eGames, Inc. () was an American
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 (and indeed, may reside in a single person, especially in the ca ...
and developer for casual and traditional
computer game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...
s based in
Langhorne, Pennsylvania
Langhorne Borough is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,622 at the time of the 2010 census.
The mailing address "Langhorne" is used for Langhorne Borough, but it is also used broadly to describe the majority of surro ...
.
History
eGames was originally called Rom-Tech when it went public in 1996. The public company was formed by a merger between a software sales company (
Romtech) and one of the first educational multi-media CD-ROM development companies called Applied Optical Media based in
West Chester, Pennsylvania
West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the ...
. Soon after going public, Romtech acquired a software development company based in
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly h ...
that created SOHO software, and also shut down operations at Applied Optical Media.
eGames'
flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...
''
Xtreme Air Racing'' was a runner-up for ''GameSpot''s annual "Best Simulation on PC" award, which went to ''
Flanker 2.5
Flanker 2.0 (russian: Фланкер 2.0) is a combat flight simulator developed by Eagle Dynamics and released in 1999. It is a direct sequel to ''Su-27 Flanker''. The game allows players to fly the Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-33 in combat missions. In ...
''.
In late 2005, eGames acquired
Cinemaware
Cinemaware was a video game developer and publisher that released several titles in the 1980s based on various film themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005.
Cinemaware Corp. (1986–1991)
The compa ...
, a game company founded in the eighties who produced a series of "interactive movie" games including widely acclaimed
Defender of the Crown
''Defender of the Crown'' is a strategy computer game designed by Kellyn Beck. It was Cinemaware's first game, and was originally released for the Commodore Amiga in 1986, setting a new standard for graphic quality in home computer games.
In ...
. In 2006, eGames released the first titles under its new affiliated label,
Cinemaware Marquee. Through Cinemaware Marquee, eGames brought traditional games developed around the world to retail. Cinemaware Marquee titles include ''
Space Rangers 2: Dominators'', Independent Game Festival grand prize winner ''
Darwinia'', and ''
Moscow to Berlin: Red Siege''. eGames announced that it would be reviving many of the classic Cinemaware titles, beginning with Defender of the Crown.
With the September 2005 release of ''Boss Hunter: Revenge is Sweet!'', an office-themed arcade-style game where the player chases their boss with a wide variety of work-related weaponry and early 2007 launch of ''Defender of the Crown: Heroes Live Forever'', eGames began in-house game development efforts working primarily with Brazil-based TechFront Studios, Ltd. eGames' third internally developed title, ''Burger Island'' launched in May 2007 in conjunction with
Sandlot Games
Sandlot may refer to:
* '' The Sandlot'', a 1993 film about young baseball players, and its sequels
** '' The Sandlot 2'', a 2005 film
** '' The Sandlot: Heading Home'', a 2007 film
* Sandlot (company)
is a Japanese video game developer that i ...
. It was distributed by Yahoo! Games for a two-week period, and was the number one downloadable game in terms of sales and downloads on Yahoo! in its debut week.
Following the success of Burger Island, eGames developed several additional titles with TechFront, including sequel ''Burger Island 2: The Missing Ingredient'' (2009), hidden object vampire adventure ''The Dracula Files'' (2009), pet adoption time management game ''Purrfect Pet Shop'' (2008), city-building puzzler ''Puzzle City'' (2007), fashion design time management game ''Satisfashion'' (2008), licensed puzzler ''Rubik's Cube Challenge'' (2007), and licensed comic hidden object game ''Three Stooges: Treasure Hunt Hijinx'' (2008). In addition to PC publication, Burger Island was released for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, and iOS platforms. Satisfashion was released on the Nintendo DS and Wii, while Puzzle City made its way to the DS.
eGames became known as Entertainment Games, following the acquisition of Heyday Games in June 2011.
Following this, the company focused its efforts on creating a Facebook game known as Retro World, followed by an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign called Global Race Club.
Entertainment Games, Inc. ceased trading as an entertainment company in April 2012 due to financial difficulties. The company name, ticker symbol EGAM, and public company structure were acquired by a mining company, Tamino Minerals, in a reverse merger.
Bundled adware
eGames Inc. was one of the first companies to include advertising in their commercially bundled
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
. Several eGames titles included
adware
Adware, often called advertising-supported software by its developers, is software that generates revenue for its developer by automatically generating online advertisements in the user interface of the software or on a screen presented to the ...
called "TSAdBot" from the Conducent Affiliate Network.
Advertising Spyware: TSADBOT by TimeSink / Conducent
/ref>
Cinemaware Marquee titles
* ''Buccaneer's Bounty''
* ''Deer Drive''
* '' Darwinia''
* '' Moscow to Berlin: Red Siege''
* ''Neighbors From Hell: On Vacation''
* ''Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators''
* ''Wizard's War Chest''
Internally developed eGames titles
* ''The Dracula Files''
* ''Burger Island''
* ''Burger Island 2: The Missing Ingredient''
* ''Defender of the Crown: Heroes Live Forever''
* ''Gadgets''
* ''MiniGolf Master: Miniverse''
* ''Purrfect Pet Shop''
* ''Puzzle City''
* ''Satisfashion''
* ''Rubik's Cube Challenge''
* ''The Three Stooges: Treasure Hunt Hijinx''
* ''Boss Hunter: Revenge is Sweet!''
* '' Speedy Eggbert'' series
* '' Crazy Drake''
* '' Spooky Castle: The Adventures Of Kid Mystic''
* ''Safari Kongo''
* ''Mini Car Racing''
* ''Pinball Master''
* ''Pinball: Full-Tilt Fun!''
References
Notes
The company should not be confused with th
e-games.com
or eGames Inc, Malaysia which used to host MMO games, or E-Games Philippines
eGames can refer to
* eGames (esports)
eGames is an international esports (competitive video gaming) competition based on national teams. The first eGames showcase event took place during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at t ...
-IP e-games, a wholly owned subsidiary of IPVG (Intellectual Property Ventures Group), a local game publisher in the Philippines.
Entertainment Games, Inc. ceased trading as an entertainment company in April, 2012 due to financial difficulties. The company name, ticker symbol EGAM, and public company structure were acquired by a mining company, Tamino Minerals, in a reverse merger.
{{Authority control
1992 establishments in Pennsylvania
2012 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
American companies established in 1992
American companies disestablished in 2012
Companies based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania
Defunct video game companies of the United States
Software companies based in Pennsylvania
Video game companies disestablished in 2012
Video game companies established in 1992
Video game development companies
Video game publishers