Buena Vista Games
Encyclopedia
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. (initially Walt Disney Computer Software, later Disney Interactive and Buena Vista Games, Inc.), is a Worldwide
American
video game company. It self-publishes and distributes
multi-platform video games and interactive entertainment
worldwide.
rather than a publisher (though it also marketed games on its own for select platforms), establishing development/publishing alliances with interactive-gaming industry leaders such as Sony Computer Entertainment
, Nintendo
, Activision
, Capcom
(the most allianced), Konami
, Square-Enix
and Ubisoft
. Disney Interactive dealt with mass-market, global development, publishing and distribution of interactive entertainment
software based on its intellectual property
(including Disney characters and other franchises).
its portfolio, the company re-established itself as Buena Vista Games and divided productions across two publishing labels -- Buena Vista Interactive developed titles across multiple platforms for creative content from the businesses within The Walt Disney Company, and Disney Interactive marketed and distributed children's entertainment and learning
software. Buena Vista Games is probably best known for the Kingdom Hearts series along with Japanese developer Square Enix.
, ESPN
, Touchstone
(which is used as a label for Disney Interactive), and Disney/Pixar
. The studio has selectively licensed Disney intellectual property
to other video game publishers such as Activision and THQ.
In June 2008, Disney Interactive Studios was spun off of Disney Consumer Products and taken up under the new division Disney Interactive Media Group
.
, the sequel to the puzzle game for the PSP system; Lumines Plus, a new version of Lumines
for the PlayStation 2; Every Extend Extra
, a puzzle shooter; and a Disney Interactive Studios's Meteos: Disney Edition, the popular Meteos
game for the Nintendo DS
with Disney characters.
Disney Interactive Studios has also announced the formation of a new development studio Fall Line Studio dedicated to creating games exclusively for Nintendo consoles Wii
and Nintendo DS
. Fall Line Studio will operate as a sister studio to Avalanche Software
, both companies being based out of Salt Lake City. The studio will focus on small-team projects using Disney's brand. Former general manager of Rainbow Studios Scott Novis has been chosen to serve as vice president and general manager of Fall Line Studio.
Disney Interactive Studios has been a strong supporter of Nintendo platforms and is the number three publisher of Game Boy Advance titles in North America. And Fall Line marks the company's plan to cut back on outsourced game development and focus on internally developed software.
The company revealed a line up of games at E3 2006, which include DIE's Turok, a re-imagining of the video game series
of the same name and Desperate Housewives: The Game
, based on the hit television show
.
Disney Interactive Studios is credited in all entries to the Kingdom Hearts
franchise, with the original release boxart of each entry to the series having different logos and name of the company seeing as coincedently, the company is re-branded in between the releases. Notably however the company is not credited to actually developing the game.
's Junction Point Studios
.
On April 8, 2008 Disney Interactive announced it was acquiring Gamestar, a Chinese game development company.
Fall Line Studios was created as an offshoot from Avalanche Software, but was later folded back into Avalanche.
On September 8, 2009, Disney Interactive announced that it has acquired Wideload Games
, the company behind the hit Stubbs the Zombie.
Disney is also releasing Split Second, a game for PS3 and Xbox 360.
On July 1, 2010, Disney Interactive announced it had acquired Tapulous
, the studio behind the Tap Tap Revenge franchise for iOS.
Propaganda Games
was shut down by Disney on January 19, 2011.
Black Rock Studios was shut down by Disney in July 2011.
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
video game company. It self-publishes and distributes
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
multi-platform video games and interactive entertainment
Interactive entertainment
The phrase interactive entertainment also known as video games refers to the business of producing and distributing products and services, or the products and services, of which the entertainment value can be influenced by users through direct feedback.-Origins:Although Hal Halpin claims credit...
worldwide.
