Sony Imagesoft

Sony Imagesoft was a video game publisher that operated from 1989 to 1995 and was located in California. It was established in January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, as a subsidiary of the Japan-based CBS/Sony Group (CSG) and initially named CSG Imagesoft Inc.[2] Focus at the beginning was on marketing games exclusively for Nintendo consoles.[3]

Sony Imagesoft Inc.

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Fate	Folded into SCEA
Successor	989 Studios
Founded	January 1989[1]
Defunct	March 1995
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Parent	CBS/Sony Group (1989–1991) Sony Electronic Publishing (1991–1995)
Website	www.sony.com

The first release was Super Dodge Ball in summer 1989.[3] Games by UK-based developers, Solstice and Dragon's Lair, followed in 1990. Both were also published in Japan through Epic/Sony Records.

After Sony had set up its North American division, Sony Electronic Publishing in April 1991,[4][5] Imagesoft operated as Sony Imagesoft Inc.

Other releases are localizations of SNES games previously developed for Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) and published under the Epic/Sony Records brand: Extra Innings and Smart Ball, both published in 1992. Following a shakeup at Sony in 1995, Sony Imagesoft was merged into Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) and has since only supported the PlayStation brand.

Sega partnership

On May 20, 1992, Sega of America and Sony Electronic Publishing announced a partnership to create content for Sega's consoles under the direction of Imagesoft.[6] Besides Sega's cartridge-based Genesis and GameGear consoles the partnership targeted the upcoming Sega CD peripheral.[7] Among the first titles released for Sega's consoles after the announcement are Sewer Shark and Hook. Sewer Shark, initially released exclusively to Sega CD, is a rail-shooter that years earlier had been shelved as part of the ill-fated Control-Vision platform. The Hook video games are tie-ins to the Spielberg feature film Hook that premiered in December 1991 and was produced by Sony owned TriStar Pictures. Ports of the video game for Sega platforms are based on the SNES game published earlier by Imagesoft. The Sega CD version was enhanced with better cut scenes with voice actors and digital stills and featured music from the film soundtrack.[8]

1995 changes

In March 1995 Sony Imagesoft announced that it had appointed Kelly Flock as president. Flock came from TriMark Interactive where he was executive vice president since March 1993.[9]

Starting in July 1995, just two months prior to the release of the PlayStation console in Western markets, Sony Electronic Publishing restructured and renamed its divisions. All videogame marketing from Sony Imagesoft was folded into Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA), with about 100 employees transferred from Santa Monica to Foster City.[10][11][12] The video game business of Sony Imagesoft was merged with the product development branch of SCEA and became Sony Interactive Studios America[13] which would later be renamed to 989 Studios.

The computer software business of Imagesoft became Sony Interactive PC Software America and was headed by general manager Ray Sangster.[13]

Games published

Title	Genre	Release date	Developer
3 Ninjas Kick Back	Action	June 1, 1994	Malibu Interactive
3 Ninjas Kick Back for SNES		November 1994[14]
Altered Space for Game Boy	Puzzle adventure	September 1991[15]	Software Creations
Bram Stoker's Dracula for Game Boy	Action	1993	Psygnosis
Bram Stoker's Dracula for SNES		September 1993[14]	Traveller's Tales/Psygnosis
Championship Soccer '94	Sports	June 1994[14]	Sensible Software
Cliffhanger	Action	October 25, 1993	Malibu Interactive
Cliffhanger for SNES		October 1993[14]
Chuck Rock for SNES	Side-scrolling platformer	November 1992[14]
Chuck Rock for Sega CD		unknown	Core Design
Dragon's Lair for NES	Action	December 1990	Motivetime
Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong Nou	Point-and-click adventure	Early August 1995	OutSide Directors Company
Equinox	Action-adventure	March 1994[14]	Software Creations
ESPN Baseball Tonight	Sports	May 1994[16]	Park Place Productions
ESPN National Hockey Night		August 1, 1994
ESPN NBA HangTime '95
ESPN SpeedWorld	Racing	1994	Park Place Productions
ESPN Sunday Night NFL for Sega CD	Sports	1993[17]	Ringler Studios
ESPN Sunday Night NFL for Genesis		August 1, 1994[18]
ESPN Sunday Night NFL for SNES		November 1994[19]
Extra Innings for SNES		March 20, 1992	Sting Entertainment
Flashback (SNES version)	Action-Adventure	1993	Tiertex
Flink (Mega Drive version)	Platform	May 1994	Psygnosis
Gear Works for Game Gear & Game Boy	Puzzle	1993
Ground Zero: Texas for Sega CD	Action	November 1993[20]	Digital Pictures
Hook for NES and Game Boy		April 1992	Ocean Software
Hook for SNES		October 1992[14]	Ukiyotei
Hook for Genesis and Sega CD		1992/March 1993 (European Mega CD version)[21][22]	Core Design
Hudson Hawk for NES and Game Boy	Platform	1991	Ocean Software
Johnny Mnemonic for PC and Mac	Interactive movie	May 26, 1995	Propaganda Code,[23] directed by Douglas Gayeton
Johnny Mnemonic for Sega CD		unreleased[24]
Last Action Hero	Action	March 28, 1994	Bits Studios
Last Action Hero for SNES		October 1993[14]
Last Action Hero for Sega CD	Beat 'em up	cancelled[25]	Psygnosis[26]
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein	Action	March 4, 1994	Bits Studios
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for SNES		November 1994
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for Sega CD		1994	Psygnosis[27]
Mickey Mania	Platform	October 1994	Traveller's Tales/Psygnosis[28]
Mickey Mania for SNES		October 1994[14]
No Escape for SNES	Action	November 1994[14]	Bits Studios
Super Battletank 2 for SNES (European version)		1993	Absolute
Super Bomberman for SNES (European version)		November 1993	Hudson Soft
Skyblazer		March 16, 1994[29]	Ukiyotei
Sewer Shark for Sega CD	Shooter	October 15, 1992	Digital Pictures
Smart Ball for SNES	Action-adventure	March 1992[14]	Game Freak
Soccer Mania for Game Boy	Sports	March 1992[30]	Kitty Group Japan
Solstice for NES	Puzzle	June 1990	Software Creations
Super Dodge Ball for NES	Sports	June 1989	Technōs Japan

