Virgin Interactive
From Sega Retro
Virgin Interactive | ||||
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Founded: 1983[1] | ||||
T-series code: T-70 | ||||
Merged into: Titus (UK division), EA (US division) | ||||
Headquarters:
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Virgin Interactive was a British video game developer and publisher. Founded in 1983[1] as Virgin Games Ltd., it was the Virgin Group's first foray into the video game market.
Contents
History
In its initial form, Virgin Games, like many British video game companies of the day, developed and published video games for home computer platforms, such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.
In 1987, Virgin Games bought a minority stake in budget label cash-strapped Mastertronic, as Virgin Games wanted to be in the budget computer games business[1]. Mastertronic, set to be the official distributor of the Sega Master System in the UK, suffered a setback after Sega delivered the first order of consoles too late, leading to Virgin Games acquiring the company in full later in the year, creating Virgin Mastertronic, Ltd. in the process[1].
Virgin Mastertronic, essentially given free reign over Sega's products after they left Japan, was extremely successful at marketing the Master System in the region. It took over distribution in France and Germany in mid-1988, with Spain to follow in 1990[1]. Whilst in mid-1989 they tied up a 5 year extension for their European Sega Master System distribution rights, also adding the Sega Mega Drive rights, which they would eventually release in 1990. The deal was said to be worth £100 million[2][3], and included over one million units of hardware and seven million units of software[4] until 1994, figures that they would sail through by just the end of 1990.
In 1990 Sega appointed Virgin as a third party publisher[5].
Seeing its success, Sega acquired the publishing arm of Virgin Mastertronic in 1991, turning it into Sega Europe[6][1]. The development arm, which Sega was not interested in, returned to its original name as Virgin Games. Over the next few years, Virgin Games would see a string of successes, the most notable of which being the hand-animated Disney's Aladdin which redefined computer animation in games.
1993 saw the company rename itself as Virgin Interactive Entertainment. During this period it capitalised on the work of Westwood Studios (which it acquired), among others. It became a wholly-owned subsidary of Blockbuster Entertainment in 1994[7].
Virgin Interactive would transition more towards a publishing and distribution company in the years which followed. In late 1995 it acquired the distribution rights for Capcom titles in Europe[8].
The British studio operations were acquired in a management buyout led by former Managing Director Tim Chaney in 1998. The U.S. operations were sold to Electronic Arts as part of its acquisition of Westwood Studios that same year.
French publisher Titus Software acquired a majority interest in Interplay in 1999[9], which at this time owned 50% of Virgin Interactive. Titus would acquire most of the remaining shares in October 1999, absorbing the company completely by 2001[9].
A management buy-out of the Spanish arm of Virgin Interactive in June 2002 led to the short lived Virgin Play[9]. The rest of the company would be renamed Avalon Interactive on July 1, 2003.
Softography
Master System
- World Cup Italia '90 (1990) (as Virgin Mastertronic)
- Speedball (1991) (as Virgin Games)
- Xenon 2: Megablast (1991) (as Virgin Games)
- Arcade Smash Hits (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Chuck Rock (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Marble Madness (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- The Terminator (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Cool Spot (1993) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Wolfchild (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Super Off Road (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- RoboCop Versus The Terminator (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- The Lion King (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (1996)
- Battletoads (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
- Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (unreleased)
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
- Tintin on the Moon (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
Mega Drive
- World Cup Soccer (1989) (as Virgin Mastertronic)
- Chuck Rock (1991) (as Virgin Games)
- European Club Soccer (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- The Terminator (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Corporation (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- World Trophy Soccer (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Xenon 2: Megablast (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Cool Spot (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Disney's Aladdin (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- The Lost Vikings (1993) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Two Tribes: Populous II (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Another World (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Chi Chi's Pro Challenge Golf (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Greatest Heavyweights (1993) (as Virgin Games) (Muhammad Ali license)
- RoboCop Versus The Terminator (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Dune II: Battle for Arrakis (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Earthworm Jim (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Jammit (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- The Jungle Book (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- The Lion King (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Dino Dini's Soccer (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Cannon Fodder (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Demolition Man (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Earthworm Jim 2 (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Spot Goes to Hollywood (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Crossroads of Time (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- ExoSquad (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Pinocchio (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Converse Hardcore Hoops (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Dan Marino's Touch Down Football (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- DynoBlaze (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Fire & Ice (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
