Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and video game publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983. Epyx published a long series of games through the 1980s. The company's assets are currently owned by Bridgestone Multimedia Group Global.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1978 (as Automated Simulations) |
| Defunct | 1993 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, US |
Key people | Jim Connelley Jon Freeman Dave Morse (software manager) |
| Products | Temple of Apshai Jumpman Summer Games series Impossible Mission |
History
editFormation
editIn 1977, Susan Lee-Merrow invited Jon Freeman to join a Dungeons & Dragons game hosted by Jim Connelley and Jeff Johnson. Connelley later purchased a Commodore PET computer to help with the bookkeeping involved in being a dungeon master, and he came up with the idea of writing a computer game for the machine before the end of the year so he could write it off on his taxes. Freeman had written on gaming for several publications, and he joined Connelley in the design of a new space-themed wargame. Starting work around August 1978, Freeman wrote the basic rules, mission sets, background stories and the manual, while Connelley coded up the system in PET BASIC.[1]
The BASIC era
editThe two formed Automated Simulations around Thanksgiving 1978 to market the game, and released it in December as Starfleet Orion.[1] Examining contemporary magazines (Byte and Creative Computing) suggests this is the first commercial space-themed wargame for a personal computer.[a] As the game was written in BASIC, it was easy to port to other home computers of the era, starting with the TRS-80 and then the Apple II, the latter featuring rudimentary graphics. They followed this game with 1979's Invasion Orion, which included a computer opponent so as not to require two human players.[1]
The company's next release, Temple of Apshai, was very successful, selling over 20,000 copies.[2] As the game was not a "simulation" of anything, the company introduced the Epyx brand name for these more action-oriented titles. Rated as the best computer game by practically every magazine of the era, Apshai was soon ported from the TRS-80 to additional systems, such as the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64. Apshai spawned a number of similar adventure games based on the same game engine, including two direct sequels, branded under the Dunjonquest label. The games were so successful that they were later re-released in 1985 as the Temple of Apshai Trilogy.
Using the same BASIC game engine, a series of "semi-action" games followed under the Epyx brand, including Crush, Crumble and Chomp!, Rescue at Rigel, and Star Warrior, each of which added twists to the Apshai engine.[1]
Growth and action focus
editThis section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2021) |
Freeman became increasingly frustrated by Connelley's refusal to update the game engine. He left the company to start Free Fall Associates in 1981, leaving Connelley to lead what was now a large company.
A year later, Epyx was starting to have financial difficulties. Jim Connelley wanted and received money through venture capital, and the venture capitalists installed Michael Katz to manage the company. Connelley clashed with new management, left Epyx, and formed his own development team, The Connelley Group, with all of the programmers going with him, but continued to work under the Epyx umbrella.
With no programmers to develop any games in-house, Michael Katz needed to hire programmers to ensure a steady supply of games. Several venture capital owners involved in Epyx also had ownership of a company called Starpath. While Starpath had several young programmers and hardware engineers, they were facing financial difficulties as well. Around this time, an independent submission to publish a game called Jumpman came through and was a big hit for Epyx. The success of Jumpman made Epyx a lot of money, so Michael Katz had the capital to create a merger between Epyx and Starpath, bringing Starpath's programmers and hardware engineers under the same company. Michael Katz left Epyx in 1984 after being hired away by Atari Corporation as their President of Entertainment Electronics Division (and later, became the President of Sega of America), and was replaced by Gilbert Freeman (no relation to Jon Freeman).
By 1983 Epyx discontinued its older games because, Jerry Pournelle reported, "its managers tell me that arcade games so outsell strategic games that it just isn't cost-effective to put programmer time on strategy."[3] By early 1984, InfoWorld estimated that Epyx was the world's 16th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $10 million in 1983 sales.[4] Many successful action games followed, including the hits Impossible Mission and the sports game Summer Games. The latter created a long run of successful sequels, including Summer Games II, Winter Games, California Games, and World Games. The company produced games based on licenses of Hot Wheels, G.I. Joe, and Barbie. In Europe, U.S. Gold published Epyx games for the Commodore 64, and also ported many of the games to other major European platforms such as the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC.
