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Acclaim Entertainment

Fate	Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code
Successor	Acclaim Games (purchaser of brand name and logotype) Throwback Entertainment (purchaser of intellectual property)
Founded	1987
Defunct	2004
Headquarters	Glen Cove, New York,USA
Key people	Greg Fischbach: founder, co-chairman, CEO
Industry	computer and video game industry
Products	video games, comic books
Subsidiaries	Iguana Entertainment, Probe Entertainment, Sculptured Software, Valiant Comics

Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance, Sony's PlayStation and PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, and, to a lesser extent, personal computer systems and arcade games. It also released video games for the Sega Master System in Europe.

Since Acclaim Entertainment's 2004 demise, the Acclaim brand and logotype have been purchased by Acclaim Games and are now used by this unrelated company. Canadian video game publisher Throwback Entertainment acquired 150+ titles of Acclaim's video game library.

History

Founded in 1987 as a Delaware corporation, Acclaim maintained operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, and Japan. In its first years, Acclaim was exclusively a video game publisher, either farming out the creation of its video games to external developers or localizing existing video games from overseas. But as it grew, it purchased some independent studios, including Iguana Entertainment of Austin, Texas, Probe Entertainment of London, England and Sculptured Software of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The name of the company was picked because it had to be alphabetically above the co-founder's former place of employment, Activision, and also had to be alphabetically above Accolade (another company formed by ex-Activision employees). This was a common formula for picking names of new companies that were founded by ex-Activision employees (the founders of Activision used this formula when they left Atari).

Many of Acclaim's products were licensed titles: games based on comics, television series (including wrestling shows and cartoons) and movies. They were also responsible for the ports of many of Midway's arcade games in the early-to-mid 1990s, including the Mortal Kombat series. They also published some games from other companies that at the time of publication didn't have an American branch, such as Technos Japan's Double Dragon II and Taito's Bust-A-Move series. Several games in the Acclaim catalog are frequently cited as among the worst of all time, a fact that has continued to earn it the derision of gamers and gaming media.

The waning of the arcade game industry, coupled with some poor sales and public enthusiasm from several key titles led to the eventual loss of many of their licenses. One result of this was their late refactoring of the Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX series. To add to that, their arcade game Batman Forever had poor sales also due to poor gameplay.

A less significant aspect of Acclaim's business was the development and publication of strategy guides relating to their software products and the issuance of "special edition" comic magazines, via Acclaim Comics, to support the more lucrative brand names.

During Acclaim's decline towards bankruptcy, Steve Perry, (former MD of Eddie Stobart Ltd & now IT guru - right hand man of Bill Gates) made several infamous business and marketing decisions. One example was a promise to UK gamers that a £500 prize would be awarded to up to five winners who would name their baby "Turok", to promote the release of Turok Evolution. Another was an attempt to buy advertising space on actual tombstones for a Shadowman game.

In 1995, they acquired Sculptured Software and Probe Entertainment.^[1]

The company also had a history of shady dealings with its employees. Roughly two years after its acquisition of the Salt Lake City-based Sculptured Software, during which it offered Sculptured Software employees what looked like iron-clad contracts and stock that would be vested over the course of the contracts, it abruptly laid off about half the company, violating its own contract terms. The lay-off, however, came so abruptly that the employees had to choose between taking a reasonable severance package (whose terms altered several times during the initial weeks after the layoff) and not suing, or taking a number after a number of other creditors to sue and losing the severance package. (Personal communication from Paul G. Webb, a mid-level manager caught in the lay-off.) Roughly ten years later, one of numerous class action suits filed on behalf of stockholders was won, allowing some of these employees the chance at least to realize a return on some of the stock that had been vested [1]. Named in this particular suit were founder and CEO Greg Fishbach, Edmond Sanctis, James Scoroposki and Gerard Agoglia.

Acclaim also suffered multiple lawsuits, a portion of them with former partners. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen sued over unpaid royalties. In the last iteration of the BMX series, semi-nude, nude and porn content (e.g., full motion video of strippers and nude female riders) was added in hopes of boosting sales. However, like most of their other contemporary titles, BMX XXX sold poorly and was derided for its trashy content and poor gameplay. Dave Mirra himself publicly disowned the game, stating that he was not involved in the decision to include nudity, and he sued Acclaim for fear of being associated with BMX XXX. Another was from Acclaim's own investors, claiming that Acclaim management had published misleading financial reports.

In 2001, Probe Entertainment became Acclaim Cheltenham.

In May, 2002 Acclaim bought most of the assets of the Software Creations studio and established a new development company, known as Acclaim Studios Manchester.^[2]

In December 2002, Acclaim closed its Salt Lake City studio (formerly veteran developer Sculptured Software).^[3]

Acclaim suffered severe financial problems in 2004 , the result of most of their video and computer game titles (like Showdown: Legends of Wrestling) selling very poorly. This resulted in the closure of Acclaim Studios Cheltenham and Acclaim Studios Manchester in England and other places and their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, leaving many employees unpaid. Amongst the titles under development at the UK studios were Emergency Mayhem, and Made Man.

