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Acclaim Entertainment

Acclaim Entertainment

Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Nintendo's Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, and Nintendo's GameCube and Game Boy Advance and, to a lesser extent, personal computer systems. The company was founded in 1987 as a Delaware corporation, and maintained operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Australia and Japan. As they grew they purchased some independent studios, including Iguana Entertainment of Austin, Texas, and Sculptured Software of Salt Lake City, Utah Many of Acclaim's products were licensed titles: games based on comics, television series (including wrestling shows) and movies. They were also responsible for the ports of many of Midway Games' arcade games in the early-to-mid 1990s, including the Mortal Kombat series. They also published some games from other companies that at the time didn't have an American branch, such as Rare's Wizards and Warriors, Double Dragon II and Taito's Bust-A-Move series. The waning of the arcade game industry, coupled with some poor sales from several key titles led to the eventual loss of many of their licenses. One result of this was their late refactoring of the Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX series. Late into development, nude and semi-nude content (e.g. full motion video of strippers and nude female riders) was added in hopes of boosting sales. However, like most of their other contemporary titles, BMX XXX sold poorly and was derided for its trashy content and poor gameplay. A less significant aspect of Acclaim's business was the development and publication of strategy guides relating to their software products and the issuance of "special edition" comic magazines, via Acclaim Comics, to support the more lucrative brand names. Acclaim suffered severe financial problems in 2004, the result of most of their video and computer game titles selling very poorly. This resulted in the closure of Acclaim Studios Manchester in England and other places and their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On 1 September 2004, Acclaim filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York, which will virtually annihilate their company in liquidating all possible assets to pay off their enormous debt which reportedly tops $100 million. On December 2005, GameSpot reported that former Activision executive Howard Marks has purchased the name "Acclaim Games" for a reported $100,000 back when Acclaim filed for bankruptcy and will form a new gaming company. According to a job listing for the company, Acclaim Games will "be the first US major brand to bring some of the most successful online games in the world, specifically designed to meet the community and multiplayer experience that the 36 million U.S. tweens and the 41 million European tweens want."

Acclaim's labels


- Acclaim
- LJN
- Flying Edge (distributed Acclaim's games for Sega's systems until 1994)
- Arena Entertainment (acquired from Mirrorsoft in 1991, they also distributed Acclaim's games for Sega's systems until 1994)
- Acclaim Sports
- AKA Acclaim (Athletes Kick Ass)

Game titles


- Armorines: Project Swarm PS, N64, GBC
- Aggressive Inline PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
- BMX XXX Xbox, Gamecube
- Burnout PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
- Constructor PC
- D PS, Saturn, 3D0, PC
- ECW Anarchy Rulz Dreamcast, PS
- ECW Hardcore Revolution Dreamcast, PS, N64, GBC
- Fantastic Four PS
- Juiced PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
- Jupiter Strike PS
- Legends of Wrestling PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
- Legends of Wrestling II PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
- Marvel's X-Men NES
- Re-volt Dreamcast, PS, N64, PC
- Shadowman Dreamcast, N64, PS, PC
- Shadowman: 2econd Coming PS2
- Showdown: Legends of Wrestling PS2, XBox
- South Park PS, N64, PC
- South Park Rally PS, N64, PC, Dreamcast
- South Park: Chef's Luv Shack PS, N64, PC, Dreamcast
- Summer Heat Beach Volleyball PS2
- The Simpsons: Bart and the Beanstalk GB
- The Simpsons: Bart Meets Radioactive Man NES
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants NES, Master System
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World NES
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Juggernauts GB
- The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare SNES, Genesis
- The Simpsons: Virutal Bart SNES, Genesis
- Turok: Dinosaur Hunter N64, PC
- Turok 2: Seeds of Evil N64, GBC
- Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion N64
- Turok: Rage Wars N64, GBC
- Turok: Evolution PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
- WWF In Your House PS
- WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game SNES, Genesis, Saturn, Arcade, PS
- WWF War Zone PS, N64
- WWF Attitude PS, N64
- Vexx PS2, Xbox, Gamecube

See also


- Turok

External links


- [http://www.acclaim.com/ Official website] (now defunct)
- [http://www.mobygames.com/company/sheet/companyId=75/ MobyGames' entry on Acclaim Entertainment]
- [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6140923.html] Category:Defunct computer and video game companies

Video game developer

A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game system, such as the Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, or the Sony PlayStation 2 or may develop for a variety of systems including PCs. Some developers also specialize in certain types of games, such as RPGs or FPSs. Some focus on porting games from one system to another. Some focus on translating games from one language to another, especially from Japanese to English. An unusual few do other kinds of software development work in addition to games. Most video game publishing companies, such as Electronic Arts, Activision, and Sony, do maintain development studios, but these companies are generally called "publishers" and not "developers", as publishing is the primary activity of these companies, and is the source of most of their income. Other than the publishers, there are probably 1,000 or so video game development companies today. Many are tiny 1- or 2-person operations creating Flash games for the web, or games for cell phones. Others are large companies with multiple locations, such as Foundation 9 Entertainment, formed by a merger in March 2005, which says it has over 300 employees. As a rule, developers are privately held companies; only a very few non-publishing developers have ever been publicly traded companies.

Types of developers

Video game developers fall into one of three main categories: third-party developers, in-house developers, and the smaller independents. Developers usually employ a staff of programmers, game designers, artists, sound engineers, producers and testers, though some of these roles may be outsourced. To confuse matters, an individual person in any one of these roles may be referred to as a "video game developer".

Third-party developers

Third-party developers are usually called upon by a video game publisher to develop a title for one or more systems. Both the publisher and the developer have a great deal of say as to the design and content of the game. In general, though, the publisher's wishes trump the developer's, as the publisher is paying the developer to create the game. The business arrangement between the developer and publisher is governed by a contract, which specifies a list of milestones, intended to be delivered every four to eight weeks. By receiving updated milestones, the publisher is able to verify that work is progressing quickly enough to meet the publisher's deadline; and to give direction to the developer if the game is turning out other than as expected in some way. When each milestone is completed and accepted, the publisher pays the developer an advance on royalties. The developer uses this money to fund its payroll and otherwise fund its operations. Successful developers may maintain several teams working on different games for different publishers. In general, however, third-party developers tend to be small, and comprised of a single, closely-knit team. Third-party game development is a volatile business, as small developers may be entirely dependent on money from one publisher. A single cancelled game can be lethal to a small developer. Because of this, many of the smaller development companies last only a few years or sometimes only a few months. The continual struggle to get payment for milestones and to line up the next game contract is a persistent distraction to the management of every game developer. A common and desirable "exit strategy" for an extremely successful video game developer is to sell the company to a publisher, and thus become an in-house developer.

