Sony Imagesoft
Encyclopedia
Sony Imagesoft was a video game publisher that operated from 1989 to 1995 and was located in California. It was established in January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, as a subsidiary of the Japan-based CBS/Sony Group (CSG) and initially named CSG Imagesoft Inc. Focus at the beginning was on marketing games exclusively for Nintendo consoles.

The first release was Super Dodge Ball
Super Dodge Ball
Super Dodge Ball, released in Japan as is a dodgeball-based sports game produced by Technos Japan Corp. originally released as an arcade game in...

 in summer 1989. Games by UK-based developers, Solstice
Solstice
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...

 and Dragon's Lair, followed in 1990. Both were also published in Japan through Epic/Sony Records.

After Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

 had set up its North American Sony Electronic Publishing division in April 1991, Imagesoft operated as Sony Imagesoft Inc. The new logo is a blue square that is diagonally divided by a feather emitting sparks of light from its tip. The first games sporting the new logo were Altered Space
Altered Space
Altered Space: A 3-D Alien Adventure is a 1991 video game produced for the Nintendo Game Boy. The basic concept is that the player is an astronaut trapped on an alien spaceship who has to try to find his way out while avoiding aliens and continually replenishing his oxygen supply.This was the first...

 for Game Boy and movie tie-in Hudson Hawk for NES and Game Boy.

Other releases were localizations of SNES games previously developed for Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) and published under the Epic/Sony Records brand: Extra Innings
Extra Innings
Extra Innings is an album by the British band The Outfield. It features a total of fifteen tracks, including eleven songs from their fan-club release It Ain't Over... as well as some new recordings dating from shortly before the album's release in 1999....

 and Smart Ball
Smart Ball
Smart Ball is an Action-adventure game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, known as in Japan. A sequel called was in production, but was never actually released.-Gameplay:...

, both published in 1992.

Sega partnership

On May 20, 1992 Sega of America and Sony Electronic Publishing announced a partnership to create content for Sega's consoles under the direction of Imagesoft. Besides Sega's cartridge-based Genesis and GameGear consoles the partnership targeted the upcoming Sega-CD peripheral. Among the first titles released for Sega's consoles after the announcement were Sewer Shark
Sewer Shark
Sewer Shark is a first-person rail shooter game, the first video game for a game console to use full-motion video for its primary gameplay. It was originally slated to be the flagship product in Hasbro's NEMO video game system, which would use VHS tapes as its medium. However, Hasbro cancelled the...

 and Hook (video game)
Hook (video game)
Hook is the name of four distinct video games released in 1992, all based on the Steven Speilberg film of the same name.-Hook by Irem:...

. Sewer Shark, initially released exclusively to Sega-CD, is a rail-shooter that years earlier was shelved as part of the ill-fated NEMO
Nemo
Nemo is a Latin word meaning "no man" or "no one". "Nemo" may also refer to:-Fiction:* Captain Nemo, captain of the submarine Nautilus in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Mysterious Island...

 project. The Hook video games are tie-ins to the Spielberg feature film Hook
Hook (film)
Hook is a 1991 American fantasy film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, and features Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott, and Dante Basco. Hook acts as a sequel to Peter Pan's original adventures, focusing...

 that premiered in December 1991 and was produced by Sony owned TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...

. Ports of the video game for Sega platforms are based on the SNES game published earlier by Imagesoft. The Sega CD version was enhanced with better cut scenes with voice actors and digital stills and featured music from the film soundtrack.

1995 changes

In March 1995 Sony Imagesoft announced that they had appointed Kelly Flock as president. Flock came from TriMark Interactive where he was executive vice president since March 1993.

Starting in July 1995, just two months prior to the release of the PlayStation console in Western markets, Sony Electronic Publishing restructured and renamed its divisions. All videogame marketing from Sony Imagesoft was folded into Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA), with about 100 employees transferred from Santa Monica to Foster City. The video game business of Sony Imagesoft was merged with the product development branch of Sony Computer Entertainment of America and became Sony Interactive Studios America which would later be renamed to 989 Studios.

The computer software business of Imagesoft became Sony Interactive PC Software America and was headed by general manager Ray Sangster.