On September 1, 2004, Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York, which would virtually annihilate their company in liquidating all possible assets to pay off their enormous debt which reportedly tops USD$100 million.

An attempt to reopen the Cheltenham and Manchester studios in October 2004 (under the new name Exclaim) failed due to legal wrangling over IP, with both the US and UK administrators claiming rights.

In August 2005, former Activision executive Howard Marks purchased the name "Acclaim" for a reported $100,000. In the beginning of 2006, Marks formed a new company called Acclaim Games. According to a job listing for the company, Acclaim Games is aimed at the US and UK preteen multiplayer markets.

In 2006 Throwback Entertainment, a video game company that had once considered acquiring Acclaim Entertainment, announced that it had purchased 50+ of Acclaim's games, and vows to bring such titles as Re-Volt, Extreme-G, Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance, Vexx, Fur Fighters and many other franchises into the next generation and beyond.^[4]

In August 2006, Acclaim started the game called BOTS!!, a MMO game. Hackers recently started disrupting the game flow by hacking into the system, so acclaim took the necessary actions against them by creating more protected servers and of better quality too. You can find the game today at www.bots.acclaim.com. Be sure to check out the forums as well http://phpbb.acclaim.com/bots/.

Subsidiaries

Defunct studios

• Acclaim Comics in New York, New York, founded in 1989 as Valiant Comics, acquired in June 1994.
• Acclaim Studios Austin, founded Sunnyvale, California as Iguana Entertainment on August 14, 1991, acquired 1995.
• Acclaim Studios London in Croydon, England, founded as Probe Software in 1984, acquired October 10, 1995.
• Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City, founded as Sculptured Software in 1984, acquired October 9, 1995.

Defunct labels

• Arena Entertainment, founded as Mirrorsoft, acquired in 1992, discontinued in 1994.
• Acclaim Max Sports
• Acclaim Sports
• AKA Acclaim (Athletes Kick Ass)
• Club Acclaim
• Flying Edge in Glen Cove, NY, started in 1991, discontinued in 1994.
• LJN, founded in 1970, acquired in 1988, closed in 1994. Brand briefly revived in 2000.

Game titles

Name	Release Year	Platform(s)
AFL Live 2004	2003	PC, PS2, Xbox
AFL Live Premiership Edition	2004	PC, PS2, Xbox
Alias	2004	PC, PS2, Xbox, Mobile
All-Star Baseball		PS, PS2, N64, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
ATV Quad Power Racing 2	2003	PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, GBA
Armorines: Project Swarm	1999	PS, N64, GBC
Aggressive Inline	2002	PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, GBA
Batman & Robin	1998	PlayStation
Batman Forever	1995 1996	Super NES, Sega Master System, Mega Drive, Sega Game Gear, Game Boy, PC
Blast Lacrosse	2001	PlayStation
BMX XXX	2002	Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2
Bubble Bobble/Rainbow Islands	1995	Sega Saturn, PlayStation
Burnout	2001 (PlayStation 2) 2002 (Nintendo GameCube/Xbox)	PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube/Xbox
Burnout 2: Point Of Impact	2002 (PlayStation 2) 2003 (Nintendo GameCube/Xbox)	PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube/Xbox
Bust a Move 2	1997	Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Nintendo 64
Constructor	1997	PC, PlayStation
Crazy Taxi	2001	PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube
D	1998	3DO, Sega Saturn, PS, PC
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX	2000	PlayStation, Dreamcast, Windows PC, Game Boy Color
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2	2001	PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3	2002	Game Boy Advance
ECW Anarchy Rulz	1999	PS, Dreamcast
ECW Hardcore Revolution	1998	PS, N64, Dreamcast, GBC
18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker	2001 (PlayStation 2) 2002 (Nintendo GameCube)	PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube
Extreme-G	1997	N64
Extreme-G 2	1998	N64, PC
XG3: Extreme G Racing	2001	PS2, Nintendo GameCube
XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Association	2004	PS2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox
Fantastic Four	1997	PS
Forsaken	1998 ( ) 1999 ()	Windows, PlayStation, Nintendo 64
Fur Fighters (a.k.a. Fur Fighters in Viggo's Revenge)	2000 (Dreamcast, Windows) 2001 (PlayStation 2)	Dreamcast, Windows, PlayStation 2
Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance	2003	PS2, Xbox, PC
Iggy's Reckin' Balls	1998	N64
Juiced	2004	PC, PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Jupiter Strike	1995	PS
Legends of Wrestling	2001 (PS2) 2002 (Xbox, Nintendo GameCube)	PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Legends of Wrestling II	2002	PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Marvel's X-Men		NES
Machines	1999	PC
Mortal Kombat	1991	GameBoy, Game Gear, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega CD, Sega 32X, SNES, PC
Mortal Kombat II	1992	GameBoy, Game Gear, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega 32X, SNES, PC
NBA Jam		Sega Genesis, SNES
NBA Jam Extreme		PS
NFL Quarterback Club		PS, N64, GameBoy, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega 32X, Sega Saturn, SNES
Othello		NES
Paris-Dakar Rally	2001	PC, PlayStation 2
Paris-Dakar 2: The World's Ultimate Rally	2003	PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Re-volt	1999	PS, N64, Dreamcast, PC
Revolution X	1995	Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Saturn, PlayStation
World Championship Rugby		PC, PS2, Xbox
Shadowman	1999	N64, PS, PC, Dreamcast
Shadowman: 2econd Coming	2001	PS2
Showdown: Legends of Wrestling	2003	PS2, Xbox
Smash TV		NES
South Park	1999	PS, N64, PC
South Park Rally	2000	PS, N64, PC, Dreamcast
South Park: Chef's Luv Shack	1999	PS, N64, PC, Dreamcast
Space Jam	1996	PS, Sega Saturn, PC
Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six		NES, Master System, Game Gear
Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge		SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy
Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage		SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis
Spider-Man: The Animated Series		SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis
Summer Heat Beach Volleyball	2001	PS2
The Simpsons: Bart & the Beanstalk		GB
The Simpsons: Bart Meets Radioactive Man		NES, Game Gear
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants		NES, Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Gear
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World		NES, Master System, Game Gear
Bart vs. The Juggernauts		GB
The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare		SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis
The Simpsons: Virtual Bart		SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis
Trickstyle	1999	Dreamcast, PC
Trog!		NES
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter	1997	N64, PC, GameBoy
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil	1998	N64, GBC, PC
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion	2000	N64, GBC
Turok: Rage Wars	1999	N64, GBC
Turok: Evolution	2002	PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PC
Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety	1995	SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, PC
WWF In Your House	1996	PlayStation, Sega Saturn
WWF WrestleMania	1988	NES
WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game	1995	Arcade, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Saturn, PlayStation
WWF War Zone	1998	PS, N64, Sega Saturn (Cancelled)
WWF Attitude	1999	PS, N64, Dreamcast
Vexx	2003	PS2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Virtua Tennis 2	2002	PS2
X-Men: Children of the Atom	1997	Sega Saturn, PC, PlayStation