For the Commodore 64, Epyx made the Fast Load cartridge which enables a fivefold speedup of floppy disk drive accesses through Commodore's very slow serial interface. Another hardware product was the Epyx 500XJ Joystick, which uses high-quality microswitches and a more ergonomic form factor than the standard Atari CX40 joystick while remaining compatible.
Starting in 1986, Epyx realized that the Commodore 64 was starting to show its age, and they needed to think about the future of the company. They hired Dave Morse to explore the next generation of consoles and computers and to learn about their strengths. David's son wanted his father to come up with a portable game system, so he had a meeting with former colleagues at Amiga Corporation, RJ Mical and Dave Needle, to see if there was a way to design a portable gaming system. Internally, the handheld gaming system they were working on was called the Handy. Unable to continue due to high costs, it was sold to Atari Corporation which brought it to market in 1989 as the Atari Lynx.[5][6]
Litigation
editIn 1987, Epyx faced an important copyright infringement lawsuit from Data East USA regarding Epyx's Commodore 64 video game World Karate Championship. Data East thought the whole game, and particularly the depiction of the referee, looked too much like its 1984 arcade game Karate Champ. Data East won at the US District Court level and Judge William Ingram ordered Epyx to recall all copies of World Karate Championship. Epyx appealed the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who reversed the judgment and ruled in favor of Epyx, stating that copyright protection did not extend to the idea of a tournament karate game, but specific artistic choices not dictated by that idea. The Court noted that a "17.5 year-old boy" could see clear differences between the elements of each game actually subject to copyright.[7]
Bankruptcy and asset sales
editEpyx had become heavily dependent on the Commodore 64 market, which accounted for the bulk of its revenues most years, but by 1988 the C64 was an aging machine now in its sixth year and the focus of computer gaming was shifting to PC compatibles and 16-bit machines. Although the console market, dominated by the Nintendo Entertainment System, was highly lucrative, Epyx objected to Nintendo's strict rules and licensing policies and instead initiated a failed attempt to develop their own game console.
Epyx was unable to fulfill its contract with Atari to finish developing Lynx hardware and software, and the latter withheld payments that the former needed.[6] By the end of 1989, Epyx discontinued developing computer games, began making only console games,[8] and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[9] According to Stephen Landrum, a long-time game programmer at Epyx, the company went bankrupt "because it never really understood why it had been successful in the past, and then decided to branch out in a lot of directions, all of which turned out to be failures."[10]
Epyx had shrunk from 145 employees in 1988 to fewer than 20 by the end of 1989. After emerging from bankruptcy the company resumed game development but only for the Lynx, with Atari acting as publisher.[6] In 1993, with eight employees left, they decided just to sell off the rest of the company. Bridgestone Media Group eventually acquired the rights the rest of Epyx's assets. Job offers were extended to the eight remaining employees, but only Peter Engelbrite accepted.
