As the 2021 (or 2020 as they are still called) Olympics began I posted an article from Commodore Magazine about Epyx and last week I uploaded a video of Summer Games on the blog's YouTube channel. Today, as the Olympics come to a close, I have uploaded a video of The Games: Summer Edition which is the first game from Epyx to feature the official Olympics license. I rarely put "Let's Play" videos on the blog but I need more posts and wanted to add a review from Commodore Magazine. I was hoping to play Summer Games II as well, however, the disks are giving me some issues and I haven't managed to get more than a few events to load. This review is from the April 1989 issue which is a bit late for a game that released in 1988, plus it's quite long for a sports title as the writer covers each event in detail.
With the summer Olympics just underway in Japan, I scanned this article about Epyx from the August 1989 issue of Commodore Magazine. In my opinion, Epyx made the best Olympics-themed computer games of the 1980s and possibly of all-time. Its early efforts did not carry the official Olympics license though a couple of its games do. These are all part of the "Games" series that includes Summer Games, Summer Games II, Winter Games, World Games, California Games, The Games: Summer Edition, The Games: Winter Edition, and California Games II. I've played all of those except for the sequel to California Games which was the last of the series to release and did not appear on the Commodore 64.
The article is a series of interviews that discusses the employees, company business, and a range of games. Unfortunately, despite the article giving the impression that Epyx is riding high in 1989, it declared bankruptcy later that year. It remained open for a few more years after layoffs and selling the rights to its in-development handheld system that would become the Atari Lynx. Also, some of the scans might look like the paper could be wrinkled but that's actually the design as it is meant to look like sand.
Do you remember the Konix Multi-System? Although I read all my video game magazines cover-to-cover when I was younger, I'd long forgotten about its existence, or almost existence I should say. Based in the U.K., Konix started as an accessory manufacturer that was likely never too well known in the U.S. at the time though it did create the controller that Epyx sold as the 500XJ. In the late '80s the folks at Konix had some big ideas for a game console that used diskettes, so more or less a computer. The Multi-System appears to have been targeting racing and flight simulation fans with the built-in wheel/yoke, and was meant to bring the complete arcade experience home thanks to a motorized chair accessory. After reading these old articles again it sounds as if it was nearly ready to go but it never did release. Despite what was likely a large investment that didn't pay off, Konix is still in business today as it continues to make a variety of gaming accessories.
The primary article below is an interview with Konix president Wyn Holloway (and a bit with Jeff Minter) from Video Games & Computer Entertainment that was published in the November 1989 issue. Beyond that, I scanned any mention of the Konix Multi-System I came across which consists of only three other articles. If I happen to find others I'll add them to this post at a later date. I'm including the full articles even if the Multi-System is just a small part of them so you can read some coverage on systems from NEC, Nintendo, Sega, and Atari as well. The one-page article from Electronic Gaming Monthly #2 has a paragraph about a handheld system from Epyx. If you're unfamiliar with that it is what released as the Atari Lynx. Also, that same page states that "Namco has a machine comparable to the Super Famicom (Super NES) almost completed..." which I know nothing about other than it was never released.
Video Games & Computer Entertainment (November 1989)
This week will be a small update with only hardware ads. There is not a lot of specific information available on Nuby. From what I can gather from the ads and the Nuby Game Boy case I own, it was a division of Curtis Manufacturing which was based in New Hampshire. It made video game accessories during the '90s with a strong focus on portable gaming, specifically Nintendo's Game Boy.
For backfilling I'm adding four game controller ads to Acclaim, Bondwell, and Epyx.
Unfortunately, as I posted my images at Flickr today I was greeted with the announcement that it will now cost $49.99/year for accounts that contain over 1,000 images. I chose Flickr because Google didn't have everything I wanted and I like Flickr's presentation. There are also far too many images to jam into the blog so I'll probably have to move them eventually. Paying one or two times is okay but I want to keep these online for a long time and would rather not spend hundreds of dollars, especially on something so few people are viewing. I'll write more on the subject during the next blog update.
