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Epyx, Inc. was a video gamedeveloper and publisher active in the late 1970s and 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.
History
Formation
In 1977, Susan Lee-Murrow invited Jon Freeman to join a Dungeons & Dragons game hosted by Jim Connelley and Jeff Johnson. Connelley later purchased a Commodore PET computer to help with the bookkeeping involved in being a dungeon master, and came up with the idea of writing a computer game for the machine before the end of the year so he could write it off on his taxes. Freeman had written on gaming for several publications, and joined Connelley in the design of a new space-themed wargame. Starting work around August 1978, Freeman wrote the basic rules, mission sets, background stories and the manual, while Connelley coded up the system in PET BASIC.[1]
The BASIC era
The two formed Automated Simulations around Thanksgiving 1978 to market the game, and released it in December as Starfleet Orion.[1] Examining contemporary magazines (Byte and Creative Computing) suggests this is the first space-themed wargame for a personal computer (however, see Star Trek). As the game was written in BASIC, it was easy to port to other home computers of the era, starting with the TRS-80 and then the Apple II, the latter featuring rudimentary graphics. They followed this game with 1979's Invasion Orion, which included a computer opponent so as not to require two human players.[1]
The company's next release, 1979's Temple of Apshai, was a major success, selling over 20,000 copies in an era of few computers.[2] As the game was not a "simulation" of anything, the company introduced the Epyx brand name for these more action-oriented titles. 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.
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, releasing games with other labels such as Brøderbund.
For the bestselling Commodore 64, Epyx made the Fast Loadcartridge which enabled a fivefold speedup of floppy disk drive accesses through Commodore's very slow 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 popular Epyx 500XJ Joystick, which used high-quality microswitches and a more ergonomic form factor than the Atari 2600 joystick style then prevalent.
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.[4]
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 gameKarate 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.[5] The Court noted that a "17.5 year-old boy" could see clear differences between the elements of each game actually subject to copyright.[5]
Bankruptcy and asset sales
In 1989, Epyx discontinued developing computer games, began making only console games,[6] and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[7] 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."[8]
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 acquired the rights the rest of Epyx's assets. Job offers were extended to the eight remaining employees, but only Peter Engelbrite accepted.
Also known as Death Sword, a fighting game, players fight gory combat against one another or for the sake of a bikini-clad princess. Controversy over the game's packaging in the UK stoked this game's success.
Published as The Sacred Armour of Antiriad outside of North America and set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, a combination actionpuzzle and platform game; came with a 16-page comic book
A powerful disk drive loading accelerator, one of the most widely used peripherals for the Commodore 64, it also contained a number of other useful software tools
An Atari compatiblejoystick that was innovative in that its base was molded to more naturally fit a player's hand, so it was easier to use than traditional rectangular-based joysticks
A handheld game console that was innovative in many ways. Short on capital at the time, however, Epyx licensed it to Atari, who christened it the Atari Lynx