Digital Leisure
Encyclopedia
Digital Leisure, Inc. is a Canadian publisher of software
. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair
, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
and Space Ace
. These three games were among the first to use TV-quality video in an arcade game. The games were created by Rick Dyer and feature spectacular quality animation by Don Bluth
, an ex-Disney animator who is also known for his work on The Secret of NIMH
, An American Tail
, The Land Before Time
and All Dogs Go To Heaven
.
The company acquired the North American rights to publish Tender Loving Care
, an interactive movie on DVD-ROM and CD-ROM featuring Academy Award nominee John Hurt
in early 1999 which broadened the Digital Leisure line-up and met with commercial success. In mid-2000 the company acquired the worldwide publishing rights to Kingdom II: Shadoan, another Rick Dyer creation, for DVD-ROM , DVD-Video and CD-ROM.
In early 2000, the company added the development and publishing rights of Hologram Time Traveler
which was released in the fall of 2000 on multiple formates. Selling over $18,000,000 in its arcade debut, Hologram Time Traveler was the first of two coin-operated arcade games to deliver a simulated 3D hologram experience (the other being Holosseum
).
In 2001 the company acquired the development and worldwide publishing rights to the entire American Laser Games
catalog of nine laser disc arcade titles including Mad Dog McCree
, Crime Patrol
and Who Shot Johnny Rock?
These titles have been released over the last years on CD-ROM and DVD-Video with Space Pirates and Fast Draw Showdown
released in late 2005.
In 2003, Digital Leisure signed a distribution agreement with Empire Interactive
to release the "Virtual Music Studio" brand eJay
to the North American market. In 2008, Empire Interactive
was purchased by Silver Star Holdings and Digital Leisure ceased all distribution of the eJay
product line.
In 2007, Digital Leisure in partnership with Bluth Group Ltd, restored and remastered some of its more popular titles to high definition
to be played in Blu-ray and HD DVD
players.
The company began development on a line of Wii
-based titles in the Summer of 2008, and had their first release, The Incredible Maze
on Nintendo's WiiWare
service October 24, 2008. Digital Leisure followed up this release in November 2008 with Sudoku Challenge!
. On March 27, 2009, Digital Leisure released Texas Hold'em Tournament
on the WiiWare
service and plans to follow up these releases with other WiiWare and disc based titles in the near future.
Optical Disc
DVD
/Blu-ray/HD DVD
WiiWare
Nintendo DSi
American Laser Games
iPhone
Software publisher
A software publisher is a publishing company in the software industry between the developer and the distributor. In some companies, two or all three of these roles may be combined ....
. The company formed in 1997 with the vision to acquire, remaster, and publish numerous classic video-based arcade games such as Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp is a 1991 laserdisc video game by Don Bluth. It is regarded as the first "true" sequel to Dragon's Lair. It takes place years after the timeline of the original Dragon's Lair. Dirk has married Daphne, and the marriage has produced several children...
and Space Ace
Space Ace
Space Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
. These three games were among the first to use TV-quality video in an arcade game. The games were created by Rick Dyer and feature spectacular quality animation by Don Bluth
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth is an American animator and independent studio owner. He is best known for his departure from The Walt Disney Company in 1979 and his subsequent directing of animated films such as The Secret of NIMH , An American Tail ,The Land Before Time , and All Dogs Go to Heaven ,...
, an ex-Disney animator who is also known for his work on The Secret of NIMH
The Secret of NIMH
The Secret of NIMH is a 1982 animated film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut. It is an adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's 1971 children's novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. The film was produced by Aurora Pictures and released by United Artists. While released to critical acclaim,...
, An American Tail
An American Tail
An American Tail is a 1986 American animated adventure film directed by Don Bluth and produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios and Amblin Entertainment. The film tells the story of Fievel Mouskewitz and his family as they immigrate from Russia to America for freedom. However, Fievel gets lost and must...
