Mindscape Group
Encyclopedia
Mindscape is an international software publishing
company, previously part of The Learning Company
. They are now affiliated with EA (Electronic Arts). As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape publishes and distributes educational and lifestyle games and software. Its most notable titles include Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Horse Racing Tycoon and Lego Island
. It is soon to release two TV show game adaptations: Survivor
and Wipeout: The Big Red Ball Challenge on Nintendo
console Wii
.
Mindscape began in 1983 as a software publisher in Northbrook, Illinois. Founded by English-born Roger Buoy, the company published the seminal Chris Crawford game, Balance of Power in the early 1980s and was a Lucasfilm licensee, publishing the Indiana Jones computer games before they were taken in-house by Lucasfilm Games with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
. The company also published the innovative point-and-click adventure Deja Vu, text adventures tied to famous authors like Dick Francis and Ray Bradbury, and a controversial game from Tom Snyder Productions called Sub Mission. The latter required gamers to purchase a replacement disk if they lost the mission three times. During this era, Mindscape was famous for its Rock 'n Roll parties at Chicago's Summer Consumer Electronics Show (the trade show prior to E3), featuring classic stars like Jay and the Americans, Bo Diddley, Del Shannon and Sam and Dave.
In 1990, Mindscape merged with Les Crane
's The Software Toolworks, a software and computer game publisher in Los Angeles. The company held two last Summer CES parties (one where Dudley Moore
of "Arthur" fame introduced The Miracle Piano System, an electronic learning system for the piano, and another where Meatloaf nearly brought down the house) before the company became involved in another round of mergers and headquarters moved to Novato, California
, in Marin County north of San Francisco. It started out publishing software for Heath/Zenith
personal computers. Early products for The Software Toolworks included Mychess and the C/80 C compiler for CP/M
. The two most popular products were the very long-lived series Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
and the Chessmaster
series of computer games. It is also known for its contribution in the development of the Lego Island
PC game series.
In 1990, TST debuted the Miracle Piano
, a critically acclaimed music-teaching product which almost sank the company after it over-ordered the piano hardware, was not able to sell through copies of the product very quickly, and was stuck with a large inventory
.
In 1992, Mindscape created and released the isometric fantasy role-playing game Legend
(known as The Four Crystals of Trazere in the United States) for MS-DOS, Amiga and Atari ST. Following some success worldwide, a sequel Worlds of Legend: Son of the Empire was released for MS-DOS and Amiga in 1993.
In 1993, Software Toolworks ported/developed Wing Commander to the Super-Nintendo under the Mindscape brand in conjunction with Origin Systems
at a time when Software Toolworks was downsizing and struggling to survive. Sales from the game heavily exceeded expectations and the resulting revenue brought the company back from the brink (as evidenced by its share price which had fallen to $2 per share and was ultimately brought back up to $12 a share before the company was purchased).
In 1997, the internal development department was shut down. Through an undisclosed deal with Electronic Arts
UK, most of the development staff, and the game they were developing (which was close to completion) – Warhammer: Dark Omen – was moved to EA's offices in Guildford
, Surrey, and released in early 1998.
Below is a timeline of events occurring from 1993 to 2005:
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 ....
company, previously part of The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
. They are now affiliated with EA (Electronic Arts). As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape publishes and distributes educational and lifestyle games and software. Its most notable titles include Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Horse Racing Tycoon and Lego Island
Lego Island
LEGO Island is a Lego based action-adventure computer game developed by Lego and Mindscape. Released for the PC on October 2, 1997, the game is the first in the Lego Island series , followed by Lego Island 2 The Brickster's Revenge, Island Xtreme Stunts, and Lego Island Xtreme Stunts Lego sets.-...
. It is soon to release two TV show game adaptations: Survivor
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
and Wipeout: The Big Red Ball Challenge on 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....
console 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...
.
History
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (video game)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the title of three different video games released for various video and computer home systems. The format of each particular video game is different, but they loosely follow the film's storyline.-The Action Game:...
. The company also published the innovative point-and-click adventure Deja Vu, text adventures tied to famous authors like Dick Francis and Ray Bradbury, and a controversial game from Tom Snyder Productions called Sub Mission. The latter required gamers to purchase a replacement disk if they lost the mission three times. During this era, Mindscape was famous for its Rock 'n Roll parties at Chicago's Summer Consumer Electronics Show (the trade show prior to E3), featuring classic stars like Jay and the Americans, Bo Diddley, Del Shannon and Sam and Dave.
In 1990, Mindscape merged with Les Crane
Les Crane
Les Crane , born Lesley Stein, was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem Desiderata, winning a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy.Born in Long Beach, New York , Crane...
's The Software Toolworks, a software and computer game publisher in Los Angeles. The company held two last Summer CES parties (one where Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
of "Arthur" fame introduced The Miracle Piano System, an electronic learning system for the piano, and another where Meatloaf nearly brought down the house) before the company became involved in another round of mergers and headquarters moved to Novato, California
Novato, California
Novato is a city located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in northern Marin County. Novato is located about north-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 30 feet above sea level . The 2010 U.S. Census estimated the city population to be about 51,904. Novato is about ...
