| Type | Corporation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 (as Automated Simulations) (defunct 1993) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
| Key people | Jim Connelley Jon Freeman David Shannon Morse (software manager) |
| Industry | Computer and video games |
| Products | Temple of Apshai Summer Games Winter Games California Games |
Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983. Epyx published a long series of "hits" through the 1980s, but nevertheless went bankrupt in 1989 before finally disappearing in 1993.
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Automated Simulations was founded in 1978 as a vehicle for publishing Freeman and Connelley's first video game, Starfleet Orion, written in PET BASIC for the Commodore PET. The game was easily ported to other platforms, starting with the TRS-80 and then the Apple II, the latter featuring rudimentary graphics. They followed this game with Invasion Orion, which included a computer opponent so as not to require two human players.
The company's 1979 release of Temple of Apshai was a major success. Rated as the best computer game by practically every magazine of the era, Apshai was soon ported from the TRS-80 to additional systems, such as the Atari 400/800 and the Commodore 64. Apshai spawned a number of similar adventure games based on the same game engine, including two direct sequels, branded under the Dunjonquest label. The games were so successful that they were later re-released in 1985 as the Temple of Apshai Trilogy. A series of "semi-action" BASIC games followed under the Epyx brand, including Crush, Crumble and Chomp!, Rescue at Rigel, and Star Warrior, each of which added little twists to the Apshai engine.[citation needed]
Freeman left the company to start Free Fall Associates in 1981, leaving Connelley to lead what was now a large company. In 1983 the company assumed its brand name, becoming known simply as Epyx. Connelley reorganized his own development team as The Connelley Group, but continued to work under the Epyx umbrella, releasing Dragonriders of Pern. However 1983 was the year that Jumpman was released and became a big hit. Management decided the future was in action games, and Connelley eventually left the company.
A string of successful action games followed, including the hits Impossible Mission and Summer Games. The latter created a long run of successful sequels, including Winter Games, California Games, and World Games.
The company also branched out into "Computer Activity Toys", licenses of Hot Wheels, GI Joe, and Barbie. In Europe, the British home computer game company U.S. Gold published Epyx games for the Commodore 64, and also ported many of the games to other major European platforms such as the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC.
For the bestselling Commodore 64, Epyx made the FastLoad cartridge which enabled a fivefold speedup of floppy disk drive accesses through Commodore's very slow "serial IEEE-488" interface. Additionally, the FastLoad featured convenient disk access commands (for directory listings and program loads/saves, etc.), and a disk editor—a hacking tool allowing for direct low-level access to floppy disks. Another hardware product was the Epyx 500XJ Joystick, which used high-quality microswitches to produce a well-liked joystick.
Starting in 1986 Epyx also developed a handheld game system called the Handy. Unable to continue due to high costs, it was sold to Atari, renamed, and sold as the Atari Lynx.
In 1987, Epyx faced an important copyright infringement lawsuit from Data East USA regarding Epyx's Commodore 64 video game World Karate Championship. Data East thought the whole game, and particularly the depiction of the referee, looked too much like its 1984 arcade game Karate Champ. Data East won at the US District Court level and Judge William Ingram ordered Epyx to recall all copies of World Karate Championship. Epyx appealed the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who reversed the judgment and ruled in favor of Epyx, stating that copyright protection did not extend to the idea of a tournament karate game, but specific artistic choices not dictated by that idea.[1] The Court noted that a "17.5 year-old boy" could see clear differences between the elements of each game actually subject to copyright.[1]
In 1989, Epyx filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to Stephen Landrum, a long-time game programmer at Epyx, the company went bankrupt "because it never really understood why it had been successful in the past, and then decided to branch out in a lot of directions, all of which turned out to be failures."[2]
At this time, Epyx moved to a smaller office in downtown Redwood City and laid off nearly everyone. Epyx still developed games, but gave up their publishing rights and all the rights to the handheld game console they were developing to Atari (the company they owed most of the money to), eventually becoming the Atari Lynx. Epyx eventually came out of bankruptcy, but in 1993, with eight employees left, they decided just to sell off the rest of the company. Bridgestone Media Group eventually got the rights to everything else Epyx had, only Peter Engelbrite took the job offers issued to the remaining eight employees.