, The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time is a 1988 American animated adventure film directed and co-produced by Don Bluth , and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall....
and All Dogs Go To Heaven
All Dogs Go to Heaven
All Dogs Go to Heaven is a 1989 Irish-English animated film directed and produced by Don Bluth and released by United Artists. The film tells the story of two dogs, Charlie B. Barkin and his loyal best friend Itchy Itchiford...
.
The company acquired the North American rights to publish Tender Loving Care
Tender Loving Care
Tender Loving Care is an interactive movie released in 1999 by Aftermath Media. It is a psychological thriller starring Michael Esposito, Beth Tegarden, and John Hurt as Dr. Turner...
, an interactive movie on DVD-ROM and CD-ROM featuring Academy Award nominee John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
in early 1999 which broadened the Digital Leisure line-up and met with commercial success. In mid-2000 the company acquired the worldwide publishing rights to Kingdom II: Shadoan, another Rick Dyer creation, for DVD-ROM , DVD-Video and CD-ROM.
In early 2000, the company added the development and publishing rights of Hologram Time Traveler
Time Traveler (video game)
Time Traveler or Hologram Time Traveler is a stereographic laserdisc FMV arcade game released in 1991 by Sega and designed by Dragon's Lair creator Rick Dyer. It is called the "World's First Holographic Video Game" because it uses a special arcade cabinet that projects the game's characters...
which was released in the fall of 2000 on multiple formates. Selling over $18,000,000 in its arcade debut, Hologram Time Traveler was the first of two coin-operated arcade games to deliver a simulated 3D hologram experience (the other being Holosseum
Holosseum
is a fighting arcade game developed and published by Sega. The name is a cross between holography and colosseum, due to it being a fighting game created exclusively for Sega's hi-tech hologram theater cabinet, and is the second and last game created for it after Time Traveler...
).
In 2001 the company acquired the development and worldwide publishing rights to the entire American Laser Games
American Laser Games
American Laser Games was a company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that created a wide variety of light gun laserdisc video games. The company was founded in the late 1980s by Robert Grebe, who had originally created the system to train police officers under the company name ICAT , and adapted the...
catalog of nine laser disc arcade titles including Mad Dog McCree
Mad Dog McCree
Mad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games. It originally appeared as an arcade shooting game in 1990....
, Crime Patrol
Crime Patrol
Crime Patrol is a live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games in 1993.-Storyline:Crime Patrol, just like the company's previous releases, didn't focus so much on the storyline as on the general concept of the game, which was in essence its being a rail shooter. A plot is still...
and Who Shot Johnny Rock?
Who Shot Johnny Rock?
Who Shot Johnny Rock? is the title of a live-action full motion video laserdisc video game produced by American Laser Games and released in the arcade in 1991, as well as for DOS, Sega CD, 3DO and CD-i in or around 1994...
These titles have been released over the last years on CD-ROM and DVD-Video with Space Pirates and Fast Draw Showdown
Fast Draw Showdown
Fast Draw Showdown is a live-action laserdisc video game, released by American Laser Games in 1994 for a limited number of platforms. As one of the last live-action rail shooters released by the company, which began the series with Mad Dog McCree, it is also arguably the shortest...
released in late 2005.
In 2003, Digital Leisure signed a distribution agreement with Empire Interactive
Empire Interactive
Empire Interactive was a UK based video game developer and publisher founded in 1987. It was closed under administration on 4 May 2009.-About Empire Interactive:...
to release the "Virtual Music Studio" brand eJay
EJay
eJay is a series of musical arrangement software and games, primarily for Microsoft Windows. The first edition, Dance eJay, was released in , supports eight tracks of audio and, as with its successors, permits the arrangement of sound bites by a drag-and-drop interface...
to the North American market. In 2008, Empire Interactive
Empire Interactive
Empire Interactive was a UK based video game developer and publisher founded in 1987. It was closed under administration on 4 May 2009.-About Empire Interactive:...
was purchased by Silver Star Holdings and Digital Leisure ceased all distribution of the eJay
EJay
eJay is a series of musical arrangement software and games, primarily for Microsoft Windows. The first edition, Dance eJay, was released in , supports eight tracks of audio and, as with its successors, permits the arrangement of sound bites by a drag-and-drop interface...
product line.
