ERE Informatique
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
video game companies, founded in 1981
1981 in video gaming
-Events:* November -** The British video game magazine Computer and Video Games starts.** Game & Watch - released in Sweden.* Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel found Electronic Games, the first magazine on video games and generally recognized as the beginning of video game journalism.-Notable releases:*...
by Philippe Ulrich and Emmanuel Viau. The company hired freelance game programmers that received royalties for their creations. Initially, the company published titles for the Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
and Oric home computers. In 1984 they published their first national hit, a flight simulator created by Marc André Rampon: Intercepteur Cobalt for Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum, also known under the name of Mission Delta for Oric, Amstrad and Thomson MO5. Rampon also acquired some shares of the company owned by Viau and established the company's first distribution network.
Their first international hit, topping many international sales list for several months, was Macadam Bumper (1985), a pinball simulation programmed by Rémi Herbulot, a self-taught ex-employee of Valeo living in Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
. This and several later titles were distributed (and labelled) by PSS
Personal Software Services
Personal Software Services was a British software company based in Coventry, founded by Gary Mays and Richard Cockayne in 1981. The company was acquired by Mirrorsoft in 1987....
in the United Kingdom, thanks to a mutual distribution agreement.
ERE underwent serious financial problems due to some distributors delaying payments (and some ultimately entering bankruptcy), and was looking to partner with a company able to ensure a secure distribution. FIL and Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
went into competitive bidding and eventually Infogrames entered Ere's share capital by buying out Rampon's shares by the end of 1986. Infogrames later acquired complete control of ERE in June, 1987.
Its Exxos label, announced in 1988
1988 in video gaming
-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
would produce their most famous and creative games. Due to financial problems, chiefly royalty inpayment, ERE's members left Infogrames in 1989
1989 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* October 3, Brøderbund releases the Prince of Persia game, the first in a series of games, noted for its advancements in animation....
to form an independent developer group named Cryo, that would be made into an official company in 1992 as Cryo Interactive Entertainment.
Exxos
Litany
A litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions...
to the press (translated from French):
The new label would release games with two requisites: original stories and worlds drawn from science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
— a running interest among many members of ERE — or fantasy and translated to various languages, to achieve wide international distribution.
ERE label
- Mission Delta (19841984 in video gaming-Notable releases:* May 10, King's Quest , the first animated adventure game, the first in the King's Quest series, and the first to use the AGI engine.* June 4, Nintendo releases Donkey Kong 3...
) (also known as Intercepteur Cobalt) - Macadam Bumper (19851985 in video gaming-Notable releases:* Brøderbund releases Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first game of the prolific Carmen Sandiego series* Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, which eventually sells 40 million copies making it the best-selling video game of all time until 2008.*...
) (also known as Pinball Wizard) - Contamination (1985).
- Pacific (19861986 in video gaming-Events:-Notable releases:*Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling Thunder....
) - 1001 BC (1986)
- Sram I (1986)
- Sram II (1986)
- Get DexterGet DexterGet Dexter , is a Graphic adventure game, originally released for the Amstrad CPC in 1986. It was programmed by Remi Herbulot, with graphics by Michel Rho, and was published in France by ERE Informatique and by PSS in Britain. An Atari ST version was released in 1987...
(1986) (also known as its French title Crafton & Xunk) - Phalsberg (19871986 in video gaming-Events:-Notable releases:*Namco releases Sky Kid Deluxe, Hopping Mappy, Toy Pop, The Return of Ishtar, which is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, Genpei Tōma Den, and Rolling Thunder....
) - Eden Blues (19871987 in video gaming-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...
) - Bubble GhostBubble GhostBubble Ghost is a French 1987 video game created by Christophe Andreani and published by ERE Informatique.-Gameplay:Bubble Ghost is a 2D arcade game. The player controls the ghost using the computer mouse and makes him blow at a bubble. The objective is to guide a bubble throughout a number of...
(1987) - Despotik Design (1987)
- Oxphar (1987)
- Crash Garrett (1987)
- Qin (1987)
- Get Dexter 2Get DexterGet Dexter , is a Graphic adventure game, originally released for the Amstrad CPC in 1986. It was programmed by Remi Herbulot, with graphics by Michel Rho, and was published in France by ERE Informatique and by PSS in Britain. An Atari ST version was released in 1987...
(19881988 in video gaming-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
) (also known as its French title L'Ange de Cristal) - RoBBBoT (1988)
- ApocalypseApocalypse (video game)Apocalypse is a 1998 third-person action game for the PlayStation, developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is notable for featuring actor Bruce Willis, who provides the main character's likeness and voice, as well as being the first game by Neversoft, prior to launching their...
(1988) - Teenage QueenTeenage QueenTeenage Queen is an EP by pop rock band Bow Wow Wow as well as one of the more difficult songs to acquire from the band. "Teenage Queen" is often misidentified as "Perky Jean" due to the chorus of "Hey perky, perky jean, you make me feel like a teenage queen." It has different lyrics but...
(1988)
Exxos label
- Captain BloodCaptain Blood (video game)Captain Blood is the name of a French video game from 1988 made by ERE Informatique and released by Infogrames. It was later re-released in the UK by Players Premier Software...
(19881988 in video gaming-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
) (also known as L'Arche du capitaine Blood) (First copies still under the ERE label). - Purple Saturn Day (1988)
- KULT: The Temple of Flying SaucersKULT: The Temple of Flying SaucersKULT: The Temple of Flying Saucers is a graphic adventure game, released in 1989 by Exxos. The American version was sold under the title Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess.-Setting:The game is set in a post-apocalyptic environment...
(19891989 in video gaming-Notable releases:* October 3, Brøderbund releases the Prince of Persia game, the first in a series of games, noted for its advancements in animation....
)