Epyx released its first Winter Olympics game, Winter Games, in 1985 and I'd say it's still a great game just as the first two Summer Games are. Maybe it's the simplicity of them, in both the graphics and gameplay, that many future games based on the Olympics from other publishers couldn't match. Those early games were not officially endorsed by the Olympics but Epyx was able to acquire the license for both of its follow-ups, the Summer and Winter Editions of "The Games." The Games: Winter Edition's release hit in 1988 to coincide with the Calgary '88 Winter Olympics. I've always enjoyed the "Games" series from Epyx and as I mentioned a few times previously, I had hoped to do a "Let's Play" video for this one during the 2018 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, my Commodore 64 broke at an inopportune time so instead, I've got some magazine scans. One review is for the Epyx game and the others are for Accolade's very similar release for the '92 Olympics called Winter Challenge that was published in 1992 for the Sega Genesis under its Ballistic label.
The review for The Games: Winter Edition is from Commodore Magazine. They provide quite an in-depth review as they detail each one of the seven events included in the game. One thing I never quite figured out in this game is how the judges score the figure skating. It's a rather intricate event as you choreograph your routine before performing it and while I always felt like I performed well, my scores were always dismal.
Commodore Magazine - December 1988
Before I get to the Winter Challenge reviews I've got a preview of Accolade's DOS version called The Games: Winter Challenge from the January 1992 issue of Video Games & Computer Entertainment. I decided to scan this one because I couldn't find a review of it and quite a few Internet sites seem to believe it released in 1991, which is what the title screen displays as the copyright (title screens being off by a year is not uncommon). However, that seems unlikely as this preview is based on an incomplete beta that didn't even have the sound in it yet. Magazines did have to write articles in advance and sometimes issues hit newsstands a month or so ahead of what the cover says but it still makes more sense that 1992 is the release year. In any case, I find it to be a fun, if brief, read due to the PC hardware that is mentioned: "...it gets pretty hot on a 33 MHz PC." Also, you can see bits of Elvira II and SimAnt previews on the parts of the two pages that are included.
Video Games & Computer Entertainment - January 1992
For the Sega Genesis' Winter Challenge I've got reviews from Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), GamePro, and Game Informer. There is quite a range of opinions here with EGM disliking it, GamePro giving its "FunFactor" category the highest possible rating, and three Game Informer staff scoring it 6, 7, and 8.5 overall.
EGM #35
GamePro - March 1992
Game Informer - January/February 1992
UPDATE February 4, 2022: My Commodore did eventually get fixed and four years later another Winter Olympics is happening so I finally made a video of The Games: Winter Edition.
Jon Freeman and Jim Connelley met in 1977 while playing the pen-and-paper game Dungeon & Dragons. Freeman assisted Connelley during the development of his first game, Star Fleet Orion, and the two of them founded Automated Simulations in 1979 to publish the game. Temple of Apshai was the company's next game and it sold quite well, leading to a number of expansions and sequels. However, Jon Freeman was not involved beyond the first game as he left the company in 1981 following a series of business-related arguments with Connelley. In 1982 the company name was changed to Epyx, Inc., which is a name they came up with after their first choice Epic was already owned by Epic Recordings.
Another one of the company's early big hits was Jumpman (no relation to Nintendo's Mario who was originally known as Jumpman) but it was 1984's Summer Games that took the company to the next level. Summer Games led to a line of popular "Games" titles that includes Winter Games, Summer Games II, California Games, World Games, and California Games II. Epyx developed its own titles, like Jumpman and Summer Games, but also published games for other developers. Other hit titles from the developer and publisher are Pitstop II, Impossible Mission I & II, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, World Championship Karate, The Eidolon, Street Sports Baseball, and Spiderbot.
Despite releasing more than 100 games and having many successes, Epyx ultimately had to declare bankruptcy in 1989. Epyx did manage to remain open following massive layoffs and the sale of the complete rights to its in-development handheld unit to Atari; Atari was already signed on to handle production of the system that would eventually be named the Atari Lynx. In 1993 the few remaining employees opted to sell off the remainder of the company's assets.
Being a big fan of sports games when I was younger, Epyx was one of my favorite companies during my Commodore 64 days. I played a lot of the "Games" titles, and the other Epyx Olympic games: The Games: Summer Edition and The Games: Winter Edition. Street Sports Baseball and The Sporting News Baseball are two other sports titles that kept me in front of the computer for many hours. Aside from its sports titles, I also enjoyed the Impossible Mission games though I never did get too far in the original (one of my favorite game openings) before completing the sequel.
