NetherRealm Studios
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Williams Electronics, Inc. in Chicago had its origins in the pinball business of Harry Williams, going back to the 1930s. The company moved into video games with 1981's classic Defender by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar. After Defender, Williams greatly increased in-house game production, while Jarvis and DeMar continued designing games at their company Vid Kidz. After the 1983/1984 crash in the arcade business, Williams greatly reduced its video games staff, which became part of Williams Electronics Games, Inc.. Jarvis returned to Williams in 1988 after a stay at Stanford University, and afterwards video game production greatly increased again with the likes of NARC and Smash T.V., leading to hits like Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam. Williams had acquired the arcade business of its competitor Bally Midway in 1988, shutting down their offices in Franklin Park and only retaining Bally's Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman.[1] The company started using the Midway name for their Chicago-developed games from 1989 on (retaining the Bally Midway label on a handful of titles), first as Midway Manufacturing Company, from 1996 as Midway Games, Inc., from 1999 as Midway Amusement Games LLC. Midway left the arcade business after 2000 for console development, but arcade development in Chicago continued with companies founded by former Midway employees like George Petro's Play Mechanix and Jarvis' Raw Thrills. In 2009, Midway and the Chicago studio were acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive, with the studio being rechristened WB Games Chicago [2], and later NetherRealm Studios, focusing on creating new games in the Mortal Kombat series.
Research Methods: Online resources (see Links), print resources, shared credits, direct mentions.
As Williams Electronics
Arcade
- Bubbles
- Defender
- Inferno
- Joust
- Mystic Marathon
- Sinistar
- Splat!
- Star Rider
- Turkey Shoot (design, graphics)
- programming by Games Alive!, Inc.
As Williams Electronics Games
Arcade
- High Impact Football
- Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest
- NARC
- Smash T.V.
As Midway Manufacturing
Arcade
- Arch Rivals (Bally Midway label)
- began development at Bally Midway[3]
- Cruis'n USA
- Cruis'n World
- Judge Dredd (unreleased, location test only) [4]
- Mortal Kombat
- Mortal Kombat II
- Mortal Kombat 3
- NBA Hangtime
- NBA Jam
- NBA Jam Tournament Edition
- NHL Open Ice: 2 On 2 Challenge
- Pigskin 621 AD (Bally Midway label)
- Power Up Baseball (unreleased, location test only) (design) [5]
- co-design/programming/art by Incredible Technologies
- Revolution X
- Strike Force
- Super High Impact
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- Total Carnage
- Tri-Sports (Bally Midway label)
- TROG (Bally Midway label)
- The Ugly Stick (unreleased) [6]
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
- War Gods
- WWF WrestleMania
As Midway Games
Arcade
- CarnEvil
- Hyperdrive
- Mortal Kombat 4
- NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC
- NFL Blitz
- NFL Blitz 2000 - Gold Edition
- NFL Blitz 99
Nintendo 64
- NFL Blitz 2000
PlayStation
- Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
- with Avalanche Software
- Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
As Midway Amusement Games
Arcade
- Arctic Thunder
- CART Fury: Championship Racing
- Cruis'n Exotica
- The Grid
Game Boy Advance
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
- Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition
- Spy Hunter
GameCube
- MLB SlugFest 20-03
- MLB SlugFest 20-04
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
- Mortal Kombat: Deception
- NFL Blitz Pro
- RedCard 20-03
PlayStation 2
- Blitz: The League
- MLB SlugFest 20-03
- MLB SlugFest 20-04
- MLB SlugFest Loaded
- with Point of View
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
- Mortal Kombat: Deception
- NBA Ballers
- NBA Ballers: Phenom
- NFL Blitz 20-02
- NFL Blitz 20-03
- with Point of View
- NFL Blitz Pro
- Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
- RedCard 20-03
PlayStation 3
- Blitz: The League II
- Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
- NBA Ballers: Chosen One
- Stranglehold
- Wheelman
- supporting Midway Newcastle
PSP
- Mortal Kombat: Unchained
- with JGI Entertainment
Xbox
- Blitz: The League
- MLB SlugFest 20-03
- MLB SlugFest 20-04
- MLB SlugFest Loaded
- with Point of View
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
- Mortal Kombat: Deception
- NBA Ballers
- NBA Ballers: Phenom
- NFL Blitz 20-03
- with Point of View
- NFL Blitz Pro
- Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
- RedCard 20-03
Xbox 360
- Blitz: The League II
- Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
- NBA Ballers: Chosen One
- Stranglehold
- Wheelman
- supporting Midway Newcastle
As WB Games Chicago
PlayStation 3
- F.3.A.R. (multiplayer development) (WB Games)
Xbox 360
- F.3.A.R. (multiplayer development) (WB Games)
As NetherRealm Studios
iOS
- Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
- Batman: Arkham Origins
- Injustice: Gods Among Us
- Mortal Kombat X
- WWE Immortals
- with Phosphor Studios
PlayStation 3
- Injustice: Gods Among Us (WB Games)
- Mortal Kombat (WB Games)
PlayStation 4
- Injustice 2 (WB Games)
- Mortal Kombat X (WB Games)
- Mortal Kombat 11 (WB Games)
Wii U
- Injustice: Gods Among Us (WB Games)
Xbox 360
- Injustice: Gods Among Us (WB Games)
- Mortal Kombat (WB Games)
Xbox One
- Injustice 2 (WB Games)
- Mortal Kombat X (WB Games)
- Mortal Kombat 11 (WB Games)
References
- Davis, Warren. Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games, Santa Monica Press, 2021 [7]
