There are a lot of poor gaming companies that didn't deserve their closure with many ridiculous reasons whatsoever.
These are the video game companies that did had a potential to bring the success of their original IPs into the gaming industries until it went horribly wrong at the end that could lead into the problems with the companies themselves which turns out to be quite shameful.
Several of the well known companies like Visceral Games, Evolution Studios, and Bizarre Creations are the main examples that they starting out doing well for its their early original games that received many positives from the gaming articles and being able to earn enough income that helped developers to continue their business, but it's gets very uglier with their recent game that really killed the companies due to poor commercial sales and mixed reception of the game itself which causing several of employees to quit their business with the gaming companies after the huge failures.
Despite the closure, we want to take a look of the video game companies that are totally gone forever, but not really a long forgotten as we all remembered their wonderful titles that the companies had bought into the gaming worlds, so I wanted to make my 5 companies that are not been around anymore, but also being one of the kind in gaming.
So here is my top 5 defunct video game companies.
5 - Hudson Soft
A Japanese video game company that was founded in early 70s by Kudo Brothers. It was started out as a amateur radio shop that sells various of the radio telecommunications devices, art photographs and personal home computer's related products until they're interested in the development of the video game in 80's and 90's era.
They also made a partnership with NEC for the creation of Turbografx-16, a video game console of late 80's era, to compete against their rivalry such as Nintendo, Sega, and SNK, while they continuing to make games on other platforms as a third-party developer.
The companies was being well remembered for its their original franchises such as Adventure Island, Bloody Roar, Bonk and one of the Hudson's big hit series Bomberman was heavily regarded as being one of the company's biggest landmark of the 90's era.
Let's not forget Hudson are also responsible of developing Nintendo's party series such as Mario Party which had gained positives from video game critics and becoming the longest-running minigame series.
Hudson Soft starting out pretty good with their titles from early days until it went fully wrong in mid-2000's where several of the key people had left the company due to financial loss which could lead the company into their downfall.
The poorly made recent games such as Bomberman: Act Zero, Deca Sports, and Calling had a negative reception from critics, while the later installment such as Mario Party 7-8, Bomberman Land Wii, Alien Crush Returns, Star Soldier R, and Adventure Island: The Beginning aren't nearly as good in comparison with previous entry of the series.
As Hudson Soft made a relation with Konami in 2000s, they made an agreement to bring their original IPs under Hudson brand to one of the Konami's division to take over the franchise as Hudson Soft are no longer active in year 2012.
It's really sad to see one of the best company are no longer to continue their gaming business as they struggled to make a finest installiment of the series that could've been a fun title to play.
Back then, we have Soldier Blade, Blazing Lazers, The Legendary Axe, Saturn Bomberman, Bonk's Adventures, Adventure Island, Bloody Roar, Mario Party 4, and hell even the underrated classic such as Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu are the reasons why it defines the Hudson Soft's legacy.
Will Bonk and Adventure Island series ever make comeback? sure hell we don't know when it's gonna happen.
4 - Shiny Entertainment
One of the video game company from USA founded in October 1993 by David Perry, a programmer who is responsible of working on Virgin Games titles such as Global Gladiators, Cool Spot, and Disney's Aladdin, and he also responsible working on several successful video games during Shiny era, such as Earthworm Jim and MDK.
After leaving two years at Virgin Games, he began to form his development company as Shiny Entertainment in 1993 and began creating the Doug TenNapel's game for SEGA Genesis/MD and SNES called Earthworm Jim which was released in 1994.
The game received many positives at the release which praises the game for its unique animation featuring a hand-drawn style that looking impressive for 16-bit era thanks to Doug TenNapel's drawing techniques.
It has innovative gameplay design and hard hitting soundtrack by Tommy Tallarico which are also a main highlight of the game that made Earthworm Jim a most loved series.
The success of game that spawned many ports and remake of the original game and also went to create the sequel Earthworm Jim 2 in 1995 which are also well received at the release for both 16-bit system before being ported to other consoles.
Shiny had agreed to join Interplay Productions as studio division in 1995, while working on a new game development such as MDK which is the Shiny's first 3D run n gun shooter for PC and PS1 released in 1997 which was critically praised and commercially success worldwide had sold over half of million copies.
The reason why Shiny Entertainment had to shut down their studio in 2007 because it was being merged into the new studios such as Double Helix Games, a company that bought you the reboot of Killer Instinct (2013) and Strider (2014).
It's kinda shame to see company like Shiny Entertainment had their potential to make a solid experience of gaming, so unlike the Earthworm Jim and MDK are the only well received title that led their success, some of their game aren't doing as good as they used to be back in 90's era which was the reason why the developer's team had completely running out their creative ideas.
The publisher Interplay Productions wasn't pleased with the Shiny's later game like Wild 9, Messiah, and Sacrifice for its disappointing commercial sales that didn't live up to reputation, but it was also received positives from gaming media.
Being shifted to new publishing division like Atari, Inc and releasing the titles based on the movie franchise such as Enter the Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo wasn't good enough for Shiny's development choices that could lead into the rushed releases with such polarising reception is the reason why David Perry had left the company in 2006.
