Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Melbourne House, was an Australian

video game development Video game development (or gamedev) is the process of developing a video game. The effort is undertaken by a developer, ranging from a single person to an international team dispersed across the globe. Development of traditional commercial PC a ...

studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Besen and based in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

. Initially formed to produce books and software to be published by Melbourne House, a company they had established in London in 1977, the studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.. Documentation for a 2007 exhibition. In 2006 the studio was sold to

Krome Studios Krome Studios Pty Ltd. is an Australian video game company. Its headquarters were in Brisbane and it previously had offices in Adelaide and Melbourne (Krome Studios Melbourne). Krome Studios is best known for their '' Ty the Tasmanian Tiger'' g ...

. The name Beam was a contraction of the names of the founders: Naomi Besen and Alfred Milgrom.

History

Home computer era

In the early years, two of Beam's programs were milestones in their respective genres. ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

'', a 1982 text adventure by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler, sold more than a million copies.DeMaria, Rusel and Wilson, Johnny L. (2004) ''High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games'' McGraw-Hill/Osborne, Berkeley, Calif., p. 347, It employed an advanced parser by Stuart Richie and had real-time elements. Even if the player didn't enter commands, the story would move on. In 1985 Greg Barnett's two-player

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

game ''

The Way of the Exploding Fist ''The Way of the Exploding Fist'' is a 1985 fighting game based on Japanese martial arts developed by Beam Software, by a team consisting of Gregg Barnett, Bruce Bayley, Neil Brennan and David Johnston. Originally developed on the Commodore 64 ...

'' helped define the genre of one-on-one fighting games on the home computer. The game won Best Overall Game at the

Golden Joystick Awards The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be voted ...

. In 1987 Beam's UK publishing arm, Melbourne House, was sold to

Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved b ...

for £850,000. Beam chairman Alfred Milgrom recounted, "...around 1987 a lot of our U.K. people went on to other companies and at around the same time the industry was moving from 8-bit to 16-bit. It was pretty chaotic. We didn't have the management depth at that time to run both the publishing and development sides of things, so we ended up selling off the whole Melbourne House publishing side to Mastertronic." Subsequent games were released through varying publishers. The 1988 fighting games '' Samurai Warrior'' and ''Fist +'', the third instalment in the Exploding Fist series, were published through Telecomsoft's

Firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various sp ...

label. 1988 also saw the release of space-

shoot'em-up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...

''Bedlam'', published by GO!, one of

U.S. Gold U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Ho ...

's labels, and ''

The Muncher ''The Muncher'' is a video game for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum that was released in 1988. It was produced by Beam Software and released by Gremlin Graphics. The game involves the monster from ''Chewits'' attacking various buildings and peop ...

'', published by

Gremlin Graphics Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...

Shift to consoles and PCs

In 1987 Nintendo granted a developer's licence for the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

and Beam developed games on that platform for US and Japanese publishers. Targeted at an Australian audience, releases such as ''

Aussie Rules Footy ''Aussie Rules Footy'' is the first AFL simulation video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was developed by Melbourne based Beam Software and published under their "Laser Beam" publishing title in 1992.Beam Software Timeline.' Docum ...

'' and ''

International Cricket International cricket matches are played between teams representing their nations, normally organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The main forms are Test matches, One-Day matches and Twenty20 matches. Most games are played ...

'' for the NES proved successful. In 1992 they released the original title ''

Nightshade The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orna ...

'', a dark superhero comedy game. The game was meant to be the first part in a series, but no sequels were ever made; however, it served as the basis for ''

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspir ...

''. Released in 1993, ''Shadowrun'' also used an innovative dialogue system using the acquisition of keywords which could be used in subsequent conversations to initiate new branches in the

dialogue tree A dialogue tree, or conversation tree, is a gameplay mechanic that is used throughout many adventure games (including action-adventure games) and role-playing video games. When interacting with a non-player character, the player is given a choice ...

. Also in 1993 they released ''

Baby T-Rex ''Baby T-Rex'' is a platform game developed by Beam Software for Game Boy. It was released in 1993 in Europe by Laser Beam Entertainment, Beam's publishing arm. It was also released (with altered graphics and story) as ''Agro Soar'' in Australia ...

'', a

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

platform game that the developer actively sought to adapt the game to a number of different licensed properties in different countries around the world including the animated film ''

We're Back! "We're Back!" is the first track and third single from The Lonely Island's second album '' Turtleneck & Chain''. The song was first performed on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' on April 1, 2011 while the album was released on May 10, 2011. The ...

'' in North America and the puppet character Agro in their home country of Australia. In 1997, Beam relaunched the Melbourne House brand, under which they published the PC titles '' Krush Kill 'n' Destroy'' (KKND), and the sequels ''KKND Xtreme'' and '' KKND2: Krossfire''. They released ''KKND2'' in South Korea well before they released it in the American and European markets, and pirated versions of the game were available on the internet before it was available in stores in the U.S. They were the developers of the 32-bits versions of '' Norse By Norse West: The Return of the Lost Vikings'' for the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

and PC in 1996. They also helped produce

SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...

games such as ''

WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling ''WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling'' is a professional wrestling video game published by FCI, Inc. for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. The third World Championship Wrestling (WCW) video game, it is named after the pay-per-view '' Supe ...