In 2007, Digital Leisure in partnership with Bluth Group Ltd, restored and remastered some of its more popular titles to high definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
to be played in Blu-ray and HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
players.
The company began development on a line of 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...
-based titles in the Summer of 2008, and had their first release, The Incredible Maze
The Incredible Maze
The Incredible Maze is a WiiWare game developed and published by Digital Leisure. The game is compatible with both the Wii Remote and the Wii Balance Board and costs 500 Wii Points....
on Nintendo's WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
service October 24, 2008. Digital Leisure followed up this release in November 2008 with Sudoku Challenge!
Sudoku Challenge!
Sudoku Challenge! is a WiiWare sudoku game developed by Digital Leisure. The game was released in North America on November 24, 2008 and in the PAL region on December 19, 2008 and costs 500 Wii Points...
. On March 27, 2009, Digital Leisure released Texas Hold'em Tournament
Texas Hold'em Tournament
Texas Hold'em Tournament is a poker video game developed by Digital Leisure for WiiWare. The game was released in PAL regions on March 27, 2009 and in North America on June 1, 2009.-Overview:...
on the WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
service and plans to follow up these releases with other WiiWare and disc based titles in the near future.
Optical DiscOptical discIn computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces...
DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
/Blu-ray/HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
- Dragon's LairDragon's LairDragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
- Dragon's Lair II: Time WarpDragon's Lair II: Time WarpDragon's Lair II: Time Warp is a 1991 laserdisc video game by Don Bluth. It is regarded as the first "true" sequel to Dragon's Lair. It takes place years after the timeline of the original Dragon's Lair. Dirk has married Daphne, and the marriage has produced several children...
- Space AceSpace AceSpace Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
- Thayer's QuestThayer's QuestThayer's Quest was a laserdisc adventure game released by RDI Video Systems in 1984 as a game for their Halcyon console, computer and laserdisc player, but was later released as a conversion kit for Dragon's Lair arcade consoles when the Halcyon's high price tag damaged its appeal.-Plot:The player...
- Time Traveler (video game)Time Traveler (video game)Time Traveler or Hologram Time Traveler is a stereographic laserdisc FMV arcade game released in 1991 by Sega and designed by Dragon's Lair creator Rick Dyer. It is called the "World's First Holographic Video Game" because it uses a special arcade cabinet that projects the game's characters...
- Shadoan
- Tender Loving CareTender Loving CareTender Loving Care is an interactive movie released in 1999 by Aftermath Media. It is a psychological thriller starring Michael Esposito, Beth Tegarden, and John Hurt as Dr. Turner...
WiiWareWiiWareWiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
Games
- The Incredible MazeThe Incredible MazeThe Incredible Maze is a WiiWare game developed and published by Digital Leisure. The game is compatible with both the Wii Remote and the Wii Balance Board and costs 500 Wii Points....
- Sudoku Challenge!Sudoku Challenge!Sudoku Challenge! is a WiiWare sudoku game developed by Digital Leisure. The game was released in North America on November 24, 2008 and in the PAL region on December 19, 2008 and costs 500 Wii Points...
- Texas Hold'em TournamentTexas Hold'em TournamentTexas Hold'em Tournament is a poker video game developed by Digital Leisure for WiiWare. The game was released in PAL regions on March 27, 2009 and in North America on June 1, 2009.-Overview:...
- Word Searcher
- Copter Crisis
- Fast Draw ShowdownFast Draw ShowdownFast Draw Showdown is a live-action laserdisc video game, released by American Laser Games in 1994 for a limited number of platforms. As one of the last live-action rail shooters released by the company, which began the series with Mad Dog McCree, it is also arguably the shortest...
- 5 in 1 Solitaire
- Chess Challenge!