Disney Interactive (1995-2003)
In its early period, Disney Interactive often worked as a developerVideo game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
rather than a publisher (though it also marketed games on its own for select platforms), establishing development/publishing alliances with interactive-gaming industry leaders such as Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
, Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
(the most allianced), Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
, Square-Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
and Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
. Disney Interactive dealt with mass-market, global development, publishing and distribution of interactive entertainment
Interactive entertainment
The phrase interactive entertainment also known as video games refers to the business of producing and distributing products and services, or the products and services, of which the entertainment value can be influenced by users through direct feedback.-Origins:Although Hal Halpin claims credit...
software based on its intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
(including Disney characters and other franchises).
Buena Vista Games (2003-2007)
To diversifyDiversification (finance)
In finance, diversification means reducing risk by investing in a variety of assets. If the asset values do not move up and down in perfect synchrony, a diversified portfolio will have less risk than the weighted average risk of its constituent assets, and often less risk than the least risky of...
its portfolio, the company re-established itself as Buena Vista Games and divided productions across two publishing labels -- Buena Vista Interactive developed titles across multiple platforms for creative content from the businesses within The Walt Disney Company, and Disney Interactive marketed and distributed children's entertainment and learning
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
software. Buena Vista Games is probably best known for the Kingdom Hearts series along with Japanese developer Square Enix.
Disney Interactive Studios (2007-present)
In 2007, The Walt Disney Company re-merged its productions under the name Disney Interactive Studios. The studio publishes both Disney and non-Disney branded video games for all platforms worldwide, with titles that feature its consumer brands including Disney, ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, Touchstone
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
(which is used as a label for Disney Interactive), and Disney/Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
. The studio has selectively licensed Disney intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
to other video game publishers such as Activision and THQ.
In June 2008, Disney Interactive Studios was spun off of Disney Consumer Products and taken up under the new division Disney Interactive Media Group
Disney Interactive Media Group
The Disney Interactive Media Group , formerly known as the Walt Disney Internet Group and Disney Interactive Studios, oversees various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries....
.
List of games
The company also publishes games from Q Entertainment worldwide except Asia: Lumines IILumines II
Lumines II is a sequel to the puzzle game Lumines. The game was released in November, 2006 in Europe and North America, and in February 2007 in Japan.-Gameplay:The gameplay in Lumines II is very similar to its predecessor, Lumines...
, the sequel to the puzzle game for the PSP system; Lumines Plus, a new version of Lumines
Lumines
is a puzzle video game based on sound and light patterns. Created by game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his company, Q Entertainment, it was first released as a launch title for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on December 12, and released in North America on March 23 and released in Europe on...
for the PlayStation 2; Every Extend Extra
Every Extend Extra
Every Extend Extra is a shoot 'em up video game by Q Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable .Every Extend Extra is a redevelopment of the popular freeware game Every Extend, which was a personal project by Kanta Matsuhisa under his "Omega" pseudonym...
, a puzzle shooter; and a Disney Interactive Studios's Meteos: Disney Edition, the popular Meteos
Meteos
is an action puzzle video game for the Nintendo DS portable gaming system. The name of the game comes from the English word meteor, transliterated to "meteo". Meteos was developed by Q Entertainment and published by Nintendo and Bandai. The producer for the game was Tetsuya Mizuguchi and lead...
game for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
with Disney characters.
Disney Interactive Studios has also announced the formation of a new development studio Fall Line Studio dedicated to creating games exclusively for Nintendo consoles Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. Fall Line Studio will operate as a sister studio to Avalanche Software
Avalanche Software
Avalanche Software is a video game developer studio, founded in October 1995 by four lead programmers from Sculptured Software. The company has developed for every console platform since the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES days and has grown to a staff of over 100 since its inception...
, both companies being based out of Salt Lake City. The studio will focus on small-team projects using Disney's brand. Former general manager of Rainbow Studios Scott Novis has been chosen to serve as vice president and general manager of Fall Line Studio.
Disney Interactive Studios has been a strong supporter of Nintendo platforms and is the number three publisher of Game Boy Advance titles in North America. And Fall Line marks the company's plan to cut back on outsourced game development and focus on internally developed software.