In-house developers

Many video game publishers maintain in-house developers, or studios. The size of the teams vary depending on the games, but they can number from a few people to the dozens. In the case of MMORPGs and the largest console games, the team size may number over 100. In-house development teams tend to have more freedom as to the design and content of a game, compared to the teams third-party developers. Part of the reason for this is that since the developers are employees of the publisher, their interests are as exactly aligned with those of the publisher as is possible. The publisher can therefore spend much less effort making sure that the developer's decisions do not enrich the developer at the ultimate expense of the publisher. In recent years the larger publishers have acquired several third-party developers. While these development teams are now technically "in-house" they often continue to operate in an autonomous manner, each with its own culture and work practices. For example: Activision acquired Raven (1997), Neversoft (1999), Z-Axis (2001), Treyarch (2001), Luxoflux (2002), Shaba (2002), Infinity Ward (2003) and Vicarious Visions (2004). All these developers continue to operate much as they did before acquisition, with the primary differences being in exclusivity and the financial details. History has shown that publishers tend to be more forgiving of their own development teams going over budget and missing deadlines than third-party developers. An in-house development team that works for a console hardware manufacturer is also known as a first-party developer. A company that is closely tied to a console manufacturer (or occasionally a publisher) is known as a second-party developer. Rather confusingly the publishers themselves are sometimes referred to as third-party developers in the context of their relationships with the console manufacturers (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo). This particular distinction of first, second and third party developers does not generally apply to PC games development.

Independent developers

Independents are typically small software developers that self-publish their games, often relying on the Internet and word of mouth for publicity. Without the huge marketing budgets of mainstream publishers, their products never get as much recognition or popular acclaim as those of larger publishers. However, they are free to explore experimental themes and styles of gameplay that mainstream publishers would not risk their money on. Independent developers are almost exclusively developers of PC games, as publishing a console game currently requires a large capital investment in the physical manufacturing of units of the game. PC games can be published with very low costs thanks to the advent of internet distribution.

Quality of life

Video game development in the United States is performed in an extremely casual business environment. T-shirts and sandals are common work attire, and work hours are usually flexible; many developers start the work day at 10:00 AM, though employees usually work at least a full 40 hours a week. Employees are paid fairly well for what seems to outsiders to be light work. Many developers have some sort of profit-sharing plan to reward their employees.

Crunch time

Most video game developers are notorious for overworking their employees. "Crunch time" is the point at which management realizes that the team is experiencing "slippage": it is not going to achieve everything needed in order to complete the milestone on time, meaning the publisher will not pay the developer until the milestone is indeed completed; and since most development companies are such small operations, this presents a real risk that the company won't be able to pay its employees on time. Worse threats occur when it becomes apparent that the team won't be able to ship the game, as a whole, on time. An extremely common management response to this is to invoke "crunch time", dictating a 60- to 80-hour work week with work over the weekends, in the hope that the team will be able to catch up. The complexity of the workflow in video game creation makes it very difficult to manage the team's schedules, meaning that it is an unusual project that does not surprise its managers with slippage at some point. Controversially, employees in the United States are not paid overtime pay when crunching, as all developers maintain salaried employees. Salaried employees are classified as exempt, who are not paid by the hour, and are classified as "professionals". Therefore, most state laws on overtime pay do not apply. Attention to crunching came to something of a head in 2004 when a blog entry titled "ea spouse", a manifesto of sorts, was published. Railing against the cruelty of crunch time, it was posted by an anonymous person claiming to be the fiancee of an employee of Electronic Arts. This person said her life was being indirectly destroyed by the company's work policy. This led to a great deal of debate in the industry, but without any visible changes until March 2005, when Electronic Arts internally announced that it was planning to extend overtime pay to some of its employees not currently eligible. The underlying problem of poor scheduling remains.

See also


- List of video game developers
- List of independent game developers
- Video game industry practices

External links


- [http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/ "EA Spouse" blog] Category:Computer and video game development

Video game

:This article is about computer and video games. For the magazine see Computer and Video Games (magazine). Technically, a computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players may interact with in order to achieve a goal (or set of goals). A video game is a computer game where a video display is the primary feedback device. Since nearly all computer games use some sort of visual display, these terms are usually considered interchangeable, and are frequently used as umbrella terms for interactive game software. The phrase interactive entertainment is the formal reference to computer and video games. To avoid ambiguity, this game software is referred to as "computer and video games" throughout this article. However, in common usage, "computer game" refers more specifically to games played on a personal computer, while "video game" (or "videogame") actually refers to both, and "[console name] game" refers specifically to games played on a particular console.
- For specific information regarding "computer games", see personal computer game.
- For specific information regarding "console games", see console game. console game) is held every year in Los Angeles. New projects are shown every year.]]

History

The first primitive computer and video games were developed in the 1950s and 1960s and ran on platforms such as oscilloscopes, university mainframes and EDSAC computers. Arcade games were developed in the 1970s and led to the so-called "Golden Age of Arcade Games". One of the most well-known of these games is Pong. The 1970s also saw the release of the first home video game consoles. The late 1970s to early 1980s brought about the improvement of home consoles and the release of the Atari 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision. The video game crash of 1983, however, produced a dark age in the market that was not filled until the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) reached North America in 1985. The last two decades of game history have been marked by separate markets for games on video game consoles, home computers and handhelds. See the article on Console wars for additional information on that facet of game history.

The future of console gaming

The end of 2005 and first and second quarters of 2006 will see the next generation of console gaming in the form of continuing advances in processor technology, graphics technology, design innovation, and even platform specific gaming community infrastructure. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are all participating in this coming year's "technology race". The second generation Microsoft offering, the Xbox 360, will be powered by a multi-core CPU, the PlayStation 3 will be powered by Cell processor technology, and the Nintendo Revolution will allow the gamer to interact with the game via a wireless motion sensing controller, although full technical specifications are yet to be revealed.

Gameplay

Main article: Gameplay In computer and video gaming, gameplay (sometimes called "Game mechanics") is a general term that describes player interaction with a game. It includes direct interaction, such as controls and interface, but also design aspects of the game, such as levels. Although the use of this term is often disputed, as it is considered too vague for the range of concepts it describes, it is currently the most commonly used and accepted term for this purpose when describing video games.

Genres

Main article: Computer and video game genres Games, like most other forms of media, may be categorized into genres based on gameplay, atmosphere, and various other factors. Any individual gamer is likely to favor some types of gameplay over others, these are refered to as video game genres. The most common genres in use today include platformers, adventure, role-playing games (RPGs), first person shooters (FPS), third person shooter (sometimes called shoot 'em ups), sports, racing, fighting (sometimes called beat 'em ups), action (although this term is abused), puzzle, simulation, and real time strategy (RTS), to name a few. It is rare that a game will fall purely into one genre, most games are a combination of two or more genres (e.g action/RPG). Although most genres have 2D counterparts, they are for the most part considered entirely different genres because of the differences in the way 2D and 3D games are played (e.g. Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64). The increase in the popularity of online gaming has also resulted in new sub-genres being formed, such as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

Gaming platforms

massively multiplayer online role-playing game Today there are many different devices that games may be played on. Personal computers, consoles, handheld systems, and arcade machines are all common. There is an extremely thin line between games played on the computer and those on the console, which is a standardized computer with little or no setup. Many games intended for computer are now just as prevalent on consoles, both of which have many of the same titles. This is due to the fact that video game consoles have drastically increased in computing power and capabilities over the last few years to the point that they can handle games that were formerly only playable with comparatively higher-end computers. During the last generation of gaming, most major computer game releases have coincided with the release of console versions, and titles initially developed for a single platform are often ported to others if they prove to be successful.

