Beam Software

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Krome Studios Melbourne
Websitemelbournehouse.com (archived)

Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software,[1] was an Australian video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Australia.[2][3] Initially formed to produce books and software to be published by Melbourne House, a company they had established in London in 1977,[1] the studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd..[4] In 2006 the studio was sold to Krome Studios.[4]

The name Beam was a contraction of the names of the founders: Naomi Besen and Alfred Milgrom.

History

Home computer era

In the early years, two of Beam's programs were milestones in their respective genres. The Hobbit, a 1982 text adventure by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler,[5] sold more than 500,000 copies.[6][7] It employed an advanced parser by Stuart Richie and had real-time elements. Even if the player didn't enter commands, the story would move on.[8] In 1985 Greg Barnett's two-player martial arts game The Way of the Exploding Fist helped define the genre of one-on-one fighting games on the home computer.[8] The game won Best Overall Game at the Golden Joystick Awards.[9]

In 1987 Beam's UK publishing arm,

Gremlin Graphics
.

Shift to consoles and PCs

In 1987 Nintendo granted a developer's licence for the

NES and Beam developed games on that platform for US and Japanese publishers. Targeted at an Australian audience, releases such as Aussie Rules Footy and International Cricket for the NES proved successful.[12] In 1992 they released the original title Nightshade, a dark superhero comedy game. The game was meant to be the first part in a series, but no sequels were ever made; however, it served as the basis for Shadowrun. Released in 1993, Shadowrun also used an innovative dialogue system using the acquisition of keywords which could be used in subsequent conversations to initiate new branches in the dialogue tree. Also in 1993 they released Baby T-Rex, a Game Boy platform game that the developer actively sought to adapt the game to a number of different licensed properties in different countries around the world including the animated film We're Back! in North America and the puppet character Agro in their home country of Australia.[13]

In 1997, Beam relaunched the Melbourne House brand,

Windows 3.x
in August 1996.

1998 saw a return to RPGs with Alien Earth, again with a dialogue tree format.[16] Also in 1998, the studio developed racing games DethKarz[15] and GP 500.

In 1999 Beam Software was acquired by

Infogrames
and renamed to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.

2000s

They continued to cement a reputation as a racing game developer with Le Mans 24 Hours and Looney Tunes: Space Race (both Dreamcast and PlayStation 2), followed by Grand Prix Challenge (PlayStation 2), before going into third-person shooters with Men in Black II: Alien Escape (PlayStation 2, GameCube).[17]

In 2004 the studio released

Transformers Armada franchise by Hasbro.[18] The game reached the top of the UK PlayStation 2
games charts, making it Melbourne House's most successful recent title.

The studio then completed work on PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable ports of Eden's next-generation Xbox 360 title Test Drive: Unlimited.

In December 2005, Atari decided to shift away from internal development, seeking to sell its studios, including Melbourne House.[19] In November 2006, Krome Studios acquired Melbourne House from Atari and was renamed to Krome Studios Melbourne.[20] It was closed on 15 October 2010, along with the main Brisbane office. Next to the game development, Beam Software also had the division Smarty Pants Publishing Pty Ltd., that created software titles for kids, as well as the proprietary video compression technology VideoBeam, and Famous Faces, a facial motion capture hardware and software solution.

Games

As Beam Software

As Infogrames Melbourne House/Atari Melbourne House/Krome Studios Melbourne

Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s)
2000 Le Mans 24 Hours Dreamcast
Infogrames
Looney Tunes: Space Race
2001 Le Mans 24 Hours PlayStation 2
2002 Space Race
Le Mans 24 Hours Windows
Men in Black II: Alien Escape[17] PlayStation 2
Grand Prix Challenge
2003 Men in Black II: Alien Escape[a][17] GameCube
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines[b] PlayStation 2, Xbox Atari
2004 Transformers[18] PlayStation 2
2007 Test Drive Unlimited[c] PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable

