History
Jon Woods and David Ward created Spectrum Games as a mail-order business in 1983 after being inspired by the success of Liverpool-based software houses Imagine Software, Bug-Byte and Software Projects. [1] : 13–14 Their initial catalogue was based around clones of arcade video games like Frogger and Missile Command [1] : 13 for various home computers including the ZX81, ZX Spectrum and VIC-20. [2]
While trying to sell their titles into high street stores it became clear that the company name was confusing to owners of machines other than the ZX Spectrum. [1] : 16 The company was renamed Ocean Software leading to some of its games being re-released with different titles so the Berzerk clone Frenzy was reissued as Robotics and Missile Attack became Armageddon.
By September 1984 the success of Ocean allowed Woods and Ward to invest £50,000 in a new software house in return for a 50% stake in the company. U.S. Gold was created by Geoff Brown, owner of Centresoft software distribution, and specialised in importing American Commodore 64 games for the UK market. U.S. Gold had no developers to port the Commodore games for the UK's most popular home computer, the ZX Spectrum, so Ocean produced the conversions of titles such as Beach Head, Raid over Moscow and Tapper through its external development team, Platinum Productions. [3] : 37 [4]
In October 1984 Ocean bought the name and branding of Imagine Software from the liquidators of the failed software house. Although originally intended to be a label exclusively for arcade conversions, [5] the Imagine logo would also be used on a number of original titles, as well as on UK releases of games licensed from Spanish developers Dinamic Software.
In 1985 Ocean and U.S. Gold collaborated again to launch a new label, The Hit Squad, for releasing compilation packages. [3] : 69 The first release featured Ocean's Daley Thompson's Decathlon , U.S. Gold's Beach Head , Jet Set Willy from Software Projects and Sabre Wulf by Ultimate Play the Game — all titles which had sold over a million copies — which led to the title They Sold A Million. The compilation went on to sell over a million copies, as did the second and third instalments in the series.
Over half of Ocean's releases for 8-bit home computers were coin-op conversions and licensed games. [5] While initially focused on British licences, such as Hunchback from Manchester's Century Electronics, [6] Liverpool's Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson, its attention soon shifted to film licences, with The NeverEnding Story becoming its first movie tie-in in 1985. [1] : 16
In 1986, a deal was signed with Taito and Data East for home versions of their arcade games, such as Arkanoid , Renegade , The NewZealand Story and Operation Wolf . Operation Wolf was the first title to be converted to 16-bit platforms by Ocean France, a company created by Ocean and Marc Djan in 1986. The studio produced most of its 16-bit arcade conversions until 1991, when the company became Ocean's French marketing and sales department. [7]
Success of film-licensed games
1986 also produced titles based on the films Rambo , Short Circuit and Cobra , as well as the first licensed Batman game. But it would be its 1988 game RoboCop , adapted from Data East's arcade game based on the film RoboCop , that would go on to become the most successful movie licence in history by the end of the decade. [8]
In 1987, Ocean via Imagine had a deal with Spanish publisher Dinamic Software to release four titles, before launching its own line in the United Kingdom. [9] The following year, Ocean signed a deal with Special FX Software, a company formed by ex-Ocean employees to release titles for home computers, starting with Firefly. [10]
In 1989, The Hit Squad branding reappeared as the new budget re-release label for Ocean's 8-bit back catalogue. [1] : 72 [11] The entire series consisted of 122 titles over seven 8-bit formats. Their uniform style and numbering has led to them becoming highly collectable. [11] Meanwhile, the company was working on its next big film tie-in, which would be specifically aimed at the new graphically superior 16-bit computers, the Atari ST and Amiga. [1] : 58
The success of RoboCop established Ocean globally, [8] [1] : 52 and it would be Warner Bros. who suggested to Ocean that it produce a tie-in based on its forthcoming Batman movie. [1] : 58 The resulting game was another tremendous hit for the company and is now regarded as one of the greatest video game/film tie-ins. [12] The game was used as the basis of the Amiga 500 "Batman Pack", [1] : 58 which became one of the most successful hardware/software bundles of all time. In 1990, Ocean launched its new subsidiary, Ocean of America, led by former Data East boss Ray Musci to publish titles for the American market. [13]
Ocean was voted Best 8-bit Software House of the Year at the 1989 Golden Joystick Awards, [14] along with awards for its 8-bit and 16-bit conversions of Operation Wolf.