Personal Computer

Main article: Personal Computer Games Personal computer games are commonly referred to as "computer games" or "PC games". They are played on the personal computer with standard computer interface devices such as the keyboard and mouse, or additional peripherals, such as joysticks. Video feedback is received by the user through the computer screen, sound through speakers or headphones. Computer games are often more powerful than console games because of early market releases of their external architecture and graphics cards. The most popular genres of Computer games are First-Person Shooters, Real-Time Strategy, Simulations, and MMOGs, given the long-standing nature of Internet access and online play. First Person Shooters benefit highly from using the keyboard and mouse to give very fine control over player movement that is still not matched on the consoles. Today, most PC games require the Windows operating system to be installed on the computer. There is, however, a continuing movement to get the most popular games to run under the Mac and Linux operating systems. According to the Entertainment Software Association, console games have outsold computer games roughly four units to one in 2003 and 2004 [http://theesa.com/facts/sales_genre_data.php]. For more information, see sales. One possible explanation for the declining sales of personal computer games in relation to that of consoles can be found within the PC itself: a computer must meet certain minimum requirements (listed on retail box of the title) such as CPU speed, memory, video card memory, hard drive space, operating system, Internet connection speed (for online games) and other criteria. Without the proper hardware, the game may perform poorly or not run at all.

Internet

Main article: Internet gaming Online Games are those which either require or benefit from a connection to the Internet to play. Online gaming began with PC games, but has over time expanded to include most moder consoles. It is now a key feature of modern games, with the inclusion of Internet connectivity in consoles such as the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and in mobile/cellular phones. Online games need to allow several people to play at the same time, so not all genres are suitable; the most popular genres include MMORPG's, FPS's, racing/driving games, strategy games, and sports titles. The Internet is also host to thousands of small Flash and Java games, named after the programming language in which they are written. These games generally do not share the same magnitude of development costs, depth, or seriousness of PC and console games, and are generally quick to complete by comparison. Some of these games, such as Runescape, however, have expanded far beyond this, and can often be considered on the same level as "mainstream" PC games.

Console

Main article: Console games Console games are played video game console, a specialized computer specifically designed to play games of a certain format. The player usually interacts with the game through a controller, and video and sound are typically delivered to the player via a television, although most modern consoles support additional outputs, such as surround sound setups. Consoles themselves branched off from personal computers around two decades ago, a fact which is still evident not only in the name, but also in many of the peripherals available for many consoles, like the keyboard and mouse peripherals released for the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Sega Dreamcast.

Handheld

Main article: Handheld video games Handheld games are played on handheld game consoles, such as the Nintendo Gameboy, Nintendo DS, and Sony PSP. Handheld consoles act as their own controllers, which the player uses to interact with the game, as well as having in-built display and audio output devices. Because they are designed to be played on the go, they are usually small enough to fit into an average pocket (the virtual boy is an exception to this), but due to their small size, haldheld consoles have reduced processing power compared to larger consoles, meaning that games are shorter, and until the release of the DS, were limited to 2D.

Mobile Phone

Main article: Mobile/Cellular Phone Games Most mobile phones now have games built into them, and others are available for download, or can be bought for a small amount of money. These games are more restricted than traditional handheld games, and usually play more like arcade games.

Arcade

Main article: Arcade Games Arcade games, traditionally, are "coin-operated games", played on a standalone device originally leased to commercial entertainment venues. These are programmed, equipped, and decorated for a specific game, consisting of a video display, a set of controls, and the coin slot. Controls are similar to those available for many consoles (albeit usually as peripherals) and range from the classic joystick and buttons, to light guns, to pads on the ground that sense pressure. Arcade games that are no longer profitable to lease can be purchased by private individuals, many of whom then explore the game dynamics by altering the programs. This term has now expanded to include any game that has more direct action, with fewer long term objectives and, for the most part, shorter in-game levels.

Popularity

:What rock and roll was to the youth of the Sixties, gaming is to the youth of today. — Killol Bhuta, brand manager, Ford Motor Company [http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=107487] The popularity of computer and video games, as a whole, has been increasing steadily ever since the 1984-1987 dropoff caused by the video game crash of 1983, and the popularity appears to be continuing to increase. The average age of the video game player is now 29 [http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=8540&filter=myturn], belying the myth that video games are largely a diversion for teenagers.

Sales

teenager) with a large selection of games for several major consoles]] The four largest markets for computer and video games are the United States, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. Other significant markets include Spain, Germany, South Korea, France, and Italy. China is not considered a significant market, most likely because an estimated 95% of video games sold in the country are pirated. [http://slate.msn.com/id/2116629/] Sales of different types of games vary widely between these markets due to local preferences. Japanese consumers avoid computer games and instead buy video games, with a strong preference for games created in Japan, that run on Japanese consoles. In South Korea, computer games are preferred, especially MMORPG games and real-time strategy games; there are over 20,000 PC bang Internet cafes where computer games can be played for an hourly charge. The NPD Group tracks computer and video game sales in the United States. It reported that as of 2004:
- Console and portable software sales: $6.2 billion, up 8% from 2003 [http://gameinfowire.com/news.asp?nid=5650]
- Console and portable hardware and accessory sales: $3.7 billion, down 35% from 2003 [http://gameinfowire.com/news.asp?nid=5650]
- PC game sales: $1.1 billion, down 2% from 2003 [http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/28/news_6117438.html] These figures are sales in dollars, not units; unit shipments for each category were higher than the dollar sales numbers indicate, as more software and hardware was sold at reduced prices compared to 2003. Retail PC game sales have been declining slightly each year since about 1998, but this fact should be taken with a grain of salt: the retail sales numbers from NPD do not include sales from online downloads, nor subscription revenue for games like MMORPGs. There is a commonly repeated, mistaken belief that video game sales now exceed the revenues of the movie industry. This is untrue; in the United States, video game sales have exceeded the movies' total box office revenue each year since about 1996, but the movie studios trounce the video game publishers when the movies' "ancillary revenue" is counted, meaning sales of DVDs, sales to foreign distributors, and sales to cable TV, satellite TV, and broadcast television networks. The game and film industries are also becoming increasingly intertwined, with companies like Sony having significant stakes in both. A large number of summer blockbuster films spawn a companion game, often launching at the same time in order to share the marketing costs.

