Paradigm Entertainment Inc. (previously part of Paradigm Simulation) was an American video game development company. Paradigm is perhaps best known for its

vehicle simulation game Vehicle simulation games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles. This includes automobiles, aircraft, watercraft, spacecraft, military vehicles, and a ...

s. Founded as a

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...

company in 1990, Paradigm primarily worked on realistic flight simulation technology for major space and aviation clients. The company got its start in game development when it was contacted by

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 ...

in 1994 to aid in the creation of one of the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

launch titles This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...

, ''

Pilotwings 64 is an amateur flight simulator game developed by Nintendo and Paradigm Simulation and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was one of three launch titles for the Nintendo 64 in Japan as well as Europe and one of two launch titles in No ...

''. The game was a critical and commercial success for the developer, causing the simulation and entertainment divisions of Paradigm to separate and focus on their respective products. The newly independent Paradigm Entertainment continued to develop for Nintendo's 64-bit console. After a short partnership with

Video System Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

, Paradigm was acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary of

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 ...

in 2000 and began developing games for sixth-generation

video game consoles 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 ...

. Paradigm was sold to

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

in 2006 and was ultimately closed in 2008.

History

Paradigm Simulation was founded in 1990 as a company based in

Addison, Texas Addison is an incorporated town in Dallas County, Texas, in the United States. Addison is situated to the immediate north of the city of Dallas, with a 2020 census population of 16,661. Addison and Flower Mound were the only two Texas municipaliti ...

. It initially focused on creating commercial products for graphics developers, including military training simulations for pilots and ship captains and a lengthy client list that included the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

, and

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...

. Paradigm acted as a proponent of

and

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

in the mid-1990s with its applications including the

IRIS GL IRIS GL (Integrated Raster Imaging System Graphics Library) is a proprietary graphics API created by Silicon Graphics (SGI) in the early 1980s for producing 2D and 3D computer graphics on their IRIX-based IRIS graphical workstations. Later SGI rem ...

-based VisionWorks and the

Performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art object ...

-based Vega, which were used on

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...

workstations. Project sales for the company were $7 million in 1995, up from $3.5 million in 1994. During that time, the company frequented the annual

Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference on computer graphics (CG) organized by the ACM SIGGRAPH, starting in 1974. The main conference is held in North America; SIGGRAPH Asia ...

, and

Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...

(E3) conferences with its 3D technological demonstrations.

reportedly contacted Paradigm in 1994 after it co-developed a realistic flight simulator called "Hornet" with the entertainment company Magic Edge Inc. Through connections to Silicon Graphics, designers of the

, Paradigm worked for nine months starting that same year on a technology base for its own Nintendo 64 software. At E3 in May 1995, engineers from Paradigm aided Nintendo in polishing a demo of the Nintendo 64 shown for developers and distributors in a whisper suite. Paradigm partnered with Nintendo the following month to begin development on ''

'', one of the first games available for the new console worldwide. The game was a success for the company, accounting for half of its revenues by the beginning of 1997 and had sold over one million copies worldwide by February 1998. In May 1996, one month prior to the console's Japanese launch, Paradigm released a turnkey development bundle titled "Fusion 64". In March 1997, the entertainment wing was spun off to concentrate solely on video game production. The simulation division completed a merger with Multigen Inc. in October 1998 and was acquired by Computer Associates International Inc. in 2000. Multigen-Paradigm is now part of Presagis. In the early years as an independent studio, Paradigm Entertainment had a short, three-game partnership with the Japanese publisher

. The partnership ended with a lawsuit by the Texas-based developer against Video System regarding the latter's supposed breach of contract in the development and publishing of the flight simulator ''Harrier 2001''. At the start of 1999, Paradigm announced another 3D rendering and development tool called "VisKit", which was intended for use in creating next-generation console games being ported to multiple systems. On June 29, 2000, Paradigm Entertainment was acquired by

Infogrames Entertainment, SA Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive#Infogrames subsidiary, Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. (1993–present), Atari, Inc. It ...

for $19.5 million or up to 700,000 Infogrames shares. Paradigm began developing games for sixth-generation consoles (

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 ...

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 ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

, and

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 ...