Merger with Infogrames (1996)
In 1996, Ocean's parent company Ocean International Ltd. announced they would be purchased by and merge with French publisher Infogrames [15] for £100 million. This was the first key purchase in Infogrames' "Expand through Acquisition" policy. After the merger, Ocean remained as a separate division of Infogrames, continuing to publish and distribute its own games, such as F-22: Air Dominance Fighter ., [16] with the UK subsidiary beginning to distribute titles from Infogrames, such as V-Rally .
In 1997, Infogrames' French publishing division Infogrames Télématique launched a European-focused online gaming website under the Ocean brand called Oceanline. The website offered up simplified online versions of a majority of Infogrames' game catalog. [17]
On 8 February 1998, Bruno Bonnell announced that Ocean Software Limited would be rebranded as Infogrames United Kingdom Limited in order to standardize its various subsidiaries under the Infogrames banner. [18] [19] Ocean of America, Inc. was later renamed as Infogrames Entertainment, Inc. [20] [21] Infogrames continued to use Ocean as a brand name for specific titles until the end of the year when the company quietly retired the brand in favour of their own. The last title published under the Ocean brand altogether was the North American release of GT 64: Championship Edition for the Nintendo 64.
Aftermath
Infogrames Entertainment, Inc. began to publish games under their own banner, replacing Infogrames' previous United States subsidiary I-Motion Inc. Infogrames Entertainment, Inc. was soon folded into Infogrames North America, Inc. — a renaming of Accolade — which then became Infogrames' United States division before being merged and folded into Infogrames, Inc., a renaming of GT Interactive.
The UK subsidiary continued to publish and distribute Infogrames' titles in the country, later being renamed as Atari United Kingdom Limited in 2003. In 2009, Bandai Namco Entertainment purchased Atari SA's European assets, and the remains of Ocean Software currently lie under the hands as Bandai Namco Entertainment's UK publishing and distribution division. [19]
Ashby Computers and Graphics Limited, trading as Ultimate Play the Game, was a British video game developer and publisher, founded in 1982, by ex-arcade video game developers Tim and Chris Stamper. Ultimate released a series of successful games for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, MSX and Commodore 64 computers from 1983 until 1987. Ultimate are perhaps best remembered for the big-selling titles Jetpac and Sabre Wulf, each of which sold over 300,000 copies in 1983 and 1984 respectively, and their groundbreaking series of isometric arcade adventures using a technique termed Filmation. Knight Lore, the first of the Filmation games, has been retrospectively described in the press as "seminal ... revolutionary" (GamesTM), "one of the most successful and influential games of all time" (X360), and "probably ... the greatest single advance in the history of computer games" (Edge).
The Way of the Exploding Fist is a 1985 fighting game based on Japanese martial arts developed by Beam Software, by a team consisting of Gregg Barnett, Bruce Bayley, Neil Brennan and David Johnston. Originally developed on the Commodore 64 and published in June 1985 by Melbourne House, ports were made for Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Commodore 16.
Martin Galway is one of the best known composers of chiptune video game music for the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. His works include Rambo: First Blood Part II, Comic Bakery and Wizball's scores, as well as the music used in the loader for the C64 version of Arkanoid.
Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software, was an Australian video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Australia. Initially formed to produce books and software to be published by Melbourne House, a company they had established in London in 1977, the studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.. In 2006 the studio was sold to Krome Studios.
Ghostbusters is a licensed game by Activision based on the film of the same name. It was designed by David Crane and released for several home computer platforms in 1984, and later for video game console systems, including the Atari 2600, Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System. The primary target was the Commodore 64 and the programmer for the initial version of the game was Adam Bellin. All versions of the game were released in the USA except for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions, which were released only in Europe, and the MSX version, which was released only in Europe, South America, and Japan.
Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited, was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in the 1980s, their primary market was the 8-bit range of computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64. The company was acquired by French video game publisher Infogrames in 1999 and was renamed Infogrames Studios in 2000. Infogrames Studios closed down in 2003.
Palace Software was a British video game publisher and developer during the 1980s based in London, England. It was notable for the Barbarian and Cauldron series of games for 8-bit home computer platforms, in particular the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64. It caused some controversy with its advertisements in computer magazines, particularly for Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax which featured Page Three girl Maria Whittaker as a scantily clad female warrior.