I enjoyed playing their past games as a kid back in my 90's days when I've played Earthworm Jim on my cousin's SEGA Genesis/MD and of course MDK on my old Windows 98 computer which was the reason why the company did well at the time, but I would love to see a returning sequel of Earthworm Jim and hopefully the MDK will make a comeback in sometime future.
3 - Factor 5
It was being known for the home console conversion, technical hardware pushers, and has two well known franchises such as Turrican and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.
It was all originated in Amiga era where they worked on the Amiga and Atari ST conversion of major hit title such as Turrican games in 1990-91.
Factor 5 went focusing on console programming to create their own development kits and software environments for 16-bit consoles as they went on developing Mega Turrican for SEGA Genesis/MD and Super Turrican 1 and 2 for SNES which was labelled as being not the only best 2D shooter on the system, but also being credited for technical achievements due to heavy use of parallax scrolling and sharper animation utilising mode 7 like engine designed for 16-bit hardware.
Factor 5 agreed to join partnership with LucasArts in creating their own flight-action game based on Star Wars franchise which is Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for N64 was released in 1998.
It's one of the N64 game that utilises the expansion pak allowing game runs on higher resolution resulting better graphics, while cramming the sound design fitting into N64's limited cartridge featuring all completed voice overs and original soundtrack.
The game received highly acclaimed at the release which resulted commercially success had sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
The success of Rogue Squadron had spawned two sequels for Gamecube in early 2000s release as it did live up to company's reputation were very positive for their satisfactory, until it fell very short for the development of Lair for PS3 were being announced for 2007 release.
It's one of the game that resulted a huge financial loss for the company due to poorly commercial sales and had received mixed reception from critics which is the reason the Lair really killed the company's business resulting discontinuation in 2009 as well as having the financial problem with the Factor 5 that did not pay well to their employees.
It is not surprising to see one of the well known company had struggled with their financial issues which could lead to cancellation of biggest prototype projects such as the new Superman game, the next-gen Turrican game, and Nintendo's Kid Icarus reboot which is huge bummer that these games are never got it finished, while fully completed game like Star Wars Rogue Squadron: Rogue Leaders Wii that was never got the full release worldwide.
Factor 5 are quite talented gaming companies that did really well on Turrican and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series as well as working on great conversion of original games such as Konami's International Superstar Soccer Deluxe for Genesis/MD and Contra: Alien Wars for GB.
They also made responsible of designing sound compression technology for N64 games such as Nintendo's Pokemon Stadium and Capcom's Resident Evil 2.
As in 2017, the founder Julian Eggebrecht had decided to resurrect his former studio Factor 5 going back in gaming business and had reacquired the rights to the Turrican franchise, so does that mean the Factor 5 making comeback with the new Turrican game? so we don't know when it's gonna become the reality.
2 - Midway Games
It was all started in 60's era when Midway made the partnership with Bally to produce various of the slot machines for various of amusement park as well as licensing and distribution of Taito's arcade game title such as Space Invaders in 1978 as well as Namco's Pac-Man in 1980 and its sequel Ms. Pac-Man in 1982 were highly successful in US market.
Bally and Midway made agreement to join the division with Williams Electronics to produce various of pinball games and of course video games in 1988.
The classics such as Defender, Joust, Robotron 2084, and Gauntlet are the biggest hit of all golden age era that had gained popularly worldwide.
Sharing with the original franchise such as Rampage, Spy Hunter, NBA Jam, and of course the bloodiest fighting game series Mortal Kombat that everyone had talked about during the early 90's days.
It's one of a brutal fighting game series was being recognisable for its badass fighting roster, gritty presentation, memorable theme song by Techno Syndrome, and of course the instant gorefest including numerous of fatalities is the reason why it went so popular in fighting game genres.
It has many sequels, the merchandise, the film adaption, the TV series, and comics throughout the franchise.
Unfortunately the company went into bankruptcy following the lawsuit against former officers of Midway alleging that they had misled shareholders while selling their own stock which led the company fully shut down in 2009.
Despite the Midway's lawsuits, their assets including Mortal Kombat series was handed to NetherRealm Studios under the Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment in 2010.
Midway is one of the most important gaming company that brings all the great categories of arcade titles that really helped the gaming industries to keep it actively ongoing.
The gaming arcades won't be around in gaming industries without the existence of Midway that bought you a video game that defines not the only the golden age era, but also the 90's gaming era are the reason why the company actually doing well for their gaming business.
So rest in peace Midway you're one amazing video game developer and you may be missed, I'll salute you.
1 - Acclaim Entertainment
An American video game developer and publisher founded by three of the ex-Activision employees in 1987.
It's one of the company that hired some independent studios such as Iguana Entertainment, Probe Entertainment, and Sculptured Software who are becoming part of the Acclaim's development team
to develop mainly for video game ports, creating licensed games based on popular comics, television series and movies, and of course the original IPs, as well as localising existing video games from overseas.
It was wide known for home console conversion of many Midway's arcade games in the early to mid-1990s such as Mortal Kombat series, as well as publishing from other companies for west territories such as TechnÅs Japan's Double Dragon II: The Revenge and Taito's Bust-a-Move series.
