What happened to Imagic?

[BSA Starfire]

Hi,

 

I just watched the three parts of the film about the making of atlantis here"

http://www.livevideo.com/video/7B3359CD667...t-1-imagic.aspx

 

Anyone know anything about the hot air balloon game talked about at the end of the show? Also what happened to the company in the end, how much longer did they last?

Finally in what order were the games released?

Thanks!

Chris

Edited July 30, 2007 by BSA Starfire

[Rom Hunter]

Anyone know anything about the hot air balloon game talked about at the end of the show?

http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?...ERSION_ID=11516

 

Also what happened to the company in the end, how much longer did they last?

They let Activision sell there last stock.

 

Finally in what order were the games released?

http://www.atarimania.com/lst_cat.php?LANG...n_sauver=Search

 

[Michael_]

Anyone know anything about the hot air balloon game talked about at the end of the show?

 

Tempest has the story on Atariprotos. Go here:

 

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/s...l/skypatrol.htm

 

Also what happened to the company in the end, how much longer did they last?

 

I don´t know if this has ever been disclosed. My guess is that they died slowly from 1983 to 1985 and folded somewhere around that point. They were about ready to hit the stockmarket in late 1983, but due to the "crash" that never happened and that was probably the beginning to the end.

 

Finally in what order were the games released?

 

My best guess, based on model numbers as well as what is stated in the manuals and taking into consideration the different programmers´ workloads would look something like this (could be entirely wrong, mind you):

 

1982

 

1. Trickshot

2. Demon Attack

3. Star Voyager

4. Atlantis

5. Cosmic Ark

6. Fire Fighter

7. Riddle of the Sphinx

8. Dragonfire

 

1983

 

1. Fathom

2. Solar Storm

3. Moonsweeper

4. Laser Gates

5. Quick step

6. Subterranea

7. No Escape

8. Shooting Gallery

[thomasholzer]

After the crash, Imagic turned their attention to computers, releasing some softs on disk, including an 'engine simulator' (source:EG).

The software was bad to say the least, and slowly they faded away.

[jaybird3rd]

According to Bruce Davis (who became president after Bill Grubb's departure in 1983), they tried to transition to computer software during the worst years of the crash. They were initially selected to inherit sales and customer support for the TI 99/4A after Texas Instruments closed down and wrote off their home computer division, and to be one of the first software companies to support the IBM PCjr, but neither of those opportunities worked out (the PCjr was a bomb and Triton got the TI contract instead). They decided around February 1985 that the computer software market was still too small to support the company, and that it would take more investment to grow the company at a time when it wasn't clear that there was even a market for video games anymore, so over the next few months they closed down the company and sold off their assets. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not sure that Activision ever formally acquired the rights to their library; Grubb and Davis have both said that they did not.

[BSA Starfire]

Thanks All!

 

Nice to have a bit of what happened after

Best regards!

Chris

[+FujiSkunk]

Somebody on AtariAge a while back mentioned something about Imagic possibly still existing as a business entity as far as the state of California is concerned, but that there would be a lot of old debts to pay off before that entity could record a profit again.

 

Edit: Oh, that was you, jaybird3rd.

Edited July 30, 2007 by skunkworx

[jaybird3rd]

Somebody on AtariAge a while back mentioned something about Imagic possibly still existing as a business entity as far as the state of California is concerned, but that there would be a lot of old debts to pay off before that entity could record a profit again.

 

Edit: Oh, that was you, jaybird3rd.

Yup, that was me. The relevant paragraph in that post is almost an exact quote from Davis. Put briefly, Imagic exists in a state of legal limbo today, but could be revived with all the rights it had previously if someone was willing to do the work and pay off its old debts.

[bones]

Yup, that was me. The relevant paragraph in that post is almost an exact quote from Davis. Put briefly, Imagic exists in a state of legal limbo today, but could be revived with all the rights it had previously if someone was willing to do the work and pay off its old debts.

How much debt are we talking about here? (runs and grabs a checkbook...)

[Brian R.]

Imagic was one of the companies that produced some great stuff that really gave the "limited" 2600 some legs. No kid could live without the likes of Demon Attack, Cosmic Ark and Atlantis in their library. The Imagic name just sang quality to me. It still carries a favorable image for me. Those three games - the ones of theirs I'm most familiar with - will always be playable.

[jaybird3rd]

How much debt are we talking about here? (runs and grabs a checkbook...)

Well, it would probably be a lot of work to revive the company at this point, so if you add all the legal fees associated with that to the 20+ years of unpaid fees that you'd also have to cover, my guess is that it would add up to quite a bit. And you probably wouldn't get much more than a piece of paper saying that you own Imagic, since Imagic has no assets today.

 

I'm sure that's why the company has (apparently) remained dormant all this time. Imagic's titles were popular in their day and are still great games, but even at its peak Imagic was only the #3 video game publisher, and its games might not be considered recognizable or marketable enough today to justify the expense involved in acquiring them.

Edited July 30, 2007 by jaybird3rd