In 2006, British publisher System 3 announced it had acquired Epyx's assets to release games such as California Games and Impossible Mission for Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, and Wii in 2007.
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 "Epyx" 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 "Epyx" on Google. Do this and you get a cookie.
The following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total.
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PRS |
S cont.W |
| Epyx | |
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| Type | Corporation (Defunct) |
| Founded | 1978 (defunct 1993) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
| Products | Temple of Apshai |
| Parent Company | N/A |
| Website | |
Originally founded in 1978 by Jon Freeman and Jim Connelley as Automated Simulations, and 1981 changed name to Epyx. Initially the company was known for its strategy games, hence the motto "Computer games thinkers play" fit into its profile. Epyx (then Automated Simulations) was founded in 1978 as a vehicle for publishing Freeman and Connelley's first game in BASIC, Starfleet Orion for the Commodore PET. Their company quickly started developing games for other popular home computer ranges of the era, such as the Apple II family, the TRS-80 series, the Atari 400/800 and the Commodore 64.
Among Epyx' best known titles are the Summer Games and Winter Games series (later also including California Games and World Games), the Temple of Apshai games, Jumpman, Impossible Mission, and the "Computer Activity Toys" licenses of Hot Wheels, GI Joe and Barbie.
Epyx also developed a handheld game system called the Handy. Unable to continue due to high costs, it was sold to Atari. Atari then renamed and sold it as the Atari Lynx.
In 1983, new ownership took over the company, and got involved with action games, this brought Jon Freeman to leave and found Free Fall Associates with his wife Anne Westfall , and Jim Conelly left as well.
In 1987, Epyx faced an important infringement lawsuit from Data East USA regarding the Epyx's Commodore 64 game World Karate Championship. Data East thought the whole game, and particurarily the referee in it, looked too much like its 1984 arcade game Karate Champ. Data East won the lawsuit and 9th Circuit US District Court Judge William Ingram ordered Epyx to recall all copies of World Karate Championship from store shelves. But Epyx appealed the case to the US Federal Court, who reversed the judgement and ruled in favor of Epyx, stating that copyright protection did not extend to the idea of a Karate game, but specific artistic choices not dicated by that idea. The court noted that a "17.5 year-old boy" could see clear differences between the elements of each game actually subject to copyright.
Epyx was best known for its sports games developed after the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, it expanded into many different olympic games and other sport games.
In 1985, they moved their headquarters to Redwood City, California, and grew to 200 employees.
Epyx started developing hardware, such as the Commodore 64 fast load cartridge. Epyx expanded into every aspect involved in games and the games hardware. All these avenues were unsuccessful and the company had to file in chapter 11 of bankruptcy in 1989. They eventually sold the Lynx console rights to Atari in 1991 which brought them out of their debts. However, with only 8 employees left working at Epyx they decided to sell the developing rights.
In 1989, Epyx filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to Stephen Landrum, a long-time programmer at Epyx, the company went bankrupt "because it never really understood why it had been successful in the past, and then decided to branch out in a lot of directions, all of which turned out to be failures.
At this time, they moved to a smaller office in downtown San Francisco and laid off nearly everyone. Epyx still developed games, but gave up their publishing rights and all the rights to the handheld game console they were developing to Atari (the company they owed most of the money to), eventually becoming the Atari Lynx. Epyx eventually came out of bankruptcy, but in 1993, with 8 employees left, they decided just to sell the rest of the company off.
The company was bought by Bridgestone media group, a christian organization. Only Peter Engelbrite went to that company, all other staff went elsewhere.
In 2006, British publisher System 3 announced it has acquired Epyx's assets to release games such as California Games, The Last Ninja and Impossible Mission for Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and Wii in 2007.
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   | History of Epyx - A History of Epyx |
| | "An Epyx Tale" - The Dot Eaters - Player4 Stage3 - Classic Video Game History |
| | MobyGames' entry on Epyx - MobyGames - Epyx, Inc. |
| | Interview with Stephn Landrum - http://www.fomalhaut.de/c64.shtml |
| | Epyx profile - MobyGames - Epyx, Inc. |
| | Images of some early Epyx brochures - Epyx Brochures: 1981, 1983, 1984 |
| | "An Epyx Tale" - The Dot Eaters - Player4 Stage3 - Classic Video Game History |
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