Company:Imagic

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Short description: American video game company
Imagic
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FateLiquidation
Founded1981
Defunct1986
Headquarters
Los Gatos, California
,
United States
Key people
Bill Grubb
Dennis Koble
Bob Smith
Rob Fulop

Imagic (/ɪˈmædʒɪk/ i-MA-jik) was an American video game developer and publisher that created games initially for the Atari 2600. Founded in 1981 by corporate alumni of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were Atlantis, Cosmic Ark, and Demon Attack.[1] Imagic also released games for Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit family, TI-99/4A, IBM PCjr, VIC-20, Commodore 64, TRS-80 Color Computer, and Magnavox Odyssey². Their Odyssey² ports of Demon Attack and Atlantis were the only third-party releases for that system in America. The company never recovered from the video game crash of 1983 and was liquidated in 1986.

History

Imagic was the second third-party publisher for the Atari 2600, formed after Activision.[2] Founders included Bill Grubb, Bob Smith, Rob Fulop, and Denis Koble from Atari, Inc.,[3] Jim Goldberger, Dave Durran and Brian Dougherty from Mattel[4] as well as Pat Ransil [5] and Gary Kato. Grubb previously served as the vp of sales and marketing for Atari for 18 months.[6] Before that, he was with the marketing department at Black and Decker for 11 years.[7] It was Grubb's goal to take Imagic public[8] and to eventually overtake Activision as the number one third-party video game publisher.[7]

Atari sued Imagic over Demon Attack because of its resemblance to Phoenix,[9] to which Atari had the exclusive home-version rights. The case was settled out of court.

Despite initial success and sales greater than projections, the company's fortunes reversed after the stock market dumped videogame stocks in late 1982, scuttling Imagic's initial plan to become a publicly traded company.[10]

Fan club

During its height, Imagic ran a fan club for their games, the Numb Thumb Club, which published an annual newsletter.[11] Only two issues were published before Imagic's demise in 1983.[11]

Decline

Although Imagic grew quickly in its early years, it was irreparably harmed by the video game crash of 1983. It released 24[citation needed] titles before going out of business by 1986, but the exact time it disbanded is unknown. In 1983, the company laid off 40 of their 170 employees[12] but appeared at the 1984 Consumer Electronics Show with plans for four IBM PCjr games.[13] The rights to Imagic's most popular titles have been owned by Activision since the late 1980s,[citation needed] and they have been re-released on several occasions.

Games

Imagic 2600 cartridges were distinct from both Activision and Atari cartridges with an extended ridge at the top of the cart. Packaging was distinctive due to the use of reflective silver on the boxes, with a tapered, ridged end intended for an easy grip. The years are for the original versions only, not subsequent ports.

1982

1983

  • Dracula[16]
  • Fathom
  • Ice Trek
  • Laser Gates
  • Moonsweeper[17]
  • No Escape!
  • Nova Blast
  • Quick Step
  • Safecracker
  • Shootin' Gallery
  • Solar Storm
  • Subterranea
  • Tropical Trouble
  • Truckin'
  • White Water!

1984

References

  1. ↑ "Demon Attack". Atari Age. http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=134. 
  2. ↑ "Classic Gaming Expo Distinguished Guest: Alan Miller". Classic Gaming Expo. http://www.cgexpo.com/bios/amiller.htm. 
  3. ↑ "Playing Catch Up: Night Trap's Rob Fulop". Gamasutra. CMP. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11832. 
  4. ↑ "Making of Atlantis Video Game - Part 1 Imagic - LiveVideo.com". http://www.livevideo.com/video/7B3359CD66794A01A02F14942198B12A/making-of-atlantis-video-game-part-1-imagic.aspx. 
  5. ↑ "Just Kidding TV show - the Making of Imagic's Wing War". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NbOw1eAbgk&t=17s. 
  6. ↑ Hayes, Thomas C. (22 November 1982). "Imagic Scores in Video Games". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/22/business/imagic-scores-in-video-games.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Video Games Interview: Bill Grubb and Dennis Koble". Video Games Magazine. Atari HQ. http://www.atarihq.com/othersec/library/imagic.html. 
  8. ↑ "All in the Game - Imagic: The Making of Atlantis". Enterprise. PBS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihh-2UHY_VI. 
  9. ↑ "Demon Attack: This game is pure Imagic!". Atari Times. http://www.ataritimes.com/article.php?showarticle=224. 
  10. ↑ "Making of Atlantis Video Game - Part 3 Imagic - LiveVideo.com". http://www.livevideo.com/video/151AF95D9F4D4AD0B23A7123E2B65C0C/making-of-atlantis-video-game-part-3-imagic.aspx. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Imagic Titles for Intellivision". Intellivision Lives. Intellivision Productions. http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/imagic.shtml. 
  12. ↑ "Imagic Layoffs". The New York Times. 17 September 1983. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407E6DE1138F934A2575AC0A965948260. 
  13. ↑ Cook, Karen (1984-03-06). "Jr. Sneaks PC into Home". PC Magazine: pp. 35. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhoP0KRkQe4C&pg=PA35. 
  14. ↑ "Atari 2600 VCS Fire Fighter : Scans, dump, download, screenshots, ads, videos, catalog, instructions, roms". http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-fire-fighter_7648.html. 
  15. ↑ "Intellivision Classic Video Game System / Imagic for Intellivision". http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/imagic.shtml. 
  16. ↑ "Availability Update". The Video Game Update 2 (1). April 1983. 
  17. ↑ Holyoak, Craig (1984-05-30). "Here are ColecoVision's jewels". Deseret News: pp. 4 WV. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PqZNAAAAIBAJ&pg=7081%2C6575510. 



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