Spectrum HoloByte
Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher. The company, founded in 1983 in Boulder, Colorado by Jeff Sauter, Phil Adam and Mike Franklin, was best known for its simulation games, notably the Falcon series of combat flight simulators, and for publishing the first version of Tetris outside the Soviet Union (in 1988 for MS-DOS). Spectrum HoloByte published games for various home computers and video game consoles.
 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Fate | Absorbed into Hasbro Interactive |
| Successor | Hasbro Interactive |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Defunct | 1998 |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Gilman Louie, Phil Adam |
In 1987 Spectrum HoloByte merged with another game developer, Nexa Corporation, forming a common holding company, Sphere, Inc., and prompting the company's move from Colorado to California. Nexa founder Gilman Louie served as chairman of the combined company.
In 1992, Spectrum HoloByte received an investment from Kleiner Perkins, which let the company repurchase shares formerly owned by Robert Maxwell's companies, ending its ties to their bankruptcies.[1] In December 1993, Spectrum HoloByte merged with MicroProse to form MicroProse Inc.[2] For the following years, games from both companies were published under their respective brands, but in 1996 all titles were consolidated under the MicroProse brand.[3]
Hasbro Interactive acquired the merged company in 1998, and what had been Spectrum HoloByte ceased to exist when the development studio in Alameda, California, was closed in 1999.[4]
Gameography
| Title | Year and platform | Developer | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| GATO | 1984 (DOS, MacOS) 1985 (Apple II) 1986 (Atari ST) 1987 (Atari 8-bit) |
Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte Atari Corporation (Atari 8-bit) |
| Orbiter | 1986 (DOS, MacOS) 1988 (Atari ST) |
Spectrum HoloByte Sphere, Inc. (Atari ST) |
Spectrum HoloByte |
| Intrigue! | 1986 (Apple II, C64) | Kinemation | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Lunar Explorer: A Space Flight Simulator | 1986 (Apple II, DOS) | Spectrum HoloByte | Electric Transit, Inc. |
| Solitaire Royale | 1987 (DOS, MacOS) 1988 (Amiga) 1989 (Apple IIGS), DOS, Macintosh, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X1 |
Software Resources International | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Falcon | 1987 (DOS, MacOS) 1988 (Atari ST) 1989 (Amiga) 1991 (CDTV) |
Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Dondra: A New Beginning | 1987 (Apple II) 1988 (Apple IIGS) 1989 (DOS) |
Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte Electronic Arts (DOS) |
| PT-109 | 1987 (DOS, MacOS) | Digital Illusions | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Zig-Zag | 1987 (C64) | Zig Zag Software | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Tetris | 1988 (Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, DOS, MacOS) 1989 (Atari ST) |
Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Soko-Ban | 1988 (DOS) 1988 (Apple II, C64) |
ASCII, Thinking Rabbit | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Falcon A.T. | 1988 (DOS) | Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Vette! | 1989 (DOS) 1991 (MacOS) |
Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Falcon Operation: Counterstrike | 1989 (Amiga, Atari ST) | Rowan Software | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Tank: The M1A1 Abrams Battle Tank Simulation | 1989 (DOS) | Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Welltris | 1989 (DOS) 1990 (MacOS) |
Doka, Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Faces | 1990 (DOS, MacOS) 1991 (Amiga) |
Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Stunt Driver | 1990 (DOS) | Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Flight of the Intruder | 1990 (DOS) 1991 (Atari ST) |
Rowan Software Spectrum Holobyte (Atari ST) |
Spectrum Holobyte Mirrorsoft (Atari ST) |
| Falcon Operation: Firefight | 1990 (Amiga, Atari ST) | Rowan Software Sphere, Inc. |
Spectrum HoloByte |
| Super Tetris | 1991 (DOS, Windows 3.x) 1992 (Amiga, MacOS) |
Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Falcon 3.0 | 1991 (DOS) 1992 (TG-16) |
Sphere, Inc. Spectrum HoloByte (TG-16) |
Spectrum HoloByte Turbo Technologies (TG-16) |
| Crisis in the Kremlin | 1992 (DOS) | Barbu Corporation, Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Wordtris | 1991 (DOS) 1992 (GB, SNES) 1993 (MacOS) |
Spectrum HoloByte Armenica (DOS) |
Spectrum HoloByte Sphere, Inc. (GB) Nintendo (SNES) |
| Falcon 3.0: Operation: Fighting Tiger | 1992 (DOS) | Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Tetris Trio' | 1992 (DOS) | Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Tetris Classic | 1992 (DOS, Windows 3.x) | Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Iron Helix | 1993 (MacOS, Windows 3.x) 1994(Sega CD) |
Drew Pictures | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Tetris Gold | 1993 (DOS, MacOS, Windows 3.x) | Sphere, Inc. | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Hornet: Naval Strike Fighter | 1993 (DOS) | Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte |
| National Lampoon's Chess Maniac 5 Billion and 1 | 1993 (DOS) | Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte |
| TinHead | 1993 (Genesis) | MicroProse | Ballistic |
| Soldiers of Fortune | 1993 (Genesis, SNES) | The Bitmap Brothers | Spectrum HoloByte |
| MiG-29: Deadly Adversary of Falcon 3.0 | 1993 (DOS) | Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Tornado | 1993 (DOS) | Digital Integration | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Gazillionaire | 1994 (Windows 3.x) | LavaMind | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Out of the Sun | 1994 (MacOS) | Domark | Eidos Interactive |
| Formula One | 1994 (DOS) | Lankhor | Domark |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation - Futures Past | 1994 (Genesis, SNES) | Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte Sega (Genesis) |
| BreakThru! | 1994 (SNES, Windows 3.x) 1995 (GB) |
Zoo Corporation | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Falcon Gold | 1994 (DOS) | Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Fields of Glory | 1994 (DOS) | MicroProse | Spectrum HoloByte |
| WildSnake | 1994 (GB, SNES) | Bullet-Proof Software (GB) J.S.C. Gamos (SNES) |
Spectrum HoloByte |
| Lords of Midnight | 1995 (DOS) | Maelstrom Games | Domark |
| ClockWerx | 1995 (MacOS, Windows) | Callisto Corporation | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Reflux: Issue.01 - "The Becoming" | 1995 (MacOS, Windows 3.x) | Inverse Ink | Inverse Ink |
| Reflux: Issue.02 - "The Threshold" | 1995 (Windows 3.x) | Inverse Ink | Inverse Ink |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity | 1995 (DOS, MacOS) | Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Qwirks | 1995 (MacOS, Windows, Windows 3.x) | Big Bang Software | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Perfect Partner Bridge | 1995 (MacOS, Windows 3.x) | Positronic Software | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Absolute Zero | 1995 (DOS, MacOS) | Domark | Domark |
| Knight Moves | 1995 (Windows) | Kinesoft | Spectrum HoloByte |
| Curse of Dragor | 1995 (MacOS) | Banshee Software | Domark |
| Top Gun: Fire at Will! | 1996 (DOS, MacOS, PS1, Windows) | Spectrum HoloByte | Spectrum HoloByte MacSoft (MacOS) |
References
- "Spectrum HoloByte Buy-Back Launches Next Generation". Computer Gaming World. December 1992. p. 116. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
- "Spectrum + MicroProse = MicroProse Inc". GamePro (56). IDG. March 1994. p. 186.
- "Stop Press: The Name Game". Next Generation. No. 19. Imagine Media. July 1996. p. 17.
- Freudenheim, Milt (8 December 1999). "Hasbro to Cut 20% of Its Jobs and Take $97 Million Charge". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2014.