Computer and video games in the broader culture

Computer games are huge business worldwide. Take for example South Korea. Developers there boast MMORPGs such as Lineage and Ragnarok Online with millions of subscribers and a third of the world's MMOG revenue. StarCraft gosu (expert players) are celebrities in a game that some have called the country's national sport. The success of computer and online gaming there is usually credited to South Korea's push for broadband Internet connections in the home and earlier bans on Japanese products (these restrictions were removed by the late 1990s). Numerous websites and publications devoted solely to games have been created, including Official Xbox Magazine, Nintendo Power, Official Playstation Magazine, GamePro, GameSpot, GameSpy, IGN and GameFAQs. Video gaming now ingrained in popular culture in the United States. Many T-shirts are available that directly reference video games, such as one with a picture of an NES controller with the text 'Know Your Roots.' Also, video games have also become a major part in cross marketing platforms, such as in Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh, where a child can watch the television show, buy the trading cards, and play the various video games available. Video game properties have had mixed success when migrating to the movies. One of the first films based on a video game property was The Wizard, which some criticized as a 90-minute ad for Super Mario Brothers 3. In the mid-90s, films for Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, Wing Commander and Mortal Kombat were released. Reviews have generally been poor. Despite the ultimately poor performance of these movies, many studios still want to turn big games into movies, hoping that the popularity of the game will help the movie. However, after the initial bunch, many projects materialized that were never finished, but the success of films like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider has led to more films materializing. Doom, a game which film makers were trying to cross over since the mid '90s, finally hit theatres 12 years after its initial release. John Woo is also producing a movie on the popular Nintendo game Metroid. There is still debate in the movie industry on whether video games can consistently be turned into good, profitable movies. Films like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which has received mixed responses from audiences, with some saying it is a great movie, and others saying it is a very bad movie with excellent computer-generated imagery, but ultimately flopped in the box office, and Uwe Boll's House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark, which both ended up being horrible flops both in fan reactions and box office success and both ending up on the IMDB's bottom 100 movies, do not, in turn, give much confidence in whether these movies will be handled seriously. The recently released Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children may change some people's minds though, even though it's a straight to DVD affair. On the other hand, video games get much more success when adapted into cartoons/animes. Some notables examples of major success includes the various Mario Bros. cartoons, Sonic SatAM, Captain N: The Game Master and Earthworm Jim while Sonic Underground, the American Mega Man cartoon and 4Kids' dubs (although this isn't limited to their video game-based dubs) are cited as being poor. Sometime, they even "help" more obscure/Japan-only games pick up popularity in America although rarely; To Heart would be the best example of such thing. Movies have had far more success moving the other direction, onto video games. Most summer blockbuster films now have a simultaneous video game release; some of the most lucrative video games of recent times are based on movies, such as Electronic Arts' and Stormfront Studios' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the series of EA LotR games that followed it, and Activision's two Spider-Man movie games. Even though movies have had more success in game conversion, not all movie games are popular amongst the gaming community. Some publishers believe that the success of the movie will help the game sell, and so may not have as lengthy a development schedule as needed to make a compelling game. Some examples of this are the Catwoman and King Arthur movie games. Also, video games have found themselves on MTV2, in a popular show called Video Mod, where characters from popular video games perform songs from hit artists, such as characters from The Sims 2 performing the song "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains Of Wayne. On the Internet, gaming has also become a popular subject of many webcomics. Currently there are two varieties. The first one is the sprite comic, such as 8 Bit Theatre, in which the artist uses sprites from the earlier Final Fantasy games to tell stories. Sometimes these are original stories, but are often parodies of the game in which the sprite came from. The other is a more traditional comic strip, containing original art, like Penny Arcade. Here, the storylines or jokes revolve around current events in video gaming. The success of Penny Arcade has attracted many people in the industry, including Ubisoft. Other parodies have come in the form of amateur videos, such as those of Mega 64. In Germany, the TV channel NBC Europe broadcasts a show called GIGA, which turned more and more into a video and computer game show. In the show, new games are presented and reviewed. Lately, the show featured the esports scene a lot, by introducing professional players to the audience and broadcasting live competition matches. Online shows are fast becoming the place to view live action gaming broadcasts such as gamespot's 'On the Spot'

Development

Main article: Game development Video games are made by developers, who used to do this as individuals in the 80's (Bedroom Coders) , but now are almost always a large team consisting of designers, graphic designers and other artists, programmers, sound designers, musicians, and other technicians. Video games are developing fast in all areas, but the problem is of price and how developers intend to keep the price where it is while incorporating better technology, that inevitably costs more. Most video game console development teams number anywhere from 20 to 50 people, with some teams exceeding 100. The average team size as well as the average development time of a game have grown along with the size of the industry and the technology involved in creating games. This has led to regular occurrences of missed deadlines and unfinished products; Duke Nukem Forever is the quintessential example of these problems. See also: video game industry practices. Visit http://magicalgames.suddenlaunch3.com/index.cgi for forums about videogames.

Game modifications

Main article: Mod (computer gaming) Games running on a PC are often designed with end-user modifications in mind, and this consequently allows modern computer games to be modified by gamers without much difficulty. These mods can add an extra dimension of replayability and interest. The Internet provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute mods, and they have become an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games. Developers such as id, Valve, and Epic provide extensive tools and documentation to assist mod makers, allowing for the kind of success seen by popular mods such as Counter-Strike. Popular mods are sometimes bought by the developers of the game. This is the case of Valve's Half-life. They bought a number of popular mods including Counter-strike and Day of defeat. After the release of Half-life 2 Valve developed these mods for the sequel and sold them through their digital distribution software Steam through the internet. Recently, computer games have also been used as a digital art medium. See artistic computer game modification.

Naming

Gamers use several umbrella terms for console, PC, arcade, handheld, and similar games since they do not agree on the best name. For many, either "computer game" or "video game" describes these games as a whole. Other commonly used terms include, "entertainment software," "interactive entertainment media," "electronic interactive entertainment," "electronic game," "software game," and "videogame" (as one word). Computer and video games may be considered a subset of interactive media, which includes virtual reality, flight and engineering simulation, multimedia and the World Wide Web.

See also


- Computer and video game articles by topic
- Computer and video game articles by category

References


- Lieu, Tina (August 1997). [http://www.cjmag.co.jp/magazine/issues/1997/aug97/0897pcgames.html "Where have all the PC games gone?"]. Computing Japan.
- Costikyan, Greg (1994) [http://www.costik.com/nowords.html "I Have No Words & I Must Design"]
- Crawford, Chris (1982) [http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html "The Art of Computer Game Design"] Category:Games ko:컴퓨터 게임 ja:コンピューターゲーム nb:Dataspill simple:Video game th:Category:เกมคอมพิวเตอร์และวิดีโอเกม

Nintendo

Nintendo (Japanese: 任天堂; , ) is a Japanese company originally founded on November 6,1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards, for use in a Japanese playing card game of the same name. In the mid-twentieth century, the company tried several small niche businesses, such as a love hotel and a taxi company. Over the years, it became a video game company, growing into one of the most powerful in the industry. Aside from video games, Nintendo is also the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners, a Major League Baseball team. Nintendo has also purchased majority ownership of Gyration, a company specializing in gyros and motion sensors, for assistance in designing the controller of the Nintendo Revolution. Nintendo has the reputation of historically being the longest running company in the video game console market and the most influential and well-known console manufacturer, as well as being the dominant leader of the handheld console market. They began in the Japanese market in 1983, the North American market in 1985, and the European market in 1986. Over time Nintendo has manufactured five TV consoles — the Famicom/NES, the Super Famicom/Super NES, the Nintendo 64, and the present GameCube and the upcoming Nintendo Revolution — and many different handheld portables, including seven versions of their popular Game Boy, the Game & Watch, the Virtual Boy, the Pokémon Mini, and the Nintendo DS. They have also published over 250 games, developing at least 180 of them, and have sold over 2 billion games worldwide.

Handheld consoles

Game Boy

Main articles/the Nintendo handheld console lineage:
- Game Boy
  - Game Boy Pocket
  - Game Boy Light
- Game Boy Color
- Game Boy Advance
  - Game Boy Advance SP
  - Game Boy Micro
Game Boy Micro Game Boy Micro
Introduced in 1989, and continuing strong today, were Nintendo's portable Game Boy systems. With several redesigns and improvements, including Pocket, Light, Color, Advance, Advance SP, and Micro versions, the Game Boy is the single most successful, and oldest portable video game platform still in production. Game Boy Evolution refers to the as-yet-unannounced successor to the Game Boy Advance. The Game Boy has been known for putting over a dozen other portable systems out of business (including Nintendo's other attempts such as the Virtual Boy). Due to low battery consumption, durability, and a library of over a thousand games, the Game Boy has been on the top of the portable console food chain since its inception and made Nintendo the domineer of the handheld console market. Slowing sales of the Game Boy were remedied by the introduction of the Pokémon game, which started a phenomenon of top selling video games, movies, merchandise, and TV shows. The Pokémon phenomena helped and continue to help rocket Game Boy sales all around the world.

