May 12, 1986
Foxglove Productions
To:The CEO of Horse-Drawn Games
“Hello, I’m Norris Merrill of the new game studio Foxglove Productions. I’d like to request a license to develop a game called ‘Silent Assassin’ on the Gamewagon. Please reply at the soonest available time. It will be a pleasure doing business with you.”
-Norris
May 12, 1986
Pixel Studios
Two days late, Pixel Studios has released their second game, but their first revival. More details on Prison Life here.
Prison Life
Price: $15.50, or £9.41.
Markets: USA, Canada, and the UK.
Topic: Prison
Genres: Simulation, RPG
Languages: Spanish, French, English (2nd languages for Canada and USA.)
Platforms: Pixel Cube, PC
Release Date: May 10, 1986
Game Features and Specs:
2D V2 (8 bit, 256 colors, not all used though)
Cheats
Different gamemodes
Different AI types
8 different weapons, including 2 different guns
Two different endgame scenarios
Choices effect endgame scenario
2 difficulties, easy and hard
Decent animations
AI types can be changed, EG corrupt police officers, enemies will help
’Gang’ system
Customizable gang outfits
Recorded stats
Personal Leaderboards with up to 5 entries
4 different skills
On a side note, limited edition Pixel Cubes with custom art will be released. There will only be 1000 made, and they will come with a custom shell, and a copy of Prison Architect. Controllers will also look different.
May 15, 1986
Pixel Studios
(IN A LETTER)
Charles,
Sorry for such a late reply. We were in a scramble to get things done, with new console art, controller art, games, and other things. Licenses are free, and the doccuments are included in this letter that give you permission to develop for the Pixel Cube. I am glad you picked the Pixel Cube. CD’s are cheaper to manufacture, and the Pixel Cube has more potential then the other consoles because we actively update it. If you ever would like a “parent company”, don’t hesitate to ask.
Evan Havvid
Pixel Studios
May 18, 1986
Cube Studio
In a Letter
Thank you Mr Havvid, we will get to work on our game right away!
-Charles Smith of Cube Studio
April Charts
Aquatopia: 8.75
*With the recent trend of simulation games on PC, it takes a lot for a simulation game to stand out. Aquatopia does with some brilliant features and tongue-in-cheek humour. Its use of random events, both good and bad keep players on their toes and make sure no game is the same. Its two-player mode is a brilliant, if hard to manage on the PC. It’s use of competitive gaming against your friends is genius, if hard to handle. Brilliant title from Gadgeteer Games. *
April Sales:
No More Him: 40,000 (+10%)
Toyland (Japan): 187,500 (+28.1%)
PC maker Tycoon: 8,000 (+.3%)
New World: 50,000 (+8.75%)
Sixgun Hero: 150,000 (+37.5%)
Mayor Tycoon: 20,000 (+1%)
R1111: 30,000 (+22.5%)
Toyland (Pixelcube): 25,000 (+3.1%)
Terrorville: 25,000 (+3.1%)
Astrid’s Pony Tales II: 100,000 (+25%)
Transport Manager: 20,000 (+3.5%)
May 23, 1986
Cube Studio
A Newcomer in the game industry, Cube Studio has just announced their first game for the Pixel Cube. The game is titled Battlefront, A Top Down Shooter where you Build up an army by earning credits, And use your armies to help you in battle. The only thing known about the launch date, Is that it will be far from now.
May 26, 1986
Horse-Drawn Games
Scottsdale, Vermont
TV and magazine ads promoting the upcoming game, Strange Pony Tales: Dark Phantasm, have begun circulation. The TV ad depicts both original animation and gameplay footage, set to an original song titled All In performed by Quiet Riot. The end of the commercial shows the Strange Pony Tales game box next to a blue Gamewagon; a color not currently available. The magazine ad features original artwork, screen shots, and a photo of a two-tone black and blue Gamewagon.
From what can be seen in the ads, Strange Pony Tales: Dark Phantasm will have a more contemporary, realistic setting than games of the Astrid’s Pony Tales series. Four playable characters have been revealed; three ponies and a goblin. Their clothing reflects their living in a modern city, as opposed to the fantasy-inspired garb typical in Astrid’s Pony Tales. The goblin character, whose name has not been revealed, is depicted using firearms in both the TV and magazine ad.
Strange Pony Tales: Dark Phantasm will release in June for the Gamewagon, Pixel Cube, and PC at an announced price point of $50.
(MacDon says my earlier announcement of new Gamewagon colors didn’t count because it was too close to the update, so nobody freak when I re-announce the same colors next month XD )
May 28, 1986
Pixel Studios
(IN A LETTER.)
Horse-Drawn Games,
I am interested in porting Prison Life over to the gamewagon. I would like to know licensing costs, if there are any at all.
