Tradewest was an American
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
company based in
Corsicana, Texas
Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-busines ...
that produced numerous games in the 1980s and early 1990s. The company was the publisher of the ''
Battletoads
''Battletoads'' is a video game media franchise by Rare that began with the original beat 'em up game ''Battletoads'' in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, the series was created to ...
'' and ''
Double Dragon
is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
The original ...
'' series in North America and the
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used in ...
.
The name was revived in August 2009 by
Midway Games
Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...
's former
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an subsidiaries which rebranded themselves as Tradewest. They inherited the name from the American parent company which had owned the Tradewest trademark since 1996.
History
Original company
Tradewest was founded in 1985 by Leland Cook, his son Byron Cook, and John Rowe. Tradewest started out by manufacturing
SNK
is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...
's ''
Alpha Mission
''Alpha Mission'', known as in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter game developed by SNK and released for arcades in 1985, by Namco in Japan and Tradewest in North America. It was later ported to the Famicom in 1986 and released for the N ...
''
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, followed by ''
Ikari Warriors
''Ikari Warriors'', known as in Japan, is a vertically-scrolling, run-and-gun shooter arcade video game released by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. The game was released at the time when there were many ''Commando'' ...
'' and ''
Victory Road'' before shifting away from the coin-op arcade game business to concentrate on the
home console
A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than ...
market.
In 1987, Tradewest purchased
Cinematronics
Cinematronics Incorporated was an arcade game developer that primarily released vector graphics games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While other companies released games based on raster displays, early in their history, Cinematronics and A ...
, a video game developer and manufacturer based in El Cajon, California, whose previous games included ''
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 an ...
'' and ''
Space Ace
''Space Ace'' is a LaserDisc video game produced by Bluth Group, Cinematronics and Advanced Microcomputer Systems (later renamed RDI Video Systems). It was unveiled in October 1983, just four months after the ''Dragon's Lair'' game, followed b ...
'', and renamed it The
Leland Corporation
The Leland Corporation was a manufacturer of several arcade video games in the 1980s and early 1990s. The company was formed when Tradewest purchased the ailing Cinematronics in 1987. Notable among these were Quarterback (1987) and John Elway's ...
. John Rowe was chosen to run the El Cajon office as he already had a successful history in video games as executive vice-president of SNK's U.S division.
Tradewest operated three companies: Tradewest, Inc, Tradewest International and The Leland Corporation. It released video games in the late 1980s and early 1990s for consoles mainly from
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 ...
and
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
.
In 1994, Tradewest was unsuccessfully sued by
Philips Corporation
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
and
Lockheed Sanders Lockheed (originally spelled Loughead) may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form L ...
for an alleged patent infringement in the art of an arcade video game.
Dissolution and aftermath
Tradewest was acquired in April 1994 by
WMS Industries
WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams ...
, who owned
Midway Games
Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...
. Tradewest was reorganized as Williams Entertainment, Inc. with Rowe and the two Cooks as its heads, thus signaling the end of Tradewest. Operating as a sister division to Midway, Williams Entertainment was used to enter to the home
video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...
market, allowing WMS to publish home games directly without having to rely on other publishers, such as
Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally formed by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki out of an Oyster Bay storefront in 1987, the company established a worldwide d ...
, which had held a
right-of-first-refusal license to Midway games.
In 1996, Williams Entertainment was placed directly under the control of Midway, who renamed the division Midway Home Entertainment, Inc.. Both the Corsicana, Texas, facility and a new R&D facility in San Diego (replacing the El Cajon location) remained open within Midway, who continued to employ Byron Cook (who became president of Midway Home Entertainment)
and John Rowe (who became vice-chairman and Director of Product Development).
The division developed and published games during the fifth and sixth console generation.
Byron Cook resigned from Midway in 2001.