The Commodore 64 Games System is the cartridge-based home video game console version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer. It was released in December 1990 by Commodore into a booming console market dominated by Nintendo and Sega. It was only released in Europe and was a considerable commercial failure. The C64GS came bundled with a cartridge containing four games: Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun, International Soccer, Flimbo's Quest, and Klax.
Mirrorsoft was a British video game publisher founded by Jim Mackonochie as a division of Mirror Group Newspapers. The company was active between 1983 and 1991, and shut down completely in early 1992.
RoboCop 3 is a video game based on the 1993 film of the same name. Amiga, Atari ST and DOS versions were developed by Digital Image Design beginning in September 1990, and published by Ocean Software in December 1991. The Digital Image Design version includes multiple gameplay styles. During 1992 and 1993, other versions consisting of side-scrolling platform gameplay were released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, NES, Super NES, Game Gear, Master System, and Sega Genesis.
Spindizzy is an isometric video game released for several 8-bit home computers in 1986 by Electric Dreams Software. It combines action and puzzle video game elements. Players must navigate a series of screens to explore a landscape suspended in a three-dimensional space. Development was headed by Paul Shirley, who drew inspiration from Ultimate Play the Game games that feature an isometric projection.
Match Day is a football computer game, published by Ocean Software in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum. It is the first game in the Match Day series, and was the creation of programmer Jon Ritman and Chris Clarke. Versions were later released for the Amstrad CPC and PCW, BBC Micro, Commodore 64 and MSX systems.
Crystal Computing, later renamed Design Design, was a British video game developer founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Ian Stamp while students at the University of Manchester. Graham Stafford, Neil Mottershead, Simon Brattel and Martin Horsley, joined the company as it expanded. The company's first software release was a compilation of games for the Sinclair ZX81, though it was with the ZX Spectrum that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with the machine's manufacturer Sinclair to distribute Crystal's Zeus Assembler gave the company sufficient funds for a major marketing campaign for their next product, Halls of the Things, an arcade adventure game that became their most successful title.
The ZX Spectrum's software library was very diverse. While the majority of the software produced for the system was video games, others included programming language implementations, Sinclair BASIC extensions, databases, word processors, spread sheets, drawing and painting tools, and 3D modelling tools.
Eutechnyx Limited is a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on racing games. They are known for their largely panned video game Ride to Hell: Retribution, work with the NASCAR The Game franchise, and as a developer on various other racing titles and games.
RoboCop is a run & gun and beat 'em up video game developed and published by Data East for arcades and Ocean Software for home computers in 1988 based on the 1987 film of the same name. It was sub-licensed to Data East by Ocean Software, who obtained the rights from Orion Pictures at the script stage. Data East and Ocean Software worked in conjunction with each other to release games for the Arcade and home computers respectively for a joint release, with the home computer versions translating the sections that Data East had shown Ocean from an early unfinished build of the game which Ocean then had to expand upon.
Piranha Software was a short-lived video game publishing label created by Macmillan Publishers in 1986 and closed eighteen months later. In that time it gained a reputation for its unusual output from well known developers such as Don Priestley, Design Design and Delta 4. The majority of their games featured licensed properties including the first video game based on the Discworld novels and two games based on the animated television series The Trap Door.
Personal Software Services (PSS) was a British software company based in Coventry, founded by Gary Mays and Richard Cockayne in 1981. The company was acquired by Mirrorsoft in 1987. PSS produced video games for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit computers, Amstrad CPC, Oric computers, and IBM PC compatibles.
Alberto José González Pedraza is a Spanish video game graphic artist, music composer, designer, producer, and co-founder of Bit Managers and Abylight, who has worked on a variety of titles, most notably games released by French video game publisher Infogrames. He has composed music for or worked on over 60 games, ranging from music composition to graphic programming, and eventually became one of the lead designers at the Spanish developer Abylight. Despite having composed dozens of full soundtracks for video games, González has never had any formal music training.
MC Lothlorien was a video games developer and publisher based in United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1982 and initially specialised in developing software for the ZX Spectrum, Dragon 32 and BBC Micro computer platforms on its own Lothlorien publishing label.
