Nor would anyone expect WALT DISNEY, of all people, to be fully involved in the gaming industry! Speaking of which, would LJN still exist?
Laughin' Place: Redefining Disney
- Thread starter HeX
- Start date
- Status
Nor would anyone expect WALT DISNEY, of all people, to be fully involved in the gaming industry! Speaking of which, would LJN still exist?
No, not as a game company they won't. With Disney proving any movie studio can get into gaming, LJN won't have the vital movie tie-in games that was their lifeblood in the 1980s, with companies either trying to do it themselves or outsourcing it to a bigger, respectable video game developer instead of looking for a quick buck.
Well, maybe LJN does the reaching out to European (Rare, Codemasters, U.S. Gold) and Japanese (Technos, Irem, Sammy, Mac O'River/Video System, Natsume) deveopers that Tradewest, Acclaim/Ballistic, and Milton Bradley, of all companies, tapped for either localizations, or else licenses for in-house ports. After seeing them on YouTube, I think I would have killed for an NTSC version of any of the last three Dizzy side scrollers.
Exactly the same as IOTL, with the exceptions of Disney owning the first Star Wars movie (but not the sequels) and the Indiana Jones franchise, and Universal owning Atari, not Warner Bros.
So initially they'd be porting the good games of other companies before eventually breaking out to making their own games? Anything that could make LJN's involvement in the industry not be a black mark on the late Jack Friedman's legacy.
I think I may have asked the trillion-dollar question so far in the gaming industry.
It wasn't all bad. T&C Surf Designs was the best surfing simulator out there until Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer. Okay, the sequel was an uninspired ripoff of the Wonder Boy/Adventure Island games, but the first blew the surfing event of California Games out of the water, so to speak.
But that and one or two of their wrestling games seemed to have been the only ones LJN really went all out on. Maybe if the crew who did that game caught the eye of management a little more...
Losing the Battle
Universal Studios Lot, Universal City, CA
November 21, 1978
The bustling, talkative crowd parted and fell silent as Nolan Bushnell thundered down the hallway, straight to Michael Eisner's office. He was pissed. Really pissed. MCA and Universal hadn't listened to him in almost a year. They hadn't given him credit where credit was due, and instead looked to Raymond Kassar, who was spreading MCA's virus inside his company.
Bushnell threw open the door to Eisner's office. Inside was the man himself, talking on the phone. "I want to talk," said Atari's founder.
Eisner glanced up at him, annoyed. "Can't it wait?"
"Now."
"Sorry, Lou, Bushnell's here... Yeah, I'll be firm. Alright, bye." Eisner turned to Bushnell. "What do you want?"
"I want someone to goddamn listen to me for once!"
"...Is this about the 2600's lifespan? We've already discussed this, Nolan."
Bushnell looked as though steam would start pouring out of his ears any second. "Yes, but you haven't done anything with what I've been telling you! Ever since the console launched, I've been saying that we could make a better one! More powerful! But no. You jokers up here want to be in the razor business, but only want to sell dulled blades! The tech needs to be upgraded, and soon, or the whole industry will stagnate."
Michael Eisner shrugged. "I don't see a problem if we're the only people selling razor blades."
"Well, I'll tell you the problem. There are eight hundred thousand Atari 2600 consoles sitting in a warehouse in New York. And they've been there since June! This Christmas season is going to show you all just how bad these business practices are."
"You're overreacting, Nolan. Sit down and screw your head on straight, because this holiday will be fine."
Bushnell sighed. "Yeah, but it's not just that, is it? You all at Universal have been shafting me since the day Sidney Sheinberg signed Atari on. Denying third-parties the ability to make software on our new computers. Prices on our pinball machines. Calling Raymond Kassar and not me. You all just want to control everything you own down to the finest detail."
"Now, Nolan," said an indignant Michael Eisner. "That's no way to talk to your boss."
Nolan Bushnell stood up. "Fire me, then. Because I won't work for a company that hates me. I've nothing left at Atari. Its soul left when we joined the 'MCA family'."
