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history is cool

History of Activision

Now that Activision is North America's biggest third party publisher, it's certainly a good time to learn about the place! Game site Gamasutra has a fascinating feature up which tracks the conception and birth of Activision. From the piece:

Crane and Miller left Atari in August of 1979 and Activision was born. They quickly began programming a development system for Activision, working out of Crane's apartment. Bob Whitehead and Larry Kaplan stayed at Atari for a short while longer before handing in their notices to join Activision.
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9:00 PM on Mon Jul 30 2007
By Brian Ashcraft
1,302 views, 10 comments

Latest by Doorknob: @BISCUITCLEAVER: Adventure was made by Atari (by Warren Robinett). He never worked at Activision. more »

videogames

This Day in Gaming, July 9th

1997: Dark Horse Comics announces a new 4-part series based upon the game Myst, 'Myst: The Book of the Black Ships'. Hmmm...Myst in comic form. Exciting panels of valves, levers and lighthouses...the whole idea reeks of a bad Thomas Kinkade prints.

2004: The Federal Trade Commission publishes an undercover investigation where they found that 69% of UNDER-17-year-olds were able to purchase games rated M without adult consent. And then the PTA attacked the FTC for their perversion of statistics.

2007: TDIG hits its 365th day on Kotaku and enters early retirement. Because shuffleboard is the ultimate game.

11:40 AM on Mon Jul 9 2007
By Mark Wilson
1,189 views, 24 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, July 8th

2002: Nintendo announces Game Boy Advance Latias/Latios editions. They are special versions released to commemorate (read: promote) the new Pokemon movie. Because nothing says commemorate like ugly purple and pink GBAs.

2003: Playmore Corporation changes their name to SNK Playmore Corporation. We know you don't care, but it might be on the quiz. Do you care now? Good. Because we were just making that quiz stuff up. We would never do that to you. OK, we would, but it would involve large heads of industry "giants."

12:40 PM on Sun Jul 8 2007
By Mark Wilson
1,406 views, 10 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, July 7th

1987: Konami releases Metal Gear for MSX2 in Japan. This is the first release in the famous/revolutionary/uberawesome Metal Gear series—so let's commemorate it right. What is your favorite Metal Gear moment in any of the titles? Then let's dream about how great the PS4 PS3 version will be when it finally comes out.

2000: Square Co. releases Final Fantasy 9 for PS in Japan. The game sells less than the previous two FF titles, even though it receives rave reviews and overall positive reception. I think it's an issue with cover art that alters the mass appeal of FF titles, because the die hards buy the game no matter what, and obviously the reviews have little to do with the success.

12:30 PM on Sat Jul 7 2007
By Mark Wilson
2,239 views, 62 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, July 6th

1998: Prima Publishing releases Lara's Story: Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider Phenomenon. More than just a compendium of strategy guides, the paperback features a hefty collection of Lara Croft pictures and "facts". Though we're sure prepubescents everywhere bought this literature for the articles.

2000: The 3DO Company releases Vegas Games Midnight Madness: Table Games for PC in the US. Why is it "midnight madness"? Because you are up late. Because you are cool. That's why.

12:00 PM on Fri Jul 6 2007
By Mark Wilson
666 views, 10 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, July 5th

1991: Hudson Soft releases Final Soldier for TG in the US. It looks like a great title, a space shooter allowing you to change weapons between levels. Of course, I remembered Bonk as pretty awesome until I recently loaded it up on VC. More »

12:00 PM on Thu Jul 5 2007
By Mark Wilson
1,341 views, 12 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, July 3rd

2003: KCET releases Silent Hill 3 for PS2 in Japan. You'd think by the third incarnation of the game, people would know to stay away from scary-looking places that are quite quiet. Horror movies rarely take place in the middle of a Starbucks during the morning rush hour, which is probably one reason they are so popular. Hmmm...grande mocha lattes attack...prices are too high for hungry patrons to eat so they eat one another...screw that, I'll take my scary old mansions and ghoul carnivals any day.

