Difference between revisions of "Acclaim Entertainment"
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Revision as of 21:28, 8 December 2019
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Acclaim Entertainment | ||
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Founded: 1987 | ||
Defunct: 2004-08 | ||
T-series code: T-81 | ||
Headquarters:
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Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. (アクレイム) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1987 as a Delaware corporation. Over the next 17 years, the company became a leading worldwide developer, publisher and mass marketer. The company's headquarters were located in Glen Cove, New York, and their common stock publicly traded on the US Stock Exchange (NASDAQ symbol AKLM).
Contents
History
The name of the company was picked because it had to be alphabetically above the co-founder's former place of employment, Activision, and also had to be alphabetically above Accolade (another company formed by ex-Activision employees). This was a common formula for picking names of new companies that were founded by ex-Activision employees (the founders of Activision used this formula when they left Atari).
Many of Acclaim's products were licensed titles: games based on comics, television series (including wrestling shows and cartoons) and movies. They were also responsible for the ports of many of Midway's arcade games in the early-to-mid 1990s, including the Mortal Kombat series. They also published some games from other companies that at the time of publication didn't have an American branch, such as Technos Japan's Double Dragon and Taito's Bust-A-Move series. Several games in the Acclaim catalog are frequently cited as among the worst of all time, a fact that has continued to earn it the derision of gamers and gaming media. Flying Edge was a division of Acclaim that published Acclaim's games for Sega consoles. The Flying Edge name was used from 1991 to 1994. Due to contractual issues with Nintendo during the NES era, this new division was specifically created for publishing games under the Sega brand.
In the 1990s, Acclaim purchased a great number of third-party developers, including Arena Entertainment, Sculptured Software, Iguana Entertainment, Probe Software, and Software Creations. Through their subsidiaries in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Australia, Acclaim distributed their software products directly to retailers and other outlets. They also utilized regional distributors in Japan and the Pacific Rim to distribute software within those geographic areas. In addition, Acclaim was the distributor for other publishers worldwide. A smaller portion of their business included publishing gaming strategy guides and issuing "special edition" comic magazines to support brands they owned.
The demise of Acclaim Entertainment began in 2003 when the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) began an investigation into several video game companies, including Acclaim. Lawsuits were filed in March 2003 against Acclaim in US District Court alleging "violations against the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". In June 2003, CEO Gregory Fischbach stepped down as chief executive and was replaced by President Rodney Cousens. The end of Acclaim came when they filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. All divisions and studios were closed and assets liquidated by the end of 2004. Legal battles were fought in various courts all the way into mid-2007.
However, the name Acclaim did not die immediately. During the liquidation period in Sept. 2004, former Activision CEO Howard Marks purchased the "Acclaim" name and the logo for a reported $100,000. Then in 2006, he and Neil Malhotra created a new company: Acclaim Games, with an entirely new focus on Massive Multiplayer Online Games. This new company was acquired on May 2010 by online game developer Playdom and closed by them three months later, killing the Acclaim name for good.
For a while Acclaim's internal development divisions were named after colours.
Softography
Master System
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1992)
- Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six (Black Team; 1992)
- Alien 3 (1992)
- Predator 2 (Grey Team; 1992)
- George Foreman's KO Boxing (White Team; 1993)
- The Addams Family (1993)
- Krusty's Fun House (Black Team; 1993)
- WWF Wrestlemania: Steel Cage Challenge (Black Team; 1993)
- The Incredible Crash Dummies (1993)
- RoboCop 3 (1993)
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World (1993)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1993)
- T2: The Arcade Game (1993)
- Mortal Kombat (Grey Team; 1993)
- Mortal Kombat II (Grey Team; 1994)
Mega Drive
- Smash TV (1991)
- Arch Rivals (1992)
- Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone (1992)
- Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge (1992)
- NBA All-Star Challenge (1992)
- Roger Clemens MVP Baseball (White Team; 1992)
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1992)
- The Steel Empire (1992)
- WWF Super WrestleMania (Black Team; 1992)
- Alien 3 (1992)
- Predator 2 (Grey Team; 1992)
- The Addams Family (1993)
- Champions World Class Soccer (1993)
- RoboCop 3 (1993)
