Difference between revisions of "Park Place Productions"
| Line 53: | Line 53: | ||
*''Facts in Action'' (US Publisher: Spirit of Discovery) | *''Facts in Action'' (US Publisher: Spirit of Discovery) | ||
*''The Human Calculator'' (US Publisher: Compton's New Media) | *''The Human Calculator'' (US Publisher: Compton's New Media) | ||
| − | *''NFL Video Pro Football'' (US Publisher: Konami | + | *''NFL Video Pro Football'' (US Publisher: Konami) |
===Famicom/NES=== | ===Famicom/NES=== | ||
| Line 86: | Line 86: | ||
*''NHL Hockey'' / ''EA Hockey'' / ''Pro Hockey'' (US/EU Publisher: Electronic Arts; JP Publisher: [[Electronic Arts Victor]]) | *''NHL Hockey'' / ''EA Hockey'' / ''Pro Hockey'' (US/EU Publisher: Electronic Arts; JP Publisher: [[Electronic Arts Victor]]) | ||
*''Road to the Cup Hockey '94'' (unreleased) (Electro Brain) | *''Road to the Cup Hockey '94'' (unreleased) (Electro Brain) | ||
| + | |||
| + | ''NFL Quarterback Club'' was originally being developed by Park Place, but the company's problems at the time (as detailed above) forced Acclaim to hand it off to Iguana Entertainment. [http://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:GamePlayers_US_0802.pdf&page=68] | ||
The Genesis version of ''Lobo'' (unreleased) was originally being programmed at Park Place. It was finished at Ocean of America. | The Genesis version of ''Lobo'' (unreleased) was originally being programmed at Park Place. It was finished at Ocean of America. | ||
| Line 103: | Line 105: | ||
*''Super Slam Dunk'' / ''Magic Johnson no Super Slam Dunk'' (US/JP Publisher: Virgin) | *''Super Slam Dunk'' / ''Magic Johnson no Super Slam Dunk'' (US/JP Publisher: Virgin) | ||
| − | ''NFL Quarterback Club'' was originally being developed | + | ''NFL Quarterback Club'' was originally being developed by Park Place, but the company's problems at the time (as detailed above) forced Acclaim to hand it off to Iguana Entertainment. [http://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:GamePlayers_US_0802.pdf&page=68] |
===Windows=== | ===Windows=== | ||
Revision as of 23:21, 6 June 2017
Park Place Productions was a development company near San Diego, California, started in 1989 by programmers Michael Knox and Troy Lyndon with $3,000 on Knox's credit card (Sauer). In a few years, it grew to be North America's largest independent game developer with over 100 employees and clients including Electronic Arts, Acclaim, and Virgin (Lyndon).
This meteoric growth brought rapid expansion and diversification. A green screen filming studio was built, which benefited the company's renowned sports games (Lyndon). Contract developer Knight Technologies, also based in the San Diego area, was acquired (Forhan 41). Software testing was moved in-house (then spun off into a company called Bug Busters) (Private). Edutainment and practical applications were developed in addition to games (Sauer). A publishing arm for DOS and Windows software was formed, Spirit of Discovery ("Entrepreneur of the Year"), that was buoyed by a "hybrid publishing agreement" with Konami (Sauer). (Spirit of Discovery later became an independent entity and relocated with the Knox family to Kaneohe, Hawaii. [Spirit of Discovery])
However, by late 1993, Park Place had clearly overextended itself. As deadlines were missed, publishers quit paying and pulled their contracts ("Harsh"). Also, Lyndon left that November because of a dispute. Eventually the company couldn't make payroll ("Empty").
Sony, Park Place's largest customer, offered to buy the company, but Knox refused to sell. As a result, 30 employees resigned on December 27, 1993, to join a new Sony Imagesoft operation in nearby Sorrento Valley ("Empty") (what became Sony Interactive Studios America/989 Studios). Nevertheless, Park Place attempted to rebuild and limped along with a much smaller staff (Private). Park Place later filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Sony, alleging the electronics giant attempted a hostile takeover ("African-American software company").