Nintendo DS

Main article: Nintendo DS Nintendo DS Nintendo released their Nintendo DS (Dual Screen or Developer's System) handheld game console first in the United States on November 21 2004, then in Japan on December 2 2004 and later on March 11 2005 in Europe. In the U.S., shipments of the DS reached 500,000 within the first week, and in Japan, the figures were even more impressive, reaching the same figure within four days of its launch. It has also proven to be the fastest-selling console in European history, having sold over 1 million units in six months (250,000 of those units in Great Britain alone). The Nintendo DS features two backlit LCD screens, the bottom of which is touch sensitive, which can create a unique style of gameplay (see Kirby: Canvas Curse or WarioWare: Touched!). It also features a built in microphone and the ability to connect up to 16 Nintendo DS systems together wirelessly for "PictoChat", a chatroom system built into the DS, up to 8 players wirelessly for multiplayer gaming and can hook up 4 players via Wi-Fi for multiplayer gaming that stretches across the world. It can also play software designed originally for the Game Boy Advance, but without multiplayer abilities, as the Nintendo DS lacks a wired extension port. Nintendo has officially stated that the DS in the name can stand for two different things; Developer's System to their developers, or Dual Screen to their consumers. The most popular usage is Dual Screen. At the Game Developers Conference, Nintendo announced that they would be launching an online service for the Nintendo DS called Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing multiplayer gaming over the Internet. The online service is very different from that of its competitors' because it is free to consumers who already have an internet connection at home or know of a Wi-Fi hotspot. As of October 18th, 2005, Nintendo has partnered up with Wayport to bring free Wi-Fi access to Nintendo DS owners. As of November 14th in America, November 25th in Great Britain and on December 28th in Dublin, the launch of their Nintendo DS Internet gaming service, over 6,000 McDonald's Restaurants nationwide will become free Wi-Fi hot-spots. Nintendo UK also announced plans for over 7500 British Wi-Fi hotspots, including McDonald's restaurants, football stadiums, hotels, motorway service stations, railway stations, student unions, airports, and libraries.

Other hardware


- Game & Watch
- Super Game Boy – Adapter for playing Game Boy games on the Super NES.
- Virtual Boy – The Virtual Boy used a red monochrome 3D virtual reality like system. Fewer than two dozen games were released for it in the United States.
- Nintendo 64DD – Only released in Japan, this add-on system's games are on re-writeable magnetic disks. Games released include a paint and 3D construction package, F-Zero X Expansion Kit, for creating new F-Zero X tracks and a few others. A complete commercial failure, many speculated that Nintendo released it only to save face after promoting it pre-emptively for years.
- Pokémon Mini – Unveiled in London at Christmas 2000, the Pokémon mini was Nintendo's cheapest console ever produced; with games costing £10 ($15) each, and the system costing £30 ($45). This remains the smallest games console ever made. Sales of this system were rather poor, but it is not a flop because Nintendo did make a profit on every game and system sold.
- Triforce – An arcade system based on Nintendo GameCube hardware, developed in partnership with Sega and Namco.
- Game Boy Player – An adapter for playing Game Boy games on the GameCube.
- iQue Player – A version of the Nintendo 64, with double the clock speed and downloadable games, released only in the Chinese market.

Policies

Emulation

Nintendo is known for a "no tolerance" stance against emulation of its video games and consoles. It claims that mask work copyright protects its games from the exceptions that United States copyright law otherwise provides for backup copies. Nintendo uses the claim that emulators running on personal computers have no use other than to play pirated video games, contested by some who say these emulators have been used to develop and test independently produced "homebrew" software on Nintendo's platforms, and that Nintendo's efforts fudge the truth about copyright laws, mainly that ROM copiers are illegal [they really are legal if used to dump un-DRM'd roms on to your computer for personal use], and that emulators are illegal [If they do not use copyrighted BIOS, or use other methods to run the game, they are legal]. The revival of the NES and SNES through emulation has gradually settled down, and NES and SNES ROMs are actually getting easier to find. A common justification pirates try to make is that they believe [the pirated games] will never see the light of day again and because the titles are no longer on sale, no damage is done to the company. However, Nintendo's opposition remains, due largely to its tendency to re-release old games within new ones, as with Animal Crossing, Metroid Prime, and The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition, as well as with the re-release of many older games for the Game Boy Advance Classic NES Series. The enhanced remake idea sometimes, but not always, curbs the need for emulation of NES quality games on the Nintendo GameCube. Recently Nintendo has announced that their upcoming Nintendo Revolution console will be backwards compatible, allowing users to play GameCube games by inserting the game discs. The system will also allow for the downloading of NES, SNES and N64 games onto the console over the Internet, with them being playable on the console which may actually be achieved through emulation. With this new feature, coined the "virtual console" by the company's president, Nintendo may be able to reduce the illegal ROM downloading and open up a new revenue stream, although success is still unknown.

Censorship

For many years, Nintendo of America had a policy of strict censorship for video games published on its systems. In 1994, when the ESRB video game ratings system was introduced, Nintendo chose to abolish most of these policies in favor of gamers making their own choices about the content of the games they played. When this policy was still in effect, religious symbols, appearance of excessive blood or gore, nudity, sexuality, or smoking was all removed from licensed games. This zero tolerance policy was praised and championed by U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, but others criticized the policy, claiming that gamers should be allowed to choose the content they want to see. Today, changes to the content of games are done primarily by the game's developer. Nintendo has since allowed several mature-content games to be published on its systems, including (but not limited to): Perfect Dark, Duke Nukem 3D (as Duke Nukem 64) Conker's Bad Fur Day, BMX XXX, Resident Evil 4, True Crime: Streets of L.A., and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and Geist, all prime examples of Nintendo lessening their practices. These games are all rated "M" (for mature), as are their counterparts for Sony's and Microsoft's systems. Interestingly enough, the Playstation 2 version of BMX XXX had censored breasts in it, while Nintendo left it alone. One known side effect of this policy was the Sega Genesis version of Mortal Kombat selling over double the number of the Nintendo's Super NES version, mainly due to the fact that Nintendo had forced Acclaim to recolor the red blood to look like white sweat and replace some of the more gory attacks in their release of the game, unlike Sega, which allowed the selling points of blood and gore to remain in the Genesis version. (Nintendo allowed the Super NES version Mortal Kombat II to ship uncensored the following year.) Also, Square executives have suggested that the price of publishing games on the Nintendo 64 along with the degree of censorship and control Nintendo enforced over their games -- most notably Final Fantasy VI -- were factors in moving their games to Sony's PlayStation console. Although Nintendo had begun lessening their censorship of console games with the 1994 introduction of the ESRB, portable games continued to be censored for some time. For example, Konami was forced to remove all references to cigarettes in the 2000 Game Boy Color game Metal Gear Solid. Another example is the Game Boy version of Mortal Kombat II, which contains no blood whatsoever and has extremely toned down fatalities (though it is unknown if this was at Nintendo's demand). However, Mature-rated Game Boy Advance games such as 2003's Max Payne and 2004's Grand Theft Auto Advance suggest that Nintendo is no longer interested in censoring the games that appear on its systems, console or portable. Nintendo's censorship policies have created a view of Nintendo as a "kiddy company", which was taken advantage of by their competitors. In recent years, Nintendo has done much to shed this reputation and has begun to create more mature games such as Geist. The original Super Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64 was rated E by the ESRB, while its GameCube sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee was rated T. The Metroid Prime games and the new Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess have been notably more adult oriented.

