Majesco Entertainment is a Japanese/American video game publisher founded in 1986. It first made a name as a reissuer of old titles that had been abandoned by their original publisher. By cutting the prices dramatically and, eventually, arranging the rights to self-manufacture games for both Nintendo and Sega systems, the company found a sustainable market niche.
Later, Majesco arranged with Sega to manufacture a version of its Mega Drive (known as Genesis in North America) 16-bit console, which had been superseded by the 32-bit Saturn. It released this in 1998 as the Genesis 3 and followed up with a version of the handheld Game Gear called the Game Gear Core System.
The company's focus shifted to in-house game development — initially under the brand Pipe-Dream Interactive since few believed they could make the transition successfully. Majesco focused on developing for then-current generation systems, such as Nintendo's GameCube and Game Boy Advance, Microsoft's Xbox, and Sony's PlayStation 2. A few of the titles it released, involving popular characters, included a few Bomberman titles for the Gamecube and Game Boy Advance.
In 2003, Majesco was slated to publish Black9, but forced the producers, Taldren Inc., to shut down when the game was about 85% complete.[1]
The publisher had reached financial trouble with its larger-budget games, such as Psychonauts, which sold poorly despite receiving several awards and critical acclaim, and Advent Rising, which generated intense hype but was ultimately panned by critics for being released prematurely and without adequate bug testing. Its best-selling titles in the last few years have been the series of GBA Videos for the Game Boy Advance. It also published the game Jaws Unleashed.
In January 2006, the company's financial situation worsened to the degree that it had to cancel two games it was going to publish: Demonik, developed by Terminal Reality, and Taxi Driver, a sequel to the movie. Majesco's president, Jesse Sutton, said that in the future the company would "focus primarily on publishing value and handheld video games."[1] Since that announcement, the company has followed through with publishing successful budget titles in North America like Cooking Mama for the DS.
On September 14, 2006, Majesco released BloodRayne, BloodRayne 2, and Advent Rising on Steam.
On November 6, 2007, Majesco announced the opening of a new development facility in the Los Angeles area dedicated to the development of casual game products and properties. [2]
On December 10, 2007, Majesco announced that they would be publishing a rhythm-based game, Major Minor's Majestic March, exclusively for the Wii developed by NanaOn-Sha.[2]
Majesco has announced that it will be launching an internet version of Bananagrams on August 18, 2008 that will be available on Facebook, a social networking website.[3]
List of published video games
- Advent Rising (Xbox, PC)
- Aeon Flux (PlayStation 2, Xbox)
- Age of Empires: The Age of Kings (Nintendo DS)
- ATV Quad Frenzy (Nintendo DS)
- Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy (Wii)
- Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship (PlayStation Portable)
- BloodRayne (PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PC)
- BloodRayne 2 (PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC)
- BlowOut (PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox and Xbox Originals on Xbox 360, PC)
- Bomberman Generation (Nintendo GameCube)
- Flip's Twisted World (Wii)
- Guilty Gear Judgment (PlayStation Portable)
- Infected (PlayStation Portable)
- Jaws Unleashed (PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC)
- Kengo: Legend of the 9 (Xbox 360)
- Mad Dog McCree: Gunslinger Pack (Wii)
- Nanostray (Nintendo DS)
- Nanostray 2 (Nintendo DS)
- Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - The Video Game (Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PC)
- Psychonauts (PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox Originals on Xbox 360, PC)
- Raze's Hell (Xbox and Xbox Originals on Xbox 360)
- Teen Titans (Game Boy Advance)
- Teen Titans (PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox)
- Teen Titans 2 (Game Boy Advance)
- Texas Hold 'Em Poker (Nintendo DS)
- Toon-Doku (Nintendo DS)
- Wild Earth: African Safari (Wii)
References
- ^ "Cyberpunked: the Fall of Black9". The Escapist Magazine. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_150/4921-Cyberpunked-the-Fall-of-Black9. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ "Majesco Announces New Casual Game Studio, Appoints Former Sega Exec In Lead Role". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16130. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- ^ playthings.com
External links