Lyndon later ran Christian game maker Left Behind Games, started in 2001. Knox served on the board of directors for a time (Jenkins). Knox died of colon cancer on September 15, 2009, at age 48 ("Software Expert").
WORKS CITED
- "African-American software company sues Sony Corp. for close to $500 million." The Free Library. 19 Dec. 1996, Business Wire, https://www.thefreelibrary.com/African-American+software+company+sues+Sony+Corp.+for+close+to+%24500...-a018969263. Accessed 16 May 2017.
- Bauder, Don. "Park Place Isn’t Bankrupt, but Payroll's Empty." The San Diego Union-Tribute, 4 Jan. 1994, Newsbank, http://www.newsbank.com. Accessed 8 May 2017.
- Bauder, Donald C. "Software Firm’s Collapse Is Fast, Harsh." The San Diego Union-Tribute, 1 Jan. 1994, Newsbank, http://www.newsbank.com. Accessed 8 May 2017.
- Forhan, Carl. "Straight from the Cat’s Mouth." Classic Gamer Magazine, p. 40–42, Digital Press, http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/cgm/cgm_4.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2017.
- "Inc. Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year Award Goes to Park Place Productions Executives." Jul 1993, Park Place Productions, http://www.liontelpartners.com/press/park-place-productions-press-release.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2017.
- Jenkins, David. "Left Behind Games Begins Executive Purge." Gamasutra, 30 Apr. 2007, http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13718. Accessed 16 May 2017.
- Lyndon, Troy A. "Troy Lyndon - About." 19 Jan. 2014, http://www.troylyndon.us/about.html. Accessed 16 May 2017.
- Private. Personal interview. 11 Nov. 2011.
- Sauer, Mark. "Park Place Pruductions [sic] Dynamic Duo." The San Diego Union-Tribute, 24 Nov. 1992, Newsbank, http://www.newsbank.com. Accessed 8 May 2017.
- "Software Expert Produced 'Madden' Football Video Game." Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 26 Sept. 2009, Hawaii News Archive - Starbulletin.com, http://archives.starbulletin.com/content/20090926_Software_expert_produced_Madden_football_video_game. Accessed 16 May 2017.
- Spirit of Discovery - Paradise in Hawaii. http://web.archive.org/web/20020202123038/http://www.spiritofdiscovery.com:80/spirit.html. Accessed 16 May 2017.
Research Methods: Actual mentions, interviews, online resources (see Links)
3DO
- 3D Adventures (unreleased)
- 3D Football (unreleased)
Commodore 64
- ABC Monday Night Football (US Publisher: Data East)
- Game Design: Season Ticket Productions
- The Dream Team: 3 on 3 Challenge (US/CA Publisher: Data East)
- Game Design: Season Ticket Productions
DOS
- ABC Monday Night Football (US Publisher: Data East)
- Game Design: Season Ticket Productions
- Batman Returns (US/EU Publisher: Konami)
- Game Design: Subway Software
- Beat the House (US Publisher: Spirit of Discovery)
- The Berenstain Bears Learn About Counting (US Publisher: Compton's New Media)
- Bo Jackson Baseball / TV Sports: Baseball (US Publisher: Data East; EU Publisher: Mindscape)
- The Amiga and IBM versions were apparently done by Acme Interactive, but Michael Knox's profile lists the IBM version, and an old Usenet post mentions "contract work on Bo Jackson." Acme programmer Nigel Spencer said in a YouTube comment that he wrote the Amiga, VGA, and EGA versions. Does that mean Park Place did the Tandy version?
- David Robinson Basketball (unreleased?) (Sega)
- Draft & Print (US Publisher: Spirit of Discovery)
- The Dream Team: 3 on 3 Challenge (US/CA Publisher: Data East)
- Game Design: Season Ticket Productions
- Dvorak on Typing (US Publisher: Interplay)
- Re-released on CD-ROM as Typing for Today. Macintosh version by Silicon & Synapse.
