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Absolute Entertainment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Absolute Entertainment
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo game publishing
GenreAction, sports, strategy
Founded1986
FounderGarry Kitchen
Defunct1995
FateBankruptcy
SuccessorSkyworks Technologies
Headquarters
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
,
United States
ProductsVideo games
DivisionsImagineering

Absolute Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. Through its development division, Imagineering, Absolute Entertainment produced titles for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Game Gear, Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD, Game Boy, NES, and Super NES video game consoles, as well as for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC compatibles.

History

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After leaving his position as a video game developer and designer at Activision, Garry Kitchen founded the company in 1986 with his brother Dan Kitchen, along with Alex DeMeo and John Van Ryzin.[1][2] The company's headquarters was in Glen Rock, New Jersey, but later moved to another New Jersey borough, Upper Saddle River. The company had a distribution deal with Activision, later Mediagenic to distribute its titles.[3] In 1988, after his brief stint at Hasbro, David Crane had joined the company.[4][5] While the company was based in New Jersey, David Crane worked out of his home on the West Coast.[6] The company's name was chosen because it was alphabetically above Activision, implying that Absolute Entertainment was superior to Activision. It was the same strategy that Activision chose when the programmers left Atari.

At Absolute Entertainment, Kitchen continued developing games for the Atari 2600 and Atari 7800, as he had done at Activision. However, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) had already displaced Atari's dominance of the video game console market. Kitchen swiftly shifted his focus to the NES, and produced several games for the platform, beginning with A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia in 1989, and Battle Tank in 1990. The company expanded and grew rapidly, to work for the SNES, starting with its first published title, Super Battletank: War in the Gulf.[2]

Absolute Entertainment absorbed its studio Imagineering in 1992 to become itself a video game developer for the first time.[7] In 1993, the company had acquired the assets of video game developer Extreme Entertainment Group from Micronet.[8] Also that year, the company launched a West Coast satellite studio, led by Howard Phillips, formerly of Nintendo of America, LucasArts and THQ.[9][10] In 1995, the company launched its division, Absolute Electronics, led by Garry Kitchen.[11]

In the third quarter of 1995, Absolute Entertainment went bankrupt and suspended operations and laid off most of its staff.[12] Since Kitchen had already formed a new company with David Crane called Skyworks Technologies, some of the employees transitioned to the new company.

Imagineering

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Imagineering was Absolute Entertainment's in-house development division based in Glen Rock, New Jersey, also founded in 1986,[2] who also developed for third-party video game developers like Acclaim Entertainment, Atari Corporation, Activision, Hi Tech Expressions, Gametek and THQ. It was folded into Absolute Entertainment in 1992.

List of games

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1988

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1989

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1990

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1991

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1992

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1993

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1994

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References

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  1. ↑ Absolute Entertainment at the Videogame Music Preservation Foundation Wiki
  2. 1 2 3 "Behind the Scenes: 15 Years of Fun and Games with Absolute Entertainment". Electronic Gaming Monthly. February 1992. pp. 143–145. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Crossbow and Karnov". Compute!'s Gazette. November 1988. p. 36. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
  4. ↑ Atarian Issue #2.
  5. ↑ "David Crane Joins Design Staff of Absolute Entertainment". Computer Entertainer. January 1989. p. 11.
  6. ↑ Bieniek, Chris (1994). "Article 10: David Crane Interview". Chris Bieniek. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Absolute Buys Imagineering". Electronic Games. December 1992. p. 10. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
  8. ↑ "ABSOLUTE ENTERTAINMENT TO AQUIRE ASSETS OF EXTREME ENTERTAINMENT". Computer Business Review. October 31, 1993.
  9. ↑ "Howard Phillips". LinkedIn.
  10. ↑ L.F.P. Inc. (September 1993). VideoGames: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine Issue 56 September 1993.
  11. ↑ Kitchen, Garry. "Long Format Biography | Garry Kitchen". www.garrykitchen.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Absolutely Grim". GamePro. No. 89. IDG. February 1996. p. 17.
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