Games published

Title Genre Release date Developer
3 Ninjas Kick Back
3 Ninjas Kick Back (video game)
3 Ninjas Kick Back is a video game for the Super NES, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and Sega CD platforms. It was developed by Malibu Interactive, published by Sony Imagesoft and was released in 1994....

 
Action &1994-06-01June 1, 1994 Malibu Interactive
3 Ninjas Kick Back
3 Ninjas Kick Back (video game)
3 Ninjas Kick Back is a video game for the Super NES, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and Sega CD platforms. It was developed by Malibu Interactive, published by Sony Imagesoft and was released in 1994....

 for SNES
Action &1994-11-00November 1994 Malibu Interactive
Altered Space
Altered Space
Altered Space: A 3-D Alien Adventure is a 1991 video game produced for the Nintendo Game Boy. The basic concept is that the player is an astronaut trapped on an alien spaceship who has to try to find his way out while avoiding aliens and continually replenishing his oxygen supply.This was the first...

 for Game Boy
&1991-09-00September 1991 Software Creations
Software Creations (UK)
Software Creations was a video game developer based in Manchester, England, first established in 1987. They are primarily known for their video games based on movie and comic licenses like Marvel Comics, Cutthroat Island, Disney's Beauty and the Beast and original titles Solstice and the sequel...

Bram Stoker's Dracula Action &1993-00-001993 Psygnosis
Bram Stoker's Dracula for SNES Action &1993-09-00September 1993 Psygnosis
Championship Soccer '94  &1994-06-00June 1994 Sensible Software
Sensible Software
Sensible Software was a software house active during the 1980s and 90s, from the United Kingdom.The company was well-known for the very small sprites used for the player characters in many of their games, including Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder and Sensible Golf.- Early history :Sensible Software...

Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger (video game)
Cliffhanger is a video game that was released in 1993 and 1994, and is based on the film of the same name. The game supports one player.-Plot:...

 
Action &1993-10-25October 25, 1993 Malibu Interactive
Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger (video game)
Cliffhanger is a video game that was released in 1993 and 1994, and is based on the film of the same name. The game supports one player.-Plot:...

 for SNES
Action &1993-10-00October 1993 Malibu Interactive
Chuck Rock
Chuck Rock
Chuck Rock is a slapstick side-scrolling platform video game of the early to mid 1990s, which was initially created by Core Design in 1991 and was subsequently ported to a large number of home consoles of the time over the next few years....

 for SNES 
&1992-11-00November 1992 Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...

Chuck Rock
Chuck Rock
Chuck Rock is a slapstick side-scrolling platform video game of the early to mid 1990s, which was initially created by Core Design in 1991 and was subsequently ported to a large number of home consoles of the time over the next few years....

 for Sega CD 
&unknown Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...

Dragon's Lair for NES  Action &1990-12-00December 1990 Motivetime
Equinox
Equinox (1994 video game)
Equinox, also known as Solstice II, is an isometric 3D action–puzzle-hybrid video game for the Super NES. It is the sequel to Solstice, a Nintendo Entertainment System game.-Plot:...

 
&1994-03-00March 1994 Software Creations
Software Creations (UK)
Software Creations was a video game developer based in Manchester, England, first established in 1987. They are primarily known for their video games based on movie and comic licenses like Marvel Comics, Cutthroat Island, Disney's Beauty and the Beast and original titles Solstice and the sequel...

ESPN Baseball Tonight
ESPN Baseball Tonight
ESPN Baseball Tonight is a baseball video game for the PC, Super NES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, and Sega CD.-Summary:The game was licensed by MLB, but not by the Players Association, so while actual team names and logos are used, no player names are in the game.The lead programmers for the project...

 
Sports &1994-05-00May 1994 Park Place Productions
Park Place Productions
Park Place Productions was a corporation founded in 1989 by Michael Knox, Troy Lyndon and Stephen Quinn.-Summary:In 1990, contracted by Electronic Arts, the company produced John Madden Football for the Genesis video game console, described as "the most successful sports game of all time." Other...

