 | |
| Industry | Video game Developer |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , |
Number of employees | 5 (2015) |
| Website | www |
PixelJAM Games is an American independent video game studio run by Richard Grillotti (b. 1972), Miles Tilmann and A.D. Bakke, known for their pixellated Flash games that "toy with traditional genres, but have quirky ideas and touches." [1] [2] [3] [4] Their most notable games include Dino Run , Gamma Bros , and Potatoman Seeks the Troof . [5] [6]
The name "PixelJam" comes from an "abstract pixel animation art experiment/site" that Richard Grilloti was playing around with in the late 1990s. Around 2004, he and his friend from college, Miles Tilmann, made their first game, also collaborating with 8bit musician Mark Denardo. [2] [6] Grilloti and Tilman were originally both based in Chicago, then the studio went virtual for a couple of years when Grilloti lived in Oregon, but both Grilloti and Tilman later moved to Asheville, North Carolina. [7] [2] The studio has made many games for Adult Swim. [8] In 2015, the studio had 5 employees. [7]
In 2007, PixelJAM developed a Flash shoot 'em up game, called Gamma Bros. It was nominated for "Best Web Browser Game" at the Independent Games Festival. [7] The player takes control of brothers Buzz and Zap Gamma who are on their way home from a galactic commute and must survive hoards of oncoming enemies. [6]
In November 2013, PixelJam launched a Kickstarter campaign for a sequel to Dino Run , but it failed to achieve its funding goal. A second campaign in 2018 succeeded. The game remains unreleased.
Xbox Game Studios is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, other desktop operating systems, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, and web-based portals.
Williams Street Productions, LLC, d/b/a Williams Street and formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the in-house production arm of Adult Swim. Mike Lazzo and Keith Crofford oversaw operations for the building for most of its existence.
Cave Story is a 2004 Metroidvania platform-adventure game for Microsoft Windows. It was developed over five years by Japanese independent developer Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya in his free time. Cave Story features 2D platform mechanics and is reminiscent of the games Amaya played in his youth, such as Metroid and Castlevania. After its initial self-published release, the game slowly gained popularity on the internet. It received widespread critical acclaim for many polished aspects of its design, such as its compelling characters, setting, story, and gameplay. Cave Story is considered by many as the quintessential indie game because of its one-person development team and influence on the video gaming world.
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Dino Run is a Flash game created by PixelJAM and XGen Studios, released on April 30, 2008. The player steers a Velociraptor through increasingly dangerous side-scrolling landscapes to escape an impending "wall of doom". The game uses simple pixel art and 8-bit sound to replicate the style of 1980s arcade games. Dino Run was conceived by PixelJAM co-founder Richard Grillotti while he was sketching dinosaurs.
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Gamma Bros is a 2006 Flash shoot 'em up game developed by American game indie game studio PixelJAM Games, released as a free online title. It was nominated for "Best Web Browser Game" at the 2007 Independent Games Festival. It was the studio's first game after the mini-game Ratmaze. The game was also released as a smartphone game in 2016.
Potatoman Seeks the Troof is a humorous and philosophical 2012 Flash platformer developed by American game indie game studio PixelJAM Games. It was included as one of 7 "Digital Select" titles for the IndieCade independent games festival in 2013 and received an honorable mention at the Independent Games Festival 2014. The protagonist of the game—a potato—solves puzzles while roaming through desert wastelands, thick forests and dystopian cities. An updated version of the game was re-released on Steam in 2014. The game was also released on the iPhone in 2015.