Evan Havvid
Pixel Studios
May 30, 1986
Horse-Drawn Games
Scottsdale, Vermont
Pixel Studios,
Ordinarily, licensing fees are $80,000. However, as Pixel Studios has kindly allowed Horse-Drawn Games to develop and publish on the Pixel Cube for free, we at Horse-Drawn Games would like to return the favor. Enclosed is a software development kit and all the appropriate paperwork. SImply fill out and return the forms, and you are free to port Prison Life to the Gamewagon. I look forward to a future of cooperation between our companies.
Irene Stevenson
Horse-Drawn Games
May 31, 1986
Pixel Studios
Los Angeles, California
Irene,
Thank you for the free licensing. The forms are attached in this paper. Thanks for the opportunity, and I too hope our company can have a future of cooperation.
Evan
June 2, 1986
Cube Studio
In a letter
Mr Havvid, Our new game is coming along nicely, And as you are a larger company, we ask of you to Help us market our game… We are willing to pay.
-Charles Smith of Cube Studio
June 9, 1986
Gadgeteer Games
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Funds: 189.2%
Today, ads and merchandise for Gadgeteer’s new Shoot 'em up Fractalspace has begun.
A package of 15 Fractalspace fridge magnets and 25 stickers can be bought for $8 at Toys Galore toy stores, while a demo with the first level on it can be bought at Radio Mansion for only $0.50 USD.
Full page magazine ads, including an insert containing a fridge magnet of the “fighter ship character thing”, now known simply as the Fighter, and 5 randomly selected stickers will be shown in Game Giant and Pixel Power gaming magazines.
The game will retail for $40, and goes on sale this summer.
June 16th, 1986
Draconic Games
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Funds: 5.0%
A new company starting up in Atlanta,Georgia has made a surprise announcement how they will enter the gaming market and test their game-making limits! They already released information on their first game titled “Dungeon Hunter!”
Name: Dungeon Hunter
Genre: RPG
Topic: Medieval-Dungeon
Platform: Pixel Cube, PC
Price: 30$
Game Description: The game is about a Dungeon Hunter named Aaron who looks for ancient dungeons and ruins across the land of Renion, he as well as another Dungeon Hunter you control named Luke battle fierce abominations in these abandoned Dungeons, what awaits you?
This game offers easy control mechanics to get used to! As well as you can control not 1 but 2 Characters! Along with this, it is an open-worlded RPG which offers endless amounts of fun, Our main game tester Josh estimated that a casual gamer would take about 10-15 hours to finish the game’s storyline and 17 hours of extra content such as side-quests and non-linear dungeons! Along with this there is the most basic AI of the other character following where-ever you go if you choose to do so in the options!
Up to 17 hours of gameplay, Storyline and all!
Easy to learn and use controls!
Control 2 Characters at once if wanted
Open-Worlded gameplay!
8-Bit Graphics with 64 different Colors!
Mono Sound
A Linear storyline
A Basic Currency System!
A Savegame Feature!
The Game is suggested for Kids and Teens!
Release Date: TBA
We can’t wait to see what Draconic Games did with this game and it’s released info! We give good biddings to Draconic Games as they attempt their Marathon!
( @Aragon450 Looks good. You might want to increase the price a bit as pricing games too low can lead to your game ending up as shovelware, due to a game-balancing system. And yes, it also means high-priced games are simply overpriced. Aim for around $45, give or take $10 or $20.)
[Thanks for the tips mate, I have about 4 years of Roleplaying experience I don’t mean to be cocky or anything I just want to show that I’m a good roleplayer with the practice, perhaps we could do buisness On topic? Again thanks so much for letting me in the RP and all the tips. I really truely appreciate it.]
(Soon maybe, but it looks like there’s something big coming up. I’ll PM you a link that I’m expecting to receive soon.)
June 17, 1986
Dark Entertainment
From: Starke Evan’s News
Starke Evan (Reporter): Today, I have John H. right next to me, literally!
John H. (DE CEO): Okay, let’s get the show on the road.
Starke Evan (Reporter): Let’s start with what I’m most curious about: is Terrorville actually “haunted” or “cursed”?
John H. (DE CEO): Well, I’m not even sure whether my game is actually haunted. What do I look like, a priest? I will say this: the fire on our factory did delay a lot of our progress in the gaming industry. Here’s a short report from what we have in our data base:
“What caused the fire is absolutely unknown. Some workers report seeing a “skull masked” man haunting the factory for two days before the production of copies for Terrorville, others say it was a worker smoking a cigar. There is no proof for either one. About 12 workers died, 4 injured, 2 missing, and others were luckily unharmed.”
On the side of that, no programmer “died” while making the game, nor anyone that made the game. We simply fired two new lazy programmers, not killed.
