Vicarious Visions
 Vicarious Visions logo | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Computer and video games |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder |
Karthik Bala Guha Bala |
| Headquarters | Menands, New York, United States |
Key people |
David Nathanielsz Jennifer O’Neal |
| Products | List of Vicarious Visions video games |
Number of employees | 200+ developers, additional QA and temporary |
| Parent |
Independent (1990–2005) Activision (2005–present) |
| Website |
www |
Vicarious Visions is an American video game developer. Vicarious Visions' games accounted for over 2.5 billion dollars in retail sales and over 40 million units of its software have been sold worldwide. The headquarters of Vicarious Visions is located in Menands, New York.
Studio history
The studio was founded by brothers Karthik and Guha Bala in 1990 while both were in high school.
In the late 1990s, Vicarious Visions appointed Michael Marvin, an Albany based investor and entrepreneur and founder and former CEO of MapInfo Corporation; and Charles S. Jones, investor, who sat on the boards of various software and industrial companies including Geac and PSDI, to its board of directors. Under their leadership, a sale of the company was negotiated to Activision, earning the original investors over 20x their initial investment.
In January 2005, Vicarious Visions was acquired by publisher Activision. In April 2016, the Bala brothers announced that they had left the company.[1]
Game history
Terminus, an online multiplayer space trading and combat simulation game, won two Independent Games Festival Awards in 1999. They became known as a leading developer of handheld games breaking ground by the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, developing every Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS title in the franchise's main series as well as one spin off. They developed the first three Crash Bandicoot GBA games. They are also well known for many games including Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Ultimate Spider-Man, Crash Nitro Kart, Jedi Knight II, Jedi Academy, and Doom 3 for the Xbox. Vicarious Visions developed for the Guitar Hero series on the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms. For Guitar Hero: On Tour, Vicarious Visions created the "Guitar Grip" peripheral for the Nintendo DS, which emulates the guitar controller for the portable system.
It was revealed on June 10, 2011, that Vicarious Visions was working on the 3DS version of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.[2]
Games developed
| Year | Game | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Synnergist | Microsoft DOS (PC CD-ROM) |
| 1997 | Dark Angael | Microsoft Windows |
| 1999 | Zebco Fishing! | Game Boy Color |
| 1999 | Vigilante 8 | Game Boy Color |
| 2000 | Polaris SnoCross | Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation |
| 2000 | Terminus | Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Linux |
| 2000 | Spider-Man | Game Boy Color |
| 2000 | The Wild Thornberrys: Rambler | Game Boy Color |
| 2000 | Pro Darts | Game Boy Color |
| 2000 | Barbie: Magic Genie Adventure | Game Boy Color |
| 2000 | Jimmy White's Cue Ball | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | Wanadoo SnowCross | Game Boy Color, Microsoft Windows |
| 2001 | Rescue Heroes: Fire Frenzy | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | Blue's Clues: Blue's Alphabet Book | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 | Game Boy Advance |
| 2001 | Sea-Doo Hydrocross | PlayStation |
| 2001 | Power Rangers: Time Force | Game Boy Advance |
| 2001 | Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace | Game Boy Advance |
| 2001 | Zoboomafoo: Playtime in Zobooland | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro | PlayStation |
| 2001 | Monsters, Inc. | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | Kelly Club: Clubhouse Fun | Game Boy Color |
| 2002 | Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure | Game Boy Advance |
| 2002 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 | Game Boy Advance |
| 2002 | Frogger Advance: The Great Quest | Game Boy Advance |
| 2002 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman | Game Boy Advance |
| 2002 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 | Game Boy Advance, PlayStation |
| 2002 | The Powerpuff Girls: Him and Seek | Game Boy Advance |
| 2002 | Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast | GameCube, Xbox |
| 2002 | Whiteout | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| 2003 | Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | The Muppets: On With The Show! | Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows |
| 2003 | Bruce Lee: Return of the Legend | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | X2: Wolverine's Revenge | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Jet Grind Radio | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Disney's The Lion King 1½ | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Tony Hawk's Underground | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Disney's Brother Bear | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Crash Nitro Kart | Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, N-Gage |
| 2003 | Spy Muppets: License to Croak | Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows |
| 2003 | Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy | Xbox |
| 2004 | Rivet | Mobile phone |
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | Game Boy Advance |
| 2004 | Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock | Mobile phone |
| 2004 | Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy | Game Boy Advance |
| 2004 | Shark Tale | Game Boy Advance |
| 2004 | Tony Hawk's Underground 2 | Game Boy Advance |
| 2004 | That's So Raven | Game Boy Advance |
| 2004 | Shrek 2: Beg For Mercy! | Game Boy Advance |
| 2004 | Kids Next Door: Operation S.O.D.A. | Game Boy Advance |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable |
| 2005 | Doom 3 | Xbox |
| 2005 | Madagascar | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS |
| 2005 | Batman Begins | Game Boy Advance |
| 2005 | Ultimate Spider-Man | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS |
| 2005 | X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse | PlayStation Portable |
| 2005 | Tony Hawk's American Sk8land | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS |
| 2005 | Madagascar: Operation Penguin | Game Boy Advance |
| 2006 | Over the Hedge | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS |
| 2006 | Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts | Game Boy Advance |
| 2006 | Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam | Nintendo DS |
| 2006 | Marvel: Ultimate Alliance | PlayStation Portable, Wii |
| 2007 | Shrek the Third | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii |
| 2007 | Transformers: Decepticons | Nintendo DS |
| 2007 | Transformers: Autobots | Nintendo DS |
| 2007 | Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock | Wii |
| 2007 | Tony Hawk's Proving Ground | Nintendo DS |
| 2007 | Bee Movie Game | Nintendo DS |
| 2008 | Kung Fu Panda | Nintendo DS |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero: On Tour | Nintendo DS |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero: Aerosmith | Wii |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero World Tour | Wii |
| 2008 | Quantum of Solace | Nintendo DS |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades | Nintendo DS |
| 2009 | Mixed Messages | DSiWare |
| 2009 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Decepticons | Nintendo DS |
| 2009 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Autobots | Nintendo DS |
| 2009 | Guitar Hero 5 | Wii |
| 2009 | Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| 2009 | Band Hero | Nintendo DS, Wii |
| 2009 | Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits | Nintendo DS |
| 2010 | Guitar Hero | iOS |
| 2010 | Transformers War for Cybertron: Decepticons | Nintendo DS |
| 2010 | Transformers War for Cybertron: Autobots | Nintendo DS |
| 2010 | Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock | Wii |
| 2011 | Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure | Nintendo 3DS |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Cloud Patrol | iOS, Android, Kindle Fire |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Lost Islands | iOS, Android |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Battlegrounds | iOS, Android |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Giants | Wii U |
| 2013 | Skylanders: Swap Force | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U,[3] Xbox 360, Xbox One |
| 2014 | Skylanders: Trap Team | iOS, Android, Kindle Fire |
| 2015 | Skylanders: SuperChargers | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, iOS |
Cancelled games
| Year | Game | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | AMF Xtreme Bowling | Game Boy Color |
| 2000 | Carnivale | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | Sea-Doo Hydrocross | Game Boy Color |
| 2010 | DJ Hero 3D | Nintendo 3DS |
| 2011 | Guitar Hero 7 | PS3, Xbox 360, Wii |
| 2012 | Untitled Crash Bandicoot game | PS3, Xbox 360, Wii |
Awards received
References
- ↑ Futter, Mike (April 5, 2016). "Vicarious Visions Co-Founder Brothers Depart After 25 Years". Game Informer. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Report: Job Losses At Vicarious Visions". Nintendo World Report.
- ↑ East, Thomas (July 2, 2013). "Skylanders Swap Force Wii will be very close to the HD versions". Official Nintendo Magazine. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
External links
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