Bushnell turned around and walked to the door. Just as he grasped the handle, Eisner spoke. "...Mister Bushnell, I expect you to clean out your desk by the end of the week. I'm afraid your time here at MCA has ended."
Nolan Bushnell nodded, and didn't look back.
--Nolan Bushnell, from Atari: Gaming the System, by Anthony Paulsen
"Halloween was Universal's second hit in the one-two punch that was 1978, following the acclaimed Jaws 2. But for all its worth, and for how much it did to redefine horror movies, it just couldn't compare to Mickey Mousecapade."
--From Going Global: A History of Universal Pictures, by Otto Friedrich
November 21, 1978
Tex Avery stepped out into the blinding sunlight of Hollywood at high noon. He'd just seen Mickey Mousecapade, and loved every second of it. It brought him back to the good old days, when he was at Warner Brothers and worked on the likes of Bugs Bunny and the Looney Toons gang. His respect for Disney had grown since those times, though. Back then, he'd seen them as on their way out, trying to hard to make their animation artsy when they should've focused on the gags. But now, the company had somehow fused that artsy style with slapstick comedy to create what Avery considered the best cartoon ever made.
Disney had inspired him a lot, lately. Way back in 1970, Avery had--by chance--stumbled upon a talk on TV Walt was giving about how smoking was bad for people, and that if he could beat his addiction, anyone could. In response, Tex Avery had begun to look into the matter more and soon found that new evidence showing the hidden evils of smoking was coming out every day. The animator slowly worked to get himself off tobacco in general, something his doctor had congratulated him on doing.
And then, there was also Mousecapade's instillment of a sudden drive to get back into the animation game. Tex Avery had gotten out of the groove in the past few years, and although his RAID and Frito Bandito commercials were iconic, they didn't... satisfy him the way the old cartoons had. Maybe one day, he'd do something more with all the talent he had stored away in his pen.
--Walt Disney, from his famed speech decrying smoking, May 5, 1970
November 21, 1978
Michael Eisner sighed heavily. Not only had Universal just lost Atari's legendary founder, they, according to his sources, had also lost the month of November in box office numbers, Halloween versus Mickey Mousecapade. A drop in interest for a horror movie was sure to occur after the actual holiday of Halloween had passed, but not one this steep. People young and old were turning out to see Disney's latest and greatest animated feature, riding the high put in place by The Snow Queen and Star Wars. That meant less people interested in Halloween, which in turn meant less theaters interested in showing it... which meant less people interested in seeing it. The vicious cycle of the movie business was working at its finest in this instance.
The president of Universal just couldn't wait until next year. Then all his problems would be solved... hopefully.
November 21, 1978
The bustling, talkative crowd parted and fell silent as Nolan Bushnell thundered down the hallway, straight to Michael Eisner's office. He was pissed. Really pissed. MCA and Universal hadn't listened to him in almost a year. They hadn't given him credit where credit was due, and instead looked to Raymond Kassar, who was spreading MCA's virus inside his company.
Bushnell threw open the door to Eisner's office. Inside was the man himself, talking on the phone. "I want to talk," said Atari's founder.
Eisner glanced up at him, annoyed. "Can't it wait?"
"Now."
"Sorry, Lou, Bushnell's here... Yeah, I'll be firm. Alright, bye." Eisner turned to Bushnell. "What do you want?"
"I want someone to goddamn listen to me for once!"
"...Is this about the 2600's lifespan? We've already discussed this, Nolan."
Bushnell looked as though steam would start pouring out of his ears any second. "Yes, but you haven't done anything with what I've been telling you! Ever since the console launched, I've been saying that we could make a better one! More powerful! But no. You jokers up here want to be in the razor business, but only want to sell dulled blades! The tech needs to be upgraded, and soon, or the whole industry will stagnate."
Michael Eisner shrugged. "I don't see a problem if we're the only people selling razor blades."
"Well, I'll tell you the problem. There are eight hundred thousand Atari 2600 consoles sitting in a warehouse in New York. And they've been there since June! This Christmas season is going to show you all just how bad these business practices are."