ESPN National Hockey Night  Sports &1994-08-01August 1, 1994 Park Place Productions
Park Place Productions
Park Place Productions was a corporation founded in 1989 by Michael Knox, Troy Lyndon and Stephen Quinn.-Summary:In 1990, contracted by Electronic Arts, the company produced John Madden Football for the Genesis video game console, described as "the most successful sports game of all time." Other...

ESPN NBA HangTime '95  &unknown
ESPN Speed World
ESPN Speed World
ESPN Speed World is a Super NES and Sega Genesis video game that was released in 1994 for an exclusively North American audience. The title screen of the video game was partially inspired by the 1993 running of the First Union 400 racing event; which occurred on April 18, 1993.-Summary:All of the...

 
Racing &1994-00-001994 Park Place Productions
Park Place Productions
Park Place Productions was a corporation founded in 1989 by Michael Knox, Troy Lyndon and Stephen Quinn.-Summary:In 1990, contracted by Electronic Arts, the company produced John Madden Football for the Genesis video game console, described as "the most successful sports game of all time." Other...

ESPN Sunday Night NFL
ESPN Sunday Night NFL
ESPN Sunday Night NFL is a Super NES, Sega CD, and Sega Genesis sports video game that was released in 1994.-Summary:This video game takes the fun and excitement of Sunday night NFL action and places it in various 16-bit and 32-bit video game consoles...

 for Sega CD 
Football &1993-00-001993 Ringler Studios
ESPN Sunday Night NFL
ESPN Sunday Night NFL
ESPN Sunday Night NFL is a Super NES, Sega CD, and Sega Genesis sports video game that was released in 1994.-Summary:This video game takes the fun and excitement of Sunday night NFL action and places it in various 16-bit and 32-bit video game consoles...

 for Genesis
Football &1994-08-01August 1, 1994 Ringler Studios
ESPN Sunday Night NFL
ESPN Sunday Night NFL
ESPN Sunday Night NFL is a Super NES, Sega CD, and Sega Genesis sports video game that was released in 1994.-Summary:This video game takes the fun and excitement of Sunday night NFL action and places it in various 16-bit and 32-bit video game consoles...

 for SNES
Football &1994-11-00November 1994 Ringler Studios
Extra Innings
Extra Innings (video game)
is a 1991 baseball game released for the Super NES. The game features 12 fictional teams composed of their own fictional players, drawn in an anime style. Players can also create two custom teams, the players of which can have their names and ratings edited any number of times...

 for SNES
Baseball Simulation &1992-03-20March 20, 1992 Sting Entertainment
Flink
Flink
Flink , is a 2D scrolling platform game developed by Psygnosis.-Summary:...

 (Mega Drive version)
Platform &1994-05-00May 1994 Psygnosis
Ground Zero: Texas
Ground Zero: Texas
Ground Zero: Texas is a full motion video game, released for the Sega Mega-CD in November 1993. The game relies heavily on video footage, with which the player interacts. It contains 110 minutes of interactive footage from four different cameras. It was directed by Dwight H...

 for Sega CD 
Action &1993-11-00November 1993 Digital Pictures
Digital Pictures
Digital Pictures was a worldwide American video game developer, founded in 1991 by Ken Melville and Tom Zito.On the Sega CD versions of certain games, if they are played on the systems "audio CD" mode, there is a short track of a phone ringing with a male voice answering "Good afternoon, Digital...

Hook
Hook (video game)
Hook is the name of four distinct video games released in 1992, all based on the Steven Speilberg film of the same name.-Hook by Irem:...

 for NES
Nes
-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...

 and Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...

Action &1992-04-00April 1992 Ocean Software
Ocean Software
The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...

Hook
Hook (video game)
Hook is the name of four distinct video games released in 1992, all based on the Steven Speilberg film of the same name.-Hook by Irem:...

 for SNES
Action &1992-10-00October 1992 Ukiyotei
Ukiyotei
Ukiyotei Company Ltd. was a short lived Japanese video game developing studio. It was founded by: Kenshi Naruse, who was formerly an employee of Capcom...

Hook
Hook (video game)
Hook is the name of four distinct video games released in 1992, all based on the Steven Speilberg film of the same name.-Hook by Irem:...

 for Genesis and Sega CD
Action &1993-03-00March 1993 (?) Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...

Hudson Hawk for NES
Nes
-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...

 and Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...