See also

• Acclaim Cheltenham
• Acclaim Studios Teesside
• Valiant Comics
• Turok
• Shadowman

References

External links

• Official website (maintained by the Internet Archives Wayback Machine)
• MobyGames' entry on Acclaim Entertainment
• "Acclaim: back from the dead" at GameSpot
• "Top 10 Acclaim Games" at GameSpy
• 1up.com's list of the ten worst titles published by Acclaim
• An employee's account of the late years at Acclaim

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

This company category is a stub. Help us expand it with details as well as a {{company}} infobox. Reliable information can be researched on wikipedia or you can just search for "Acclaim" on Google. Do this and you get a cookie.

Company stub

This company category is a stub. Help us expand it with details as well as a {{company}} infobox. Reliable information can be researched on wikipedia or you can just search for "Acclaim" on Google. Do this and you get a cookie.

Acclaim Entertainment
Founded	1987
Located	New York, USA
Website	http://www.acclaim.com/
Closed	2004
Wikipedia has more about this subject: Acclaim

Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed, and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance, Sony's PlayStation and PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, and, to a lesser extent, personal computer systems and arcade games.

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Acclaim Entertainment
Type	Defunct
Founded	1987
Headquarters	Glen Cove, New York, USA
Products	computer games, video games
Parent Company	N/A
Website

Acclaim is a now defunct Game developer that was responsible for a handful of decent games, a lot of tie-ins, and atrocious marketing ploys. They went bankrupt in 2004, on top of being sued by various companies they did business with, such as the WWE. In 2006, its logo and name was brought by the successor company Acclaim Games.

The Good

Acclaim published the well known, successful Turok games for the N64. While later additions to the series were not as well received, the first one or two were critically lauded and praised. The control scheme and some of the basic mechanics of the series inspired many more games to come.

They were also responsible for creating or publishing some decent games, such as Aggressive Inline, the first Burnout, WWF Attitude and more.

The Very Bad

Everything else. One of the more notable bad decisions by Acclaim is their consistently bad ideas for marketing. For example, when Shadowman 2 was coming out, Acclaim decided it would be a good idea to reward people money to people who had an ad for the game engraved on their tombstone. Yes, they want people to have their final resting place have an ad for a video game that no one will remember.

Then, when Burnout 2 was making it's way towards release, Acclaim actually encouraged people to break the law by speeding. They said if they got a ticket for speeding on the way to buy the game, Acclaim would pay it. Deadly car wreck though, no, won't pay for that.

Then, they decided that in the United Kingdom, the first person to LEGALLY change their name to "Turok", would be given a cool $1,000. Imagine all the people who placed #2 to #300. Now their only option in life is to start a career as a dinosaur hunter, and there simply aren't enough dinosaur to go around.

But Acclaim was never a stranger to bad games. They made plenty of typical licensed game throwaway trash like too many South Park games, Legends of Wrestling, and an unsuccessful street racing game Juiced. But let's not forget BMX XXX, Acclaim's blatantly pornographic biking video game meant to drum up controversy and erections.

Few miss them.

The resurrection

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