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48-429: Arch Rivals allows players to select from a variety of fictional teams (although arcade operators can change the team names to reflect real ones) and players. One playable character, "Tyrone" was also featured in the animated The Power Team segments of the television series Video Power . In turn, the game has been considered a forerunner to Midway's popular arcade basketball game, NBA Jam . Emulated versions of

96-616: A Made Man and ATV Quad Power Racing 3 being returned to development at the Manchester studios, which were reopened by Fund4Games under the name Silverback Studios. In June 2006, Mastertronic announced that it had acquired the publishing rights to Made Man in Europe. The Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX and ATV: Quad Power Racing franchises were sold to Crave Entertainment in July 2005. In August 2005, former Activision executive Howard Marks acquired

144-472: A SWAT officer and had a utility belt instead of machine guns, and Kuros bore more resemblance to a barbarian (as Kuros was depicted on the Wizards and Warriors box art), especially the original He-Man , than a knight in armor. Tyrone was given a small afro , likely so he wouldn't resemble Michael Jordan as much as his Arch Rivals counterpart. Mr. Big more closely resembled his game counterpart, but he didn't use

192-454: A complaint filed in the same court sought to hold the company's founders, including Fischbach and Scorposki, and several executives accountable for Acclaim's financial losses shortly before the bankruptcy filing, seeking $ 150 million in damages. On October 1, 2004, Rod Cousens acquired the former Acclaim Studios Cheltenham and Acclaim Studios Manchester development studios, along with several of its unfinished projects. Cousens sought to reopen

240-562: A contract with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) to publish video games based on the promotion. Under this agreement, Acclaim released two video games until ECW declared bankruptcy in 2001, leaving the promotion still owing Acclaim money. The game publisher subsequently released three wrestling titles under the Legends of Wrestling banner during its final years. Acclaim faced significant financial difficulties in 2004, primarily due to poor sales of its video game titles. This situation led to

288-633: A global development team through a series of acquisitions during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following disappointing financial results in their 2003 fiscal year , Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September 2004. The properties owned by Acclaim were subsequently auctioned off to various parties. In the early 1980s, Greg Fischbach was employed by the American video game company Activision , where he worked alongside Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki. After leaving Activision, he joined RCA Records , which

336-454: A maneuver called the "flying leap" where the player would jump forwards at the opposition ball carrier. If the maneuver missed, the player would roll along the floor. If successful, the player would tackle the opposition holding the ball. In the Arcade version the "flying leap" would pull the opposition's shorts down, revealing the opponent's underwear. There are eight playable characters, each with

384-518: A speeding ticket. However, following negative reactions from the UK government, the plan was ultimately canceled. In the United States, Acclaim faced multiple lawsuits , several of which involved former partners. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen sued over unpaid royalties. Another lawsuit was brought by Acclaim's own investors, who claimed that Acclaim management had published misleading financial reports. In

432-456: A stand-alone show after Video Power underwent a format change for its second season. The Power Team was directed by Steven Martiniere and Jack Olesker was the developer and story editor. The cartoon series was produced by Bohbot Entertainment. The cartoon show featured characters from five different console video games published by Acclaim Entertainment . They included Max Force from NARC (originally an arcade game by Williams , ported to

480-471: A unique characteristic. The teams in Arch Rivals are selected at random, with Player 1 playing as the home team and Player 2 (or the computer) as the away team. The teams in the arcade version are Chicago , Los Angeles , New York , Denver , Natural High and Brawl State. Also, the arcade operator can customize the team names and colors through the game's "Hometown Heroes" feature. The four home ports of

528-461: A wheelchair and didn't have a "second form", instead of using cigar-related gadgets and weapons ("cigar missiles", for example). Secondary villain Malkil did not look like the stereotypical wizard of the games, although his depiction remained true to form by wearing a skullcap, robes, and a forked beard, which gave him a sinister, albeit regal appearance. Before the beginning of each episode, Johnny Arcade

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576-415: Is briefly shown playing each character's game on his NES before they come flying out of the screen. While Johnny was always leading the team, he was very rarely actually seen hanging out with the characters. He was often in his room calling the shots. Even though Max Force does take a bit of a leader role, one episode had Mr. Big tamper with Johnny's controls making him unable to give orders. While Mr. Big

