Digital Eclipse

Digital Eclipse Entertainment Partners Co.
FormerlyBackbone Emeryville (2003–2015)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1992; 32 years ago (1992)
Founders
  • Andrew Ayre
  • Hans Kim
  • John Neil
  • Howard Fukuda
Headquarters
Emeryville, California
,
US
Key people
Parent
Websitedigitaleclipse.com

Digital Eclipse Entertainment Partners Co. is an American video game developer based in Emeryville, California. 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[edit]

Digital Eclipse was founded in 1992 by Andrew Ayre, Hans Kim, John Neil, and Howard Fukuda.[1] The company's first offices were opened on a "nondescript, factory-filled" street in Emeryville, California, where Ayre (a native of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador) had moved following his graduation from Harvard University to live with his girlfriend.[2][3] Initially a technology startup company, Digital Eclipse soon found that their software would be useful in the video game industry, and turned to game development instead.[2] Using their technology, the company opted to produce commercial emulations of arcade games, such as Williams Electronics' Joust, Defender, and Robotron: 2084.[4] For these games, Digital Eclipse developed an interpreter that emulated the games' arcade machines' chipset, including the Motorola 6809 central processing unit.[5] This approach was meant to have the emulations act true to the original versions of these games, and not carry any imperfections direct ports could have introduced.[4] All three emulated games were released as part of The Digital Arcade series for Mac OS in 1995.[5]

Digital Eclipse found further success when the Game Boy Color was released; the new handheld console included a central processing unit based on the architecture of the Zilog Z80, the processor used in a number of older arcade machines.[4] While other developers were moving on to develop for the more powerful PlayStation home console, Digital Eclipse developed about 60 games for their niche market on the Game Boy Color.[4] 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.[6] Digital Eclipse also opened a second studio in Vancouver, Canada.[7] In February 2001, the company announced their move into the games market for "wireless Web" devices, hiring Scott Nisbet as director of wireless gaming, as well as Bruce Binder as Nisbet's consultant.[8]

In 2003, Digital Eclipse merged with ImaginEngine, creating Backbone Entertainment; while ImaginEngine remained an independent studio within that structure, Digital Eclipse's studios became Backbone Emeryville and Backbone Vancouver, respectively.[9][10] By this point, Digital Eclipse had produced 70 games on 11 different platforms.[3] In February 2006, Backbone opened another subsidiary studio, Backbone Charlottetown, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, under the lead of Ayre.[11] 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 Eclipse's former traits in a smaller fashion.[4][12]

Backbone Vancouver was mostly dismantled in September 2008 and closed entirely in May 2009, while Backbone laid off the majority of its Emeryville-based staff in October 2012.[13][14][15] On June 8, 2015, after acquiring the Digital Eclipse name, Other Ocean's parent company, Other Ocean Group, announced that it had reformed Digital Eclipse as part of its Other Ocean Emeryville studio.[16] Co-founders include Ayre, Mike Mika—who had acted as technical director for the original Digital Eclipse—and former Gamasutra writer Frank Cifaldi.[6][16] 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.[16] At the time, Cifaldi also stated that Digital Eclipse aimed at becoming the video game equivalent of The Criterion Collection.[17] Cifaldi would leave Digital Eclipse around 2020 to work on the Video Game History Foundation full time.[18]

Atari SA announced it would acquire Digital Eclipse in October 2023 for $4 million in cash and newly issued ordinary shares worth $2.5 million, alongside a possible earn-out of up to $13.5 million.[19] Atari closed the deal by November 6, 2023.[20]

Eclipse Engine[edit]

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.[21][22] 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.[16]

Games developed[edit]

As Digital Eclipse (1992–2004)[edit]

Year Title Platform(s)
1994 Joust Mac OS
Robotron: 2084
Defender
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, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Ms. Pac-Man Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
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
Disney's Tarzan
720°
Atari Arcade Hits: Volume 1 Microsoft Windows
Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2
Arcade Classic No. 4: Defender / Joust Game Boy Color
Klax
Arcade Hits: Moon Patrol / Spy Hunter
Rampart
Rampage 2: Universal Tour
Arcade Party Pak PlayStation
Mortal Kombat 4 Game Boy Color
Marble Madness
Ghosts 'n Goblins
2000 Little Nicky
Alice in Wonderland
2001 Dragon's Lair
Batman: Chaos in Gotham
X-Men: Wolverine's Rage
Rayman Advance Game Boy Advance
Spyro: Season of Ice
2002 Spider-Man
Disney's Lilo & Stitch
Monster Force
Spyro 2: Season of Flame
Disney's Kim Possible: Revenge of Monkey Fist
Phantasy Star Collection
XXX
2003 Lizzie McGuire: On the Go!
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs
Mucha Lucha! Mascaritas of the Lost Code
2004 Spider-Man 2
Grand Theft Auto Advance
Mortal Kombat Plug-and-play