The company revealed a line up of games at E3 2006, which include DIE's Turok, a re-imagining of the video game series
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is a first-person shooter video game developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim for the Nintendo 64 console and personal computer platforms. It was released in 1997 in North America and Europe. Turok is an adaptation of the Acclaim Comics comic book series of...
of the same name and Desperate Housewives: The Game
Desperate Housewives: The Game
Desperate Housewives: The Game is a life simulation adventure game developed by Liquid Entertainment and released by Buena Vista Games in October 2006. It is based on the television series Desperate Housewives. The player takes the part of a housewife with amnesia who has recently moved with her...
, based on the hit television show
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
.
Disney Interactive Studios is credited in all entries to the Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
franchise, with the original release boxart of each entry to the series having different logos and name of the company seeing as coincedently, the company is re-branded in between the releases. Notably however the company is not credited to actually developing the game.
Studios
- Avalanche SoftwareAvalanche SoftwareAvalanche Software is a video game developer studio, founded in October 1995 by four lead programmers from Sculptured Software. The company has developed for every console platform since the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES days and has grown to a staff of over 100 since its inception...
, based in Salt Lake City, UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. Acquired April 2005 - Gamestar, based in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Acquired 8 April 2008 - Junction Point StudiosJunction Point StudiosJunction Point Studios is a video game developer based in Austin, Texas. The studio was established in 2005 by Warren Spector and Art Min, prominent figures in the game development industry...
, based in AustinAustinAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Acquired 13 July 2007 - Wideload GamesWideload GamesWideload Games is an American game developer located in Chicago, Illinois.It was founded in 2003 by Alexander Seropian—the co-founder of Bungie and head behind the games Halo: Combat Evolved, Myth, and Marathon—and 6 other former Bungie Studios employees 3 years after Bungie's acquisition by...
, based in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Acquired 8 September 2009 - TapulousTapulousTapulous, Inc. is an American software and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company as part of the Disney Interactive Media Group...
, based in Palo Alto, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Acquired 1 July 2010 - PlaydomPlaydomPlaydom is an online social network game developer popular on Facebook and on MySpace; it is currently the largest social game developer on MySpace and one of the larger ones on Facebook. The company was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by University of California, Berkeley graduates Ling Xiao...
, based in Mountain ViewMountain View, California-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Acquired 27 July 2010
Acquisitions
On the July 13, 2007 it was announced that Disney Interactive Studios had acquired Warren SpectorWarren Spector
Warren Spector is a role-playing game designer and a video game designer. He is known for having worked to merge elements of role-playing games and first-person shooters. He currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, fantasy writer Caroline L. Spector...
's Junction Point Studios
Junction Point Studios
Junction Point Studios is a video game developer based in Austin, Texas. The studio was established in 2005 by Warren Spector and Art Min, prominent figures in the game development industry...
.
On April 8, 2008 Disney Interactive announced it was acquiring Gamestar, a Chinese game development company.
Fall Line Studios was created as an offshoot from Avalanche Software, but was later folded back into Avalanche.
On September 8, 2009, Disney Interactive announced that it has acquired Wideload Games
Wideload Games
Wideload Games is an American game developer located in Chicago, Illinois.It was founded in 2003 by Alexander Seropian—the co-founder of Bungie and head behind the games Halo: Combat Evolved, Myth, and Marathon—and 6 other former Bungie Studios employees 3 years after Bungie's acquisition by...
, the company behind the hit Stubbs the Zombie.
Disney is also releasing Split Second, a game for PS3 and Xbox 360.
On July 1, 2010, Disney Interactive announced it had acquired Tapulous
Tapulous
Tapulous, Inc. is an American software and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company as part of the Disney Interactive Media Group...
, the studio behind the Tap Tap Revenge franchise for iOS.
Propaganda Games
Propaganda Games
Propaganda Games was a video game development studio based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which was formed in 2005. Owned by Disney Interactive Studios, the interactive division of Buena Vista, the studio was formed by former employees of EA Canada, including Josh Holmes, Howard Donaldson,...
was shut down by Disney on January 19, 2011.
Black Rock Studios was shut down by Disney in July 2011.