) after its final Nintendo 64 release '' Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck''. Works released during this time include an enhanced remake of the classic arcade game ''

Spy Hunter Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

'',

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

racing games, and games based on the ''

Terminator Terminator may refer to: Science and technology Genetics * Terminator (genetics), the end of a gene for transcription * Terminator technology, proposed methods for restricting the use of genetically modified plants by causing second generation s ...

'' and '' Mission: Impossible'' multimedia franchises. Following the stock market downturn, and in the light of poor game sales, Atari began to divest of its internal development studios in an effort to financially restructure. In spite of not having produced a profitable game in over six years, and a steady exodus of talent, Paradigm was sold in May 2006 to

. Although Paradigm's release '' Stuntman: Ignition'' and THQ's '' Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights'' were the parent company's top sellers in their release quarter, THQ reported overall financial losses of $16.3 million during the first half of its 2007 fiscal year. "While we have shipped more than 1 million units worldwide on each of these titles, this is significantly below our internal forecast", stated THQ's CEO Brian Farrell. "In both cases we did not receive our required game play mechanic and overall product quality targets. Quality matters and we missed the mark." On November 3, 2008, the company officially ceased operations. Paradigm's general manager Dave Gatchel went on to serve the same position at THQ's studio in Montreal and is currently working at

Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Divertissements Inc., doing business as Ubisoft Montreal, is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Montreal. The studio was founded in April 1997 as part of Ubisoft's growth into worldwide markets, with sub ...

following the studio's acquisition by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

in 2013. The remaining staff relocated to other companies, such as

Gearbox Software Gearbox Software is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, se ...

Game titles

*1996: ''

'' (Nintendo 64) *1997: '' Aero Fighters Assault'' (Nintendo 64) *1998: ''

F-1 World Grand Prix ''F-1 World Grand Prix'', developed by Paradigm Entertainment, is a Formula One racing game/sim first released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 game console and to later platforms including the Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Sony PlayStation, and ...

'' (Nintendo 64) *1999: ''

Beetle Adventure Racing ''Beetle Adventure Racing!'' is a racing game released for the Nintendo 64 in 1999. It was developed by Paradigm Entertainment along with EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts. Each vehicle in the game is a Volkswagen New Beetle, which was re ...

'' (Nintendo 64, released in Australia as ''HSV Adventure Racing'') *1999: '' F-1 World Grand Prix II'' (Nintendo 64, Europe only) *2000: '' Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck'' (Nintendo 64) *2000: '' Indy Racing 2000'' (Nintendo 64) *2001: ''

MX Rider ''MX Rider'' (often stylized as ''MXrider'') is a racing video game developed by Paradigm Entertainment and published by Infogrames in 2001. It was the first title released under Infogrames' newly reinvented Atari brand name, which Infogrames u ...

'' (PlayStation 2) *2001: ''

'' (PlayStation 2) *2002: ''

Big Air Freestyle ''Big Air Freestyle'' is a motorcycle racing video game for the GameCube developed by Paradigm Entertainment and published by Infogrames in 2002. It is an enhanced port of the PlayStation 2 game'' MX Rider'', without the FIA license. Receptio ...

'' (GameCube) *2002: '' The Terminator: Dawn of Fate'' (PlayStation 2 / Xbox) *2003: '' Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma'' (PlayStation 2 / Xbox / GameCube) *2004: '' Terminator 3: The Redemption'' (PlayStation 2 / Xbox / GameCube) *2006: '' Battlezone'' (PlayStation Portable) *2007: '' Stuntman: Ignition'' (Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 2) *Cancelled: Unannounced first-person shooter (Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / PC) *Cancelled: ''Magic Karts'' (PlayStation 2) *Cancelled: ''Asteroids 3D'' (Xbox) *Cancelled: ''Harrier 2001'' (Nintendo 64) *Cancelled: ''Skies'' (

Heat.net SegaSoft, originally headquartered in Redwood City, California and later San Francisco, was a joint venture by Sega and CSK (Sega's majority stockholder at the time), created in 1995 to develop and publish games for the PC and Sega Saturn, prim ...

) *Cancelled: ''Pilotwings 64'' sequel (Nintendo 64) *Cancelled: ''Beetle Adventure Racing II'' (Nintendo 64).

References

External links

Games Made in Texas (1980 - 2007)
{{Authority control THQ Atari Video game companies established in 1997 Video game companies disestablished in 2008 Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Defunct companies based in Texas