Saturday, March 3, 2018

Gaming Ads: Impressions Software, Incredible Technologies, and Infocom

Founded in 1989 by David Lester, Impressions Software was based in the U.K. and specialized in strategy games. In 1992 it opened a branch in the U.S., originally based in Connecticut but later moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sierra On-Line purchased Impressions in 1995 and moving forward it was known as Impressions Games. Sierra was eventually acquired by Vivendi Universal and Impressions was closed in 2004. The developer is best known for its Caesar, Civil War, and Lords of the Realm games.

Incredible Technologies was founded in 1985 by Elaine Hodgson and Richard Ditton in Illinois. The company developed arcade games for its first 20 years and is still in business today primarily making casino games. Its first arcade game was a bowling title for Capcom simply titled Capcom Bowling (1988). In 1989 Incredible Technologies released the game Golden Tee Golf, which went on to become a hugely popular series of arcade golf games. There are numerous title variations when it comes to the Golden Tee games; some of the others include Golden Tee Golf II (1990), Peter Jacobsen's Golden Tee 3D Golf (1995), Golden Tee Fore (2000), and Golden Tee Live (2005).

When gamers think of text-based adventures one of the first names to come to mind is surely Infocom. Founded in 1979, Infocom was based in Cambridge, Massachusetts as it was created by MIT staff and students. Undoubtedly, its most popular game series is Zork while other well known titles include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (based on Douglas Adams' books), Planetfall, and Cutthroats. Due to financial difficulties the company merged with Activision in 1986. Activision, which was known as Mediagenic from 1988-1992, closed the Cambridge office and laid everyone off in 1989 and thus, the original development team was gone even if the Infocom name lived on.

Impressions Software albums: Facebook - Google Photos
Incredible Technologies albums: Facebook - Google Photos
Infocom albums: Facebook - Google Photos



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