- Facts in Action (US Publisher: Spirit of Discovery)
- The Human Calculator (US Publisher: Compton's New Media)
- NFL Video Pro Football (US Publisher: Konami)
Famicom/NES
- Roundball: 2-on-2 Challenge (US/EU Publisher: Mindscape)
Game Boy
- The Chessmaster (US Publisher: Hi Tech Expressions; JP Publisher: Altron)
- The New Chessmaster (US Publisher: Hi Tech Expressions; JP Publisher: Altron)
Jaguar
- 3D Football (unreleased) [1]
Macintosh
- Beat the House (US Publisher: MacPlay)
Mega CD/Sega CD
- Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (unreleased) (Sunsoft)
- NFL's Greatest: San Francisco vs. Dallas 1978-1993 (US Publisher: Sega)
Mega Drive/Genesis
- Champions World Class Soccer (EU/US Publisher: Flying Edge; JP Publisher: Acclaim; BR Publisher: Tec Toy)
- Dan Marino Power Play Football (unreleased) (Virgin)
- Dick Vitale's "Awesome, Baby!" College Hoops (US/AU Publisher: Time Warner Interactive)
- ESPN Baseball Tonight (US Publisher: Sony Imagesoft)
- Jeopardy! (US Publisher: GameTek)
- Jeopardy!: Deluxe Edition (US Publisher: GameTek)
- Jeopardy!: Sports Edition (US Publisher: GameTek)
- Joe Montana Football (US/EU/JP Publisher: Sega)
- John Madden Football / John Madden American Football (US/EU Publisher: Electronic Arts; BR Publisher: Tec Toy)
- Lennox Lewis Boxing (unreleased) (Acclaim)
- Muhammad Ali Heavyweight Boxing (US/EU Publisher: Virgin)
- NHL Hockey / EA Hockey / Pro Hockey (US/EU Publisher: Electronic Arts; JP Publisher: Electronic Arts Victor)
- Road to the Cup Hockey '94 (unreleased) (Electro Brain)
NFL Quarterback Club was originally being developed by Park Place, but the company's problems at the time (as detailed above) forced Acclaim to hand it off to Iguana Entertainment. [2]
The Genesis version of Lobo (unreleased) was originally being programmed at Park Place. It was finished at Ocean of America.
Super Famicom/Super NES
- Champions World Class Soccer (JP/US Publisher: Acclaim)
- ESPN Baseball Tonight (US Publisher: Sony Imagesoft)
- John Madden Football / Pro Football (US Publisher: Electronic Arts; JP Publisher: Imagineer)
- Kawasaki Caribbean Challenge (US Publisher: GameTek)
- Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (unreleased) (Sunsoft)
- Muhammad Ali Heavyweight Boxing (unreleased) (Virgin)
- NFL Football (US/JP Publisher: Konami)
- NHLPA Hockey 93 (US Publisher: Electronic Arts)
- Pigskin Footbrawl (unreleased) (RazorSoft)
- Originally contracted to Knight Technologies
- Road to the Cup Hockey '94 (unreleased) (Electro Brain)
- Super Slam Dunk / Magic Johnson no Super Slam Dunk (US/JP Publisher: Virgin)
NFL Quarterback Club was originally being developed by Park Place, but the company's problems at the time (as detailed above) forced Acclaim to hand it off to Iguana Entertainment. [3]
Windows
- Beat the House (US Publisher: Interplay)
- Beat the House 2 (game design) (US Publisher: Interplay)
- Developer: Cetasoft
- Caesars Palace series (game design) (US Publisher: Interplay)
- Developer: Cetasoft
- Dvorak on Typing (US Publisher: Interplay)
- Galles Indy Extreme (unreleased)
- Jeopardy! Deluxe Edition (US Publisher: GameTek)
- Wheel of Fortune Deluxe Edition (US Publisher: GameTek)
