Rainbow Arts

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Rainbow Arts Software GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1984
resolution 1999
Seat Gütersloh
later Düsseldorf
management Marc Ullrich
Thomas Meiertoberens

The Rainbow Arts Software GmbH was a 1984 in Gütersloh based company in the computer game industry. The studio was active as a developer as well as a publisher and became known for its own C64 , Amstrad CPC and Amiga games, including the Turrican series . As part of the Rushware Group , it was at times one of the largest German and European companies in the field of computer games. Many well-known German computer game developers worked for or with Rainbow Arts during this time. In the 1990s, the company gradually lost its leading role. With the takeover of Rushware by the American publisher THQ at the turn of the year 1998/1999, the old company names finally disappeared from the public.

history

Rainbow Arts was founded in 1984 by Thomas Meiertoberens and Marc Alexander Ullrich in Gütersloh. The first titles were a series of self-written user programs for data management and text processing for the C64 and CPC464 . In the early years, Ariolasoft , a label of the Bertelsmann group in Gütersloh, took over Europe-wide sales. In 1985 the first games Nibbler, Mr. Pingo, Money Molch and Time as well as the adventure game The Blue Crystal appeared .

After the managing directors separated, the company's headquarters were relocated to Düsseldorf , when company shares were sold to Ariolasoft's competitor Softgold , which in turn belonged to the Rushware Group. One of the restructured company's early games was Madness .

From the mid-1980s, Rainbow Arts enjoyed success with well-known titles such as the popular Turrican series, MadTV and Katakis . Many well-known personalities, some of whom are still active in the computer game industry today, such as Armin Gessert , Manfred Trenz , Andreas Escher , Thomas Hertzler , Chris Hülsbeck , Boris Schneider , Martin Gaksch , Teut Weidemann , Celâl Kandemiroğlu and Hans Ippisch , worked for Rainbow Arts at least at times. In 1988 the game The Great Giana Sisters led to legal disputes with the Japanese console manufacturer Nintendo , as the game had quite obviously copied large parts of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. The dispute was settled in an out-of-court settlement, the game was withdrawn from trading and compensation of an unknown amount was paid to Nintendo.

In 1993, Rainbow Arts also conducted one of the first trials to determine whether there was a competition between a software company and a student-run bulletin board system with a similar name (“Rainbow BBS”) so that claims under trademark law could be enforced. This was confirmed by the Munich District Court . Rainbow Arts Software GmbH was represented in these proceedings by the lawyer Günter Freiherr von Gravenreuth . The decision unsettled the mailbox scene considerably.

The decline of the company began in the early 1990s: The sales department was unable to sell the titles worldwide at a cost-effective rate, while development costs rose steadily. The name Rainbow Arts has since lost its popularity. The parent companies Rushware and Softgold were bought up by the American game manufacturer THQ in 1999 . The name Rainbow Arts was finally discontinued in 1999.

Computer games (selection)

  • 3001 O'Connor's Fight
  • The Baby of Can Guru
  • Bad Cat
  • The Birds and the Bees II: Antics
  • BlockOut (3D Tetris )
  • Bozuma
  • Circus Attractions
  • Claim to Power
  • Curse of RA
  • Danger freak
  • Denaris
  • Down at the trolls
  • East vs. West: Berlin 1948
  • Future tank
  • Garrison
  • Graffiti man
  • Grand Monster Slam
  • The Great Giana Sisters
  • Hard 'n Heavy
  • Roman empire
  • In 80 Days Around the World
  • Jinks
  • Katakis
  • Logical
  • Lollypop
  • MUDS (Mean Ugly Dirty Sport)
  • Mad TV
  • Madness
  • Masterblazer Sequel to Lucasfilm's Ballblazer
  • Mystery of the Mummy
  • Oxxonian
  • Rock'n roll
  • R-type
  • Rendering Ranger R²
  • Soldier
  • Spherical
  • Starball
  • StarTrash
  • Sunny Shine
  • To be on top
  • Turrican
  • Turrican II : The Final Fight
  • Turrican 3 : Payment Day
  • The volleyball simulator
  • Warriors
  • X-Out
  • Z-Out

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Disk Advertising Wonderful Features . In: Der Spiegel . Mirror online . November 1, 1991. Accessed on January 22, 2012: " Adidas Football Challenge" works according to a similar pattern, and the Düsseldorf software house Rainbow Arts developed a computer adventure game ("Sunny Shine") for the cigarette manufacturer "Philip Morris" Opportunity comes into contact with "L&M". "
  2. ↑ The Company Archives: Rushware . In: Retro Gamer Special . No. 1/2016 . Heise, 2015, ISBN 978-3-95788-068-0 , pp. 166-170 .
  3. ↑ Judgment of the Munich District Court of July 13, 1993 at Wahr.de
  4. ↑ Discussion in the newsgroup de.org.ccc in May 1993 (Link to Google Groups )
  5. ↑ SCi appoints Funsoft, THQ vet as COO . In: GamesIndustry.biz . ( gamesindustry.biz [accessed December 2, 2018]).
  6. ↑ RUSHWARE, SUBSIDIARIES ACQUIRED BY THQ. Accessed December 2, 2018 .
  7. ^ Hall Of Light - The database of Amiga games .
  8. ↑ Commodore 64 Games - C64 Reviews, Downloads & SID Tunes .