Geometry Wars is a series of top-down multi-directional shooter video games developed by Bizarre Creations , and, later, Lucid Games . Originally published by Microsoft Games Studios , the first title was included as a minigame in Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox . An updated version was released in 2005 as a launch title for Xbox 360 and later ported to Windows . Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 , the second installment in the series, was released for the Xbox 360 in 2008.
29-395: Other titles in the series was launched in follow years to other platforms by Bizarre Creations and publishers Vivendi Games and Activision . The latest entry in the series, Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions , was developed by Lucid Games and launched in 2014. On 13 October 2023, Microsoft reacquired the game series as part of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard . Geometry Wars
58-460: A US$ 1.8 billion stock swap . The deal closed on July 24, 1996. CUC International previously only operated membership shopping clubs, wherefore analysts were surprised by the company's move into the software industry . Subsequently, following the acquisitions, CUC International established CUC Software around the Torrance, California -based operations of Davidson & Associates to oversee
87-542: A mobile games division known as Vivendi Universal Games Mobile. In December 2007, American publisher Activision announced a proposed merger deal with Vivendi Games that would create a new holding company named Activision Blizzard . The deal was approved by Activision's shareholders on July 8, 2008, and the merger was finalized on July 10, creating Activision Blizzard while dissolving Vivendi Games. Bruce Hack, who served as chief executive officer of Vivendi Games, became vice-chairman and chief corporate officer of
116-573: A matter of broadcast regulation . In the United States, a personal holding company is defined in section 542 of the Internal Revenue Code . A corporation is a personal holding company if both of the following requirements are met: A parent company is a company that owns enough voting power in another firm (or subsidiary ) to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors . The definition of
145-425: A parent company differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, with the definition normally being defined by way of laws dealing with companies in that jurisdiction. When an existing company establishes a new company and keeps majority shares with itself, and invites other companies to buy minority shares, it is called a parent company. A parent company could simply be a company that wholly owns another company, which
174-492: A single, "one-stop" entity. The merger was finalized in December that year and created Cendant . As a result of the merger, CUC Software was renamed Cendant Software. On November 20, 1998, French media company Havas (acquired by Vivendi earlier that year) announced that it would acquire Cendant Software for $ 800 million in cash, with up to an additional $ 200 million contingent on its performance. Subsequently,
203-744: A stock deal valued between $ 50 million and US$ 100 million . The acquisition was completed on February 3, 1997. On February 10, Davidson announced that he had stepped down from his positions at CUC Software, and that his wife, Jan, ceased as president of Davidson & Associates, while both Davidsons stayed on CUC International's board of directors . Christopher McLeod, an executive vice-president for CUC International, took over CUC Software in Bob Davidson's place. In April 1997, CUC International acquired Berkeley Systems for an undisclosed sum. On May 28, 1997, CUC International announced plans to merge with Hospitality Franchise Systems to create
232-465: A tending subsidiary of the purchasing company, which, in turn, becomes the parent company of the subsidiary. (A holding below 50% could be sufficient to give a parent company material influence if they are the largest individual shareholder or if they are placed in control of the running of the operation by non-operational shareholders.) In the United Kingdom, the term holding company is defined by
261-458: Is defined by Part 1.2, Division 6, Section 46 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) , which states: A body corporate (in this section called the first body) is a subsidiary of another body corporate if, and only if: Toronto-based lawyer Michael Finley has stated, "The emerging trend that has seen international plaintiffs permitted to proceed with claims against Canadian parent companies for
290-453: Is sometimes done on a per- market basis. For example, in Atlanta both WNNX and later WWWQ are licensed to "WNNX LiCo, Inc." (LiCo meaning "license company"), both owned by Susquehanna Radio (which was later sold to Cumulus Media ). In determining caps to prevent excessive concentration of media ownership , all of these are attributed to the parent company, as are leased stations , as
319-448: Is the first installment of Geometry Wars to be released on Sony platforms and developed after the creator of the series Bizarre Creations was shut down by Activision. The soundtrack for the series was composed by Chris Chudley from Audioantics . Vivendi Games Vivendi Games (formerly known as CUC Software , Cendant Software , Havas Interactive , Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing and Vivendi Universal Games )
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#1732856069801348-428: Is to own stock of other companies to form a corporate group . In some jurisdictions around the world, holding companies are called parent companies , which, besides holding stock in other companies, can conduct trade and other business activities themselves. Holding companies reduce risk for the shareholders , and can permit the ownership and control of a number of different companies. The New York Times uses
377-473: The Companies Act 2006 at section 1159. It defines a holding company as a company that holds a majority of the voting rights in another company, or is a member of another company and has the right to appoint or remove a majority of its board of directors, or is a member of another company and controls alone, pursuant to an agreement with other members, a majority of the voting rights in that company. After
406-613: The financial crisis of 2007–2008 , many U.S. investment banks converted to holding companies. According to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council 's website, JPMorgan Chase , Bank of America , Citigroup , Wells Fargo , and Goldman Sachs were the five largest bank holding companies in the finance sector, as of December 2013 , based on total assets. The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 caused many energy companies to divest their subsidiary businesses. Between 1938 and 1958
435-455: The United Kingdom, is generally held that an organisation holding a 'controlling stake' in a company (a holding of over 51% of the stock) is in effect the de facto parent company of the firm, having overriding material influence over the held company's operations, even if no formal full takeover has been enacted. Once a full takeover or purchase is enacted, the held company is seen to have ceased to operate as an independent entity but to have become