'', ''

Super Smash TV ''Smash TV'' is a 1990 arcade video game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams Electronics Games. It is a dual-stick shooter (one for moving and the other for firing) in the same vein as 1982's ''Robotron: 2084'' (co-created by ...

'' and an updated version of ''International Cricket'' titled '' Super International Cricket''. They ported the Sega Saturn game ''

Bug! ''Bug!'' is a platform video game developed by Realtime Associates and published by Sega originally for its console, the Sega Saturn. It was first released in North America, in 1995, just weeks after the Saturn's launch there; in Europe on ...

'' to

Windows 3.x Windows 3.x means either of, or all of the following versions of Microsoft Windows: * Windows 3.0 * Windows 3.1x Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windo ...

in August 1996. 1998 saw a return to RPGs with '' Alien Earth'', again with a dialogue tree format. Also in 1998, the studio developed racing games '' DethKarz'' and ''

GP 500 ''GP 500'' is a motorcycle racing simulation for the PC developed by Melbourne House and released in 1999 by Hasbro Interactive Hasbro Interactive was an American video game production and publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game a ...

''. In 1999 Beam Software was acquired by

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. Bec ...

and renamed to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.

2000s

They continued to cement a reputation as a racing game developer with ''

Le Mans 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

'' and '' Looney Tunes: Space Race'' (both

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

and

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

), followed by ''

Grand Prix Challenge ''Grand Prix Challenge'' is a Formula One racing video game developed by Australian developer Infogrames Melbourne House and published by Infogrames for PlayStation 2. It was released in Europe on 22 November 2002, and was officially licensed b ...

'' (

), before going into third-person shooters with '' Men in Black II: Alien Escape'' (

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 ...

). In 2004 the studio released ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

'' for the

games console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a t ...

based on the then current Transformers Armada franchise by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

. The game reached the top of the UK

games charts, making it Melbourne House's most successful recent title. The studio then completed work on

and

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

ports of Eden's next-generation

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

title '' Test Drive: Unlimited''. In December 2005, Atari decided to shift away from internal development, seeking to sell its studios, including Melbourne House. In November 2006,

acquired Melbourne House from

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

and was renamed to Krome Studios Melbourne. It was closed on 15 October 2010, along with the main Brisbane office. Next to the game development, Beam Software also had the division Smarty Pants Publishing Pty Ltd., that created software titles for kids, as well as the proprietary video compression technology VideoBeam, and Famous Faces, a facial motion capture hardware and software solution.

Games

As Beam Software

* 1982: ''Strike Force'' (TRS-80), ''

Hungry Horace ''Hungry Horace'' is a video game developed by Psion Software Ltd. and published by Sinclair Research in 1982 for Commodore 64, Dragon 32/64, Timex Sinclair 2068, ZX Spectrum, and later for Microsoft Windows and Android (operating system), And ...

'', ''

Horace Goes Skiing The Horace video game series was created in the 1980s by William Tang for Beam Software. The series comprised ''Hungry Horace'', ''Horace Goes Skiing'' and ''Horace and the Spiders''. ''Hungry Horace'' and ''Horace and the Spiders'' were two o ...

'', '' Horace and the Spiders'', ''

'', '' Penetrator'' (Commodore 64, Microbee, Timex Sinclair 2068, TRS-80, ZX Spectrum) * 1983: ''H.U.R.G: High-Level User-Friendly Real-Time Games Designer'' (ZX Spectrum) * 1984: '' Castle of Terror'' (Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), ''

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

'' (Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), '' Mugsy'' (ZX Spectrum), '' Sherlock'' (Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), ''Zim Sala Bim'' (Commodore 64) * 1985: ''

Gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rota ...

'', '' Lord of the Rings: Game One'', '' Terrormolinos'', ''

'' (Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 16, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum) * 1986: ''

Asterix and the Magic Cauldron ''Asterix and the Magic Cauldron'' is a computer game for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers based on the popular French ''Asterix'' comic books. The game was released in 1986. In North America, the Commodore 64 version ...

'' (Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), ''Fist: The Legend Continues'' (Antstream, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), ''

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology Comic book, comic. He is the ...

'' (Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), ''Knuckle Busters'' (Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), '' Mugsy's Revenge'', ''Rock 'n' Wrestle'' * 1987: ''

Bad Street Brawler ''Bad Street Brawler'', originally released for home computers as ''Bop'n Rumble'' in North America and as ''Street Hassle'' in Europe, is a 1987 video game by Beam Software. Versions were released for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 and MS-DO ...

'' (Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum), ''

Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear ''Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear'' is a video game based on the television show of the same name. Plot When the International Circus comes to town, a mysterious series of disappearances begin, and Inspector Gadget is called into help. O ...

'' (Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), ''

Shadows of Mordor ''Shadows of Mordor: Game Two of Lord of the Rings'' is a text adventure game for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Apple II, DOS, and Macintosh. It is based on the second part of ''The Lord of the Rings'' story. It's a sequel to '' ...