In 2006, British publisher System 3 announced it had licensed certain Epyx's assets on a time limited basis to release games such as California Games and Impossible Mission for Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and Wii in 2007.[11]
Products
editGames
edit| Name | Year | Platforms | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4x4 Off-Road Racing | 1988 | Amiga | An off-road racing game |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| MSX | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Alien Garden | 1982 | Atari 8-bit | An "art game" that required experimentation to understand and win |
| Armor Assault | 1982 | Atari 8-bit | A turn-based tank strategy game between Soviet and NATO forces |
| Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior | 1987 | Acorn Electron | Also known as Death Sword, a fighting game, players fight gory combat against one another or for the sake of a bikini-clad princess. Controversy over the game's packaging in the UK stoked this game's success. |
| Amiga | |||
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Apple II | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| BBC Micro | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Barbarian II: Dungeons of Drax | 1988 | Acorn Electron | Also known as Axe of Rage, a fighting game, garnered much less attention than its predecessor |
| Amiga | |||
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| BBC Micro | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| MSX | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Barbie | 1984 | Commodore 64 | Players must successfully prepare for a date with Barbie's male counterpart, Ken |
| Battle Bugs | 1994 | MS-DOS | A real-time tactics game featuring bugs battling in common household environments |
| 1997 | PlayStation | ||
| 1994 | Windows | ||
| Blue Lightning | 1995 | Jaguar CD | One of the first games for the Lynx, a pseudo-flight simulator where the pilot commands a military aircraft |
| 1989 | Lynx | ||
| Break Dance | 1984 | Commodore 64 | A rhythm game similar to Simon inspired by the then-current fad of breakdancing |
| Boulder Dash Construction Kit | 1986 | ||
| California Games | 1987 | Amiga | A hit for Epyx, a collection of sport games purportedly popular in California, such as half-pipe skateboarding and surfing |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Apple II | |||
| Apple IIGS | |||
| Atari 2600 | |||
| Lynx | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| MSX | |||
| NES | |||
| Master System | |||
| Genesis/Mega Drive | |||
| 2008 | Virtual Console | ||
| 1987 | ZX Spectrum | ||
| California Games II | 1992 | Amiga | A sequel to California Games, a collection of more California-themed sports games |
| Atari ST | |||
| 1990 | MS-DOS | ||
| 2008 | PlayStation Network | ||
| 1993 | Master System | ||
| Super NES | |||
| 2008 | Virtual Console | ||
| Championship Wrestling | 1986 | Apple II | A professional wrestling sports game |
| Atari ST | |||
| 1987 | Commodore 64 | ||
| Chip's Challenge | Amiga | Originally designed for the Lynx, this puzzle video game was subsequently ported to several other platforms, sometimes more than once. | |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| 1989 | Lynx | ||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| Windows | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Crush, Crumble and Chomp! | 1981 | Apple II | A movie monster strategy game where the player controls a monster and tries to destroy a city without getting killed |
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| VIC-20 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| TRS-80 | |||
| Crypt of the Undead | 1982 | ||
| Curse of Ra | 1982 | An expansion to Temple of Apshai, requiring the original game to play. Included in Temple of Apshai Trilogy | |
| Danger in Drindisti | 1981 | An entry in the loosely tied Dunjonquest series of fantasy role-playing video games | |
| The Datestones of Ryn | 1979 | Apple II | A "prequel" to Temple of Apshai and part of Epyx's loosely tied Dunjonquest series, a role-playing video game, perhaps the first example of an action role-playing game |
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| PET | |||
| TRS-80 | |||
| Destroyer | 1986 | Amiga | A well-received naval combat simulation |
| Apple II | |||
| Apple IIGS | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| Dragon's Eye | 1981 | ||
| Dragonriders of Pern | 1983 | Atari 8-bit | A strategy video game based on the series of books by Anne McCaffrey |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| ElectroCop | 1989 | Lynx | An action game where the player has to rescue the President's daughter |