624-553: The NBA Jam , AFL Live , All-Star Baseball , and NFL Quarterback Club franchises, as well as games from Japanese developer Taito that Acclaim had published outside of Japan. During Acclaim's decline towards bankruptcy, the company made several controversial business and marketing decisions in the United Kingdom. One notable example was a promise to award a US$ 10,000 (£6,000) prize to UK parents who named their baby "Turok" to promote

672-547: The Acclaim brand and logo for a reported $ 100,000. At the beginning of 2006, Marks established a new company named Acclaim Games . According to a job listing for the company, Acclaim Games targeted the US and UK preteen multiplayer markets. However, the second iteration of Acclaim struggled due to connectivity and payment issues for their online games, as well as a lack of action against dishonest players, earning this iteration an "F" grade from

720-520: The Acclaim lineup, mainly Mr. Big and his henchmen Spike Rush and Joe Rockhead from NARC , although Malkil from Wizards and Warriors or Kwirk's enemies from his own game occasionally appeared as well. The show seemed intended to capitalize on the audiences of Captain N: The Game Master , a DiC/Nintendo production but instead of having the protagonist getting transported into an alternate world filled with video game heroes, The Power Team took

768-502: The Genesis version, but was cancelled. It was also included on Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for the PlayStation 2 , Xbox , and GameCube ; Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition for Microsoft Windows ; and Midway Arcade Origins for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 . Sinclair User and Computer and Video Games published positive reviews of Arch Rivals , while commenting that

816-653: The Los Angeles/Southern California Better Business Bureau . In 2006, Throwback Entertainment acquired more than 50 of Acclaim's games and committed to bringing titles such as Re-Volt , Extreme-G , Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance , Vexx , Fur Fighters , and many other franchises into the next generation and beyond. In March 2007, budget publisher XS Games acquired the publishing rights to The Red Star , with Take-Two Interactive managing European distribution. In April 2007, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment , then

864-561: The NES by Rare ), Kuros from the Wizards and Warriors series (originally created by Rare), Kwirk from the eponymous Game Boy title (originally by Atlus ), Tyrone from Arch Rivals (originally by Midway ) and Bigfoot from the game of the same name (developed by Beam Software, and based on the famous monster truck). The cartoon show also featured a cartoon version of the host of Video Power , Johnny Arcade , as they fought against villains from

912-841: The North American distributor for Codemasters ' products, announced that the British publisher had acquired the rights to Emergency Mayhem . In July 2010, the South Korean-based company We Go Interactive acquired Re-Volt , RC Revenge , and RC De Go! (developed and owned by Taito ) from Throwback. In May 2016, the Acclaim brand itself—distinct from any of the intellectual property previously held by Acclaim—was acquired by Collectorvision, an independent game developer, publisher, and manufacturer. In October 2018, Liquid Media Group purchased 65 former Acclaim titles from Throwback for $ 1 million. This acquisition primarily included installments in

960-463: The acquisition of exclusive rights to publish Taito's games in the Western Hemisphere . The company also constructed a motion capture studio at its headquarters, making it the first video game company to have an in-house motion capture facility. A less prominent aspect of Acclaim's business was the development and publication of strategy guides related to their software products, along with

1008-403: The ball away. The referee will only call shot clock violations. Also unique to the game are various on-court hazards such as soda cans and candy wrappers thrown onto the floor. If a ballhandler steps on those, he falls onto the floor allowing his opponent to steal the ball from him. Players could also fall over the referee in the same way as the objects on the floor, as well as steal the ball with

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1056-465: The ball or to shoot it in this battle royale . If the game results in a tie after four quarters, multiple sudden death overtime periods are added, in which case whoever scores the next basket will win the game. Every overtime period is one minute. If, however, no score occurs after overtime the procedure repeats. The difference between Arch Rivals and other basketball titles is the ability to freely punch an opposing player without penalty and steal

1104-462: The closure of Acclaim Studios Cheltenham and Acclaim Studios Manchester in England , along with other locations, and resulted in their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, leaving many employees unpaid. Among the titles under development at the UK studios were Emergency Mayhem , ATV Quad Power Racing 3 , The Last Job , Interview with a Made Man , and Kung Faux . In May 2004, it

1152-620: The company closed all of its facilities on August 27. This closure resulted in the termination of all employees at the Austin and New York studios. Prior to the closures, Acclaim employed 585 staff worldwide as of March 31, 2004. On August 30, Acclaim announced its intention to file for bankruptcy, officially filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy with the United States bankruptcy court in Central Islip, New York on September 1. In September 2005,