They were highly known for its their own franchises and single titles during the mid-90's era such as Forsaken, WWF series, Shadow Man, Extreme-G, and of course one of their most successful video game franchise Turok was critically praised and commercially success worldwide that really helped defining the FPS genres on console gaming during the N64 era.
Acclaim did starting out pretty well in the 90's era that made them becoming the most successful video game publishers earning over $585 million income which really helped them to continue their business on video gaming until it went major downfall in early 2000s.
The company went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy for violating its own contract terms which leads $150 million in damages as well as filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that leads their development company shutting their business down due to financial problems as Acclaim are no longer active in 2004.
I had such a great memories of playing Acclaim games back in my days when I remember playing Alien Trilogy on my SEGA Saturn which is highly underrated FPS game that didn't get a attention they deserve.
I had fun playing Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on my N64 which is the biggest game changer at the time when I was blowned away with the graphics, the combat, and bigger exploration while fighting against dinosaurs which is the reason why I loved the game as a kid.
While sharing with the great titles that Acclaim had to offer, it also shares with really bad ones that are totally piss poor such as the wrestling titles like Legends of Wrestling series that are no where near as good as their predecessor wrestling titles, the Turok Evolution are the weakest of all Turok franchise, and of course the sports game BMX XXX had gained unfavourable negative reviews and received lukewarm sales which not the only killed off Dave Mirra's sports franchise, but also puts Acclaim's final nail in the coffin.
So I am glad that the company had sold their original IPs to other publishers such as Burnout series are handed to EA, the Juiced are handed to THQ, the Throwback Entertainment purchased such titles like Re-Volt and Extreme-G, and Nightdive Studios has resurrected the titles as remastered releases for today's gaming system like Turok, Forsaken, and Shadow Man.
Acclaim Entertainment was being well remembered for its various of home console ports and original games, but also being the biggest tough luck in gaming history that we never able to see them again.
Honorable Mention:
Lobotomy Software
Clover Studios
Core Design
Eurocom
Evolution Studios
Bizarre Creations
Data East
Free Radical Design
Neversoft
Psikyo
Psygnosis
Quintet
Sierra Entertainment
Virgin Interactive
Visceral Games
If you like my recent blog, please hit like and comment below for further questions.
This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone.
It's one of the company that hired some independent studios such as Iguana Entertainment, Probe Entertainment, and Sculptured Software who are becoming part of the Acclaim's development team
to develop mainly for video game ports, creating licensed games based on popular comics, television series and movies, and of course the original IPs, as well as localising existing video games from overseas.
It was wide known for home console conversion of many Midway's arcade games in the early to mid-1990s such as Mortal Kombat series, as well as publishing from other companies for west territories such as TechnÅs Japan's Double Dragon II: The Revenge and Taito's Bust-a-Move series.
They were highly known for its their own franchises and single titles during the mid-90's era such as Forsaken, WWF series, Shadow Man, Extreme-G, and of course one of their most successful video game franchise Turok was critically praised and commercially success worldwide that really helped defining the FPS genres on console gaming during the N64 era.
Acclaim did starting out pretty well in the 90's era that made them becoming the most successful video game publishers earning over $585 million income which really helped them to continue their business on video gaming until it went major downfall in early 2000s.
The company went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy for violating its own contract terms which leads $150 million in damages as well as filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that leads their development company shutting their business down due to financial problems as Acclaim are no longer active in 2004.
I had such a great memories of playing Acclaim games back in my days when I remember playing Alien Trilogy on my SEGA Saturn which is highly underrated FPS game that didn't get a attention they deserve.
I had fun playing Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on my N64 which is the biggest game changer at the time when I was blowned away with the graphics, the combat, and bigger exploration while fighting against dinosaurs which is the reason why I loved the game as a kid.
While sharing with the great titles that Acclaim had to offer, it also shares with really bad ones that are totally piss poor such as the wrestling titles like Legends of Wrestling series that are no where near as good as their predecessor wrestling titles, the Turok Evolution are the weakest of all Turok franchise, and of course the sports game BMX XXX had gained unfavourable negative reviews and received lukewarm sales which not the only killed off Dave Mirra's sports franchise, but also puts Acclaim's final nail in the coffin.
So I am glad that the company had sold their original IPs to other publishers such as Burnout series are handed to EA, the Juiced are handed to THQ, the Throwback Entertainment purchased such titles like Re-Volt and Extreme-G, and Nightdive Studios has resurrected the titles as remastered releases for today's gaming system like Turok, Forsaken, and Shadow Man.
Acclaim Entertainment was being well remembered for its various of home console ports and original games, but also being the biggest tough luck in gaming history that we never able to see them again.
Honorable Mention:
Lobotomy Software
Clover Studios
Core Design
Eurocom
Evolution Studios
Bizarre Creations
Data East
Free Radical Design
Neversoft
Psikyo
Psygnosis
Quintet
Sierra Entertainment
Virgin Interactive
Visceral Games
If you like my recent blog, please hit like and comment below for further questions.
This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone.
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