Choice Provisions

This article is about the American video game developer. It is not to be confused with the Russian video game developer Gaijin Entertainment.
Choice Provisions
Private
Industry Computer and video games
Founded 2007
Headquarters Santa Cruz, California
Key people
 Alex Neuse
Mike Roush
Chris Osborn
Products Bit.Trip series
Woah Dave!
Parent Independent
Website totallychoice.com

Choice Provisions, formerly known as Gaijin Games prior to June 2014, is an independent video game development studio, best known for their Bit.Trip series of video games. The studio was founded in 2007 by Alex Neuse, Mike Roush, and Chris Osborn and is located in Santa Cruz, California.

History

Gaijin Games initially emerged in 2004. The founder, Alex Neuse, had been employed at LucasArts since 1997, but after the project he had been working on was cancelled, Neuse decided that he wanted greater creative freedom, which spurred him to create his own studio. However, the company was unable to acquire sufficient funds or support from a publisher, and all of its development endeavors were halted indefinitely when Neuse was offered the position of creative director at Santa Cruz Games.

At Santa Cruz Games, Mike Roush, Alex Neuse and Chris Osborn formed a friendship. Neuse, Roush and Osborn were involved in the development of several games tied in to licensed properties, but they became dissatisfied with the restrictions on their creativity. Osborn, with his love for Chiptunes, Neuse with his affinity for Atari 2600 and Roush with his aesthetic and drive for unique experiences, shared the same philosophies of game design. Subsequently, the trio quit their jobs at Santa Cruz to start up Gaijin Games again.[1]

Neuse had a variety of game ideas that he had sketched out in a notebook, which he pitched to Roush and Osborn. Eventually, they settled on their favorite six concepts and formed the idea of a series called '8-Bit: A series of six new classics in the 8-bit style for humans who enjoy fun'. Gaijin signed a publishing deal with Aksys Games, then ditched the previous title in favor of BIT.TRIP and began development on the first title. Danny Johnson joined Gaijin during the fifth game in the series. Between the fifth and sixth games, Gaijin collaborated with Different Cloth to bring an iPhone/iPod Touch game, lilt line, to the WiiWare service. After all six games in the series were completed, Osborn left Gaijin Games to form another independent studio known as Tracer. After Osborn's departure, Roush and Neuse took on the monikers of Co-Founders and Co-Creators of all Gaijin projects and creative endeavors.

Following the climax of the BIT.TRIP series, Gaijin Games announced that they are very interested in developing games for the Nintendo 3DS and have since obtained development kits for the handheld device. Their first 3DS title was released in 2011 and was revealed to be a compilation of the six BIT.TRIP games called Bit.Trip Saga.[2] In February 2011, the studio also absorbed the small-time developer Robotube, founded by Jason Cirillo[3] - Roush explained this move as an effort to branch out into "more experimental, casual games." The first game under the Robotube brand, "Destructamundo", will be released in early 2014.[4]

After almost a 2-year development cycle, Gaijin Games completed the hit sequel to RUNNER, Runner2 in February 26, 2013. Runner2 sold over 1 million units within the first year.

In June 2014, the company announced it would be changing its name to Choice Provisions. The studio decided to change their name due to the arguably negative connotations of the term "gaijin" (meaning "foreigner" in Japanese).[5]

Games

Bit.Trip series

Game Title ReleasePlatform(s)Notes
Bit.Trip Beat March 16, 2009 Wii, iOS, Windows, OS X, Linux, Nintendo 3DS, Android
Bit.Trip Core July 6, 2009 Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Windows, OS X
Bit.Trip Void October 27, 2009
Bit.Trip Runner May 14, 2010 Wii, Windows, OS X, Nintendo 3DS, Linux
Bit.Trip Fate October 25, 2010 Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Microsoft Windows, OS X
Bit.Trip Flux February 25, 2011 Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Microsoft Windows, OS X
Bit.Trip Saga[6] September 13, 2011 Nintendo 3DS Enhanced compilation of the six original Bit.Trip games
Bit.Trip Complete[7] September 13, 2011 Nintendo Wii Enhanced compilation of the six original Bit.Trip games
Bit.Trip Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien[8] February 26, 2013[9] Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Wii U (eShop), Xbox 360 (XBLA), PlayStation 4 (PSN), PlayStation 3 (PSN), PlayStation Vita, iOS An HD sequel to Runner
The Bit.Trip[10] December 5, 2015 PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 Enhanced compilation of the six original Bit.Trip games

Other

Game Title ReleasePlatformNotes
Lilt Line December 13, 2010 WiiWare Published WiiWare version, developed by Different Cloth
Bloktonik June 15, 2011 iPad Published iOS version, developed by Robotube Games
Woah Dave! October 30, 2014 Microsoft Windows, iOS, Mac, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Linux, Android Developed under the MiniVisions label
Destructamundo December 10, 2014 iOS, Android Developed under the MiniVisions label
Dragon Fantasy: The Volumes of Westeria April 9, 2015 Microsoft Windows, Mac, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Linux Published Steam, Wii U & 3DS versions, developed by Muteki
Shutshimi August 25, 2015 Microsoft Windows, Mac, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Linux Developed by Neon Diety Games
Laserlife September 22, 2015 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Tharsis January 12, 2016 Microsoft Windows, iOS, PlayStation 4
Space Dave! TBD 2016 Microsoft Windows, Mac, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 4, Linux Developed under the MiniVisions label

Reference list

  1. ↑ Wahlgren, Jon. "The History of BIT.TRIP, Part 1". Nintendo Life.
  2. ↑ JC Fletcher on Apr 28th 2011 8:02PM (2011-04-28). "Bit.Trip Saga brings all six of CommanderVideo's adventures together on 3DS". Joystiq. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  3. ↑ North, Dale. "Gaijin Games acquires Robotube Games".
  4. ↑ Hinkle, David. "Destructamundo is a game about interplanetary destruction from Robotube Games".
  5. ↑ Wawro, Alex (2014-06-05). "Gaijin Games tackling new projects as Choice Provisions". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  6. ↑ Tiny Cartridge. "Bit.Trip Saga announced for Nintendo 3DS,... - Tiny Cartridge - Nintendo 3DS, DSi, & DS News, Media, Videos, Imports, Homebrew, & Retro Junk". Tiny Cartridge. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  7. ↑ Klepek, Patrick. "Bit.Trip Saga, Bit.Trip Complete Get Bit.Trippy in September". Giant Bomb.
  8. ↑ "Bit.Trip Runner is getting a strange-looking HD sequel". Destructoid. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  9. ↑ Jackson, Perry (2012-08-03). "Bit.Trip Presents: Runner 2 slides into 2013". xblafans.com. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  10. ↑ Ben Davis. "Review: The Bit.Trip". Ben Davis. Retrieved 2015-12-15.

External links

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