"You're overreacting, Nolan. Sit down and screw your head on straight, because this holiday will be fine."
Bushnell sighed. "Yeah, but it's not just that, is it? You all at Universal have been shafting me since the day Sidney Sheinberg signed Atari on. Denying third-parties the ability to make software on our new computers. Prices on our pinball machines. Calling Raymond Kassar and not me. You all just want to control everything you own down to the finest detail."
"Now, Nolan," said an indignant Michael Eisner. "That's no way to talk to your boss."
Nolan Bushnell stood up. "Fire me, then. Because I won't work for a company that hates me. I've nothing left at Atari. Its soul left when we joined the 'MCA family'."
Bushnell turned around and walked to the door. Just as he grasped the handle, Eisner spoke. "...Mister Bushnell, I expect you to clean out your desk by the end of the week. I'm afraid your time here at MCA has ended."
Nolan Bushnell nodded, and didn't look back.
--------------------------------
"It was a very bad year for Atari. We had about forty million dollars worth of inventory that no one was willing to buy. Clearly, we had built too many units, too many 2600s. So I think my outburst was justified at the time. Would I ever do it again? No. But I felt justified."
--Nolan Bushnell, from Atari: Gaming the System, by Anthony Paulsen
"Halloween was Universal's second hit in the one-two punch that was 1978, following the acclaimed Jaws 2. But for all its worth, and for how much it did to redefine horror movies, it just couldn't compare to Mickey Mousecapade."
--From Going Global: A History of Universal Pictures, by Otto Friedrich
--------------------------------
Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, CA
November 21, 1978
Tex Avery stepped out into the blinding sunlight of Hollywood at high noon. He'd just seen Mickey Mousecapade, and loved every second of it. It brought him back to the good old days, when he was at Warner Brothers and worked on the likes of Bugs Bunny and the Looney Toons gang. His respect for Disney had grown since those times, though. Back then, he'd seen them as on their way out, trying to hard to make their animation artsy when they should've focused on the gags. But now, the company had somehow fused that artsy style with slapstick comedy to create what Avery considered the best cartoon ever made.
Disney had inspired him a lot, lately. Way back in 1970, Avery had--by chance--stumbled upon a talk on TV Walt was giving about how smoking was bad for people, and that if he could beat his addiction, anyone could. In response, Tex Avery had begun to look into the matter more and soon found that new evidence showing the hidden evils of smoking was coming out every day. The animator slowly worked to get himself off tobacco in general, something his doctor had congratulated him on doing.
And then, there was also Mousecapade's instillment of a sudden drive to get back into the animation game. Tex Avery had gotten out of the groove in the past few years, and although his RAID and Frito Bandito commercials were iconic, they didn't... satisfy him the way the old cartoons had. Maybe one day, he'd do something more with all the talent he had stored away in his pen.
--------------------------------
"When I was a young man, down on my luck in Kansas City, I had to make the final decision of smoking or food in my belly. It was in that instance that I beat my addiction, and I'm proud to say I haven't smoked a cigarette since 1923."
--Walt Disney, from his famed speech decrying smoking, May 5, 1970
--------------------------------
Michael Eisner's Office, Universal City, CA
November 21, 1978
Michael Eisner sighed heavily. Not only had Universal just lost Atari's legendary founder, they, according to his sources, had also lost the month of November in box office numbers, Halloween versus Mickey Mousecapade. A drop in interest for a horror movie was sure to occur after the actual holiday of Halloween had passed, but not one this steep. People young and old were turning out to see Disney's latest and greatest animated feature, riding the high put in place by The Snow Queen and Star Wars. That meant less people interested in Halloween, which in turn meant less theaters interested in showing it... which meant less people interested in seeing it. The vicious cycle of the movie business was working at its finest in this instance.
The president of Universal just couldn't wait until next year. Then all his problems would be solved... hopefully.
Last edited:
Yep, basically. And Atari will have no trouble securing the IP to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, either, with them being an arm of Universal...
- Status