Digital Eclipse: Difference between revisions
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| 2015 |
| 2015 |
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| ''[[Mega Man Legacy Collection]]'' |
| ''[[Mega Man Legacy Collection]]'' |
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| [[Nintendo 3DS]], [[Nintendo Switch]] |
| Microsoft Windows, [[Nintendo 3DS]], [[Nintendo Switch]], [[PlayStation 4]], [[Xbox One]] |
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|- |
|- |
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| 2017 |
| 2017 |
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| ''[[The Disney Afternoon Collection]]'' |
| ''[[The Disney Afternoon Collection]]'' |
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| |
| Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
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|- |
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| rowspan="2" | 2018 |
| rowspan="2" | 2018 |
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| ''[[Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection]]'' |
| ''[[Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection]]'' |
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| |
| Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
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|- |
|- |
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| ''SNK 40th Anniversary Collection'' |
| ''SNK 40th Anniversary Collection'' |
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Revision as of 06:07, 10 April 2019
 | |
| Formerly | Backbone Emeryville |
|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Andrew Ayre |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people |
|
| Parent |
|
| Website | digitaleclipse.com |
Digital Eclipse is an American video game developer based in Emeryville, California. Led by head of restoration Frank Cifaldi, the studio focuses on video game preservation. Founded by Andrew Ayre in 1992, the company found success developing commercial emulations of arcade games for Game Boy Color. In 2003, the company merged with ImaginEngine and created Backbone Entertainment. A group of Digital Eclipse employees split off from Backbone to form Other Ocean Interactive, which, in 2015, bought and revived the Digital Eclipse brand.
History
Digital Eclipse was launched in 1992 by Andrew Ayre on a "nondescript, factory-filled" street in Emeryville, California.[1][2] The company was conceived to produce commercial emulations of arcade games, such as Joust, Defender, and Robotron: 2084.[3] These emulations were to act true to the original versions of these games, and not carry any trade-offs direct ports could have introduced.[3] Digital Eclipse found further success when the Game Boy Color was released; the new handheld device included the Zilog Z80 central processing unit, which had also been used in older arcade machines.[3] While other developers were moving on to develop for the more powerful console PlayStation, Digital Eclipse used the new niche market to develop about 60 games for the platform.[3] These games included Klax, Spy Hunter, Moon Patrol, Paperboy, Joust, Defender, and 720°, as well as an original game, Tarzan, which Digital Eclipse produced for Activision.[4] Digital Eclipse also opened a second studio in Vancouver, Canada.[5]
In 2003, Digital Eclipse merged with ImaginEngine, creating Backbone Entertainment; while ImaginEngine remained an independent studio within that structure, Digital Eclipse's studios had become Backbone Emeryville and Backbone Vancouver by August 2005.[6][7] By this point, Digital Eclipse had produced 70 games on 11 different platforms.[2] In February 2006, Backbone Entertainment opened another studio, Backbone Charlottetown, in Charlottetown, Canada, and under the lead of Ayre.[8] In May 2007, the new studio, including Ayre and several former Digital Eclipse employees, spun off from Backbone and became Other Ocean Interactive, aiming at showcasing Digital Elcipse's former traits in a smaller fashion.[3][9]
Backbone Vancouver was mostly dismantled in September 2008 and closed entirely in May 2009; Backbone laid off the majority of its staff in October 2012.[10][11][12] On June 8, 2015, after acquiring the Digital Eclipse name, Other Ocean announced that it had reformed Digital Eclipse as part of its Other Ocean Emeryville studio.[13] Co-founders include Ayre, Mike Mika—who had acted as technical director for the original Digital Eclipse—and former Gamasutra writer Frank Cifaldi.[4][13] The new Digital Eclipse laid its focus on video game preservation, and Cifaldi became the studio's "head of restoration", a title which Cifaldi noted was an industry first.[13] At the time, Cifaldi also stated that Digital Eclipse aimed at becoming the video game equivalent of The Criterion Collection.[14]
Eclipse Engine