Public relations

For years and to today, Nintendo has been regarded as a secretive company by the press. Rarely does Nintendo confirm or deny rumors. Nintendo is known as one of the top companies for customer service, however. In this vein, Nintendo is known as the rulers of unveiling things at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles every year. The Nintendo DS was first revealed here, and many online sources rely on E3 to come around for Nintendo to launch news about new systems. However, at this year's Expo, Nintendo released very few technical details about their upcoming console, the Nintendo Revolution. The Nintendo Revolution controller, which had been shrouded in secrecy, was revealed on September 16, 2005 at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS). Nintendo of America uses an outside firm, Golin Harris, to handle much of its public relations. Beth Llewelyn is the in-house senior director of public relations at Nintendo of America. Tom Harlin is Nintendo of America's manager of public relations. Nintendo of Europe also uses an outside firm, Cake Media, to handle much of its public relations.

Community

From 1995 to 1997, Nintendo's American community was hosted by AOL and called the Loudhouse. In 1997, the company paid for a very small BBS and Message Center hosted on their own servers. Starting in 2001, the online community was effectively shut down until around 2002, at which point NSider chat was reopened to subscribers of Nintendo Power. In April of 2003, Nintendo bought a Lithium Technologies license and moved the community to the Hyrule Town Square on Lithium servers. In November 2003, the full Nintendo NSider Forums opened. Still hosted by Lithium, this update came with a new look, new ranks, and integration with My Nintendo.

People

See also Nintendo people
- Fusajiro Yamauchi — Founder of Nintendo in 1889.
- Minoru Arakawa — Founder and former president of Nintendo of America.
- Hiroshi Yamauchi — Former president of Nintendo (1949-2002).
- Satoru Iwata — Current president of Nintendo.
- Shigeru Miyamoto — Nintendo's chief designer and video game producer. Largely known for creating many of Nintendo's most popular games including Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, and the Legend of Zelda. In 1998 Miyamoto became the first person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.
- Gunpei Yokoi — Best-known as the creator of the Game Boy and the Metroid series. Now deceased.
- Satoshi Tajiri — Creator of the Pokémon series.
- Koji Kondo — Composer of music tracks in many Nintendo games.
- Yuka Tsujiyoko — Composer of music tracks in many Intelligent Systems games, most notably Paper Mario and the Fire Emblem series.
- Howard Philips — Creator of Nintendo Power magazine.
- Tatsumi Kimishima — Current president of Nintendo of America.
- Perrin Kaplan — Nintendo of America's Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Affairs
- Reggie Fils-Aime — Nintendo of America's current Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing
- Howard Lincoln — Now retired, a former Nintendo of America Senior Vice President.
- George Harrison — Senior Vice President of marketing and corporate communications.

Notable software and franchises

Related article: Franchises established on Nintendo systems
- Animal Crossing
- Balloon Fight
- Custom Robo (Confined to Japan until 2004)
- Donkey Kong (Nintendo EAD Tokyo) - Dates back to its original line of arcade games. Introduced Mario, then known as "Jumpman".
- EarthBound (called "Mother" in Japan)
- Excitebike
- Fire Emblem (Intelligent Systems) (Confined to Japan until 2003)
- F-Zero (Nintendo EAD)
- Game & Watch - Nintendo's oldest franchise
- Golden Sun (Camelot) - Developed by a third party
- Kid Icarus (Intelligent Systems)
- Kirby (HAL Laboratory, Inc.)
- The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo EAD) - One of the company's most popular franchises and widely considered to be among the best franchises ever. It has won numerous awards including several "Greatest Game of all Time" awards.
- Mach Rider
- Mario (Nintendo EAD) - Nintendo's flagship franchise and main influence in the platform genre.
- Mario Kart
- Metroid (Intelligent Systems / Retro Studios) - One of the company's most popular franchises
- Nintendogs - Puppy simulator franchise with several cameos of other Nintendo Franchises
- Nintendo Wars (Intelligent Systems) (Confined to Japan until 2001; Advance Wars was not released in Japan due to 9/11 until Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 was released there on November 25th, 2004)
- Pikmin
- Punch-Out!!
- Pokémon (Game Freak) - Arguably the most influential (certainly the most lucrative) of Nintendo's recent franchises
- Star Fox (Nintendo EAD)
- Super Smash Bros. (HAL Laboratory, Inc.) - A relatively new, critically lauded series of Nintendo's past successes
- Tetris Attack (Intelligent Systems)
- Wario

Divisions

First-party


- Nintendo EAD Tokyo — Youngest group inside Nintendo; responsible for Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat.
- Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (Originally "Nintendo Research & Development 4") — Largest division at Nintendo. Managed by Shigeru Miyamoto. Responsible for Mario, Zelda, and F-Zero franchises.
- Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (Originally "Nintendo Research & Development 3") — Produced arcade games in the 1980s.
- Nintendo Licensing Division — Produces (and licenses) first-party games by independent developers.
- Nintendo Research & Development 1 — Oldest team inside Nintendo.
- Nintendo Research & Development 2 — "Experimental" group, responsible Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures.
- Nintendo Research & Engineering — Hardware oriented.
- Nintendo Software Planning Division — Specializing in communicating with overseas developers.
- Nintendo Software Technology Corporation — First inhouse development studio of Nintendo of America.
- Nintendo Special Planning & Development — Recently formed development group focusing on Pokémon Mini, the e-Reader, and the Game Boy Advance.

Second-party


- Brownie Brown — Software developer consisting of former members of Squaresoft.
- Game Freak — developer of the Pokémon video game series.
- Genius Sonority — Newly formed developer; responsible for Pokemon Colosseum.
- HAL Laboratory — Responsible for the Kirby franchise, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the development of the e-Reader.
- Intelligent Systems (Often confused with Nintendo Research & Development 1) — Established in 1986 by members of Nintendo Research & Development 1 to develop games. Responsible for Metroid, Fire Emblem, and Nintendo Wars franchises.
- Retro Studios — Former second-party, now wholly-owned by Nintendo; responsible for the Metroid Prime series.
- iQue — Responsible for Nintendo products in China, partially owned by Nintendo

Arcade games released by Nintendo


- Cruis'n USA
- Cruis'n World
- Cruis'n Exotica
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong Jr.
- Donkey Kong 3
- Duck Hunt
- Excitebike
- F-Zero AX
- F-1 Race
- Hogan's Alley
- Ice Climber
- Killer Instinct
- Mach Rider
- Mario Bros.
- Mario Kart Arcade GP
- The Nintendo Super System
- The Nintendo Vs. Series
- The Play Choice 10 series
- Popeye
- Punch-Out!!
- Radar Scope
- Sheriff
- Super Mario Bros.
- Super Punch-Out!!
- Urban Champion
- Wild Gunman

Anime

On November 2004, Hiroshi Yamauchi announced that Nintendo would start making anime. Its first project is an adaption of the Hyakunin Isshu poem.