'' (Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum), ''

Street Hassle ''Street Hassle'' is the eighth solo studio album by American musician Lou Reed, released in February 1978 by Arista Records. Richard Robinson and Reed produced the album. It is the first commercially released pop album to employ binaural recordi ...

'' (Commodore 64, MS-DOS, NES, ZX Spectrum) * 1988: '' Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo'' (Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum), ''

'' (Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum) * 1989: ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...

'' (NES), ''

'' (NES), ''Aussie Games'' (Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum) * 1990: '' Back to the Future Part II & III'' (NES), '' Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum'' (NES), ''

Boulder Dash ''Boulder Dash'' is a 2D maze-puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers. It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who collects treasures while ...

'' (Game Boy), ''

NBA All-Star Challenge ''NBA All-Star Challenge'' is a video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, the Game Boy and the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Genesis. Summary This game offers a chance to compete in one-on-one basketball with National Basketbal ...

'' (Game Boy), ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

'' (NES), ''Road Blasters'' (NES), ''Bigfoot'' (NES) * 1991: '' Choplifter II'' (Game Boy), ''

Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet Union, Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his ...

'' (Game Boy, NES), ''

Smash TV ''Smash TV'' is a 1990 arcade video game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams Electronics Games. It is a dual-stick shooter (one for moving and the other for firing) in the same vein as 1982's '' Robotron: 2084'' (co-created b ...

'' (NES), ''Family Feud'' (NES), ''

J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan ''J. R. R. Tolkien's Riders of Rohan'' is a computer video game from 1991 based upon the fictional War of the Ring set in the Middle-earth world created by J. R. R. Tolkien, centered in The Lord of the Rings novels. The massive-scale simulation ta ...

'' (MS-DOS), ''

'' (NES), '' Power Punch II'' (NES), ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' (NES) * 1992: ''

'' (NES), ''

'' (NES), '' T2: The Arcade Game'' (Game Boy), '' NBA All-Star Challenge 2'' (Game Boy), ''Tom and Jerry'' (Game Boy), ''Super Smash TV'' (SNES), '' George Foreman's KO Boxing'' (Game Boy) * 1993: ''

'' (Game Boy), ''We're Back BC'' (Game Boy), ''Agro Soar'' (Game Boy), '' Blades of Vengeance'' (Genesis), '' NFL Quarterback Club'' (Game Boy), ''

Radical Rex ''Radical Rex'' is an action platforming video game released in 1994 in North America, Europe and Australia. It is a remake of the 1993 Game Boy game '' Baby T-Rex''. It was published by Activision and developed by Australian game studio Beam Sof ...

'' (Genesis), ''

'' (SNES), '' MechWarrior'' (SNES), ''Super High Impact'' (Genesis, SNES), ''Tom and Jerry - Frantic Antics'' (Genesis) * 1994: ''

Choplifter III ''Choplifter III'' is a shoot 'em up video game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. It was the third ''Choplifter'' title starting with the original Apple II game released in 1982]. A portable version of the game was rel ...

'' (SNES), '' The Simpsons: Itchy & Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness'' (Game Boy), ''

'' (SNES), ''

'' (GG, SMS), ''Solitaire FunPak'' (Game Boy), ''Stargate'' (Game Boy), '' Super International Cricket'' (SNES), '' WCW: The Main Event'' (Game Boy) * 1995: ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov and Charlton Heston. ...

'' (Game Boy, Genesis, SNES); '' The Dame Was Loaded'' (Macintosh, MS-DOS) * 1995: ''

'' (PC port), '' Cricket 96'' (MS-DOS) * 1996: ''5 in One Fun Pak'' (GG); ''

WildC.A.T.S Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi. Publication history The team first appeared in August 1992 in the first issue of their epon ...

'' (SNES) * 1997: ''Caesars Palace'' (PlayStation), ''

Cricket 97 ''Cricket 97'' is a cricket game for PCs that was released in 1997. It was released in January 1997 in Australia and April 1997 in the United Kingdom. It was released throughout the rest of Europe on May 9, 1997. Gameplay The game stars cricketer ...

'' (MS-DOS, Windows) * 1997: '' Krush, Kill 'n' Destroy'' (MS-DOS, Windows) * 1998: '' Dethkarz'' (Windows) * 1998: ''

NBA Action 98 ''NBA Fastbreak '98'' is a basketball simulator released for the Sony PlayStation in 1997. It takes place during the 1997-98 National Basketball Association season. It was published by Midway Games and GT Interactive. Originally announced under ...

'' (PC) * 1998: '' KKnD 2: Krossfire'' (PC, PlayStation) * 1999: ''

'' (PC)

As Infogrames Melbourne House/Atari Melbourne House/Krome Studios Melbourne

References

External links

Official website
via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* {{Moby company , company=atari-melbourne-house-pty-ltd , name=Krome Studios Melbourne Australian companies established in 1980 Australian companies disestablished in 2010 Companies based in Melbourne Defunct video game companies of Australia Golden Joystick Award winners Video game development companies Video game companies established in 1980 Video game companies disestablished in 2010