Starke Evan (Reporter): What inspired you into the gaming market anyways?
John H. (DE CEO): Borned and raised in Minnesota, my entire family died literally by the time I was 13. The only person other than me that lives today is my uncle, Johnny Apples. He hired me to work in his bakery until the year where I played “Jim Boy”. A quick adventure game my best friend just made, which gave Drake and I the idea to hit the market. If you want to play the game, we sadly lost the source code for it, so it’s completely lost. Both of our copies went missing ever since we started developing.
Starke Evan (Reporter): Deep…To finish this report up, what’s your next game and do you plan to make a console?
John H. (DE CEO): Zombie Rampage, that’s our next game. It’s to introduce Jake Micheal, our newest programmer. Zombie Rampage is gonna be a Zombie/Action game where you basically shoot, wack, and kill zombies.
To answer your other question, I honestly don’t plan on a console. However, Drake has been bragging me on planning one. Sadly, our funds won’t cut it, so no to summarize it up.
Starke Evan (Reporter): Alright, now we know: Yes game, no console. I’m a bit sad now…
June 23, 1986
Gadgeteer Games
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Funds: 186.7%
Today, ads and merchandise for Gadgeteer’s new racing simulator Horsepower has begun.
Full page magazine ads will be shown in Game Giant and Pixel Power gaming magazines, but no merchandising will take place.
“Maybe for the sequel.” said Gadgeteer Games’ lead developer Oliver Zehn. “If we actually make a sequel.”
The game will retail for $40, and goes on sale in August.
June 25, 1986
Horse-Drawn Games
Scottsdale, Vermont
Horse-Drawn’s anticipated spin-off title for teen and young adult gamers, Strange Pony Tales: Dark Phantasm, officially released today. The main menu theme is an 8-bit version of All In, the song played during the game’s TV commercial. Players take on the role of an adolescent pony who can see ghosts. The protagonist can be either male or female (female by default), and the player is prompted to enter both a first and last name (six letters max, each). The other playable characters have predetermined names and sexes.
After evil spirits attack the city of Magdalaria, the protagonist finds that several of his or her classmates also have the power to see ghosts. The small party grows as others in town join up to fight off the evil spirits. In addition to the malevolent wraiths that the protagonist’s party must defeat, there are also benevolent spirits called aspects that help the characters in battle. Each aspect is categorized (war, magic, life, chaos). Any character can use any aspect, but characters may be more or less compatible with a certain category. Characters with good compatibility get a better bonus from an aspect of that category.
Characters can also equip both a ranged and a melee weapon, and some opponents can only be hit by ranged attacks. Magician ponies use an amulet for ranged attacks, as was the norm in Astrid’s Pony Tales. Warrior ponies use a special rigging to equip firearms. The two playable goblin characters also use firearms as their ranged weapons. All ponies use spurs for melee weapons, while the goblins use swords and hammers.
Strange Pony Tales: Dark Phantasm is priced at $50. It includes an instruction manual, art book, stickers, and a two-sided poster. One side depicts all of the protagonists together, while the other depicts the main character alone, looking up at the night sky.
The respective Gamewagon models are now called Gamewagon Astonish, Gamewagon Beauty, and Gamewagon Candy (or Gamewagon Classic, depending on color). There are no changes to the system’s hardware or performance. However, the Gamewagon Candy is available in a wide variety of colors, and prices have fallen across the board.
Astonish: $325
Beauty: $220
Candy/Classic: $140
The Gamewagon Candy is available in the following colors: licorice (black), peppermint (white), cherry (red), strawberry (pink), bubblegum (hot pink), raspberry (maroon), grape (purple), cotton candy (light blue), blueberry (blue), watermelon (teal), lime (green), sour apple (yellow-green), lemon (yellow), orange (orange), chocolate (brown), and caramel (light brown). The Gamewagon Candy’s housing is smooth and shiny. The traditional matte beige and wood-print Gamewagons will still be manufactured and sold as Gamewagon Classic.
Additionally, a limited edition Strange Pony Tales: Dark Phantasm bundle is available. Only 3000 of these bundles are available.
An animated series based on the Astrid’s Pony Tales video games is now airing. The character and set designs are heavily based on Irene Stevenson’s art style, but Stevenson herself is not actually involved in the show’s production. Each episode opens with Astrid telling a story to a group of young ponies, and then shifts to depict the events of the story directly. Episodes occupy a 30 minute time slot, and run for approximately 22 minutes after commercial breaks are considered. Most episodes depict a standalone story, but shorter stories are grouped into double- or triple-episodes (within the same time constraint). Betty White provides the voice of Astrid in all episodes, and occasionally other miscellaneous characters.
June 28, 1986
Cube Studio
The Game Battlefront’s Release date has been announced, August 10th, 1986