Rockstar Lincoln

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Rockstar Lincoln Limited
(2002–present)

Rockstar Lincoln Limited (formerly Spidersoft Limited and Tarantula Studios) is a British

pinball video games for publisher 21st Century Entertainment, which acquired Spidersoft in 1995. After 21st Century Entertainment shut down in March 1998, Take-Two Interactive acquired Spidersoft in June that year and renamed it Tarantula Studios. The studio continued working on Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, such as Grand Theft Auto
(1999). In 2002, the development arm of Tarantula Studios was shut down and the quality assurance portion was integrated into Take-Two's Rockstar Games label as Rockstar Lincoln.

History

Early years and pinball games (1992–1998)

Rockstar Lincoln was founded as Spidersoft by Steve Marsden and David Cooke.

Solitaire were each completed in twenty-five days.[7]

21st Century Entertainment contracted Spidersoft to port the successful game Pinball Fantasies to a range of platforms, including the Atari Jaguar and Game Boy.[6] Following these ports' 1995 releases, 21st Century Entertainment sought to ensure a steady supply of pinball games without having to rely on third-party contractors, aiming at topping the pinball game niche market. To Hewson, Spidersoft appeared willing to continue developing pinball games, whereas Digital Illusions was looking to drop out of developing games in the genre. Consequently, 21st Century Entertainment acquired a controlling stake in Spidersoft.[6] As the publisher increasingly focused on pinball games, Hewson lost his passion for the business, which he felt became "formulaic". In 1997, he was offered to join a start-up founded by old contacts of his, so he agreed with his co-investors to part ways and wind down the company.[9] 21st Century Entertainment was defunct by March 1998.[10]

Acquisition and handheld games (1998–2000)

On 1 June 1998,

Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! (2000) published by Take-Two's Rockstar Games label.[13][14][15] Evel Knievel became the lowest-scored Game Boy Color game on IGN at 2.0/10, with the site's writers describing it as "ruthlessly hard and impossible to play".[15]

Transition to quality assurance (2001–present)

By 2001, the development and quality assurance departments of Tarantula Studios had been separated, of which the former was shut down in 2002.

studio head who had been with the company since 1999, announced his resignation.[16][19] His departure coincided with that of Mark Washbrook, the founder and studio head of Rockstar London.[19][20] Rockstar Games stated that neither departure would affect the studios' active projects.[19] Tim Bates succeeded Lloyd as general manager.[21] Lloyd went on to found a video game consultancy service, Titanium Consultancy, which he later voluntarily wound down. Alongside Washbrook, he joined Activision's mobile-focused Activision Leeds studio in May 2012.[20]

Around 2016, Rockstar Lincoln moved into the Lindum Business Park in North Hykeham. A survey it conducted with its employees led East Midlands Trains to provide several additional stops at Hykeham railway station, within walking distance from the office, from May 2016.[22][23] Rockstar Lincoln won the "Active Workplace" award in the Lincolnshire Sports Awards in 2015 and 2016, and it was nominated again in 2017. The studio offered its employees subsidised gym memberships, and a "Sports & Social" team organised sporting and leisure activities.[21]

Leading up to the release of

flexitime system was introduced.[26]

Games developed

As Spidersoft

List of games developed by Rockstar Lincoln, 1992–1996
Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s) Notes
1992 Hook Game Gear Sony Imagesoft Port development
1993
Poker Face Paul's Blackjack
 		Adrenalin Entertainment
Pinball Dreams Game Boy, Game Gear, MS-DOS, Super Nintendo Entertainment System 21st Century Entertainment, GameTek Port development
Chuck Rock Game Boy
Sony Electronic Publishing
 Port development
Cliffhanger Amiga, Game Boy, Game Gear, Nintendo Entertainment System Sony Imagesoft, Psygnosis
1994 Lemmings 2: The Tribes Game Boy Psygnosis Port development
Andre Agassi Tennis Game Gear Lance Investments Port development
Pinball Arcade MS-DOS 21st Century Entertainment
Poker Face Paul's Solitaire
 		Game Gear Sega
Pinball Dreams 2
 		MS-DOS 21st Century Entertainment
Math Blaster Episode I: In Search of Spot Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System Davidson & Associates Port development
1995 Pinball Fantasies Atari Jaguar, Game Boy, PlayStation, Super Nintendo Entertainment System 21st Century Entertainment, GameTek Port development
Pinball World
 		MS-DOS 21st Century Entertainment, Rebellion Developments
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Pinball
 		Amiga, Amiga CD32, MS-DOS Alternative Software
Pinball Mania
 		Amiga, Game Boy, MS-DOS 21st Century Entertainment, GameTek
1996
Pinball Builder
Windows
 21st Century Entertainment
Total Pinball 3D
 		MS-DOS

