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Formerly | Fuse Games Limited (2002-2009) |
---|---|
Type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Interactive entertainment |
Founded | 2002-? (Fuse Games Limited) 2009-? (Silverball Studios Limited) |
Founder | Adrian Barritt Richard Horrocks |
Defunct | 2014 |
Fate | Merged and Folded into Barnstorm Games |
Headquarters | Burford, Oxfordshire, England |
Parent | Barnstorm Games |
Website | silverballstudios.com |
Silverball Studios Limited, formerly known as Fuse Games Limited, was a British video game developer known for developing pinball games for Nintendo.
The company was founded in 2002 by Adrian Barritt and Richard Horrocks, makers of the award-winning Pro Pinball series of computer games. As an idea to show what they were capable of, they developed a Mario pinball demo and pitched the idea to Nintendo, who then hired the company to make Mario Pinball Land for the Game Boy Advance. The whole game was made by just five people. [1] Later, Fuse Games developed Nintendo DS games, the most notable being Metroid Prime Pinball , a pinball adaptation of the GameCube game Metroid Prime . [2] The studio also became the only developer outside Japan to create a Touch! Generations game, with Active Health with Carol Vorderman. [3]
In 2009, the company nearly went bankrupt after completing Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon for DSiWare, but reformed as Silverball Studios. [4] The company attempted to revive the Pro Pinball series through Kickstarter in 2012. [5] [6] The project's goal was unsuccessful, [7] and the company eventually merged into Barnstorm Games as the in-house development team. [8] Afterwards, the Kickstarter was revived in 2013, but was limited to the single table Timeshock!. This campaign reached its goal and the Ultra Edition of Pro-Pinball: Timeshock! was released for several platforms. [9] [10]
Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic Metroid creatures.
Metroid Prime is an action-adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. Metroid Prime is the fifth main Metroid game and the first to use 3D computer graphics and a first-person perspective. It was released in North America in November 2002, and in Japan and Europe the following year. Along with the Game Boy Advance game Metroid Fusion, Prime marked the return of the Metroid series after an eight-year hiatus following Super Metroid (1994).
Super Metroid is an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. It is the third installment in the Metroid series, following the events of the Game Boy game Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991). Players control bounty hunter Samus Aran, who travels to planet Zebes to retrieve an infant Metroid creature stolen by the Space Pirate leader Ridley.
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Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is an action-adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. The sequel to Metroid Prime (2002) and the first Metroid game with a multiplayer feature, Echoes was released in North America, Europe and Australia in 2004 and in Japan under the name Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes in May 2005.
Retro Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo based in Austin, Texas. The studio is best known for its work on the Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country series, and has contributed to several other Nintendo-developed projects, such as Mario Kart 7.
Nintendo Space World, formerly named Shoshinkai and Famicom Space World, was an annual video game trade show hosted by Nintendo from 1989 to 2001. Its three days of high-energy party atmosphere was the primary venue for Nintendo and its licensees to announce and demonstrate new consoles and games. Anticipated and dissected each year with hype and exclusivity, it was a destination for the international video game press, with detailed developer interviews and technology demos.
Mario Pinball Land, known in Europe and Japan as Super Mario Ball, is a pinball video game developed by Fuse Games and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance, released in 2004. It is the ninth Mario game for the Game Boy Advance and is considered a spin-off into the Super Mario series of games. The game also got a re-release for the Wii U Virtual Console.
Metroid Prime Pinball is a pinball video game themed after the Metroid series. The game uses the graphical style and various story elements from Metroid Prime. It was developed by Fuse Games and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS in North America and Australia in 2005, in Japan in 2006, and in Europe in 2007. Metroid Prime Pinball uses the basic mechanics of pinball, along with typical pinball items. New mechanics are introduced, such as wall jumping and the ability to fire weapons. The Nintendo DS's touchscreen can be nudged with a finger to alter the pinball's trajectory while in motion.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is an action-adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The seventh main game in the Metroid series, it was released in North America and Europe in 2007 and in Japan the following year.
Nintendo Fusion Tour was a touring rock music and video game festival sponsored by Nintendo, which began in 2003.
Pro Pinball is a pinball video game series developed by Cunning Developments and published by Empire Interactive.
Jeffery Spangenberg is a retired video game producer and entrepreneur who founded video game developers Punk Development, Iguana Entertainment, Retro Studios, and Topheavy Studios.
Kenji Yamamoto is a Japanese video game musician working for Nintendo, where he is notable for composing music in many titles of the Metroid series, mainly Super Metroid and the Prime trilogy. Yamamoto also plays a role as a music director at Nintendo, overseeing the audio for several of their games. He frequently collaborates with fellow composers Minako Hamano and Masaru Tajima.
Metroid Prime: Trilogy is a compilation of action-adventure games from the Metroid franchise developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It features three games from the Metroid franchise: Metroid Prime (2002), Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007).
Samus Aran is the protagonist of the video game series Metroid by Nintendo. She was created by Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano. She was introduced as a player character in the original 1986 video game Metroid. Raised and infused with the DNA of the Chozo, Samus Aran is an ex-soldier of the Galactic Federation who became a galactic bounty hunter, usually fitted with a powered exoskeleton that is equipped with weapons such as directed-energy weapons and missiles. Throughout the series, she executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation and the Chozo while hunting the antagonistic Space Pirates and their leader Ridley, along with the manipulative cybernetic supercomputer Mother Brain, the energy-draining X Parasites and Metroids, as well as rogue Chozo Raven Beak.
New Play Control! is a series of first-party GameCube games ported to the Wii by Nintendo. Games in the New Play Control! series feature enhancements such as widescreen support, enhanced graphics and the implementation of the Wii's motion controls with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.