464-492: The allegedly wrongful activity of their foreign subsidiaries means that the corporate veil is no longer a silver bullet to the heart of a plaintiff's case." The parent subsidiary company relationship is defined by Part 1, Section 5, Subsection 1 of the Companies Act, which states: 5.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, a corporation shall, subject to subsection (3), be deemed to be a subsidiary of another corporation, if — In
493-664: The division was renamed Havas Interactive . On May 16, 2001, Havas Interactive was renamed Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing , while Havas itself became Vivendi Universal Publishing. The new name was likely due to the merger between Universal and Vivendi; the company also received ownership of properties from Universal Interactive Studios . Under the new name, the company was split into two parts: Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America and Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International, both of which took responsibility for their respective publishing regions. On November 13, 2001, both parts were streamlined under
522-715: The edges of the play-field for as long as possible. Geometry Wars: Galaxies was developed by Bizarre Creations and Kuju Entertainment , and published by Vivendi Games for the Wii and Nintendo DS in November 2007, becoming the first Geometry Wars game available on non-Microsoft platforms and the only one available on Nintendo platforms. This updated version includes a single-player campaign mode, several multiplayer modes, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved , and support for online leaderboards. The Wii version supports widescreen and 480p progressive scan display. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
551-467: The name Vivendi Universal Games . When Vivendi Universal sold all of its media operations to General Electric in October 2003, Vivendi Universal held on to Vivendi Universal Games, which was re-organized as a direct division of the conglomerate. On March 3, 2006, with the sale completed, Vivendi Universal announced they would be dropping the "Universal" part of their name. The same day, the company opened
580-417: The new company. Many of Vivendi Games' properties were later dropped by Activision, citing that they would not make for a good fit for the company's long-term strategy. Holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose
609-412: The new video game properties. Under that new umbrella, both Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line would act independently from CUC International. Bob Davidson, co-founder of Davidson & Associates, became chairman and chief executive of the new establishment. On November 5 that year, CUC International announced that they would additionally acquire Knowledge Adventure , another developer, in
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#1732856069801638-571: The number of holding companies declined from 216 to 18. An energy law passed in 2005 removed the 1935 requirements, and has led to mergers and holding company formation among power marketing and power brokering companies. In US broadcasting , many major media conglomerates have purchased smaller broadcasters outright, but have not changed the broadcast licenses to reflect this, resulting in stations that are (for example) still licensed to Jacor and Citicasters , effectively making them such as subsidiary companies of their owner iHeartMedia . This
667-412: The record for the most downloaded Xbox Live Arcade Game. Geometry Wars: Waves was developed by Stephen Cakebread of Bizarre Creations, released as a bonus mini-game as part of Project Gotham Racing 4 on Xbox 360 on October 2, 2007. The game is a variant of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved where the player is given one life to survive continual waves of orange rockets that pace back and forth across
696-540: The stock of Company B, Company A will not pay taxes on dividends paid by Company B to its stockholders, as the payment of dividends from B to A is essentially transferring cash within a single enterprise. Any other shareholders of Company B will pay the usual taxes on dividends, as they are legitimate and ordinary dividends to these shareholders. Sometimes, a company intended to be a pure holding company identifies itself as such by adding "Holding" or "Holdings" to its name. The parent company–subsidiary company relationship
725-511: The term parent holding company . Holding companies can be subsidiaries in a tiered structure . Holding companies are also created to hold assets such as intellectual property or trade secrets , that are protected from the operating company. That creates a smaller risk when it comes to litigation . In the United States, 80% of stock, in voting and value, must be owned before tax consolidation benefits such as tax-free dividends can be claimed. That is, if Company A owns 80% or more of
754-775: Was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles . It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International , after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line . Between 1997 and 2001, the company switched parents and names multiple times before ending up organized under Vivendi Universal (later renamed Vivendi). On July 10, 2008, Vivendi Games merged with Activision to create Activision Blizzard . On February 21, 1996, CUC International announced its intention to acquire Davidson & Associates (including Blizzard Entertainment ) and Sierra On-Line , two American video game companies, in
783-524: Was developed by Lucid Games and published by Activision under the Sierra Entertainment brand name. The game was released on November 25, 2014 for Microsoft Windows , OS X , Linux , PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 , on November 26, 2014 for Xbox 360 and Xbox One and in the middle of 2015 for iOS , Android and PlayStation Vita . Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is the first Sierra video game not to be owned by their former owner Vivendi . It
812-423: Was developed by Bizarre Creations, and released on Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360 on July 30, 2008 as a sequel to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved . An iOS port of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 was released in 2010 entitled Geometry Wars: Touch . It added a seventh game mode, Titans, which had gameplay similar to Asteroids , but removed the multiplayer functionality entirely. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
841-479: Was released in the form of an easter egg minigame in the 2003 racing game Project Gotham Racing 2 on the original Xbox . The game was accessed from within Project Gotham Racing 2 by interacting with an arcade cabinet present in the player's virtual garage . Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved was developed by Bizarre Creations and released for Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360 . At one point, it held
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