Mattel Interactive (Known as Mattel Media until 1999) was a video game publisher and software distributor.

History

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

originally founded the company as Mattel Media in February 1996, as an aim to expand into the multimedia unit by producing CD-ROM titles based on Mattel franchises like

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model model car, cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox (brand), Matchbox until Mattel bought ...

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

Fisher-Price Fisher-Price, Inc. is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York, East Aurora, New York (state), New York. It was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression ...

and

Polly Pocket Polly Pocket is a toy line of inch-tall dolls and accessories sold by Mattel. The line was founded and designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 and was first sold to the public in 1989. Between 2012 and 2018, it was not sold in the US in 2012 and decli ...

. The company's first releases came out in the Fall of 1996, with the company's '' Barbie Fashion Designer'' program was the first commercially successful video game made for girls. With the success of their first wave of products, Mattel Media then set on producing CD-ROM based interactive material for toys such as the Talk with Me! Barbie. Mattel Media later expanded to video games soon after, publishing titles like '' Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver''. In the fall of 1998,

agreed to acquire The Learning Company in a stock-for-stock merger valuing the company at approximately $4.2 billion. With the merger, Mattel themselves laid off 3,000 employees. Mattel sold both Mattel Interactive and The Learning Company in 2000 at a loss to Gores Technology Group. The total financial losses to Mattel have been estimated to be as high as $3.6 billion. Mattel's acquisition of The Learning Company has been referred to as "one of the worst acquisitions of all time" by several prominent business journals. In February 2001, Mattel signed a publishing and distribution deal with THQ for the

and

Matchbox A matchbox is a container or case for matches, made of paperboard, cardboard, thin wood, or metal, generally in the form of a box with a separate drawer sliding inside the cover. Matchboxes generally measure 5 x 3.5 x 1.5 cm, and commonly have ...

licenses, and Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing for other major licenses including Diva Starz,

and

. That same month, THQ also acquired Mattel's computer rights to '' Rugrats'', ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

'' and '' Rocket Power'' and Mattel's console and computer rights to '' The Wild Thornberrys'' and '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius''. In 2000, the ex-Learning Company and Mattel assets acquired by Gores were split up into three divisions - GAME Studios for video games, The Learning Company for educational software and

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits '' Choplifter'', '' Lode Runner'', '' Karateka'', and ...

for home software. GAME Studios' was sold to

Ubi Soft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Anno (video game series), Anno'', ' ...

in March 2001, taking all of the gaming assets formerly held by The Learning Company. The Learning Company itself was acquired by Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited in September 2001 and later acquired all of Broderbund in August 2002.

Games

*'' Barbie Fashion Designer'' (1996) *'' Mother Goose's Farm'' *'' Magic Fairy Tales: Barbie as Rapunzel'' (1997) * ''Clueless'' CD-ROM (1997) *'' Barbie Magic Hair Styler'' (1997) *'' Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver'' (1998) *'' Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper!'' (1998) *''My Interactive Pooh'' (1998) *''Nickelodeon BrainBender'' (1999) *'' Barbie Race and Ride'' (1999) *'' Barbie Super Sports'' (1999) *'' Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery'' (1999) *'' The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland'' (1999) *'' Create and Draw in Elmo's World'' (1999) *'' Sesame Street Music Maker'' (1999) *''Barbie Generation Girl: Gotta Groove'' (1999) *'' Pokémon Project Studio'' (1999, Branded under The Learning Company in the US, and Mattel Interactive in Europe) * Uno (1999) *'' Tyco RC: Assault with a Battery'' (2000) *'' Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights'' (2000) *'' Rugrats in Paris: The Movie'' (2000) *'' Totally Angelica: Boredom Busters!'' (2000) *'' Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise'' (2000) *''Matchbox Construction Zone'' (2000) *Matchbox Emergency Patrol (2000) *'' Rat Attack'' (2000, published by Mindscape, N64 version distributed by Mattel Interactive in Europe) *'' Elmo's Deep Sea Adventure'' (2000) *'' Barbie: Magic Genie Adventure'' (2000) *'' Panzer General III: Scorched Earth'' (2000) *'' Sega Rally 2'' (2000, Windows version) *'' Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots Arena'' (2000) *'' Chessmaster 8000'' (2000) *'' Championship Surfer'' (2000) *''Diva Starz'' (2000) *'' The Wild Thornberrys: Rambler'' (2000) *'' Max Steel: Covert Missions'' (2000)

References

{{reflist Mattel Former Mattel subsidiaries Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 1996 Video game companies disestablished in 2001 Educational software companies Video game publishers 1996 establishments in the United States 2001 disestablishments in the United States