The following year, Midway's
head office
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
shut down the Corsicana location. John Rowe became the president and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
High Moon Studios
High Moon Studios, Inc. (formerly Sammy Entertainment Inc. and Sammy Studios, Inc.) is an American video game developer initially formed in 2001. After nearly a year as an independent studio, the developer was acquired by Vivendi Games in Janua ...
(formerly Sammy Studios).
European revival
15 years after the original American company was acquired and renamed, the Tradewest name was revived in Europe in 2009 by the former Midway UK and France publishing divisions following a management buyout.
On August 19, 2009, Midway Games Ltd (founded in 1999 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
as the English subsidiary of Midway Games Inc) and Midway Games SAS (founded in 2005 in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
as the French subsidiary of Midway Games Inc) were sold to Spiess Media Holding UG, owned by Martin Spiess (the former head of Midway Games Ltd). A new German
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
, Tradewest Games Holding, was created to own the former Midway subsidiaries, which also took the Tradewest name.
Tradewest Games Holding, along with its subsidiaries, vanished in 2013.
List of games published
Arcade
* ''
Alpha Mission
''Alpha Mission'', known as in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter game developed by SNK and released for arcades in 1985, by Namco in Japan and Tradewest in North America. It was later ported to the Famicom in 1986 and released for the N ...
'' (1985)
* ''
Ikari Warriors
''Ikari Warriors'', known as in Japan, is a vertically-scrolling, run-and-gun shooter arcade video game released by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. The game was released at the time when there were many ''Commando'' ...
'' (1986)
* ''Redline Racer'' (1986)
* ''
Victory Road'' (1987)
NES
* ''
Double Dragon
is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
The original ...
'' (June 1988)
* ''
John Elway's Quarterback
''John Elway's Quarterback'', also known as ''John Elway's Quarterback Challenge'' and ''John Elway's Team Quarterback'', is a 1987 football video game.
Summary
Tradewest developed ''Quarterback'' as an arcade game. In 1988 John Elway agreed to ...
'' (March 1989)
* ''
Taboo: The Sixth Sense'' (April 1989)
* ''
Magic Johnson's Fast Break
''Magic Johnson's Fast Break'' (alternatively titled ''Magic Johnson's Basketball'') is a side-scrolling basketball sports game developed by Arcadia Systems and published in 1988. The game features the name and likeness of Los Angeles Lakers poi ...
'' (March 1990)
* ''
Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road'' (April 1990)
* ''
Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship'' (September 1990)
* ''
Battletoads
''Battletoads'' is a video game media franchise by Rare that began with the original beat 'em up game ''Battletoads'' in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, the series was created to ...
'' (June 1991)
* ''
High Speed'' (July 1991)
* ''
Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat'' (August 1992)
* ''
R.C. Pro-Am II'' (December 1992)
* ''
Battletoads & Double Dragon
''Battletoads/Double Dragon'' (fully titled ''Battletoads & Double Dragon – The Ultimate Team'') is a 1993 in video gaming, 1993 beat 'em up developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Tradewest. It was originally released for the Ninten ...
'' (June 1993)
Game Boy
* ''
Double Dragon
is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
The original ...
'' (August 1990)
* ''
Sneaky Snakes'' (June 1991)
* ''
Battletoads
''Battletoads'' is a video game media franchise by Rare that began with the original beat 'em up game ''Battletoads'' in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, the series was created to ...
'' (November 1991)
* ''
Jack Nicklaus Golf'' (May 1992)
* ''
Super Off Road
''Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road'' is an arcade video game released in 1989 by Leland Corporation. The game was designed and managed by John Morgan who was also lead programmer, and endorsed by professional off-road racer Ivan Stewart. ...
'' (November 1992)
* ''
Battletoads in Ragnarok's World'' (June 1993)
* ''
Battletoads & Double Dragon
''Battletoads/Double Dragon'' (fully titled ''Battletoads & Double Dragon – The Ultimate Team'') is a 1993 in video gaming, 1993 beat 'em up developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Tradewest. It was originally released for the Ninten ...