As Tarantula Studios

List of games developed by Rockstar Lincoln, 1996–2001
Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s) Notes
1998 Las Vegas Cool Hand Game Boy, Game Boy Color Take-Two Interactive
Montezuma's Return!
Rats!
1999 Hollywood Pinball Game Boy Color
Space Station Silicon Valley
Three Lions
Jim Henson's Muppets
Evel Knievel Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto
2000
Austin Powers: Oh, Behave!
Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair!
Grand Theft Auto 2
Formula One 2000 Take-Two Interactive
2001 Kiss Pinball PlayStation Port development
Hidden & Dangerous Port development

Cancelled

  • In-Fisherman Bass Hunter

References

  1. ^ a b c Hewson 2016, p. 226
  2. ^ Hewson 2016, pp. 84–91
  3. ^ Hewson 2016, pp. 205–208
  4. ^ a b Greaves, Sharon (August 1993). "Webbing 'Em 'Up". GB Action. No. 15. Europress. pp. 32–33. Retrieved 3 July 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^
    Future Publishing. October 1999. pp. 42–45. Retrieved 13 September 2022 – via Internet Archive
    .
  6. ^ a b c d Hewson 2016, pp. 221–222
  7. ^ a b Smith, Rob (June 1994). "Genesis of a Game". GB Action. No. 26. Europress. pp. 30–31. Retrieved 21 October 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  8. Newspapers.com
    .
  9. ^ Hewson 2016, p. 231
  10. ^ Gabrielsson, Sam (10 March 1998). "21st Century Entertainment Ltd R.I.P". The Tower of Pin. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  11. ^ a b Johnston, Chris (1 June 1998). "Take 2 Captures Tarantula". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 3 February 1999.
  12. ^ Cleveland, Adam (29 September 1999). "Rats!". IGN. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  13. ^ Carle, Chris (29 September 2000). "Austin Powers: Welcome To My Underground Lair". IGN. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  14. ^ Brown, Mark (16 September 2013). "History in Handheld: Grand Theft Auto". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  15. ^ a b IGN Nintendo Team (31 October 2008). "Worst Reviewed Nintendo Console Games". IGN. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  16. ^
    GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  17. Nintendo Life. Archived
    from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  18. ^ "Could you test games for a living?". This Is Lincolnshire. 9 July 2009. Archived from the original on 12 July 2009.
  19. ^
    Gamasutra. Archived from the original
    on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  20. ^
    GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  21. ^
    Lincolnshire Live. Archived
    from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  22. ^ Pidluznyj, Stefan (22 April 2016). "Extra stop at Hykeham for rail passengers heading into Lincoln on weekday evenings". The Lincolnite. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  23. ^ SCP (27 June 2017). "East Midlands Councils Growth Report" (PDF). East Midlands Councils. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  24. ^ Schreier, Jason (23 October 2018). "Inside Rockstar Games' Culture Of Crunch". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  25. USgamer. Archived from the original
    on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  26. ^ Bailey, Dustin (6 August 2019). "Rockstar hires testers full-time after criticism – "things have been better since last year"". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.

Bibliography

  • Hewson, Andrew (9 May 2016). Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers (Kindle ed.). Hewson Consultants.
    ISBN 9781844991365
    .
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