References

  1. ^ a b Crookes, David. "The Wizards of Oz". Retro Gamer. No. 36. Imagine. pp. 38–42.
  2. ^
    Imagine Media
    . September 1997. pp. 116–8.
  3. ^ "CRASH 3 - Melbourne House". www.crashonline.org.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  4. ^
    Australian Centre for the Moving Image. Archived from the original
    on 11 June 2010. Documentation for a 2007 exhibition.
  5. ^ Sharwood, Simon (18 November 2012), Author of '80s classic The Hobbit didn't know game was a hit, The Register, retrieved 10 December 2012
  6. ^ "Beam Software Company History". beam.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 October 1997. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  7. Newspapers.com
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-07-223172-6
  9. ^ "Golden Joysticks Awards' ultimate list of ultimate winners: 1983 - 2016". GamesRadar.com. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  10. ^ "Mastertronic Buys Melbourne House". Popular Computing Weekly. 12–18 February 1987. p. 4.
  11. ^ Guter, Arthur (June 2016). "A History of Mastertronic". Mastertronic. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018.
  12. ^ a b c "Why Cricket video games are vital to Australia's national identity". GamesHub. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  13. ^ Mansfield, Dylan (24 February 2019). "Baby T-Rex: The Game Revised 10 Times". Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  14. Imagine Media
    . May 1997. p. 17.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "Company bio: Beam Software". Gamespy. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  16. ^ Al Giovetti. "Alien Earth". The Computer Show.
  17. ^ a b c "Men in Black II: Alien Escape". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  18. ^ a b Dunham, Jeremy (9 December 2003). "Transformers Armada: Prelude to Energon Hands-On". IGN. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  19. ^ Foster, Lisa (17 February 2006). "Atari plans studio sell-off". MCV. Intent Media. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  20. ^ "Krome Studios expands with new studio in Melbourne". Krome Studios. 3 November 2006. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  21. ^ "Strike Force (TRS-80)". MobyGames. Blue Flame Labs. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  22. ^ "Penetrator (1982)". MobyGames. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  23. ^ "H.U.R.G. [Spectrum 48K] | Melbourne House | 1983 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Asterix and the Magic Cauldron [Commodore 64/128] | Melbourne House | 1986 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Fist: The Legend Continues (1986)". MobyGames. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  26. ^ "A brief history of 2000AD's 8-bit games". Eurogamer.net. 19 November 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  27. ^ "Knuckle Busters (1986)". MobyGames. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  28. ^ "CVG Magazine Issue 055". May 1986. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  29. ^ a b "Bad Street Brawler [computer game] | Laser Beam (Beam Software) | 1989 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  30. ^ "Inspector Gadget and the Circus of !!Fear!! (1987)". MobyGames. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  31. ^ "Bop'n Rumble - C64-Wiki". www.c64-wiki.com.
  32. ^ "The Muncher at Spectrum Computing - Sinclair ZX Spectrum games, software and hardware". Spectrum Computing. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  33. ^ "The Punisher [computer game] | LJN Entertainment, Inc. | 1990 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  34. ^ "Choplifter II [computer game] | Laser Beam (Beam Software) | 1991 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  35. ^ "Aussie Rules Footy [computer game] | Laser Beam (Beam Software) | 1991 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  36. ^ "Shadowrun [SNES] | Data East USA | 1992 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  37. ^ Fahs, Travis (21 November 2008). "Rescue Me: The History of Choplifter". IGN. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  38. ^ "Stargate [computer game] | Acclaim Entertainment Ltd | 1994 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  39. ^ "Super International Cricket [computer game] | Nintendo | 1994 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  40. ^ "The Dame Was Loaded [DOS] | Philips Interactive Media, Inc. | 1996 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  41. ^ "Cricket 96 for DOS (1996)". MobyGames. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  42. ^ "Caesars Palace for PlayStation (1997)". MobyGames. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  43. ^ "Chairman's Report to Beam International Limited Shareholders". beam.com.au. 7 June 1997. Archived from the original on 7 June 1997. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  44. ^ "Beam announces Release Date For KKnD". beam.com.au. 26 February 1997. Archived from the original on 7 June 1997. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  45. ^ Gentry, Perry (30 October 1998). "What's in Stores Next Week (We Think)". CNET Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  1. ^ Ported by Tantalus.
  2. ^ Support developer for Black Ops Entertainment, worked on sound design.
  3. ^ Ported for Eden Games.

External links

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