| Escape from Vulcan's Isle | 1982 | ||
| Fax | 1983 | ||
| Final Assault | 1987 | Amiga | A mountain climbing simulation. Released as Chamonix Challenge in Europe. |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Apple IIGS | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Fore! | |||
| G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero | 1985 | Apple II | An action shoot 'em up game based on the popular action figure |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| The Games: Summer Edition | 1988 | ||
| The Games: Winter Edition | 1988 | ||
| Gates of Zendocon | 1989 | Lynx | A sci-fi shoot 'em up |
| Gateway to Apshai | 1983 | Atari 8-bit | An action-adventure role-playing video game that served as a prequel to the earlier Temple of Apshai |
| ColecoVision | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| Hellfire Warrior | 1980 | An entry in the Dunjonquest series of role-playing video games | |
| Hot Wheels | 1984 | Commodore 64 | |
| Impossible Mission | 1985 | Acorn Electron | The player is a secret agent trying to thwart an evil genius's nefarious plans. Debuting on the Commodore 64, this widely hailed game featured aspects of various different game genres, such as action games, adventure games and platform games. |
| 1986 | Amstrad CPC | ||
| Apple II | |||
| 1987 | Atari 7800 | ||
| 1985 | BBC Micro | ||
| 1984 | Commodore 64 | ||
| 2007 | Nintendo DS | ||
| NES | |||
| 2010 | Oric Atmos | ||
| 2007 | PlayStation 2 | ||
| 2007 | PlayStation Portable | ||
| 1988 | Master System | ||
| 2007 | Virtual Console | ||
| 2007 | Wii | ||
| 1985 | ZX Spectrum | ||
| Impossible Mission II | 1988 | Amiga | Rewritten from scratch with the plot a direct follow-on of the original, this game failed to perform nearly as well |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Apple IIc | |||
| Apple IIe | |||
| Apple IIGS | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| 1989 | NES | ||
| 1988 | ZX Spectrum | ||
| Invasion Orion | 1979 | Apple II | A sci-fi strategy video game |
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| PET | |||
| TRS-80 | |||
| Jabbertalky | 1982 | ||
| Jet Combat Simulator | 1985 | Commodore 64 | Also known as Fighter Pilot. Developed by Digital Integration Ltd. Game Program Designed by David K. Marshall; Adapted for the Commodore 64 by Darrel Dennies. |
| Jumpman | 1983 | Apple II | Designed and programmed by Randy Glover, a platform game, a very successful game for Epyx, who sold it for years after its initial release |
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| TI-89 | |||
| 2008 | Virtual Console | ||
| Jumpman Junior | 1983 | Atari 8-bit | A "lite" version of Jumpman with only 12 levels |
| ColecoVision | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| The Keys of Acheron | 1981 | An entry in the loosely tied Dunjonquest series of fantasy role-playing video games | |
| King Arthur's Heir | 1982 | ||
| L.A. Crackdown | 1988 | ||
| Legend of Blacksilver | 1988 | Apple II | A fantasy role-playing video game that was met with lukewarm reception due to its stale graphics and unimaginative presentation |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| Mind-Roll | 1988 | Amiga | Also known as Quedex. A marble dexterity game made by Thalamus. |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| Monster Maze | 1982 | VIC-20 | |
| Morloc's Tower | 1979 | An entry in the loosely tied Dunjonquest series of fantasy role-playing video games | |
| The Movie Monster Game | 1986 | Apple II | An action game where the player gets to assume the role of one of various monster movie standards |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| New World | 1982 | ||
| The Nightmare | 1982 | ||
| Oil Barons | 1983 | Apple II | A peculiar hybrid of video game and board game, this game sold poorly upon its release and is very rare today |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| Omnicron Conspiracy | 1989 | ||
| Pitstop | 1983 | ||
| Pitstop II | 1984 | Apple II | A widely hailed racing game, the first to implement a split-screen for simultaneous two-player racing |
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| IBM PC (self-booting disk) | |||
| 1985 | TRS-80 Color Computer | ||
| 2008 | Virtual Console | ||
| PlatterMania | 1982 | Atari 8-bit | |
| Project Neptune | 1989 | ||
| Purple Saturn Day | 1989 | Amiga | A sports game with a variety of Olympic-themed sci-fi events that garnered high praise |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Puzzle Panic | 1984 | Atari 8-bit | A puzzle game featuring a lightbulb named "Benny" |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| Rad Warrior | 1986 | Commodore 64 | Published as The Sacred Armour of Antiriad outside of North America and set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, a combination action puzzle and platform game; came with a 16-page comic book |
