Silverball Studios Limited, formerly known as Fuse Games Limited, was a British

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

best known for developing

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

games for

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

History

Fuse Games Limited era

The company was founded in 2002 by Adrian Barritt and Richard Horrocks, makers of the award-winning ''

Pro Pinball ''Pro Pinball'' is a pinball video game series developed by Cunning Developments and published by Empire Interactive. Games Pro Pinball: The Web (1996) ''Information needed'' Pro Pinball: Timeshock! (1997) ''Information needed'' Pro Pinball ...

'' series of

computer games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...

. As an idea to show what they were capable of, they developed a

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

pinball demo and pitched the idea to Nintendo, who then hired the company to make ''

Mario Pinball Land ''Mario Pinball Land'', known in Europe and Japan as ''Super Mario Ball'', is a pinball video game developed by Fuse Games and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance, released in 2004. It is the ninth Mario game for the Game Boy Advance ...

'' for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

. The whole game was made by just five people. Later, Fuse Games developed

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

games, the most notable being ''

Metroid Prime Pinball ''Metroid Prime Pinball'' is a pinball video game themed after the ''Metroid'' series. The game uses the graphical style and various story elements from ''Metroid Prime''. It was developed by Fuse Games and published by Nintendo for the Ninte ...

'', a pinball adaptation of the

Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

game ''

Metroid Prime ''Metroid Prime'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. ''Metroid Prime'' is the fifth main installment in the '' Metroid'' franchise and the first game in the series to use 3D c ...

''. The studio also became the only developer outside Japan to create a

Touch! Generations is a Nintendo brand used for the Nintendo DS and Wii showing games created to appeal to a broader audience (mainly adults and the elderly) than the traditional gamer. Nintendo retired the brand with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, six ye ...

game, with ''Active Health with Carol Vorderman''.

Silverball Studios Limited era

In 2009, the company nearly went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

after completing ''Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon'' for

DSiWare This is a list of games and applications, collectively known as DSiWare, for the Nintendo DSi handheld game console, available for download via the DSi Shop and unplayable on earlier DS models. An update released for the Nintendo 3DS in June 2011 ...

, but reformed as Silverball Studios. The company attempted to revive the ''Pro Pinball'' series through

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

in 2012. The project's goal was unsuccessful, and the company eventually merged into Barnstorm Games as the in-house development team. Afterwards, the Kickstarter was revived in 2013, but was limited to the single table Timeshock!. This campaign reached its goal and the Ultra Edition of Pro-Pinball: Timeshock! was released for several platforms.

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Game Boy Advance

*''

'' (2004)

Nintendo DS

*''

'' (2005) *''Active Health with Carol Vorderman'' (2009) *''Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon'' (2009) *''Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails'' (2010)

Wii

*''Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails'' (2010)

iPhone

*''Mensa Brain Test'' (2010) *''Frogger Pinball'' (2011)

Nintendo 3DS

*''BearShark: The Game'' (2013)

Windows/Xbox 360 Arcade

*'' Pro Pinball: Timeshock! - The Ultra Edition'' (2014)

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Fuse Games LimitedSilverball Studios Limited
Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game development companies Video game companies established in 2002 British companies established in 2002