- Mix Superstar
Nintendo DSiNintendo DSiThe is a handheld game system created by Nintendo and launched in 2008 and 2009 in Japan, North America, PAL territories, and other regions. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival is Sony's PlayStation Portable...
/ DSiWare Games
- Dragon's LairDragon's LairDragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
- Sudoku Challenge!Sudoku Challenge!Sudoku Challenge! is a WiiWare sudoku game developed by Digital Leisure. The game was released in North America on November 24, 2008 and in the PAL region on December 19, 2008 and costs 500 Wii Points...
- Word Searcher
- Chess Challenge!
- 5 in 1 Solitaire
- Mega Words
- Match Up!
- Space AceSpace AceSpace Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
- Dragon's Lair II: Time WarpDragon's Lair II: Time WarpDragon's Lair II: Time Warp is a 1991 laserdisc video game by Don Bluth. It is regarded as the first "true" sequel to Dragon's Lair. It takes place years after the timeline of the original Dragon's Lair. Dirk has married Daphne, and the marriage has produced several children...
American Laser GamesAmerican Laser GamesAmerican Laser Games was a company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico that created a wide variety of light gun laserdisc video games. The company was founded in the late 1980s by Robert Grebe, who had originally created the system to train police officers under the company name ICAT , and adapted the...
- Mad Dog McCreeMad Dog McCreeMad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games. It originally appeared as an arcade shooting game in 1990....
- Who Shot Johnny Rock?Who Shot Johnny Rock?Who Shot Johnny Rock? is the title of a live-action full motion video laserdisc video game produced by American Laser Games and released in the arcade in 1991, as well as for DOS, Sega CD, 3DO and CD-i in or around 1994...
- Mad Dog II: The Lost GoldMad Dog II: The Lost GoldMad Dog II: The Lost Gold is a live-action laserdisc video game produced by American Laser Games, released for the arcade, Sega CD, 3DO, CD-i and PC , the first release being in 1992; the quality of the video is the lowest on Sega CD...
- Space PiratesSpace Pirates (video game)Space Pirates is a live-action laserdisc video game, released by American Laser Games for the arcade and various platforms between 1992 and 1994...
- Crime PatrolCrime PatrolCrime Patrol is a live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games in 1993.-Storyline:Crime Patrol, just like the company's previous releases, didn't focus so much on the storyline as on the general concept of the game, which was in essence its being a rail shooter. A plot is still...
- Crime Patrol 2: Drug WarsCrime Patrol 2: Drug WarsCrime Patrol 2: Drug Wars is a live-action laserdisc video game, first released by American Laser Games in 1994. As the title implies, it is the sequel to the relatively popular arcade game Crime Patrol, with very similar gameplay, objectives and scenery...
- Fast Draw ShowdownFast Draw ShowdownFast Draw Showdown is a live-action laserdisc video game, released by American Laser Games in 1994 for a limited number of platforms. As one of the last live-action rail shooters released by the company, which began the series with Mad Dog McCree, it is also arguably the shortest...
- The Last Bounty HunterThe Last Bounty HunterThe Last Bounty Hunter is a live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games in 1994. Like almost all of the games produced by the now-defunct company, it was a rail shooter and, like the two installments in the Mad Dog McCree series before it, was set in the Old West...
iPhoneIPhoneThe iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
Games
- Dragon's LairDragon's LairDragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
- Space AceSpace AceSpace Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
- Braindead 13Braindead 13Brain Dead 13 is an Interactive movie game produced by ReadySoft that was released for DOS in 1995 and later ported to consoles in 1996. Unlike Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, which began as laserdiscs, it was released for PCs and game consoles only....
- Mad Dog McCreeMad Dog McCreeMad Dog McCree is the first live-action laserdisc video game released by American Laser Games. It originally appeared as an arcade shooting game in 1990....
- Sudoku 100,000,000
External links
- Digital Leisure channel on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Digital Leisure profile on MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- Censored Dragons Lair's Longplay video on YouTube.