| MS-DOS | |||
| TRS-80 | |||
| Rescue at Rigel | 1980 | Apple II | Probably inspired by the Iran hostage crisis, the player must rescue hostages on an asteroid orbiting the star Rigel |
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| PET | |||
| IBM PC (self-booting disk) | |||
| TRS-80 | |||
| VIC-20 | |||
| Revenge of Defender | 1988 | ||
| Ricochet | 1981 | ||
| Rogue | 1983 | Amiga | A groundbreaking dungeon crawler that introduced a number of game innovations. Originally developed on the Berkley Unix distribution, Epyx paid for three ports to home computers. |
| Atari ST | |||
| TRS-80 Color Computer | |||
| Snowstrike | 1991 | ||
| Silicon Warrior | 1983 | Atari 8-bit | An action-puzzle game developed by The Connelley Group |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| Sorcerer of Siva | 1981 | An entry in the loosely tied Dunjonquest series of fantasy role-playing video games | |
| Space Station Oblivion | 1987 | Amiga | Released as Driller outside North America, a sci-fi puzzle game |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Spiderbot | 1988 | Commodore 64 | Originally released in Europe as Arac by Addictive Software in 1986. |
| Starfleet Orion | 1978 | Apple II | The first game by Epyx, then Automated Systems, a sci-fi turn-based strategy video game. A success, leading to their development of further games. |
| PET | |||
| TRS-80 | |||
| Star Warrior | 1981 | Apple II | Branded as being part of their loosely related "Starquest" series, an early sci-fi role-playing video game when Epyx was still "Automated Systems" |
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| TRS-80 | |||
| Street Sports Baseball | 1987 | Apple II | A baseball sports game. |
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| Street Sports Basketball | 1987 | Amiga | A sports game of basketball featuring 3-a-side games |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Apple II | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Street Sports Football | 1988 | Commodore 64 | A football sports game |
| Apple II | |||
| Street Sports Soccer | 1988 | Commodore 64 | Another in Epyx's "street sports" line, this one featuring soccer |
| Apple II | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| Sub Battle Simulator | 1987 | Amiga | A naval combat simulation game set during WWII where players can play as the American or German forces |
| Apple II | |||
| Apple IIGS | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| Mac | |||
| Tandy Color Computer 3 | |||
| Summer Games | 1984 | Amiga | A sports game including several games featured in the Summer Olympic Games such as pole vaulting, platform diving and gymnastics, among others |
| Apple II | |||
| Atari 2600 | |||
| Atari 7800 | |||
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| Master System | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| 2005 | Windows Mobile | ||
| Summer Games II | 1985 | Amiga | A sequel to Summer Games, this sports game features additional events from the Summer Olympic Games |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Apple II | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| 2008 | Virtual Console | ||
| Super Cycle | 1986 | Amstrad CPC | A motorcycle racing game. |
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| ZX Spectrum | |||
| Sword of Fargoal | 1983 | Commodore 64 | A popular but difficult dungeon crawler featuring several aspects of the roguelike games |
| 1982 | PET | ||
| VIC-20 | |||
| Temple of Apshai | 1979 | Amiga | An early role-playing video game released during the height of the initial popularity of Dungeons & Dragons, the first entry in the Dunjonquest series was an enormous hit for Epyx, then known as Automated Systems |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Apple II | |||
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| PET | |||
| VIC-20 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| Mac | |||
| TRS-80 | |||
| Temple of Apshai Trilogy | 1985 | A repackaging of Temple of Apshai with its two expansion packs, Upper Reaches of Apshai and Curse of Ra | |
| Tuesday Morning Quarterback | 1980 | ||
| Upper Reaches of Apshai | 1982 | An expansion pack for Temple of Apshai that required the original program to run. Included in Temple of Apshai Trilogy | |
