Difference between revisions of "NetherRealm Studios"

From Game Developer Research Institute
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 1: Line 1:
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__
 
{{WIP}}
 
{{WIP}}
'''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.[http://gamerefuge.com/alongtheway.html] 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.''' Midway left the arcade business after 2000 for console development (their last arcade titles released as '''Midway Amusement Games LLC'''), 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''' [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/pc/report-midway-chicago-becomes-wb-games-chicago], and later '''NetherRealm Studios''', focusing on creating new games in the Mortal Kombat series.
+
'''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.[http://gamerefuge.com/alongtheway.html] 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''' [https://www.gamedeveloper.com/pc/report-midway-chicago-becomes-wb-games-chicago], and later '''NetherRealm Studios''', focusing on creating new games in the Mortal Kombat series.
  
 
'''[[About:Research Methods|Research Methods]]:''' Online resources (see [[#Links|Links]]), print resources, shared credits, direct mentions.
 
'''[[About:Research Methods|Research Methods]]:''' Online resources (see [[#Links|Links]]), print resources, shared credits, direct mentions.
Line 51: Line 51:
 
===Arcade===
 
===Arcade===
 
*''CarnEvil''
 
*''CarnEvil''
*''Cruis'n Exotica''
 
 
*''Hyperdrive''
 
*''Hyperdrive''
 
*''Mortal Kombat 4''
 
*''Mortal Kombat 4''
Line 58: Line 57:
 
*''NFL Blitz 2000 - Gold Edition''
 
*''NFL Blitz 2000 - Gold Edition''
 
*''NFL Blitz 99''
 
*''NFL Blitz 99''
 
===GameCube===
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Deception''
 
  
 
===Nintendo 64===
 
===Nintendo 64===
Line 70: Line 65:
 
:<small>with Avalanche Software</small>
 
:<small>with Avalanche Software</small>
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Special Forces''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Special Forces''
 +
 +
==As Midway Amusement Games==
 +
===Arcade===
 +
*''Arctic Thunder''
 +
*''CART Fury: Championship Racing''
 +
*''Cruis'n Exotica''
 +
*''The Grid''
 +
 +
===GameCube===
 +
*''MLB SlugFest 20-03''
 +
*''MLB SlugFest 20-04''
 +
*''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance''
 +
*''Mortal Kombat: Deception''
 +
*''NFL Blitz Pro''
 +
*''RedCard 20-03''
  
 
===PlayStation 2===
 
===PlayStation 2===
 
*''Blitz: The League''
 
*''Blitz: The League''
 +
*''MLB SlugFest 20-03''
 +
*''MLB SlugFest 20-04''
 +
*''MLB SlugFest Loaded''
 +
:<small>with Point of View</small>
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Armageddon''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Armageddon''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance''
Line 78: Line 92:
 
*''NBA Ballers''
 
*''NBA Ballers''
 
*''NBA Ballers: Phenom''
 
*''NBA Ballers: Phenom''
 +
*''NFL Blitz 20-02''
 +
*''NFL Blitz 20-03''
 +
:<small>with Point of View</small>
 +
*''NFL Blitz Pro''
 
*''Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy''
 
*''Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy''
 +
*''RedCard 20-03''
  
 
===PlayStation 3===
 
===PlayStation 3===
Line 87: Line 106:
 
===PSP===
 
===PSP===
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Unchained''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Unchained''
 +
:<small>with JGI Entertainment</small>
  
 
===Xbox===
 
===Xbox===
 
*''Blitz: The League''
 
*''Blitz: The League''
 +
*''MLB SlugFest 20-03''
 +
*''MLB SlugFest 20-04''
 +
*''MLB SlugFest Loaded''
 +
:<small>with Point of View</small>
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Armageddon''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Armageddon''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance''
 
*''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance''
Line 95: Line 119:
 
*''NBA Ballers''
 
*''NBA Ballers''
 
*''NBA Ballers: Phenom''
 
*''NBA Ballers: Phenom''
 +
*''NFL Blitz 20-03''
 +
:<small>with Point of View</small>
 +
*''NFL Blitz Pro''
 
*''Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy''
 
*''Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy''
 +
*''RedCard 20-03''
  
 
===Xbox 360===
 
===Xbox 360===
Line 101: Line 129:
 
*''NBA Ballers: Chosen One''
 
*''NBA Ballers: Chosen One''
 
*''Stranglehold''
 
*''Stranglehold''
 
==As Midway Amusement Games==
 
===Arcade===
 
*''Arctic Thunder''
 
*''CART Fury: Championship Racing''
 
*''The Grid''
 
  
 
==As NetherRealm Studios==
 
==As NetherRealm Studios==

Revision as of 11:11, 4 June 2022

ATTENTION: This entry is a WORK IN PROGRESS
This entry is not finished. Please use with caution.

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

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)
  • 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) [5]
  • 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

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

  • Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
  • NBA Ballers: Chosen One
  • Stranglehold

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

  • Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
  • NBA Ballers: Chosen One
  • Stranglehold

As NetherRealm 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 [6]

Links