Part of Digital Eclipse's work include their own Eclipse Engine, a tool that allows them to decompile the code from older games into a machine-readable format that is then used by the Eclipse Engine to play them on modern systems. While it may take some extra work by the company to decompile the older game into the proper format one time, this approach allows them to rapidly port the Eclipse Engine version to any modern gaming system, including personal computers, consoles, and portable and mobile devices, with minimal effort. This engine has been used in Digital Eclipse's Mega Man Legacy Collection and The Disney Afternoon Collection.[15][16] The Eclipse Engine was primarily developed by Digital Eclipse's studio head, Mike Mika, and Other Ocean engineer Kevin Wilson, branched off from Other Ocean's Bakesale engine.[13]
Games developed
| Year | Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Joust | Mac OS |
| Robotron: 2084 | Mac OS | |
| Defender | Mac OS | |
| 1995 | Activision's Commodore 64 15 Pack | Microsoft Windows |
| 1996 | Williams Arcade Classics | Dreamcast, Game.com, Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, SNES |
| Ms. Pac-Man | SNES | |
| Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 | PlayStation, Sega Genesis, SNES | |
| 1997 | Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Midway Collection 2 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation |
| 1998 | NFL Blitz | Game Boy Color |
| Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 | PlayStation | |
| Rampage World Tour | Game Boy Color | |
| 1999 | Knockout Kings | Game Boy Color |
| Disney's Tarzan | Game Boy Color | |
| Atari Arcade Hits: Volume 1 | Microsoft Windows | |
| Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 | Microsoft Windows | |
| Arcade Classic No. 4: Defender / Joust | Game Boy Color | |
| Klax | Game Boy Color | |
| Arcade Hits: Moon Patrol / Spy Hunter | Game Boy Color | |
| Rampart | Game Boy Color | |
| Rampage 2: Universal Tour | Game Boy Color | |
| Arcade Party Pak | PlayStation | |
| Mortal Kombat 4 | Game Boy Color | |
| Marble Madness | Game Boy Color | |
| Ghosts 'n Goblins | Game Boy Color | |
| 2000 | Dragon's Lair | Game Boy Color |
| Little Nicky | Game Boy Color | |
| Alice in Wonderland | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Batman: Chaos in Gotham | Game Boy Color |
| X-Men: Wolverine's Rage | Game Boy Color | |
| Rayman Advance | Game Boy Advance | |
| Spyro: Season of Ice | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2002 | Spider-Man: The Movie | Game Boy Advance |
| Disney's Lilo & Stitch | Game Boy Advance | |
| Spyro 2: Season of Flame | Game Boy Advance | |
| Disney's Kim Possible: Revenge of Monkey Fist | Game Boy Advance | |
| Phantasy Star Collection | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Lizzie McGuire: On the Go! | Game Boy Advance |
| Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Game Boy Advance |
| Grand Theft Auto | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2015 | Mega Man Legacy Collection | Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| 2017 | The Disney Afternoon Collection | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| 2018 | Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection | Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| SNK 40th Anniversary Collection | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 |
References
- ^ Lucas, Damien (June 20, 2015). "Console Corner: Saving video game history... starting with Mega Man". Banbury Guardian.
- ^ a b Feldman, Curt (April 23, 2004). "Q&A: Death, Jr. developer Chris Charla". GameSpot.
- ^ a b c d e VB Staff (September 22, 2017). "Other Ocean: Building the past, the future, and the present". VentureBeat.
- ^ a b Schneider, Peer (July 16, 1999). "Lords of the Jungle". IGN.
- ^ Harris, Craig (May 28, 2002). "Spyro 2: Season of Flame". IGN.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (October 12, 2012). "ImaginEngine game studio shuts down (exclusive)". VentureBeat.
- ^ Adams, David (August 19, 2005). "Foundation 9 Goes Next-Gen". IGN.
- ^ Carless, Simon (February 6, 2006). "Foundation 9 To Open New Canadian Studio". Gamasutra.
- ^ Boyer, Brandon (April 7, 2008). "Other Ocean: iPhone To Be 'Major Player' In Handheld Market". Gamasutra.
- ^ Kyllo, Blaine (January 28, 2009). "Vancouver's video game family tree". The Georgia Straight.
- ^ Lavender, Terry (November 18, 2009). "Is it Game Over for Vancouver's Video Game Industry? Not quite yet". Vancouver Observer.
- ^ Rose, Mike (October 9, 2012). "Layoffs at digital game studio Backbone Entertainment". Gamasutra.
- ^ a b c d Wawro, Alex (June 8, 2015). "Digital Eclipse is back with a new mission: preserve classic games". Gamasutra.
- ^ Schilling, Chris (August 28, 2015). "How 'Mega Man Legacy Collection' Is Teaching the Video Games Industry to Respect Its Heritage". Waypoint.
- ^ Orland, Kyle (August 27, 2015). "The new tech making game preservation more authentic and future-proof". Ars Technica.
- ^ Watts, Steve (March 23, 2017). "Disney Afternoon Collection Producer Talks Challenges and Nostalgia". Shacknews.