2014 |
Founders |
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Headquarters | The Arcade, , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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Products | |
Services | |
Website | www.hipsterwhale.com |
Footnotes /references [1] [2] |
Hipster Whale is an Australian independent video game developer and publisher founded on 20 November 2014 by Andy Sum and Matt Hall, shortly before making the game Crossy Road . [3] The company has also created the games Shooty Skies , Pac-Man 256 (in collaboration with Bandai Namco Entertainment), and Disney Crossy Road (in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios).
After meeting at GCAP (Game Center: Asia Pacific) 2013, Andy Sum and Matt Hall decided to make Hipster Whale. [4] The name came from discussing free-to-play games and the word "whale" came up in the conversation. Sum was doodling as they were talking and began drawing a whale, which would later become the company's logo. Sum and Hall kept the whale as the mascot for later on. [5]
Hipster Whale's first game, Crossy Road was planned to take a total of six weeks to develop, but after seeing its potential, the developers spent more than 12 weeks on it. Crossy Road was inspired by linear movement games (modern successors to classic platform games)such as Temple Run and Flappy Bird . [6] The name and concept of the game is based on the joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?". [7]
On 22 May 2015, Bandai Namco Entertainment and Hipster Whale announced Pac-Man 256 , which featured Pac-Man trying to escape ghosts and overcome a glitch while performing the same mechanics as the 1980 video game, with the glitch based on the Level 256 glitch from the original arcade game, [8] but with upgrades and freemium purchases. [9] On 20 August, the game was released, with the game then being released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 22 June 2016 [10]
In March 2016, Hipster Whale announced a spin-off of Crossy Road, Disney Crossy Road , which would be published by Disney Interactive Studios. [11] On 20 July, the company announced its move into video game publishing, and appointed former Atari and Krome Studios Melbourne employee Clara Reeves as the president of Hipster Whale; she had recently worked at Film Victoria. [12] On 7 September, the company released an update towards Disney Crossy Road, which added Monsters, Inc. characters to the game and a mode called the "Weekend Challenge". [13]
Year | Title | Genre | Platform |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Crossy Road | Endless arcade mobile game | iOS, tvOS, Android, Windows Phone |
2015 | Pac-Man 256 | iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, OS X, Linux | |
Shooty Skies | iOS, Android | ||
2016 | Disney Crossy Road (Discontinued) | iOS, Android, Windows Phone | |
2018 | Piffle | iOS, Android, Nintendo | |
2020 | Crossy Road Castle | iOS |
Pac-Man, originally called Puck Man in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.
Namco Limited was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, and Shanghai Namco in mainland China.
Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade video game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is the first sequel to Pac-Man (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's wife, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating the larger "power pellets" lets the player eat the ghosts, who turn blue and flee.
Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to Galaxian (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling a starship, the player is tasked with destroying the Galaga forces in each stage while avoiding enemies and projectiles. Some enemies can capture a player's ship via a tractor beam, which can be rescued to transform the player into a "dual fighter" with additional firepower.
Dig Dug is a maze arcade video game developed by Namco in 1981 and released in 1982, distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player controls Dig Dug to defeat all enemies per stage, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rocks.
Pac-Land is a 1984 side-scrolling arcade platform game developed and released by Namco. It was distributed in North America by Bally Midway, and in Europe by Atari Games. Controlling Pac-Man, the player must make it to the end of each stage to return a lost fairy back to its home in Fairyland. Pac-Man will need to avoid obstacles, such as falling logs and water-spewing fire hydrants, alongside his enemies, the Ghost Gang. Eating large flashing Power Pellets will cause the ghosts to turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for points.
Masaya Nakamura was a Japanese businessman and the founder of Namco. He was the company's president up until 2002, where he took a ceremonial role in its management. Following the formation of Bandai Namco Holdings, Nakamura would retain an honorary position in the video game division, Bandai Namco Entertainment.
Namco Museum Virtual Arcade is a video game compilation developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America in 2008 and in Europe and Japan in 2009. Part of its Namco Museum series, Virtual Arcade includes 34 titles; nine of these are Namco Bandai-published Xbox Live Arcade games, and the rest are arcade games that are only accessible through the disc. Players can access the Xbox Live Arcade games through their dashboard if the disc is in the console.
Namco Generations was a brand name created by Namco Bandai Games for modernized remakes of their older video games. It was introduced in 2010 in conjunction with Pac-Man Championship Edition DX for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Galaga Legions DX was the second game to use the brand, being released in 2011. Two other games were in production under the Namco Generations label, a Metro-Cross sequel named Aero-Cross and a remaster of Dancing Eyes, both of which were cancelled.
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, also known in Japan as Pac-World, is an American-Japanese-Canadian animated television series produced by 41 Entertainment, Arad Productions, a partnership between Sprite Animation Studios and OLM, Inc., and Bandai Namco Entertainment for Tokyo MX, BS11 and Disney XD. Based on Bandai Namco's Pac-Man video game franchise, it is the second animated series to be based upon the game franchise, following the 1982 TV series. The show aired from June 15, 2013, to May 25, 2015, running for two seasons and 52 episodes. The series also aired on Cartoon Network in the same year it premiered as an Acquired series then ending in 2015.
Bandai Namco Studios Inc. is a Japanese video game developer headquartered in Kōtō, Tokyo. Its offices in Malaysia and Singapore, Bandai Namco Studio Malaysia and Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, are based out of Selangor, Malaysia and Infinite Studios, Singapore respectively. Bandai Namco Studios is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Entertainment, which itself is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. The company works under its parent company as a keiretsu; Bandai Namco Studios creates video games for home consoles, handheld systems, mobile devices and arcade hardware, while Bandai Namco Entertainment handles the managing, marketing and publishing of these products.
Crossy Road is an arcade video game released on 20 November 2014. It was developed and published by Australian video game developer Hipster Whale, with the name and concept of the game playing on the age-old joke/anti-joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?" The game has also been described as endless runner version of Frogger.
Enterrium is a contemporary American restaurant and video arcade located at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois. The restaurant and entertainment destination was originally inspired by Pac-Man and the name refers to the famous kill screen, which occurs when the player reaches the 256th level of the original Pac-Man game, meaning "the next level of dining and entertainment". It was owned by Bandai Namco Entertainment from 2015 to 2021, which also owns all Pac-Man-related intellectual property. The restaurant celebrated its soft opening on March 2, 2015, and its grand opening in April 2015.
Pac-Man 256 is an endless runner video game developed by Hipster Whale and 3 Sprockets and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game is part of the Pac-Man series and is inspired by the original Pac-Man game's infamous Level 256 glitch. The game was originally released as a free-to-play title for iOS and Android on August 20, 2015. In June 21, 2016, Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver released a version of the game for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, featuring additional features like multiplayer for up to 4 players, a new power-up, and no longer having to wait a certain amount of time to get power-ups, and instead having to eat a number of Pac-Dots.
The Arcade Game Series is a line of downloadable Namco arcade games by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. They were all released on April 20, 2016.
Shooty Skies is an arcade shooting game created by Hipster Whale and Mighty Games for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. It was released on iOS on September 30, 2015, and on Android on November 6, 2015; it was later released on Windows, macOS, and Linux on March 6, 2018.
Pac-Man Museum+ is a 2022 compilation video game developed by Now Production and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Being a sequel to the 2014 compilation title Pac-Man Museum, Pac-Man Museum+ includes 14 games from the Pac-Man series, with additional features such as missions and online leaderboards.