Sony Imagesoft Inc. was an American

video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ( ...

that operated from 1989 to 1995 and was located in California. It was established in January 1989 in Los Angeles, California, as a subsidiary of the Japan-based CBS/Sony Group (CSG) and initially named CSG Imagesoft Inc. Their focus at the beginning was on marketing games exclusively 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 ...

consoles.''CSG Imagesoft Enters U.S. Home Video Game Market.'' PR Newswire, Los Angeles, September 6, 1989 The first release was '' Super Dodge Ball'' in summer 1989. Games by UK-based developers, ''

Solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...

'' and ''

Dragon's Lair ''Dragon's Lair'' is a video game franchise created by Rick Dyer and Don Bluth. The series is famous for its Western animation-style graphics and complex decades-long history of being ported to many platforms and being remade into television a ...

'', followed in 1990. Both were also published in Japan through

Epic/Sony Records Epic Records Japan is a Japanese record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Its founder was Shigeo Maruyama. Between 1978 and 1988 the label operated as a wholly owned subsidiary: Epic/Sony Inc. () was established in August 1978

. After

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

had set up its North American division, Sony Electronic Publishing in April 1991, Imagesoft operated as Sony Imagesoft Inc. Other releases are localizations of SNES games previously developed for

Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

and published under the

brand: ''

Extra Innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

'' and ''

Smart Ball Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * ''SMart'', a children's television ser ...

'', both published in 1992. Following a shakeup at Sony in 1995, Sony Imagesoft was merged into

Sony Computer Entertainment of America Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

(SCEA) and has since only supported the

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 ...

brand.

Sega partnership

On May 20, 1992, Sega of America and Sony Electronic Publishing announced a partnership to create content for Sega's consoles under the direction of Imagesoft. Besides Sega's cartridge-based

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

and

Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, ...

consoles the partnership targeted the upcoming

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...

peripheral. Among the first titles released for Sega's consoles after the announcement are ''

Sewer Shark ''Sewer Shark'' is a first-person rail shooter video game, and is the first on a home video game console, console to use full motion video for its primary gameplay. It was originally slated to be the flagship product in Hasbro's Control-Vision v ...

'' and ''

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

''. ''Sewer Shark'', initially released exclusively to Sega CD, is a rail-shooter that years earlier had been shelved as part of the ill-fated

Control-Vision The Control-Vision (originally codenamed NEMO) is an unreleased video game console developed by Tom Zito. It is notable for using VHS tapes rather than ROM cartridges, prompting the creation of game content which survived on into much more adva ...

platform. The ''Hook'' video games are tie-ins to the Spielberg feature film ''

'' that premiered in December 1991 and was produced by Sony-owned

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...

. Ports of the video game for Sega platforms are based on the

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 ...

game published earlier by Imagesoft. The Sega CD version was enhanced with better cut scenes with voice actors and digital stills and featured music from the film soundtrack.

1995 changes

In March 1995 Sony Imagesoft announced that it had appointed Kelly Flock as president. Flock came from TriMark Interactive where he was executive vice president since March 1993. Starting in July 1995, just two months prior to the release of the

console in Western markets, Sony Electronic Publishing restructured and renamed its divisions. All video game marketing from Sony Imagesoft was folded into

(SCEA), with about 100 employees transferred from Santa Monica to Foster City.Scott Hettrick: ''-- no title given --'' In:

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

, August 8, 1995.''Sony in Disarray on Eve of Playstation Debut.'' In: Television Digest with Consumer Electronics, August 14, 1995, ISSN 0497-1515, page 9. The video game business of Sony Imagesoft was merged with the product development branch of SCEA and became

Sony Interactive Studios America 989 Studios was a division of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) that developed games for PlayStation consoles and Windows personal computers. Their games include ''EverQuest'', ''Twisted Metal III'', ''Twisted Metal 4'', ''Syphon Filter' ...

''Sony Electronic Publishing Co. renamed; Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. is established.'' Business Wire, August 17, 1995. which would later be renamed to 989 Studios. The computer software business of Imagesoft became Sony Interactive PC Software America and was headed by general manager Ray Sangster.

Games published

Games developed

References

External links

''Sony Imagesoft''
profile on

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

{{Sony Imagesoft Defunct video game companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Video game companies established in 1989 Video game companies disestablished in 1995 Video game publishers 1989 establishments in California 1995 disestablishments in California