'' (December 1993)
Super NES
* ''
Super Off Road
''Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road'' is an arcade video game released in 1989 by Leland Corporation. The game was designed and managed by John Morgan who was also lead programmer, and endorsed by professional off-road racer Ivan Stewart. ...
'' (December 1991)
* ''
Jack Nicklaus Golf'' (May 1992)
* ''
Pro Quarterback'' (September 1992)
* ''
Super Double Dragon
''Super Double Dragon'', released in Japan as , is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. It was published by Tradewest in North America and the PAL region and by Technōs Japan in Japan. ''Supe ...
'' (October 15, 1992)
* ''
Battletoads in Battlemaniacs
''Battletoads in Battlemaniacs'' is a beat 'em up platform game developed by Rare and published by Tradewest in 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, part of the ''Battletoads'' series. The game was released in North America in June ...
'' (June 1993)
* ''
Super Baseball 2020
''Super Baseball 2020'' is a futuristic baseball video game. It was first released in Japan for the Neo Geo in 1991, and then it was later released in North America for the Sega Genesis (ported by NuFX and released by Electronic Arts) and Super ...
'' (July 1993)
* ''
Plok
''Plok!'' is a side-scrolling platform game developed by British studio Software Creations and its concepts and characters created and owned by Ste and John Pickford. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in late 19 ...
'' (September 1993)
* ''
Super Off Road: The Baja'' (September 1993)
* ''
Battletoads & Double Dragon
''Battletoads/Double Dragon'' (fully titled ''Battletoads & Double Dragon – The Ultimate Team'') is a 1993 in video gaming, 1993 beat 'em up developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Tradewest. It was originally released for the Ninten ...
'' (December 1993)
* ''
Fun 'n Games
''Fun 'n Games'' (Sometimes spelled ''Fun 'N' Games'') is a compilation video game developed by Leland Interactive Media and released for the Super NES and Mega Drive/Genesis platforms in 1993 and 1994. A game with the same name was released in 1 ...
'' (August 1994)
* ''
Troy Aikman NFL Football
''Troy Aikman NFL Football'' is an american football video game originally developed by Leland Interactive Media and published by Tradewest for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System first in North America on August 1994. Officially licensed fro ...
'' (August 1994)
* ''
Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls'' (August 5, 1994)
Mega Drive/Genesis
* ''
Championship Pro-Am'' (May 12, 1992)
* ''
Pro Quarterback'' (September 1992)
* ''
Battletoads
''Battletoads'' is a video game media franchise by Rare that began with the original beat 'em up game ''Battletoads'' in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, the series was created to ...
'' (March 1993)
* ''
Fun 'n' Games'' (August 2, 1993)
* ''
Battletoads & Double Dragon
''Battletoads/Double Dragon'' (fully titled ''Battletoads & Double Dragon – The Ultimate Team'') is a 1993 in video gaming, 1993 beat 'em up developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Tradewest. It was originally released for the Ninten ...
'' (December 1993)
* ''
Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls'' (August 5, 1994)
* ''
Troy Aikman NFL Football
''Troy Aikman NFL Football'' is an american football video game originally developed by Leland Interactive Media and published by Tradewest for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System first in North America on August 1994. Officially licensed fro ...
'' (August 1994)
Game Gear
* ''
Battletoads
''Battletoads'' is a video game media franchise by Rare that began with the original beat 'em up game ''Battletoads'' in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, the series was created to ...
'' (December 1993)
External links
* Tradewest Digital
* Tradewest Games SAS
''Tradewest''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 ...
References
Company profile: Tradewest
{{reflist
1985 establishments in Texas
Corsicana, Texas
Video game companies established in 1985
Defunct companies based in Texas
Defunct video game companies of the United States
Midway video games
Software companies based in Texas
Video game companies disestablished in 1994
1994 disestablishments in Texas
Video game publishers