Scavenger, Inc.

Last updated

Scavenger was a video game publisher that worked closely with GT Interactive. [1] SCAVENGER Based in Los Angeles, the company was unique in that most of its graphic specialists were members of the Amiga demoscene, [2] which demonstrated that utilizing the potential of an underground talent pool of highly skilled self-taught coders, designers and musicians could be a viable business model.

The demoscene background influenced many of the released or work-in-progress game projects, which were often technically innovative and accomplished feats that were previously thought impossible on the respective hardware platforms. For example, the Sega 32X 3D engine developed by Scavenger Team Zyrinx is still regarded as one of the best of its kind. [3] [4]

Among the teams working on games for Scavenger were:

Scavenger went bankrupt around 1998. Many of the original teams' members are now active in other game companies, such as IO Interactive.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sega Saturn</span> Home video game console

The Sega Saturn is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the successful Genesis. The Saturn has a dual-CPU architecture and eight processors. Its games are in CD-ROM format, including several ports of arcade games and original games.

Legend Entertainment Company was an American developer and publisher of computer games, best known for creating adventure titles throughout the 1990s. The company was founded by Bob Bates and Mike Verdu, both veterans of the interactive fiction studio Infocom that shut down in 1989. Legend's first two games, Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All the Girls and Timequest, had strong sales that sustained the company. Legend also profited from negotiating licenses to popular book series, allowing them to create notable game adaptations such as Companions of Xanth and Gateway. Legend also earned a reputation for comedic adventures, with numerous awards for Eric the Unready in 1993. As the technology of the game industry changed, Legend continued to expand its game engine to take advantage of higher graphical fidelity, mouse support, and the increased media storage of the compact disc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Game Artists</span> Video game developer

United Game Artists (UGA) was a subsidiary of Sega headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, a video game developer who had experience with Sega's AM3 division. After separating with Kenji Sasaki to form AM Annex, Mizuguchi left Sasaki's team to form another division. This studio would later be known as Sega Consumer Development 4 (CS4) and Research and Development #9 while a department of Sega, before becoming UGA as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sega.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accolade (company)</span> American video game company

Accolade, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher based in San Jose, California. The company was founded as Accolade in 1984 by Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead, who had previously co-founded Activision in 1979. The company became known for numerous sports game series, including HardBall!, Jack Nicklaus and Test Drive.

<i>Night Trap</i> 1992 interactive movie

Night Trap is a 1992 interactive movie developed by Digital Pictures and published by Sega for the Sega CD. Presented primarily through full-motion video (FMV), Night Trap has the player observe teenage girls having a sleepover visiting a house which, unbeknownst to them, is infested with vampires. The player watches live surveillance footage and triggers traps to capture anyone endangering the girls. The player can switch between different cameras to keep watch over the girls and eavesdrop on conversations to follow the story and listen for clues.

The fifth generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld gaming consoles dating from approximately October 4, 1993, to March 23, 2006. The best-selling home console was the Sony PlayStation, followed by the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn. The PlayStation also had a redesigned version, the PSone, which was launched on July 7, 2000.

<i>Sega Rally Championship</i> 1995 video game

Sega Rally Championship is a 1994 racing game developed and published by Sega. Originally released for arcades using the Sega Model 2 board, ports were published for the Sega Saturn in 1995 and Microsoft Windows in 1997. The Sega Rally Championship simulates driving on different surfaces, with different friction properties, with the car's handling changing accordingly. As the first racing game to incorporate this feature, Sega Rally Championship is considered to be one of the milestones in the evolution of the racing game genre. It was also an early rally racing game and featured cooperative gameplay alongside the usual competitive multiplayer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Sega</span> American musician

Andrew Gregory Sega, also known as Necros, is an American musician best known for tracking modules in the 1990s demoscene as well as for composing music for several well-known video games. He was a member of the synthpop duo Iris from 2001 until its disbandment in 2021. In 2020, he founded the dark wave duo Hallowed Hearts.

<i>Scorcher</i> (video game) 1996 video game

Scorcher is a futuristic racing video game by Danish developer Zyrinx, released in 1996 for the PC and in 1997 for the Sega Saturn. Originally announced under the name "Vertigo", the game focuses on special motorcycles that reach up to 450 km/h racing through dangerous tracks in a dystopian year 2021.

Zyrinx was a video game developer founded in 1992 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It consisted exclusively of people who had been active in the Amiga demo scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including composer Jesper Kyd.

<i>Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft</i> 1996 video game

Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft is a 3D fighting game released for PC and PlayStation.

<i>Hardcore 4x4</i> 1996 video game

Hardcore 4x4 is a racing video game developed by Gremlin Interactive for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It became available for download from PlayStation Store as a PSone Classic for play on the PlayStation 3 on January 10, 2008, in PAL regions. The game utilizes 3D environments and truck models. The soundtrack features hard rock music.

<i>Shinrei Jusatsushi Tarōmaru</i> 1997 video game

Shinrei Jusatsushi Tarōmaru is a side-scrolling action game developed and published by the Japanese division of Time Warner Interactive for the Sega Saturn. Players take on the role of psychic ninjas battling an assortment of demons in Feudal Japan to rescue a kidnapped girl. The game was released in Japan in 1997 amid Time Warner Interactive's closure, resulting in a low print run. It is considered by gaming journalists as one of the rarest, most valuable, and most sought-after Saturn games. Critics have generally praised the game for its layered 2D and 3D visual effects, inventive level design, and impressive boss battles. Some compared it positively to the Shinobi and Castlevania series.

As the Sonic the Hedgehog series of platform games has grown in popularity, its publisher Sega has expanded the franchise into multiple different genres. Among these are several educational video games designed to appeal to young children. The first attempt to create an educational Sonic game was Tiertex Design Studios' Sonic's Edusoft for the Master System in late 1991, which was canceled despite having been nearly finished. When Sega launched the Sega Pico in 1994, it released Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld and Tails and the Music Maker for it. Orion Interactive also developed the 1996 Sega PC game Sonic's Schoolhouse, which used a 3D game engine and had an exceptionally large marketing budget. In the mid-2000s, LeapFrog Enterprises released educational Sonic games for its Leapster and LeapFrog Didj.

Hardcore Gaming 101 is an online video game magazine founded by Kurt Kalata. Kalata established the site after graduating college, when he noticed the overabundance of game strategy guides, and felt that someone should create more books about gaming history. In its formative years, Hardcore Gaming 101 focused especially on games from Japan. The site has become known for its in-depth coverage of classic games and the history behind them.

Vectorman 3 is a cancelled third entry in the Vectorman series of video games published by Sega. At least three separate attempts have been made public; Vectorman 3/Vectorman Ultra for the Sega Saturn, Vectorman Neo for the Sega Dreamcast, and simply Vectorman, as a series reboot for the PlayStation 2. All three were rejected and cancelled by Sega, and no third entry has been released to date.

References

  1. "GT Interactive enters into global PC publishing agreement with Scavenger". GT Interactive . April 10, 1996. Archived from the original on December 19, 1996. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  2. "75 Power Players: The Next Generation?". Next Generation (11). Imagine Media: 75–76. November 1995.
  3. Nick Gibson (2006-09-01). "Zyrinx". Developer's Den. Sega-16. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  4. "Hardcore Gaming 101: Zyrinx". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  5. Alfred Giovetti (1996-10-01). "Into the Shadows". Previews. Joppa Computer Products. Retrieved 2007-11-23.