- The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare (1993)
- Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge (Black Team; 1993)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1993)
- T2: The Arcade Game (1993)
- Mortal Kombat (Grey Team; 1993)
- George Foreman's KO Boxing (White Team; 1993)
- WWF Royal Rumble (1993)
- Bloodshot (1994)
- Mortal Kombat II (Grey Team; 1994)
- NBA Jam Tournament Edition (White Team; 1994)
- Newman/Haas IndyCar featuring Nigel Mansell (1994)
- NFL Quarterback Club (1994)
- Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage (Black Team; 1994)
- True Lies (1994)
- Virtual Bart (Black Team; 1994)
- Wolverine: Adamantium Rage (1994)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- Demolition Man (1995)
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1995)
- Foreman for Real (1995)
- Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball (1995)
- Judge Dredd (1995)
- Justice League Task Force (Grey Team; 1995)
- NFL Quarterback Club 96 (1995)
- Revolution X (1995)
- Scooby-Doo Mystery (1995)
- Spider-Man & Venom: Separation Anxiety (1995)
- Stargate (Grey Team; 1995)
- Total Football (1995)
- Warlock (White Team; 1995)
- WWF Raw (1995)
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (Black Team; 1995)
- Blockbuster World Video Game Championship II (1995)
- College Slam (1996)
- Cutthroat Island (1996)
Mega-CD
- WWF Rage in the Cage (Black Team; 1994)
- Battle Frenzy (1994)
- NBA Jam (1994)
- Mortal Kombat (Grey Team; 1994)
- Demolition Man (1995)
Sega 32X
- WWF Raw (Black Team; 1994)
- Mortal Kombat II (Grey Team; 1995)
- NBA Jam Tournament Edition (1995)
- NFL Quarterback Club (1995)
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (Black Team; 1995)
Game Gear
- The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (1992)
- Arch Rivals (1992)
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1992)
- Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six (1992)
- Alien 3 (1992)
- Predator 2 (Grey Team; 1992)
- The Addams Family (1993)
- RoboCop 3 (1993)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1993)
- T2: The Arcade Game (1993)
- Mortal Kombat (Grey Team; 1993)
- The Simpsons: Bartman Meets Radioactive Man (1993)
- WWF Wrestlemania: Steel Cage Challenge (Black Team; 1993)
- George Foreman's KO Boxing (White Team; 1993)
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World (1993)
- Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge (Black Team; 1994)
- The Incredible Crash Dummies (1994)
- Monster Truck Wars (1994)
- Mortal Kombat II (1994)
- NBA Jam Tournament Edition (1994)
- Rise of the Robots (1994)
- WWF Raw (1994)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1995)
- Foreman for Real (1995)
- Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball (1995)
- The Itchy & Scratchy Game (1995)
- Judge Dredd (1995)
- NFL Quarterback Club '95 (1995)
- NFL Quarterback Club 96 (1995)
- True Lies (1995)
- Cutthroat Island (1996)
- Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal (1996)
Sega Titan Video
- Batman Forever (1996)
Saturn
- Myst (1995)
- Galactic Attack (1995)
- NFL Quarterback Club 96 (1995)
- Revolution X (1995)
- Robotica (1995)
- Street Fighter: The Movie (1995)
- Alien Trilogy (1996)
- Batman Forever: The Arcade Game (1996)
- Battle Monsters (1996)
- Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands (1996)
- Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition (1996)
- College Slam (1996)
- D (1996)
- Darius Gaiden (1996)
- DragonHeart: Fire & Steel (1996)
- Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball (1996)
- Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal (1996)
- Mortal Kombat II (1996)
- NBA Jam Extreme (1996)
- NFL Quarterback Club 97 (1996)
- Resurrection: Rise 2 (1996)
- Space Jam (1996)
- Starfighter 3000 (1996)
- Striker '96 (1996)
- Virtual Open Tennis (1996)
- WWF in Your House (1996)
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (1996)
- X-Men: Children of the Atom (1996)
- Yellow Brick Road (1996)
- All-Star 1997 Featuring Frank Thomas (1997)
- Battlesport (1997)
- The Crow: City of Angels (1997)
- Tunnel B1 (1997)
- Scorcher (1997)
- Time Commando (1998)
Dreamcast
- NFL Quarterback Club 2000 (1999)
- Psychic Force 2012 (1999)
- Re-Volt (1999)
- Shadow Man (1999)
- South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (1999)
- Trickstyle (1999)
- WWF Attitude (1999)
- Bust-A-Move 4 (2000)
- Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX (2000)
- ECW Anarchy Rulz (2000)
- ECW Hardcore Revolution (2000)
- F355 Challenge: Passione Rossa (2000)
- Fur Fighters (2000)
- Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000 (2000)
- NFL QB Club 2001 (2000)
- South Park Rally (2000)
- Tee Off (2000)
- Vanishing Point (2000)
- Ducati World Racing Challenge (2001)
- Spirit of Speed 1937 (2001)
PlayStation 2
- Crazy Taxi (2001, Except Japan)
- 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker (2001)
- Headhunter (2002, North America only)
- Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (2002, North America only)
- Virtua Cop: Elite Edition (2002, Europe only)
- Virtua Tennis 2 (2002, Europe only)
- Sega Bass Fishing Duel (2003, Europe only)
Nintendo GameCube
- Crazy Taxi (2001, Except Japan)
- 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker (2001)