 | |
| Type | Private-owed company |
|---|---|
| Industry | CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs |
| Defunct | September 2017 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Website | www.kutoka.com |
Kutoka Interactive was an educational software company founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1995. [1] The company produced, developed, and distributed both subject-based and grade-based video games for Windows and Macintosh from 1996 to 2017. They were most famous for their Mia games.
Founded in Montreal in 1995, Kutoka started developing multimedia CD-ROM titles for third-party publishers. [2] Some of the company's biggest clients included Fisher-Price, Corel, and Compaq.
In 1998, Kutoka launched its first self-published title Mia's Reading Adventure: The Search for Grandma's Remedy, assuming complete responsibility for product development, publishing, and distribution. [1]
In March 2009, Kutoka's products were sold through licensees in 42 countries, in 14 languages. [3]
In 2017, Kutoka decided to shut down their operations after 22 years of service. There was no bankruptcy. The company transferred its assets and IP to Zoki S.E.N.C. [4] An open letter from the company's remaining employees was posted to Kutoka's website, which gave thanks to their supporters and shareholders. The website's former page web has been archived by the Wayback Machine at the request of Kutoka. [5] and is also available via a link in the message on the home page.
In 2010 [7] Radio Canada and Sardine Productions began developing a 26-episode cartoon series based on the games. The series was broadcasting on the Toonavision channel as of December 2019. [8]
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the form of interactive narratives or interactive narrations. These works can also be understood as a form of video game, either in the form of an adventure game or role-playing game. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game where the entire interface can be "text-only", however, graphical text adventures still fall under the text adventure category if the main way to interact with the game is by typing text. Some users of the term distinguish between interactive fiction, known as "Puzzle-free", that focuses on narrative, and "text adventures" that focus on puzzles.
JumpStart is an educational media franchise for children, consisting mostly of educational games, produced by JumpStart Games. The series originally consisted of a series of educational PC games but has since expanded to include workbooks, direct-to-video films, mobile apps, and other media, including a massive multiplayer online game located at JumpStart.com, that were launched on March 10, 2009.
Creatures is an artificial life video game series, created in the mid-1990s by English computer scientist Steve Grand whilst working for the Cambridge video games developer Millennium Interactive.
The Triplets of Belleville is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as Belleville Rendez-vous in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature film and was an international co-production among companies in France, Belgium, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Adobe Shockwave is a discontinued multimedia platform for building interactive multimedia applications and video games. Developers originate content using Adobe Director and publish it on the Internet. Such content could be viewed in a web browser on any computer with the Shockwave Player plug-in installed. MacroMind originated the technology; Macromedia acquired MacroMind and developed it further, releasing Shockwave Player in 1995. Adobe then acquired Shockwave with Macromedia in 2005. Shockwave supports raster graphics, basic vector graphics, 3D graphics, audio, and an embedded scripting language called Lingo.
Living Books is a series of interactive read-along adventures aimed at children aged 3–9. Created by Mark Schlichting, the series was mostly developed by Living Books for CD-ROM and published by Broderbund for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows. Two decades after the original release, the series was re-released by Wanderful Interactive Storybook for iOS and Android.
Behaviour Interactive Inc. is a Canadian video game development studio specializing in the production of 2D and 3D action/adventure games for home video game consoles, handheld game consoles, PCs and mobile. Based in Montreal, the company is the producer and publisher of the action-horror game, Dead by Daylight.
Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company is best known for developing multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam and Spy Fox, which, combined, sold over 15 million copies and earned more than 400 awards of excellence.
Aquaria is a side-scrolling action-adventure game designed by Alec Holowka and Derek Yu, who published the game in 2007 as the independent game company Bit Blot. The game follows Naija, an aquatic humanoid woman, as she explores the underwater world of Aquaria. Along her journey, she learns about the history of the world she inhabits as well as her own past. The gameplay focuses on a combination of swimming, singing, and combat, through which Naija can interact with the world. Her songs can move items, affect plants and animals, and change her physical appearance into other forms that have different abilities, like firing projectiles at hostile creatures, or passing through barriers inaccessible to her in her natural form.
Toon Boom Animation Inc. is a Canadian software company that specializes in animation production and storyboarding software. Founded in 1994 and based in Montreal, Quebec, Toon Boom develops animation and storyboarding software for film, television, web animation, games, mobile devices, training applications, and education. It was acquired by Corus Entertainment in 2012.
indiePub Entertainment, Inc. was a publisher of video games based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.
Mia's Math Adventure: Just in Time! is the third title of the Mia's Big Adventure Collection software series created by Kutoka Interactive. Released in 2001 in Canada and the United States, the game teaches mathematics to children between 6 and 10 years old.
Mia's Science Adventure: Romaine's New Hat is the second title of the Mia's Big Adventure Collection software series created by Kutoka Interactive. Released in 2000 in Canada and the United States, the game teaches sciences to children between 6 and 10 years old.
Mia's Big Adventure Collection is an edutainment software series created in 1998 by Kutoka Interactive. The series consists in five subject-based titles for children in elementary school.
Mia's Reading Adventure: The Bugaboo Bugs is the latest title of Mia's Big Adventure Collection software series created by Kutoka Interactive. Release in late 2007 in Canada and the United States, the game teaches reading to children between 5 and 9 years old.
Mia's Language Adventure: The Kidnap Caper is the fourth title of Mia's Big Adventure Collection software series created by Kutoka Interactive. Released in 2003 in Canada and the United States, the game teaches French and Spanish as a second language to children between 6 and 10 years old.
Didi & Ditto is an edutainment software series created in 2003 by Kutoka Interactive. The series consists in three grade-based titles for preschool, kindergarten and first grade.
ExploreLearning is a Charlottesville, Virginia-based company which operates a large library of interactive online simulations for mathematics and science education in grades 3–12. These simulations are called 'Gizmos'. The company's website describes their library of over 450 Gizmos as the world's largest collection of such materials.
The Arthur video games franchise was a series of learning and interactive story video games based on the American-Canadian children's TV show Arthur. The games were released in the 1990s and 2000s for PlayStation and Windows and Mac OS computers.
Mia's Reading Adventure: The Search for Grandma's Remedy is a 1998 video game developed and published by Montreal-based studio Kutoka Interactive. The game is aimed at children age 5.