Games developed

Title	Genre	Release date
Jeopardy Classic	Puzzle	May 22, 1994
Wheel of Fortune	Strategy	1994

References

1. "CSG Imagesoft Inc. in Los Angeles, CA". Bizapedia.
2. Sony in U.S. Videogame Venture. In: Television Digest with Consumer Electronics. Volume 28, December 26, 1988, page 51.
3. CSG Imagesoft Enters U.S. Home Video Game Market. PR Newswire, Los Angeles, September 6, 1989
4. Sony Software Establishes Sony Electronic Publishing. PR Newswire, New York, February 26, 1991.
5. Consumer Electronics (Communications Daily), Vol. 11, No. 44, Warren Publishing. Page 9.
6. Sony Electronic Publishing and Sega of America announce broad business partnership. Business Wire, May 20, 1992
7. Adam Bryant: Sega Links with Sony to Make CD Video Games. New York Times, May 21, 1992. Accessed: 2010-09-01. (archived version)
8. Janet Wasko: Hollywood in the information age: beyond the silver screen. University of Texas Press 1995, ISBN 0-292-79094-5. Page 62.
9. Sony Imagesoft names Kelly Flock president. Business Wire New York, March 8, 1995.
10. Carl DiOrio: Sony to Transfer 100 Workers. In: The Hollywood Reporter, July 12, 1995.
11. Scott Hettrick: -- no title given -- In: The Hollywood Reporter, August 8, 1995.
12. Sony in Disarray on Eve of Playstation Debut. In: Television Digest with Consumer Electronics, August 14, 1995, ISSN 0497-1515, page 9.
13. Sony Electronic Publishing Co. renamed; Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. is established. Business Wire, August 17, 1995.
14. Super NES Release List from nintendo.com at the Wayback Machine (archived September 30, 2007)
15. "Altered Space – Game Boy – IGN". uk.ign.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
16. "ESPN Baseball Tonight". GameSpot.
17. "ESPN Sunday Night NFL Release Information for Sega CD – GameFAQs". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
18. "ESPN Sunday Night NFL Release Information for Genesis – GameFAQs". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
19. "ESPN Sunday Night NFL Release Information for Super Nintendo – GameFAQs". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
20. Peter M. Nichols: Home Video. In: New York Times, December 10, 1993. Accessed: 2010-09-16. (archived version)
21. "The Milwaukee Journal – Google News Archive Search – The earliest reviews available online are from March 1993". news.google.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
22. "Hook for Sega Cd". GameFaqs.
23. Philips Teams With Propagande. In: Billboard, June 24, 1995, page 54
24. Sony Imagesoft to showcase "Johnny Mnemonic" Business Wire, Santa Monica, California, March 13, 1995
25. Last Action Hero – Sega Mega CD unseen64.net
26. Notebooks. In: Television Digest with Consumer Electronics, Vol. 33, No. 21, Pg. 19. – "...Psygnosis, founded in 1984, published noteworthy "Lemmings" software series, and has developed 2 titles – "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Last Action Hero" – for Sega CD."
27. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for Sega CD at MobyGames
28. Mickey Mania for Sega Genesis Credits at MobyGames
29. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 67. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
30. "Soccer Mania Release Information for Game Boy – GameFAQs". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2015-07-07.

External links

• Sony Imagesoft profile on MobyGames