Towering Inferno--20th Century Fox--What gives?

[candiru]

I was looking through some of my game manuals yesterday and I happened to notice that on the back of the Towering Inferno instructions it says that it's licensed from 20th Century Fox.

 

A simple IMDB search yielded, The Towering Inferno, a film from 1974.

 

Anybody have any idea why Fox wouldn't have released it under their own label? Looking through the manuals here at AA I see that the earliest Fox games are dated 1982, and that Towering Inferno is also from '82. Is it possible that U.S. Games approaching Fox about licensing a movie title for a game kickstarted their own game division? Or is it more likely that Fox figured on an easier profit just by selling a license than expending the energy to create a game on their own?

 

My theories are probably way off base, but I still want to know. What gives?

[NovaXpress]

US Games was up and running several months before Fox. That's a long time in the world of classic video games.

 

Fox licensed the movie to Quaker Oats before they decided to get into the business themselves. This may have caused them to take a look at the business. Fox rushed to get into the Atari biz, having to buy games from Sirius at the start.

[candiru]

Thanks, very interesting. Is this something you were just carrying around in your noggin, or is there a specific book or website you can recommend that had that and similar bits of trivia?

[NovaXpress]

I do remember that Towering Inferno was on the shelves before Fox stared making games.

 

I swear I read that story somewhere (maybe in that interview with the Alligator People programmer).

[NovaXpress]

John Marvin Interview

 

Nothing about US Games, but tons of details about Fox's Atari operation.

[rolenta]

Thanks, very interesting.  Is this something you were just carrying around in your noggin, or is there a specific book or website you can recommend that had that and similar bits of trivia?

 

It's mentioned in Phoenix.

[Godzilla]

I still can't tell you how impressed I was with towering inferno at the time, truly a good licensed game, and still fun today. A perfect example of a classic game with unique game play that was fun, and nothing really special for graphics

[NovaXpress]

It's mentioned in Phoenix.

That's where I read it all right! I really love that book.

[Godzilla]

It's mentioned in Phoenix.

That's where I read it all right! I really love that book.

 

I'll second that notion :-) I need to buy it again to get the most recent revision. LH is da man :-) and I love the way he keeps rubbing that he's played 'The Impossible Game' in our collective noses! :-) JK!

[ATARIPITBULL]

Thats a new one, I have an old 20th century fox release paper that talks about games like: The Fall Guy, Meltdown, 9 to 5 & Holdup which became Bank Heist, but it did not mention Towering Inferno!

 

[NovaXpress]

That's because, as we stated, Fox didn't start to make games until they already sold the Towering Inferno rights to US Games.

 

Bank Heist was developed as a Bonnie & Clyde game, but it turned out that Fox didn't own all the rights to that film (Intellivision's Space Battle was a Battlestar Galactica game but Mattel didn't have the video game rights as it turned out).

[rolenta]

I love the way he keeps rubbing that he's played 'The Impossible Game' in our collective noses!

 

In case you didn't know, I wrote a version of The Impossible Game so everyone could play it. It's available at: http://www.rolentapress.com/memorabillia/i.../impossible.htm

[Tempest]

Bank Heist was developed as a Bonnie & Clyde game

 

I believe the WIP name was "Roaring 20's".

 

 

Meltdown is probably out there somewhere. I'd like to see that one.

 

Tempest

[rolenta]

Meltdown is probably out there somewhere.  I'd like to see that one.

 

It should exist somewhere. Fox demonstrated what appeared to be a completed version at CES.

[Godzilla]

yea, I've seen that before :-) that game is pretty impossible to play hehehee... and kudos for all the effort you put in there. Someone needs to make a homebrew of the impossible game based on your page :-)