1200-442: The contract period. The layoffs were abrupt, forcing employees to choose between accepting a reasonable severance package (the terms of which changed multiple times during the initial weeks after the layoff) and foregoing the right to sue, or joining other creditors in litigation, thereby losing their severance packages. In 2007, one of several class action suits filed on behalf of stockholders was won, enabling some employees to recover

1248-462: The decision to include nudity, and he subsequently sued Acclaim out of concern for being associated with BMX XXX . In 1997, two years after its acquisition of Sculptured Software , Acclaim terminated approximately half of the staff at the Salt Lake City studio, violating the terms of the contracts it had provided to employees, which appeared to be iron-clad and included stock that would vest over

1296-513: The fall of 1990. In December 1993, Acclaim signed a distribution deal with the European Spanish branch of Buena Vista Home Video , allowing the company to distribute its titles in Spain. In May 1994, Tom Petit, former president of Sega Enterprises USA , who had worked at Sega for nine years, became the president of Acclaim's coin-op division. Throughout much of the 1990s, Acclaim was one of

1344-479: The final iteration of the BMX series, BMX XXX , nudity and semi-nudity (including full motion video of strippers and nude female riders) were incorporated in an attempt to boost sales. However, like most of Acclaim's video games during the company's final years, BMX XXX sold poorly and was criticized for its sexual content and subpar gameplay. Dave Mirra publicly disowned the game, stating that he had no involvement in

1392-425: The game are included in the compilations Midway Arcade Treasures 2 , Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition , and Midway Arcade Origins . Games generally follow standard basketball rules; a full game consists of four quarters, with four minutes each. Each team has two players, and the objective of the game is to outscore the opponent until the final buzzer sounds. A player can call for his teammate to pass him

1440-411: The game have lower-quality graphics than the arcade version, due to being released on 8 and 16-bit systems. The NES version of the game contains a glitch where a 3-point dunk can be achieved. The Sega Genesis version received poorer reception due to a glitch where almost 95% of shots taken from anywhere on the court would result in a basket. A Master System port was scheduled for release in 1992 alongside

1488-487: The game was best suited to fans of the sport. The Power Team (TV series) The Power Team is an animated series that aired as a segment of the video game reviewing show Video Power during the show's first season. While there were 33 episodes in the first season of Video Power , only 26 episodes of The Power Team were produced. As a result, some episodes of The Power Team would be aired more than once. The Power Team segments were re-edited and repackaged as

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1536-511: The gothic land of Sindarin, Kuros' native land. The team learned to work without Johnny's leadership and survive in the medieval realm. Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York . Originally founded by Greg Fischbach , Robert Holmes, and Jim Scoroposki from a storefront in Oyster Bay in 1987, the company built

1584-610: The handheld game market. Acclaim was also responsible for porting many of Midway's arcade games in the early to mid-1990s, including the Mortal Kombat series. Additionally, they published several games from companies that, at the time of publication, did not have an American branch, such as Technōs Japan 's Double Dragon II: The Revenge and Taito 's Bust-a-Move series. In 1990, Acclaim partnered with TV producer Saban Entertainment and distributor Bohbot Entertainment to launch Video Power , which subsequently premiered in

1632-523: The issuance of "special edition" comic magazines via Acclaim Comics to support their more lucrative brand names. Additionally, they created the ASF/AMC motion capture format , which remains in use in the industry today. Acclaim enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) that dates back to 1988's WWF WrestleMania . However, after failing to replicate

1680-478: The late 1980s and early 1990s, the video game market was less discerning, with specialized gaming publications exerting minimal influence on consumer opinion. Consequently, leveraging a popular license became one of the few reliable strategies to persuade retailers to stock a game. In its early years, the company entered into an agreement with Interactive VCR Games Inc., whose bestsellers included NFL Quarterback , to produce interactive VCR games, as well as expand into

1728-452: The most successful publishers of console video games in the world. In the financial year ending August 1994, the company reported a profit of $ 481 million, which rose to $ 585 million the following year. Franchises such as Mortal Kombat , NBA Jam , and NFL Quarterback Club served as reliable cash cows for Acclaim. Acclaim's expansion continued with the signing of a relationship with Marvel Entertainment Group , wherein Acclaim managed

1776-455: The opposite tack by having the game characters come to the "real world". A common device on the show was the characters trying to recover the "game paks" from Mr. Big which would send them home. Mr. Big would actually use the Game Paks to try to blast the characters back home during their battles. The heroes' rationale was that they needed to thwart Mr. Big. In one episode where Kuros was sent home,