12:00 PM on Tue Jul 3 2007
By Mark Wilson
1,296 views, 27 comments

Latest by Kermi: @HenryTownshend: And Henry from SH4 lived near Silent Hill in south Ashfield. It's not his fault his apartment used to be occupied by an insane serial killer whose tortured spectre one day caused his door to become chianed shut and more »

videogames

This Day in Gaming, July 2nd

1997: After Star Wing failed miserably (the European version of Star Fox), Nintendo decides to release Star Fox 64 under the name Lylat War. Because that sounds so MUCH better. Apparently, a company named Star Vox prevents a more normal/successful titling of the series in the area. Looking at the box is like being trapped in a bad episode of Sliders. More »

12:00 PM on Mon Jul 2 2007
By Mark Wilson
2,993 views, 32 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, July 1st

1987: Capcom releases Section Z for NES in the US. It's a port of their arcade game by the same name, and I'm not sure how many Kotakuites have played it, but the game is trippy for impressionable youth. More »

12:00 PM on Sun Jul 1 2007
By Mark Wilson
2,276 views, 21 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 30th

2000: Activision releases Dark Reign 2 for PC in the US. Why do some franchises feel forced to reinvent instead of simply improve? Here's hoping for a Dark Reign 3 the way we all wanted Dark Reign 2.

2005: Atlus releases Trauma Center: Under the Knife for DS in Japan. I seriously just looked at this game and thought, "That was released only last year?" Then I remembered, it's 2007 and half-way to 2008. And I'm never going to med school to please my parents.

12:30 PM on Sat Jun 30 2007
By Mark Wilson
980 views, 8 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 29th

2000: Blizzard releases Diablo II for PC/Mac in the US. If there was ever a sequel that was the epitome of good sequels, or a game that was an argument for the necessity of sequels in gaming (even if they are horribly overused), it's Diablo II. More »

12:00 PM on Fri Jun 29 2007
By Mark Wilson
2,267 views, 53 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 27th

2001: Funcom releases Anarchy Online for PC in the US. After writing about Star Wars Galaxies yesterday, Anarchy Online makes me remember a time when I thought, "Can anyone ever beat EverCrack? MAYBE Anarchy can do it...but probably not." More »

12:00 PM on Wed Jun 27 2007
By Mark Wilson
697 views, 14 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 26th

2003: SOE releases Star Wars: Galaxies for PC in the US. It's a controversial title, as making Jedi proved as difficult as becoming the real thing, and eventually "New Game Enhancements" were released that threw the game's basic setup out the window. But as for the original time it took to unlock Jedi powers, I think it cements the difficulty in designing an MMO. If achievements can be scored too easily, your audience complains about it...as in WoW's expansion. But if they are too difficult, gamers start claiming the unlocked content doesn't even exist, as with SWG. More »

12:00 PM on Tue Jun 26 2007
By Mark Wilson
1,529 views, 43 comments

Latest by Lazz: I (like many of you) started playing Galaxies when it was launched and as a recently out on my own independent man of 20 chose this title to be my first subscribed MMO (not counting all those free UO shards. more »

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 25th

2002: Atlus releases Skygunner for PS2 in the US. It's a steampunk flight sim, which is a pretty cool concept. Any fans out there? More »

12:00 PM on Mon Jun 25 2007
By Mark Wilson
937 views, 22 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 24th

1999: Eidos releases Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver for PS in the US. Confession: I played this game for 10 minutes at a demo unit and could make absolutely no sense of the game. Since then, I've stubbornly assumed that hordes of people play the series only with the addiction to one day actually understanding how to play, let alone how to beat, the game. And no one can change my mind.

2003: Activision releases Star Trek: Elite Force II for PC in the US. You've gotta feel sorry for the Star Trek special ops guys at the bar. "So what do you do?" "I'm part of an elite force." "Really...wow. For whom." "Uhh...that's classified." Mark Wilson More »

12:15 PM on Sun Jun 24 2007
By Mark Wilson
1,298 views, 31 comments

Latest by Gouki4u's avatar has a severe case of Jekyll and Hyde: I don't remember ever thinking Soul Reaver was difficult. I just remember liking the game, and being supremely pissed off when they didn't bring the second one to the Dreamcast. I actually lost interest in the series after more »

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 23rd


1996: Nintendo releases the N64 console in Japan, along with Super Mario 64. The system goes to sell a little over 30 million units with this Mario launch title becoming the most successful software released for the console. More »

12:08 PM on Sat Jun 23 2007
By Mark Wilson
3,881 views, 163 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 22nd

1994: Playmates Interactive releases Earthworm Jim for SNES in the US. It's rare that a hugely publicized game can live up to its hype, but this title was so refreshing during an era inundated with sidescrollers...even if it came out for Genesis two weeks earlier and I missed it. More »

12:00 PM on Fri Jun 22 2007
By Mark Wilson
1,241 views, 40 comments

videogames

This Day in Gaming, June 21st

2005: EA releases Battlefield 2 for PC in the US. Needless to say, there are many who take this game more seriously than real war. More »

12:00 PM on Thu Jun 21 2007
By Mark Wilson
811 views, 23 comments

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