- Sensible Golf (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
- Wacky Races (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
Game Gear
- Double Dragon (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- The Terminator (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Super Off Road (1992) (as Virgin Games)
- Cool Spot (1993) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Wolfchild (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- RoboCop Versus The Terminator (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- The Lion King (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Earthworm Jim (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (unreleased)
- Fire & Ice (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
Mega-CD
- Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck (1993) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- The Terminator (1993) (as Virgin Games)
- Dune (1993) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Heart of the Alien: Out of this World Parts I and II (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Links: The Challenge of Golf (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Trivial Pursuit: Interactive Multimedia Game (1994) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Dungeon Explorer (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Lords of Thunder (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- The Space Adventure (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Demolition Man (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Flux (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Cool Spot (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
- DynoBlaze (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Lost Eden (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
32X
- Converse Hardcore Hoops (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Spot Goes to Hollywood (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
Saturn
- Black Fire (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- F1 Challenge (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Ghen War (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Chaos Control (1995) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Blam! Machinehead (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Command & Conquer (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Hyper 3D Pinball (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Skeleton Warriors (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Mega Man X3 (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Earthworm Jim 2 (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- NHL Powerplay '96 (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Minami no Shima ni Buta ga Ita: Lucas no Daibouken (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Grid Runner (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Crimewave (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Chaos Control Remix (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Ryougae Puzzle Game Moudjiya (1996) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Black Dawn (1997) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Soukyugurentai (1997) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Gekirindan Time Travel Shooting (1997) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- The Unsolved: Hyper Science Adventure (1997) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Grand Slam (1997) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Marvel Super Heroes (1997)
- Street Fighter Collection (1997)
- Converse Hardcore Hoops (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Heart of Darkness (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Manic Karts (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Nanotek Warrior (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Planet Pinball (unreleased)
- The 11th Hour (unreleased) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Velocity (unreleased) (as Virgin Games)
- VIP Soccer (unreleased)
Dreamcast
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1999)
- Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1999)
- Giga Wing (1999)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (1999)
- Bangai-O (1999)
- Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein (1999)
- Street Fighter III: Double Impact (1999)
- Resident Evil 2 (1999)
- Jimmy White's 2: Cueball (1999)
- Draconus Cult of the Wyrm (2000)
- Kao the Kangaroo (2000)
- Tech Romancer (2000)
- Gunbird 2 (2000)
- MDK 2 (2000)
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000)
- Mr. Driller (2000)
- Caesars Palace 2000: Millennium Gold Edition (2000)
- Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (2000)
- Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 (2000)
- Dino Crisis (2000)
- Super Runabout: San Francisco Edition (2000)
- Army Men: Sarge's Heroes (2000) (as Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
- Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (2000)
- Project Justice (2000)
- European Super League (2001)
- Worms World Party (2001)
- Star Trek: New Worlds (unreleased)
- Viva Soccer (unreleased)
Commodore 64
- Golden Axe (1990) (as Virgin Games)
IBM PC
- Golden Axe (1990) (as Virgin Games)
ZX Spectrum
- Golden Axe (1990) (as Virgin Games)
Amstrad CPC
- Golden Axe (1990) (as Virgin Games)
Atari ST
- Golden Axe (1990) (as Virgin Games)
Amiga
- Golden Axe (1990) (as Virgin Games)
Promotional material
Logos
References
NEC Retro has more information related to Virgin Interactive Entertainment
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Interview: Nick Alexander (2008-09-17) by Sega-16
- ↑ New Computer Express, "June 10, 1989" (UK; 1989-06-08), page 2
- ↑ Popular Computing Weekly, "June 1 1989" (UK; 1989-06-01), page 2
- ↑ Popular Computing Weekly, "June 1 1989" (UK; 1989-06-01), page 8
- ↑ New Computer Express, "29 September 1990" (UK; 1990-09-27), page 9
- ↑ New Computer Express, "27th July 1991" (UK; 1991-07-25), page 4
- ↑ http://www.vie.com:80/low/corp/corpsub1.html (Wayback Machine: 1997-02-06 03:26)
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "December 1995" (UK; 1995-11-24), page 10
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 [ ]
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Austria
Belgium and Luxembourg
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Ireland
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United Kingdom
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