 
&1991-00-001991 Ocean Software
Ocean Software
The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...

Johnny Mnemonic for PC and Mac interactive movie
Interactive movie
An interactive movie is a video game that features highly cinematic presentation and heavy use of scripting, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.-Philosophy:...

&1995-00-001995 Propaganda Code, directed by Douglas Gayeton
Douglas Gayeton
Douglas Gayeton is an award-winning American multimedia artist, filmmaker, writer, and photographer who divides his time between a farm near Petaluma, California and Pistoia, a medieval Tuscan town....

Johnny Mnemonic for Sega CD  interactive movie
Interactive movie
An interactive movie is a video game that features highly cinematic presentation and heavy use of scripting, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.-Philosophy:...

&unreleased
Last Action Hero
Last Action Hero (video game)
Last Action Hero for the NES, Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Boy and Sega Game Gear is one of a handful of video game adaptations of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same name, this time by Sony Imagesoft. A Sega Master System version was also developed, but never released. Unlike many...

 
Action &1994-03-28March 28, 1994 Bits Studios
Bits Studios
Bits Studios was a British video game developer. The company has had over 30 titles published over the United States, Europe and Asia on multiple platforms. Bits Studios' parent company, PlayWize sold off all assets and technologies held by the group in 2008, due to poor trading results...

Last Action Hero
Last Action Hero (video game)
Last Action Hero for the NES, Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Boy and Sega Game Gear is one of a handful of video game adaptations of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same name, this time by Sony Imagesoft. A Sega Master System version was also developed, but never released. Unlike many...

 for SNES
Action &1993-10-00October 1993 Bits Studios
Bits Studios
Bits Studios was a British video game developer. The company has had over 30 titles published over the United States, Europe and Asia on multiple platforms. Bits Studios' parent company, PlayWize sold off all assets and technologies held by the group in 2008, due to poor trading results...

Last Action Hero
Last Action Hero (video game)
Last Action Hero for the NES, Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Boy and Sega Game Gear is one of a handful of video game adaptations of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same name, this time by Sony Imagesoft. A Sega Master System version was also developed, but never released. Unlike many...

 for Sega CD 
&cancelled Psygnosis
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (video game)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a video game for multiple platforms that is based on the 1994 movie of the same name.-Plot:The player controls Frankenstein's monster as he stomps through the streets of Ingolstadt, Bavaria in the year 1793 seeking revenge against a certain man named Victor for...

 
Action &1994-03-04March 4, 1994 Bits Studios
Bits Studios
Bits Studios was a British video game developer. The company has had over 30 titles published over the United States, Europe and Asia on multiple platforms. Bits Studios' parent company, PlayWize sold off all assets and technologies held by the group in 2008, due to poor trading results...

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (video game)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a video game for multiple platforms that is based on the 1994 movie of the same name.-Plot:The player controls Frankenstein's monster as he stomps through the streets of Ingolstadt, Bavaria in the year 1793 seeking revenge against a certain man named Victor for...

 for SNES
Action &1994-11-00November 1994 Bits Studios
Bits Studios
Bits Studios was a British video game developer. The company has had over 30 titles published over the United States, Europe and Asia on multiple platforms. Bits Studios' parent company, PlayWize sold off all assets and technologies held by the group in 2008, due to poor trading results...

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (video game)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a video game for multiple platforms that is based on the 1994 movie of the same name.-Plot:The player controls Frankenstein's monster as he stomps through the streets of Ingolstadt, Bavaria in the year 1793 seeking revenge against a certain man named Victor for...

 for Sega CD
Action &1994-00-001994 Psygnosis
Mickey Mania
Mickey Mania
Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse is a 1994 video game released for the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega CD, and Super NES. In the game, the player controls Mickey Mouse, who must navigate through various side-scrolling levels, each designed and based from classical Mickey...

 
Platform &1994-10-00October 1994 Traveller's Tales
Traveller's Tales
Traveller's Tales is an English software house founded in 1989 and fully established in 1990 and based in Knutsford, Cheshire.It is part of the TT Games group—after the merger of publisher Giant Interactive and the developer Traveller's Tales—along with TT Games Publishing...

