ICOM Simulations, Inc. (later known as Rabid Entertainment) was a software company based in Wheeling, Illinois. It is best known for creating the MacVenture series of

adventure games An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

including '' Shadowgate''. Following the foundation in 1981 a number of game titles for the Panasonic JR-200 were produced. Later products for the

Apple Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

included the

debugger A debugger is a computer program used to test and debug other programs (the "target" programs). Common features of debuggers include the ability to run or halt the target program using breakpoints, step through code line by line, and display ...

TMON and an application launching utility called ''OnCue''.

History

ICOM Simulations was formed as TMQ Software on March 4, 1981, by Tod Zipnick. With the MacVenture series, ICOM pioneered the point-and-click adventure interface and later multiplatform CD-ROM development with '' Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective''. Zipnick died of

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

in 1991 just as the company was beginning to take off. In the early-to-mid 1990s, ICOM Simulations was a major third-party developer for the

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation of video game con ...

(TG-16) platform in the US. They produced many games for the console, including the TG-16 exclusive ''Shadowgate'' sequel, '' Beyond Shadowgate''. The company was acquired in 1993 by Viacom New Media which closed its operations in 1997. Renamed to Rabid Entertainment, VNM/ICOM was dismantled in 1998. The rights to ICOM's game portfolio were held by the company Infinite Ventures, but they are now owned by David Marsh who obtained most of the rights in January 2012. On March 5, 2012,

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born ) is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of '' Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone'', and has published num ...

and Karl Roelofs, both former developers at ICOM Simulations, formed a new game development company called Zojoi, LLC, and have begun releasing upgraded versions of previous ICOM Simulations titles, starting with '' Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective'' for iOS Tablets.

Games

References

External links

ICOM Simulations
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

{{Authority control Companies based in Cook County, Illinois Software companies established in 1980 Software companies disestablished in 1998 Defunct companies based in Illinois Defunct software companies of the United States Defunct video game companies of the United States Software companies based in Illinois

History

Games

See also

References

External links