1824-548: The other teammates had been along with him, and Kuros explained that he must return to the real world as he was now part of a team, and could not go home for good until the other members could safely go home as well. During battles, Johnny would use a special communication device that looked like an NES Advantage controller to direct the Power Team members from his room. A few of the characters underwent radical redesigns from their game incarnations: Max Force, for example, looked like

1872-405: The release of Turok: Evolution . A subsequent investigation by VG247 revealed that all those who had reportedly changed their names were actors. Another controversial initiative involved an attempt to purchase advertising space on tombstones for Shadow Man: 2econd Coming . To promote Burnout 2: Point of Impact , Acclaim offered to reimburse any driver in the United Kingdom who received

1920-641: The studios under a new publisher provisionally named "Exclaim" on October 11, but his efforts were hindered by a lawsuit and legal disputes over Acclaim's intellectual property , with both US and UK administrators asserting their claims. Following interested offers from Take Two Interactive , it was announced on October 8 that THQ had acquired the worldwide publishing rights to Juiced . In November 2004, Acclaim's headquarters were sold to Anthony Pistilli of Pistilli Realty Group for $ 6 million. On April 20, 2005, Fund4Games announced that Acclaim's upcoming European titles had been sold to them, with Interview with

1968-555: The success of World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s THQ / AKI games during the Monday Night Wars , the WWF announced in April 1998 that it would not renew its deal with Acclaim, opting instead to sign a joint-publishing agreement with Jakks Pacific and THQ after WCW's contract with the latter publisher expired and signed a deal with rival Electronic Arts . In October 1999, Acclaim signed

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2016-544: The video game licenses for some of Marvel's comic book properties. Later that year, the company acquired a minority interest in the FMV gaming studio Digital Pictures and began releasing its titles through Acclaim Distribution. In 1995, the company acquired Sculptured Software, Iguana Entertainment, and Probe Entertainment, with these entities transitioning to the first-party development studio known as Acclaim Studios from 1999 to 2004. Acclaim's gaming business further expanded with

2064-566: Was announced that Major League Baseball had revoked its licensing agreement with Acclaim for the All-Star Baseball franchise due to a failure to make royalty payments. The following month, in June, Turok owners Classic Media announced that they had terminated Acclaim's video game rights to the franchise, also due to non-payment of royalties. When Acclaim's agreement with GMAC Commercial Finance, their primary lender, expired on August 20, 2004,

2112-521: Was chosen to ensure it was alphabetically positioned above its co-founder's former employer, Activision , as well as above Accolade , another company established by former Activision employees. This naming convention was a common practice among new companies founded by ex-Activision employees, as the founders of Activision had similarly adopted this strategy when they left Atari . Many of Acclaim's products featured licenses from popular comics , television series, and movies . Fischbach noted that during

2160-501: Was entirely financed by Fischbach and Scoroposki. In its early years, Acclaim operated exclusively as a video game publisher , either outsourcing the development of its video games to external developers or localizing existing titles from overseas. However, as the company expanded, it acquired several independent studios, including Iguana Entertainment of Austin, Texas ; Probe Entertainment of London, England ; and Sculptured Software of Salt Lake City, Utah . The company's name

2208-413: Was subsequently acquired by Bertelsmann , leaving Fischbach unemployed. In 1987, he met with Scoroposki in Oyster Bay , where Scoroposki owned a sales rep company, to discuss a potential joint venture. After Scoroposki suggested that they re-enter the video game industry, they contacted Holmes to join them, and the three co-founded Acclaim Entertainment. Acclaim did not secure any venture financing and

2256-405: Was the main enemy of Kuros, who appeared to be far more sinister than Mr. Big and worked alone, save for one episode when Mr. Big was targeting the Power Team only to be interrupted by Malkil appearing, and both villains figured an alliance may be best to destroy the Power Team. Malkil had also figured that the team would be lost without Johnny Arcade, so at one time he transported the team members to

2304-410: Was the primary villain, on occasion, other villains, who were the adversaries of the other characters, would appear, such as Kwirk's enemy Rowdy Roddy Radish. Mr. Big is missing his mustache from the arcade version of his origin. The show also featured an evil living monster truck named Burnt Rubber, who acted as an adversary to Bigfoot. Outside of Mr. Big, the primary villain was Malkil, the warlock who

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