Digital Pictures

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3DO Games

Game Region Code Type Developer Publisher Release Date Local Title Rarity
Corpse Killer NA Rail shooter Digital Pictures Acclaim Distribution 1994 1
Corpse Killer JP Rail shooter Digital Pictures Acclaim Distribution 1994 コープス・キラー 1
Night Trap EU Interactive movie Digital Pictures Virgin Interactive 1994 1
Night Trap NA Interactive movie Digital Pictures Virgin Interactive 1994 1
Night Trap JP FZ-SJ1951 Interactive movie Digital Pictures Virgin Interactive 1994 ナイト・トラップ 1
Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka NA Sports Digital Pictures Acclaim Distribution November 27, 1995 1
Sewer Shark EU Rail shooter Digital Pictures Hasbro (NA) 1994 1
Sewer Shark NA Rail shooter Digital Pictures Hasbro (NA) 1994 1
Supreme Warrior NA Fighting Digital Pictures Acclaim Distribution November 1, 1994 1
Supreme Warrior JP Fighting Digital Pictures Acclaim Distribution November 1, 1994 サプリーム・ウォーリアー 1

Overview

Digital Pictures was an American video game developer founded in 1991 by Lode Coen, Mark Klein, Ken Melville, Anne Flaut-Reed, Kevin Welsh and Tom Zito.

The company originated from an attempt to produce a game for the failed VHS-based NEMO game system. One of its first titles, Night Trap (starring Dana Plato) was originally produced as a title for the NEMO, before being converted for use with Sega's new Sega CD. The mature-themed content of Night Trap made it the source of some controversy. Nevertheless, the title was a bestseller. Digital Pictures went on to create other full motion video-based titles primarily for Sega hardware, and are regarded as a pioneer of the interactive movie genre. However, the company declined in the mid-1990s due to waning interest in full motion video games. Its final title, Maximum Surge, went unreleased and was later repurposed into a 2003 film called Game Over.

Full motion video games

The founders of Digital Pictures met in the late 1980s while working at a division of the toy manufacturer Hasbro originally called Hasbro Interactive and later renamed Isix. The Isix team developed a video game system called NEMO (a code name abbreviation for "never ever mention outside") that used VHS tapes rather than cartridges, which allowed games to offer live action and interactive full motion video. They also developed a software prototype called Scene Of The Crime, which led to the production of two full-length titles, Night Trap and Sewer Shark.

After Hasbro executives declined to bring the NEMO system to market, closing its Isix division, key members of the Isix team founded Digital Pictures in 1991 and purchased the NEMO software assets from Hasbro. Digital Pictures converted Night Trap and Sewer Shark from their video-tape-based format to the Sega CD platform.

"We're betting, ultimately, when there's an interactive cable converter sitting atop everyone's TV set, that something that feels like Citizen Kane (or at least Leave It to Beaver) will have more legs than something that feels like Super Mario or Princess Toadstool - Tom Zito

Throughout the 1990s, Digital Pictures continued to design interactive full motion video games for the CD-ROM format. Steve Russell worked for the company for a time. Several celebrities, including actors Steve Eastin, Corey Haim, Yasmine Bleeth, R. Lee Ermey, and Dana Plato; sports stars Scottie Pippen and Mike Ditka; and musicians Debbie Harry, INXS, Kris Kross, C+C Music Factory, and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, appeared in Digital Pictures games.

Controversy

In the early 1990s, Night Trap was singled out by numerous interest groups and by Senators Joseph Lieberman and Herbert Kohl as evidence that the video game industry was marketing games with graphic violence and other adult content to minors. Concern about Night Trap and several other games such as Mortal Kombat helped to bring about the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) video game rating system.

Decline

By the late 1990s, consumer interest in full-motion video games, which accounted for the majority of the company's profits, was in decline. After the collapse of the company, its assets were acquired by Cyber Cinema Interactive. The new company intended to re-release the games for DVD but that never came about. The only actual production for Cyber Cinema was the direct to video film Game Over – also known as Maximum Surge Movie. It used footage from an unreleased video game called Maximum Surge as well as clips from other Digital Pictures games. Although the film boasted stars such as Yasmine Bleeth and Walter Koenig, they only appear in the segments that had been pulled from the FMV sequences of the game, which suffer from lower image quality than the original footage.

Re-releases

Flash Film Works later acquired the rights to some of the games. They remastered and re-released Double Switch and Quarterback Attack for iTunes and Google Play in late 2016 before partnering with Screaming Villains and Limited Run Games to release PlayStation 4 remasters starting in 2018 with Double Switch and 2019 with Corpse Killer. Screaming Villains separately re-released Night Trap and Ground Zero Texas (two of the games not owned by Flash Film Works) through Limited Run Games.

Games developed

List of games developed by Digital Pictures and all subsequent releases of the games either by them or successor companies.

Title Cast Date of release Format
Citizen X Sharee Gregory, Charley Hayward, Peter Kent,
Rob Narita, Mark Withers
2002 Sega CD
Corpse Killer Vincent Schiavelli, Jeremiah Birkett, Bridget Butler 1994 Sega CD
Sega 32X
1995 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
Macintosh
Sega Saturn
2019 PlayStation 4
Steam
2020 Nintendo Switch
Double Switch Corey Haim, Deborah Harry, R. Lee Ermey, <Irwin Keyes, Camille Cooper 1993 Sega CD
1995 Sega Saturn
Windows 95
2016 Google Play
iTunes
2018 PlayStation 4
Steam
2019 Nintendo Switch
Ground Zero: Texas Steve Eastin, Leslie Zemeckis, Scott Lawrence, Christopher Bradley, Rick Aiello 1993 Sega CD
2021 PlayStation 4
Steam
Kids on Site Larry Grennan, Scott McClain, Robin Joss 1994 DOS
Macintosh
Sega CD
Make My Video: INXS INXS 1992 Sega CD
Make My Video: Kris Kross Kris Kross 1992 Sega CD
Make My Video: Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch 1992 Sega CD
Maximum Surge Yasmine Bleeth, Walter Koenig, Michael Champion, Andy Hirsch N/A 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
Macintosh
Sega Saturn
Windows 95
Night Trap Dana Plato, Tracy Matheson, Debra Parks, Allison Rhea, Christy Ford 1992 Sega CD
1994 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
DOS
Sega 32X
1995 Macintosh
2017 PlayStation 4
Steam
2018 Nintendo Switch
PlayStation Vita
Power Factory Featuring C+C Music Factory C+C Music Factory 1992 Sega CD
Prize Fighter Jimmy Nickerson, Manny Perry, Billy Lucas, Ben Bray 1993 Sega CD
Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka Mike Ditka, Keith Neubert, Peter Kent 1995 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
Sega Saturn
1996 DOS
2016 Google Play
iTunes
Sewer Shark David Underwood, Robert Costanzo, Kari G. Peyton 1992 Sega CD
1994 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
Slam City with Scottie Pippen Scottie Pippen, Keith Gibbs, Malcolm Ian Cross, Keith Neubert, Dana Wilkerson 1994 Sega CD
1995 DOS
Sega 32X
Supreme Warrior Vivian Wu, Richard Norton, Roger Yuan, Chuck Jeffreys, Ron Yuan, Chaplin Chang 1994 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
Sega 32X
Sega CD
1996 DOS
Macintosh
What's My Story? Jill Wright 1996 Macintosh