| Winter Games | 1984 | Atari 2600 | A sports game including several events featured in the Winter Olympic Games such as alpine skiing, ski jumping and biathlon, among others |
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| World Games | 1986 | Amiga | A continuation of their successful Olympic-themed games such as Summer Games and Winter Games, this sports game features several events that are popular in different parts of the world, but not necessarily featured in the Olympic Games, such as log rolling and sumo wrestling. |
| Amstrad CPC | |||
| Apple IIe | |||
| Apple IIGS | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| MSX | |||
| Master System | |||
| 2008 | Virtual Console | ||
| 1986 | ZX Spectrum | ||
| World Karate Championship | 1986 | Amstrad CPC | A karate fighting game, known as International Karate outside North America |
| Apple II | |||
| Atari 8-bit | |||
| Atari ST | |||
| Commodore 16 | |||
| Commodore 64 | |||
| MS-DOS | |||
| Game Boy Advance | |||
| Game Boy Color | |||
| MSX | |||
| 2008 | Virtual Console | ||
| 1985 | ZX Spectrum | ||
| Zarlor Mercenary | 1990 | Lynx | Vertically scrolling shooter |
Other software
edit| Name | Year | Platforms | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Multiplan | 1985 | Commodore 64 | An early spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft. Although the Multiplan article states it was distributed by Human Engineered Software for the Commodore 64, it was later distributed by Epyx. |
| Vorpal Utility Kit | 1985 | Commodore 64 | Floppy disk utilities, including 1541 Head Alignment, File Recovery, Super-Fast Disk Format, Super-Fast File Backup, Super-Fast Disk Backups, Disk Drive Speed Check, and Vorpal* Save/Load. |
| Commodore 128 | |||
| Programmers' BASIC Toolkit | 1985 | Commodore 64 | An extension to the Commodore BASIC V2.0 programming language. It adds over 100 new commands to the BASIC language, providing an easy-to-use API to the relatively advanced (at the time) graphics and sound hardware capabilities of the Commodore 64. |
| Print Magic | 1988 | Apple II | A home desktop publishing suite, it outperformed the contemporary market leader at the time, The Print Shop, on all levels, though not a great commercial success[citation needed] |
| MS-DOS |
Hardware
edit| Name | Year | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epyx Fast Load | 1984 | A powerful disk drive loading accelerator, one of the most widely used peripherals for the Commodore 64, it also contained a number of other useful software tools | 
|
| 500XJ joystick | An Atari compatible joystick that was innovative in that its base was molded to more naturally fit a player's hand, so it was easier to use than traditional rectangular-based joysticks. Variations were released that were compatible with the NES and Master System. |
| |
| Handy | 1989 | A handheld game console that was innovative in many ways. Short on capital at the time, however, Epyx licensed it to Atari, who christened it the Atari Lynx | 
|
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d Rusel DeMaria and Johnny Wilson, "High Score! The Illustrated History of Video Games", McGraw-Hill, 2003, pg. 54-55
- ^ Paul Freiberger, "This Company Is Serious about Games", InfoWorld, 11 May 1981, pg. 10-11
- ^ Pournelle, Jerry (July 1983). "Interstellar Drives, Osborne Accessories, DEDICATE/32, and Death Valley". BYTE. p. 323. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ Caruso, Denise (1984-04-02). "Company Strategies Boomerang". InfoWorld. pp. 80–83. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Peter Latimer, "Atari Lynx", Retro Gamer, Volume 2 Issue 6 (July 2005), pg. 24–31
- ^ a b c Maher, Jimmy (2016-12-22). "A Time of Endings, Part 2: Epyx". The Digital Antiquarian.
- ^ Data East USA, Inc. v. Epyx, Inc. Archived 2012-02-25 at the Wayback Machine, 862 F. 2d 204, 9 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1322 (9th Cir. 1988).
- ^ Ferrell, Keith (December 1989). "Epyx Goes Diskless". Compute!. p. 6. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
- ^ Wilson, Johnny L. (November 1991). "A History of Computer Games". Computer Gaming World. p. 10. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ Weihmann, Tobias. "Interview with Stephen H. Landrum". The Unofficial Epyx & SummerGames Homepage. Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- ^ Brendan Sinclair, "Epyx returns on Wii, PSP, DS", gamespot, 17 August 2006
External links
edit- Epyx profile on MobyGames
- "Epyx Journey" – An in-depth history of Epyx
- Epyx history and game list – GOTCHA on GameSpy.
- Images of some early Epyx brochures
- Epyx Consumer Software Catalog Winter 1984
- Epyx 500XJ Joystick Brochure
- Epyx 500XJ Joystick Commercial (1986)