History
Mattel originally founded the company as Mattel Media in February 1996, as an aim to expand into the multimedia unit by producing CD-ROM titles based on Mattel franchises like Hot Wheels, Barbie, Fisher-Price and Polly Pocket. [1] The company's first releases came out in the Fall of 1996, with the company's Barbie Fashion Designer program was the first commercially successful video game made for girls. [2] [3]
With the success of their first wave of products, Mattel Media then set on producing CD-ROM based interactive material for toys such as the Talk with Me! Barbie. [4]
Mattel Media later expanded to video games soon after, publishing titles like Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver .
In the fall of 1998, Mattel agreed to acquire The Learning Company in a stock-for-stock merger valuing the company at approximately $4.2 billion. [5] With the merger, Mattel themselves laid off 3,000 employees.
Mattel sold both Mattel Interactive and The Learning Company in 2000 at a loss to Gores Technology Group. The total financial losses to Mattel have been estimated to be as high as $3.6 billion. [6] Mattel's acquisition of The Learning Company has been referred to as "one of the worst acquisitions of all time" by several prominent business journals. [6] [7]
In February 2001, Mattel signed a publishing and distribution deal with THQ for the Hot Wheels and Matchbox licenses, [8] and Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing for other major licenses including Diva Starz, Fisher-Price and Barbie. [9] That same month, THQ also acquired Mattel's computer rights to Rugrats , SpongeBob SquarePants and Rocket Power and Mattel's console and computer rights to The Wild Thornberrys and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius . [10]
In 2000, the ex-Learning Company and Mattel assets acquired by Gores were split up into three divisions - GAME Studios for video games, The Learning Company for educational software and Brøderbund for home software. GAME Studios' was sold to Ubi Soft in March 2001, taking all of the gaming assets formerly held by The Learning Company. [11] The Learning Company itself was acquired by Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited in September 2001 and later acquired all of Brøderbund in August 2002.
Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Elliot and Ruth Handler in January 1945 and currently headquartered in El Segundo, California. Having presence in 35 countries and territories and its products sold in more than 150 countries, Mattel operates through three business segments: North America, International and American Girl.
Broderbund Software, Inc. was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits Choplifter, Lode Runner, Karateka, and Prince of Persia, as well as The Print Shop—originally for printing signs and banners on dot matrix printers—and the Myst and Carmen Sandiego games. The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, and moved to San Rafael, California, then later to Novato, California. Brøderbund was purchased by SoftKey in 1998.
THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initially working in the toy business, it expanded into the video game business through several acquisitions before shifting its focus away from toys entirely. THQ continued its trend of acquiring companies throughout the 2000s.
Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until Mattel bought its owner Tyco Toys in 1997.
Prince of Persia 3D is a 1999 action-adventure video game developed by Mindscape, and published by Red Orb Entertainment for Microsoft Windows. A port for the Dreamcast was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Mattel Interactive in North America the following year under the title Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights. It is the first 3D installment in the Prince of Persia series, and the final game in the trilogy that started with the original 1989 game. Taking the role of the titular unnamed character rescuing his bride from a monstrous suitor's schemes, gameplay follows the Prince as he explores environments, platforming and solving puzzles while engaging in combat scenarios.
Jakks Pacific, Inc. is an American company that designs and markets toys and consumer products, with a range of products that feature numerous children's toy licenses. The company is named after its founder, Jack Friedman, who had previously founded LJN and THQ and presided over the company until retiring as CEO and chairman after March 31, 2010, a month before his death on May 3, 2010.
Red Orb Entertainment was a publishing division created by the Broderbund software company to market its video game titles, distinguishing them from its library of edutainment titles, which it marketed to schools. Launched on May 21, 1997, and based in Novato, California, the name comes from the first six letters of "Broderbund," which spell "Red Orb" when reversed.
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.
SoftKey International was a software company founded by Kevin O'Leary in 1986 in Toronto, Ontario. It was known as The Learning Company from 1995 to 1999 after acquiring The Learning Company and taking its name.
Mortyr 2093-1944, also known as simply Mortyr, is a first-person shooter computer game published by Interplay and developed by Polish developer Mirage Media and released in 1999. One of the earlier Polish developed first-person shooters for Microsoft Windows, the game follows a son of a scientist transported back in time to World War II to avert the Axis victory and features levels set both in World War II and the future. The game received unfavorable reviews at its launch, with the game garnering some positive coverage from the Polish video game press and widely panned abroad.
Fox Interactive was an American video game publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company published games based on 20th Century Fox properties, yet also published several original titles, such as Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.
Prince of Persia is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is centered around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia.
Rugrats: Search for Reptar is a platform video game that was released in North America on Halloween 1998 and in Europe in November 1998 exclusively for PlayStation in North America and in the PAL region by THQ. Based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats, which aired from 1991 until 2004, the game follows the cartoon's main character, Tommy Pickles, who has lost his Reptar puzzle. It features stages that are typically based on episodes from the television show. It was followed up by Rugrats: Studio Tour, released in 1999 on the same platform.
Rugrats: Totally Angelica is an action video game based on the 1991 Nickelodeon animated children's television series Rugrats. It was developed by Art Co., Ltd and published by THQ for the Game Boy Color (GBC) and PlayStation. The GBC version was released in 2000, while the PlayStation version was published in 2001. It is also the last Rugrats game to be released for the PlayStation and Game Boy Color. A direct sequel for the PC was released in 2002, titled Totally Angelica: Boredom Busters!. It was a point and click adventure game, and was developed by KnowWonder and published by Mattel Interactive.
Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time is a 1997 edutainment point-and-click adventure game developed by Broderbund for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh devices. The game is a remake of the 1989 time-travel title Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, making it the second Time video game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The game was strongly influenced by the short-lived PBS game show, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?. The game was previewed at the 1997 Toy Fair in New York City. A demo version was included on the CD for Carmen Sandiego Word Detective and was available on the Carmen Sandiego website. After Broderbund was sold to The Learning Company, the game was re-released with the new title - Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time - but with minimal redesign.
Madeline is a series of educational point-and-click adventure video games which were developed during the mid-1990s for Windows and Mac systems. The games are an extension of the Madeline series of children's books by Ludwig Bemelmans, which describe the adventures of a young French girl. The video-game series was produced concurrently with a TV series of the same name, with characters and voice actors from the show.
Detective Barbie is a series of three mystery themed point and click adventure games starring the character Barbie. The series consists of Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper! (1998) Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery (1999), and Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise (2000). The first two games were developed by Gorilla Systems Corporation and published on the PC by Mattel Media/Mattel Interactive. The third game was developed for the PlayStation by Runecraft.
Barbie Fashion Designer is a dress-up computer game developed by Digital Domain and published by Mattel Media for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS in 1996. The game allows players to design clothing and style outfits. Players can then print off their designs and create clothing for their real-world Barbie dolls. Barbie Fashion Designer was the first commercially successful video game made for girls. After its success, many other girl games would be made, leading to the girls' games movement.
Rugrats Adventure Game is an educational adventure point and click video game based on the Rugrats television series released for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh on September 30, 1998. It was developed and published by Broderbund. The game follows Tommy Pickles and friends Chuckie, Phil, and Lil as they try to rescue Tommy's beloved toy Reptar from being thrown out as garbage. The game incorporates point and click gameplay, with characters and objects appearing in different locations even after the player has visited them once. Angelica, the series' main antagonist, appears in the game to help further the story and ultimately become the game's main villain.