As Backbone Entertainment (2004–2012)[edit]

Main article: Backbone Entertainment

As Digital Eclipse (2015–present)[edit]

Year Title Platform(s)
2015 Mega Man Legacy Collection Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Amazon Luna
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
2019 Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King
2020 Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection
2021 Blizzard Arcade Collection[a]
Space Jam: A New Legacy - The Game Xbox One
Disney Classic Games Collection Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2022 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Candy Creeps Microsoft Windows
Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum[b] Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Digital Eclipse Arcade: Invasion of the Buffet Snatchers Microsoft Windows
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Atari VCS
Digital Eclipse Arcade: Jollyball Microsoft Windows
2023 Digital Eclipse Arcade: Q.P.I.D Microsoft Windows
The Making of Karateka Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (remake)[23] Windows
2024 Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story[24] Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Co-developed with Blizzard Entertainment
  2. ^ Co-developed with Retrotainment Games and published by iam8bit.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Carroll, Martyn (September 1, 2022). "Studio Profile: Digital Eclipse". Retro Gamer. No. 237. Future Publishing. pp. 70–75.
  2. ^ a b McGillivray, Jim (2009). "From St. John's to California Gaming ... and back". The Andrean. Retrieved April 10, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b Feldman, Curt (April 23, 2004). "Q&A: Death, Jr. developer Chris Charla". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e VB Staff (September 22, 2017). "Other Ocean: Building the past, the future, and the present". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Donaldson, J. Caleb (August 1, 1995). "They Do Make 'Em Like They Used To". Wired. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Schneider, Peer (July 16, 1999). "Lords of the Jungle". IGN. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  7. ^ Harris, Craig (May 28, 2002). "Spyro 2: Season of Flame". IGN. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  8. ^ Goodman, Peter S. (March 21, 2001). "Playing for Keeps". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  9. ^ Takahashi, Dean (October 12, 2012). "ImaginEngine game studio shuts down (exclusive)". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  10. ^ Adams, David (August 19, 2005). "Foundation 9 Goes Next-Gen". IGN. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  11. ^ Carless, Simon (February 6, 2006). "Foundation 9 To Open New Canadian Studio". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  12. ^ Boyer, Brandon (April 7, 2008). "Other Ocean: iPhone To Be 'Major Player' In Handheld Market". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  13. ^ Kyllo, Blaine (January 28, 2009). "Vancouver's video game family tree". The Georgia Straight. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  14. ^ Lavender, Terry (November 18, 2009). "Is it Game Over for Vancouver's Video Game Industry? Not quite yet". Vancouver Observer. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  15. ^ Rose, Mike (October 9, 2012). "Layoffs at digital game studio Backbone Entertainment". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  16. ^ a b c d Wawro, Alex (June 8, 2015). "Digital Eclipse is back with a new mission: preserve classic games". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  17. ^ Schilling, Chris (August 28, 2015). "How 'Mega Man Legacy Collection' Is Teaching the Video Games Industry to Respect Its Heritage". Waypoint. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  18. ^ Yarwood, Jack (March 5, 2024). ""A True Original" - Digital Eclipse on 'Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story'". Time Extension. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  19. ^ Batchelor, James (October 31, 2023). "Atari to acquire Digital Eclipse in $20m deal". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  20. ^ "Atari Closes the Acquisition of Digital Eclipse". GlobeNewswire (Press release). November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  21. ^ Orland, Kyle (August 27, 2015). "The new tech making game preservation more authentic and future-proof". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  22. ^ Watts, Steve (March 23, 2017). "Disney Afternoon Collection Producer Talks Challenges and Nostalgia". Shacknews. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  23. ^ Webster, Andrew (September 15, 2023). "The original Wizardry has been remastered — and you can play it right now". The Verge. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  24. ^ "Digital Eclipse's next interactive documentary is Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story". December 6, 2023.

External links[edit]

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