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. Midway left the arcade business ca. 2000, 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
  • Joust
  • Sinistar

As Williams Electronics Games

Arcade

  • 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
  • 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
  • TROG (Bally Midway label)
  • The Ugly Stick (unreleased) [4]
  • Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
  • War Gods
  • WWF WrestleMania

As Midway Games

Arcade

  • Arctic Thunder
  • CarnEvil
  • Cruis'n Exotica
  • The Grid
  • Mortal Kombat 4
  • NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC
  • NFL Blitz

GameCube

  • Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
  • Mortal Kombat: Deception

Nintendo 64

  • NFL Blitz 2000

PlayStation

  • Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
with Avalanche Software
  • Mortal Kombat: Special Forces

PlayStation 2

  • Blitz: The League
  • Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
  • Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
  • Mortal Kombat: Deception
  • Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

PlayStation 3

  • Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
  • Stranglehold

PSP

  • Mortal Kombat: Unchained

Xbox

  • Blitz: The League
  • Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
  • Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
  • Mortal Kombat: Deception
  • Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

Xbox 360

  • Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
  • 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 [5]

Links