Nintendo offices and locations

Nintendo Co., Ltd (NCL), the main branch of the company, is based in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Nintendo of America (NOA), its American division, is based in Redmond, Washington with a distribution center in Atlanta, Georgia. Nintendo of Canada, Ltd. (NOCL) is a based in Richmond, British Columbia, with its own distribution centre in Toronto, Ontario. Nintendo of Australia, its Australian division, is based in Scoresby, Melbourne, Victoria, and Nintendo Europe, the European division, is based in Großostheim, Germany. Nintendo has also founded iQue, Ltd. in Suzhou, China, a company that sells Nintendo products only in mainland China. And a store in New York City

Unauthorized Brand Use in the Philippines

In the Philippines, an electronics retailing chain operates under Nintendo's name, apparently illegal in nature since the Nintendo brand is trademarked by the video game giant. In addition, the retailer also uses Nintendo's logo clearly displayed on its stores. The illegal Philippine "Nintendo" sells many kinds of electronics as well as video games, including Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox hardware and software. Most of the games it sells to the public are pirated. Apparently Nintendo of Japan never took legal action against the Philippine Nintendo retailer, which currently has two branches in Metro Manila. One in the city of Manila and another at the Festival Super Mall in Filinvest, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Many illegal/pirated gameboy advance games were also sold through mall giants such as SM.

See also


- History of computer and video games
- Nintendo Seal of Quality
- Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc.
- List of video games published by Nintendo
- List of Nintendo characters
- List of Japanese companies
- History of Nintendo

References


- [http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp Nintendo]. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- [http://n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=45 N-Sider]. Retrieved Feb.10, 2005.
- Anthony, JC. [http://n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=273&page=2 N-Sider 2]. Retrieved Feb.10, 2005.
- Liedhold, Marcus & Liedholm, Mattias. [http://nintendoland.com/home2.htm?history/index.htm Nintendo Land]. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- [http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/ForeignCompanyTearsheet.jhtml?cusip=6639550 Forbes]. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/41/41877.html Yahoo! Finance details for Nintendo Co, Ltd.] Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/43/43619.html Yahoo! Finance details for Nintendo of America]. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- Casamassina, Matt. [http://www.n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=344&page=3 N-Sider]. Retrieved Mar. 18, 2005.
- McCullough, J.J.. [http://www.filibustercartoons.com/Nintendo.php Filibuster Cartoons]. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- [http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp Nintendo copyrights]. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- [http://www.nintendo.com/corp/annual_report.jsp Nintendo's annual financial report]. Retrieved July 29, 2005.
- [http://www.nintendo.com/global List of official Nintendo sites]. Retrieved October 9, 2005.

External links

Official sites


- [http://www.nintendo.com/ Nintendo of America]
- [http://www.nintendo.ca/ Nintendo of Canada]
- [http://www.nintendo-europe.com/ Nintendo Europe]
- [http://www.nintendo.com.au/ Nintendo Australia]
- [http://www.seriousgamer007.blogspot.com/ Nintendo Viral Marketing]

Articles


- [http://articles.filefront.com/Purported_Revolution_Leak_Raises_Eyebrows_Doubts/;366;;;/article.html Purported Revolution Leak Raises Eyebrows, Doubts]
- [http://media.ds.ign.com/media/682/682837/vids_1.html The Nintendo Development Structure]
- [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/nintendo.html?pg=1&topic= The Untold Story of Maniac Mansion] by Douglas Crockford.
-
- [http://www.gamespot.com/features/vgs/universal/hist_nintendo/ The History of Nintendo] ja:任天堂 ko:닌텐도 simple:Nintendo Category:Companies_of_Japan

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, and Australia. In Japan it is known as the Super Famicom (スーパーファミコン). In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy (슈퍼컴보이). That console was licensed and distributed by Hyundai Electronics. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated to NES, released as the Famicom in Japan). Whereas the earlier system had struggled in Europe and large parts of Asia the SNES proved to be a global success, albeit one that could not match its predecessor's popularity in South East Asia and North America - due in part to increased competition from Sega's Mega Drive console (released in North America as the Genesis). Despite its relatively late start, the SNES became the best selling console of the 16-bit era but only after its competitor Sega had pulled out of the 16-bit market to focus on its 32-bit next generation console

History

16-bit era Even as the original NES/Famicom was at the height of its popularity, several companies were launching their own consoles. In 1987 and 1988 respectively, NEC and Sega launched their contenders, the PC Engine and the Mega Drive, one of the first 16-bit home gaming systems. Although the NES would continue to dominate the video game industry for years to come, Nintendo's hardware was beginning to show its age, and though Nintendo executives initially showed little interest in developing a new system, Sega and NEC's growing market share soon forced Nintendo to reconsider. Masayuki Uemura, the man responsible for designing the Famicom several years earlier, was put in charge of the design of the console and the Super Famicom was released in Japan on November 21, 1990 for ¥25,000. An instant success, Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units quickly sold out. The system was so popular that it was said to have attracted the attention of the Yakuza, leading to the decision to ship the devices at night in order to avoid robbery. In Japan, the Super Famicom easily outsold its chief rival, the Mega Drive, and Nintendo retained control over approximately 80% of the Japanese console market thanks, in part, to Nintendo's retention of most of its key third party developers from the Famicom, including Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square Co., Ltd., Koei and Enix. Ten months later, in August 13 1991, Nintendo released the Super Famicom in North America with a new redesigned case as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Initially sold for a price of $200 USD, the North American package included the game Super Mario World. The SNES was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in April 1992 for £150, with a German release following a few weeks later. The PAL versions of the console looked identical to the Japanese Super Famicom, except for labelling. Nintendo's Japanese market dominance was not repeated in the American and European markets. By the time of launch the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis had already became firmly entrenched in the US and European marketplace, helped by the lower cost of the Mega Drive/Genesis console and games and Sega's aggressive marketing in North America. In addition many US gamers had come to expect backwards compatibility from console developers (as was the case with the Atari 2600 and 7800), but the SNES was not designed to play NES cartridges. Rivalry between the two companies produced what is possibly the most notorious console war in history. Nintendo would never achieve market leadership in Europe and did not manage to do so in the US until 1994, benefiting from Sega pulling out of the market and it’s continued production of SNES and its games well after 32-bit era of gaming had started. 1994 By 1996, the 16-bit era of gaming had ended, and a new generation of consoles, including Nintendo's own Nintendo 64, caused the popularity of the SNES to wane. In October 1997, Nintendo released a redesigned SNES 2 in North America for $99 USD (which included the pack-in game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island). Like the earlier NES 2, the new model was designed to be slimmer and lighter than its predecessor but lacked S-Video and RGB output, and would prove to be among the last major SNES-related releases in America. A similar redesigned Super Famicom Jr. was released in Japan around the same time. All the American cases from the original NES to the SNES 2 were designed by Lance Barr. Nintendo of America ceased production of the SNES in 1999. In Japan, the Super Famicom continued to be produced until September 2003. In recent years, many SNES titles have been ported to the handheld Game Boy Advance, which has similar video capabilities. Some video game critics consider the SNES era "the golden age of video games," citing the many groundbreaking games and classics made for the system,[http://www.nintendoland.com/articles/gold_era.htm] whereas others question this romanticism.[http://www.nintendoland.com/home2.htm?articles/gld_era2.htm] See video game player for more. video game player video game player