Mickey Mania
Mickey Mania
Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse is a 1994 video game released for the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega CD, and Super NES. In the game, the player controls Mickey Mouse, who must navigate through various side-scrolling levels, each designed and based from classical Mickey...

 for SNES
Platform &1994-10-00October 1994 Traveller's Tales
Traveller's Tales
Traveller's Tales is an English software house founded in 1989 and fully established in 1990 and based in Knutsford, Cheshire.It is part of the TT Games group—after the merger of publisher Giant Interactive and the developer Traveller's Tales—along with TT Games Publishing...

No Escape for SNES Action &1994-11-00November 1994 Bits Studios
Bits Studios
Bits Studios was a British video game developer. The company has had over 30 titles published over the United States, Europe and Asia on multiple platforms. Bits Studios' parent company, PlayWize sold off all assets and technologies held by the group in 2008, due to poor trading results...

Super Battletank 2
Super Battletank 2
Super Battletank 2 is a 1994 Super Nintendo Entertainment System-only video game that was released in North America, Europe, and Japan.The game is the sequel to Super Battletank, and the player controls a M1A2 Battletank. There are 16 missions, all located in the Middle East....

 for SNES (European version)
Action &1994-10-001993 Absolute
Absolute Entertainment
Absolute Entertainment was a video game publisher based in Glen Rock, New Jersey and later in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Through its development house Imagineering, Absolute Entertainment produced titles for the Amiga, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Sega Game Gear, Sega Mega Drive, Mega-CD, Game Boy,...

Super Bomberman
Super Bomberman
Super Bomberman is the first video game in the Bomberman series to appear on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is also the first four-player game to be released on the Super NES.-Gameplay:...

 for SNES (European version)
Action &1994-10-00November 1993 Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...

Skyblazer
Skyblazer
Skyblazer is a SNES platform video game released by Sony Imagesoft in early 1994. It involves the Skyblazer hero searching for Ashura, the Lord of War, who had kidnapped the sorceress Ariana....

 
Action &1994-03-16March 16, 1994 Ukiyotei
Ukiyotei
Ukiyotei Company Ltd. was a short lived Japanese video game developing studio. It was founded by: Kenshi Naruse, who was formerly an employee of Capcom...

Sewer Shark
Sewer Shark
Sewer Shark is a first-person rail shooter game, the first video game for a game console to use full-motion video for its primary gameplay. It was originally slated to be the flagship product in Hasbro's NEMO video game system, which would use VHS tapes as its medium. However, Hasbro cancelled the...

 for Sega CD
Shooter &1992-10-15October 15, 1992 Digital Pictures
Digital Pictures
Digital Pictures was a worldwide American video game developer, founded in 1991 by Ken Melville and Tom Zito.On the Sega CD versions of certain games, if they are played on the systems "audio CD" mode, there is a short track of a phone ringing with a male voice answering "Good afternoon, Digital...

Smart Ball
Smart Ball
Smart Ball is an Action-adventure game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, known as in Japan. A sequel called was in production, but was never actually released.-Gameplay:...

 for SNES
&1992-03-00March 1992 Game Freak
Game Freak
is a Japanese video game developer that currently creates games exclusively for Nintendo. It has developed the Pokémon series of role-playing games and several other games.-History:...

 for Sony Music Entertainment (Japan)
Soccer Mania for Game Boy &1992-03-00March 1992 Kitty Group Japan
Solstice for NES Puzzle &1990-06-00June 1990 Software Creations
Software Creations (UK)
Software Creations was a video game developer based in Manchester, England, first established in 1987. They are primarily known for their video games based on movie and comic licenses like Marvel Comics, Cutthroat Island, Disney's Beauty and the Beast and original titles Solstice and the sequel...

Super Dodge Ball
Super Dodge Ball
Super Dodge Ball, released in Japan as is a dodgeball-based sports game produced by Technos Japan Corp. originally released as an arcade game in...

 for NES
Sports &1989-06-00June 1989 Technōs Japan

Games developed

Title Genre Release date
Jeopardy Classic Puzzle May 22, 1994
Wheel of Fortune Strategy 1994

External links

  • Sony Imagesoft profile on MobyGames
    MobyGames
    -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...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK