Cyberdreams Interactive Entertainment was a
video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer.
They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ...
located in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
that specialized in
adventure game
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 ...
s developed in collaboration with famous names from the
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...
,
horror
Horror may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Genres
*Horror fiction, a genre of fiction
**Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction
** Korean horror, Korean horror fiction
*Horror film, a film genre
*Horror comics, comic books focusing on ...
and
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
genres between 1990 and 1997.
History
Patrick Ketchum, who had founded
Datasoft
Datasoft, Inc. (also written as DataSoft and Data Soft) was a software developer and publisher for home computers founded in 1980 by Pat Ketchum and based out of Chatsworth, California. Datasoft primarily published video games, including home port ...
before, founded the company in 1990. In 1995, an "internal shake-up" took place in which the investors removed management and installed a "turnaround management team" that could accomplish the transition to third-party publishing. Ketchum left the company and started a career as a photographer. The company went defunct early in 1997.
Cyberdreams' most successful titles were ''
Dark Seed'', incorporating the art of
H. R. Giger
Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as "biomechanical art, biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush ...
, and ''
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic science fiction short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of '' IF: Worlds of Science Fiction''.
It won a Hugo Award in 1968. The na ...
'', based upon
Harlan Ellison's short story of the same name. Cyberdreams other published titles included ''
CyberRace
''CyberRace'' is a futuristic single player racing game developed and published by Cyberdreams in 1993 for MS-DOS. It features flying car vehicles, called sleds, designed by industrial designer Syd Mead.
The 1995 game ''Cyber Speedway'' is a sp ...
'', a futuristic racing game using the vehicle designs of
Syd Mead, ''
Noir: A Shadowy Thriller'', a
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
interactive movie
Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but m ...
, and a sequel to ''Dark Seed''.
List of published titles
* ''
Dark Seed'' (1992)
* ''
CyberRace
''CyberRace'' is a futuristic single player racing game developed and published by Cyberdreams in 1993 for MS-DOS. It features flying car vehicles, called sleds, designed by industrial designer Syd Mead.
The 1995 game ''Cyber Speedway'' is a sp ...
'' (1993)
* ''Red Hell'' (1993)
* ''
Dark Seed II
''Dark Seed II'' is a psychological horror point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Cyberdreams and distributed by MGM Interactive in 1995, and is the sequel to the 1992 game '' Dark Seed''. It sees recurring protagonist Mike D ...
'' (1995)
* ''
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic science fiction short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of '' IF: Worlds of Science Fiction''.
It won a Hugo Award in 1968. The na ...
'' (1995)
* ''
Noir: A Shadowy Thriller'' (1996)
Titles announced by Cyberdreams but never completed include ''Hunters of Ralk'', a
role-playing video game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
designed by ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...
'' creator
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson.
In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...
, and ''Wes Craven's Principles of Fear'', based on a concept by film director
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
. Other announced, but unreleased games are ''Evolver'', an adaptation of ''
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
'', ''Reverence'', and ''The Incredible Shrinking Character''. Only two survived with the help of other publishers: ''
Ares Rising
Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in wa ...
'' and ''
Blue Heat''. ''Reverence'' was also eventually leaked as a playable prototype.
References
External links
Cyberdreams, Inc.at
MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...
Cyberdreams titlesat the
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Cyberdreams company historyat Game Nostalgia
Defunct video game companies of the United States
Video game companies established in 1990
Video game companies disestablished in 1997
Companies based in Calabasas, California
{{US-videogame-company-stub