, in Marin County north of San Francisco. It started out publishing software for Heath/Zenith
Zenith Data Systems
Zenith Data Systems was a division of Zenith founded in 1979 after Zenith acquired Heathkit, which had, in 1977, entered the personal computer market. Headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Zenith sold personal computers under both the Heath/Zenith and Zenith Data Systems names...
personal computers. Early products for The Software Toolworks included Mychess and the C/80 C compiler for CP/M
CP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
. The two most popular products were the very long-lived series Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is an application software program for teaching touch typing. The typing program was initially released in late 1987 by The Software Toolworks and has been published regularly ever since. It was originally created by a team of developers from Software Toolworks...
and the Chessmaster
Chessmaster
Chessmaster is a chess playing computer game series which is now owned and developed by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than five million units sold .-Timeline:...
series of computer games. It is also known for its contribution in the development of the Lego Island
Lego Island
LEGO Island is a Lego based action-adventure computer game developed by Lego and Mindscape. Released for the PC on October 2, 1997, the game is the first in the Lego Island series , followed by Lego Island 2 The Brickster's Revenge, Island Xtreme Stunts, and Lego Island Xtreme Stunts Lego sets.-...
PC game series.
In 1990, TST debuted the Miracle Piano
Miracle Piano
The Miracle Piano Teaching System is a MIDI keyboard/teaching tool created in 1990 by The Software Toolworks for the NES and SNES, Apple Macintosh, Amiga, Sega Genesis and PC. It consisted of a keyboard, connecting cables, power supply, soft foot pedals, and software either on 3.5" floppies or a...
, a critically acclaimed music-teaching product which almost sank the company after it over-ordered the piano hardware, was not able to sell through copies of the product very quickly, and was stuck with a large inventory
Inventory
Inventory means a list compiled for some formal purpose, such as the details of an estate going to probate, or the contents of a house let furnished. This remains the prime meaning in British English...
.
In 1992, Mindscape created and released the isometric fantasy role-playing game Legend
Legend (1992 video game)
Legend, also known as The Four Crystals of Trazere in the United States, is an isometric fantasy role-playing game released in 1992 for the PC, Amiga, and Atari ST. It was developed by Pete James and Anthony Taglione for the then UK-based Mindscape, and published by The Software Toolworks...
(known as The Four Crystals of Trazere in the United States) for MS-DOS, Amiga and Atari ST. Following some success worldwide, a sequel Worlds of Legend: Son of the Empire was released for MS-DOS and Amiga in 1993.
In 1993, Software Toolworks ported/developed Wing Commander to the Super-Nintendo under the Mindscape brand in conjunction with Origin Systems
Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
at a time when Software Toolworks was downsizing and struggling to survive. Sales from the game heavily exceeded expectations and the resulting revenue brought the company back from the brink (as evidenced by its share price which had fallen to $2 per share and was ultimately brought back up to $12 a share before the company was purchased).
In 1997, the internal development department was shut down. Through an undisclosed deal with Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
UK, most of the development staff, and the game they were developing (which was close to completion) – Warhammer: Dark Omen – was moved to EA's offices in Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
, Surrey, and released in early 1998.
Below is a timeline of events occurring from 1993 to 2005:
- 1993: Purchases wargamesWargame (video games)Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical accuracy.-History:The genre of wargame video games is derived from earlier forms of wargames...
publisher SSIStrategic Simulations, Inc.Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
and changes name to Mindscape. - 1994: Sold to Pearson PLCPearson PLCPearson plc is a global media and education company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is both the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world, with consumer imprints including Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Ladybird...
for $503 million. - 1998: Sold to The Learning CompanyThe Learning CompanyThe Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
for $150 million. Mindscape also purchases PF Magic. - 1998: Sold to MattelMattelMattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
for around US$3.6 billion, causing a strong impact to Mattel's stock price and the ouster of its CEO. Mattel subsequently sells Mindscape to Gore Technology Group for just a share of the profits that Gores could obtain by selling the properties. - 2001: Mindscape is made a separate company in following the purchase of the international division of The Learning CompanyThe Learning CompanyThe Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
from the Gore Technology Group by Jean-Pierre Nordman. - 2002: Montparnasse Multimedia is purchased by Mindscape.
- 2005: Mindscape purchases the studio Coktel VisionCoktel VisionCoktel Vision is a French computer game developer.The company developed adventure and action games in the mid-1980s. It was especially known as a computer game publisher of its subsidiary Tomahawk. None of Tomahawk's games were sold outside Europe...
– owners of the brands ADI and Adiboo – from Vivendi Universal Games - 2006 UbisoftUbisoftUbisoft 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....
continues to publish ChessmasterChessmasterChessmaster is a chess playing computer game series which is now owned and developed by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than five million units sold .-Timeline:...
titles. Broderbund is the new publisher of Mavis Beacon Teaches TypingMavis Beacon Teaches TypingMavis Beacon Teaches Typing is an application software program for teaching touch typing. The typing program was initially released in late 1987 by The Software Toolworks and has been published regularly ever since. It was originally created by a team of developers from Software Toolworks...
. - 2011: Mindscape has shut their last studio and retreats from the gaming industry