Regional lockout

Nintendo employed several types of regional lockout. Game cartridges, depending on which market they were released in, were of different shapes. The North American model had a rectangular bottom that had inset grooves which when inserted complemented the console's shape whereas the Japanese and European cartridges had a smoothed curve on the front of the cartridges with no inset grooves. Since the North American console has protruding grooves, the Japanese/European cartridges could not be inserted without the removal of these grooves and North American cartridges being completely rectangular could not fit into the slightly curved opening of the Japanese and European console units. Additionally, a regional lockout chip within the console and in each cartridge prevented European games being played on Japanese/North American consoles and vice versa despite the fact that European and Japanese Cartridges fit in each other's consoles. The Japanese and North American machines had the same region chip, so once the difference in the shape of the cartridges was overcome, cartridges were interchangeable. The simplest way to play the Japanese and European cartridges in the North American system was to use a Game Genie cheat device with the small rectangular piece of plastic from its top removed. This not only circumvents the problem of different cartridge shapes but also removes any problem with lockout chips due to the internal design of the Game Genie. Alternatively, various other adapters or physical modification of the console could overcome regional lockout. The chip lockout system worked by having hardware in the console act as a lock and the chip inside the cartridge act as the key. Disconnecting pin 4 of the console's lockout chip caused a situation where there were two keys and no locks. This meant that the lockout chips would not operate and could not halt the console. Games towards the end of the console's lifecycle, such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars could detect this deadlock situation and refuse to run, so it later became common to install a switch that disconnected and connected the lockout chip as required. PAL consoles often faced another modification. Instead of being re-coded, most PAL games were simply slowed down from 60Hz to 50Hz, resulting in 17% slower gameplay and sound effects. Additionally, PAL's higher resolution was not taken advantage of, and the extra scanlines were blank, creating large black bars that letterboxed the image. This practice was common across all consoles at the time, but created a squashed and out of proportion picture. As most PAL TVs support NTSC and the SNES hardware made such a thing quite simple to add, a switch to select 50 or 60Hz operation was often added. As an additional form of region lockout, later games would check that the SNES was running at the speed the game was expecting. PAL games would refuse to run on 60Hz machines and vice versa. The solution was to start the game in the native speed and then flick the switch once the region check had succesfully completed. There was an adaptor made by Nintendo designed to overcome the nationality problems. You could plug the device into the SNES (Either version) and then you had to place a game that would normally not run on this SNES (eg a rectangle cartirdge that would not run in the round cartridge's SNES version) into the front. Then, in the back part you put in a nother game that would work on this SNES. The adaptor would read the game from the front port and use the nationality chip programming from the second.

Peripherals

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Throughout the course of its life, a number of peripherals were released which added to the functionality of the SNES. Many of these devices were modelled after earlier add-ons for the NES: the Super Scope was a light gun similar to the NES Zapper (though the Super Scope featured wireless capabilities) and the Super Advantage was an arcade-style joystick with adjustable turbo settings akin to the NES Advantage. Nintendo also released the SNES Mouse in conjunction with its Mario Paint title, and Hudson Soft, under license from Nintendo, released the Super Multitap, a multiplayer adaptor that allowed games to support up to eight players. One of the most interesting and successful first-party peripherals released for the SNES was the Super Game Boy, an adaptor cartridge allowing games designed for Nintendo's portable Game Boy system to be played on the SNES. The Super Game Boy touted a number of feature enhancements over the Game Boy, including color support (in reality, merely the ability to substitute a different color palette: the games themselves were still limited to four colors) and custom screen borders. Like the NES before it, the SNES saw its fair share of unlicensed third-party peripherals, including a new version of the Game Genie cheat cartridge designed for use with SNES games and a variety of game copier devices. In general, Nintendo proved to be somewhat more tolerant of unlicensed SNES peripherals than they had been with NES peripherals. Japan saw the release of the Satellaview, a modem which attached the Super Famicom's expansion port and connected to the St. GIGA satellite radio station. Users of the Satellaview could download gaming news and specially designed games, which were frequently either remakes of or sequels to older Famicom titles, released in instalments. Satellaview signals were broadcast from April 23, 1995 through June 30, 2000. During the SNES's life, Nintendo contracted with two different companies to develop a CD-ROM-based peripheral for the console. Ultimately, negotiations with both Sony and Philips fell through, and the two companies went on to develop their own consoles based on their initial dealings with Nintendo (the PlayStation and the CD-i respectively), Philips also gaining the right to release a series of CD-i titles based on popular Nintendo franchises.

Screenshots

Image:SNES_F-Zero.png|F-Zero
Nintendo (1991) Image:Mario_Kart_SNES.PNG|Super Mario Kart
Nintendo (1992) Image:SNES_Star_Fox.png|Star Fox
Nintendo (1993) Image:SNES_Street_Fighter_II_Turbo.png|Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Capcom (1993) Image:SuperMarioBros3SNES.png|Super Mario All-Stars
Nintendo (1993) Image:SNES_Chrono_Trigger.png|Chrono Trigger
Square Co., Ltd. (1995) Image:Dkc2-2.jpg|Donkey Kong Country 2
Nintendo/Rare (1995) Image:Earthworm_jim_2.PNG|Earthworm Jim 2
Playmates/Shiny (1995)

Emulation

Like the NES before it, the SNES has retained interest among its fans even following its decline in the marketplace. It has continued to thrive on the second-hand market and through console emulation. Many gamers discovered the SNES after its decline. The SNES has taken much the same revival path as the NES. Emulation projects began in 1996 with projects such as "VSMC" and "Super Pasofami," which, despite some important initial gains, did not last long past 1998. During that time, two competing emulation projects--Snes96 and Snes97--merged forming a new initiative entitled Snes9x. In early 1998, SNES enthusiasts began programming a console emulator named ZSNES. From then on, these two emulators have continued to offer the most complete emulation of the system and its various add-on chips like the Super FX Chip. Nintendo took the same stance against the distribution of SNES ROM image files and emulation as it did with the NES, insisting that they represented flagrant software piracy. Proponents of SNES emulation cite as arguments for their continued distribution: the discontinued production of the SNES, the right of the owner of the respective game to make a personal backup, the frailty of SNES cartridges (even though cartridges are far more durable than optical discs), and the lack of certain foreign imports. Starting in the 128-bit era, both Nintendo and emulation proponents began to have a less active stance on this issue. Despite Nintendo's attempts to stop the proliferation of such projects, ROM files continue to be available on the Internet. Since the console's discontinuation, second-hand market decline, and rapid growth of the Internet, finding the files has become less of a challenge than it had been with the NES. Most general ROM sites offer files for the SNES. The SNES was one of the first systems to attract the attention of amateur fan translators: Final Fantasy V was the first major work of fan translation to be completed, in 1997.

Technical specifications

The design of the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom was unusual for its time. It featured a low-performance CPU supported by very powerful custom chips for sound and video processing. This approach would become common in subsequent video game hardware, but at the time it was new to game developers. As a result early third-party games were of low technical quality. Developers later became accustomed to the system, and were able to take advantage of its full potential. It was the first console capable of applied