Transmission Games

Transmission Games (originally known as ''IR Gurus'') was an Australian game development company, specialising in sports and action games. Originally, Transmission Games was established as IR Gurus Pty Ltd in 1996 by Craig Laughton, Andrew Niere, and Ian Cunliffe with the motto "Game Play is Everything". The company name was changed in February 2008 to Transmission Games and was later purchased by a third party investor. The company was subsequently wound up some 18 months later by the new owner.

Transmission Games had developed many games, including: ''Ashes Cricket 2009'' for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, ''Heatseeker'' for the PlayStation 2, Wii, and PSP, ''Heroes of the Pacific'' for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC, the AFL Premiership series of games for the PlayStation 2, and ''The Saddle Club – Willowbrook Stables''.

The company was based in Melbourne, Australia and its last games released were ''Ashes Cricket 2009'' (which was published by Codemasters), ''Heatseeker'', ''AFL Premiership 2007'' and '' Brian Lara Pressure Play''.

Development history

Transmission Games released fifteen games between 1996 and 2009, including Australia's No.1 selling PC game in 2003, ''The Saddle Club – Willowbrook Stables'' based on the successful TV show ''The Saddle Club''. Transmission Games's AFL games, including ''Kevin Sheedy AFL Coach 2002'', ''AFL Live 2003'', ''AFL Live 2004'', ''AFL Live Premiership Edition'', ''AFL Premiership 2005'', '' AFL Premiership 2006'' and ''AFL Premiership 2007'' all debuted at No.1 on the Australian sales charts, with ''AFL Premiership'' 2006 staying at the top of the all-formats charts for six weeks.

Arcade flight games

In 2005, Transmission Games released the award-winning arcade style flight simulation game ''Heroes of the Pacific'' for the PC, PS2 and Xbox formats and was originally developed by startup Melbourne studio Thatgame who later merged with IR Gurus. Heroes of the Pacific was published in PAL territories by Codemasters and in NTSC territories by Ubisoft. ''Heroes of the Pacific'' garnered favourable reviews (averaging 76%-78% across all platforms), and received a number of awards, including Australian Game of the Year and PC Game of the Year from the Game Developer's Association of Australia in 2005.

Following ''Heroes of the Pacific'', Transmission Games co-developed ''Heatseeker'', a modern flight combat game, with Codemasters. ''Heatseeker'' was released in Europe on 30 March 2007. ''Heroes Over Europe'', the sequel to ''Heroes of the Pacific'', was released in September 2009.

Sports games

In 2001, IR Gurus began development of stadium-based sports titles. They released ''AFL Live 2003'' in October 2002, followed by ''AFL Live 2004'' in September 2003 which was published by Acclaim Entertainment. IR Gurus continued to develop AFL games, including ''AFL Live Premiership Edition'' released in April 2004, ''AFL Premiership 2005'' released in September 2005, '' AFL Premiership 2006'' released in July 2006, and finally ''AFL Premiership 2007'' released in June 2007.

In addition, Transmission Games developed the officially licensed GAA Gaelic football game '' Gaelic Games: Football'' exclusively for the PlayStation 2 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment of Ireland on 11 November 2005. Following its release, ''Gaelic Games: Football'' was the highest selling PlayStation 2 game of all time in Ireland.

Transmission Games followed Gaelic Games: Football with '' Gaelic Games: Hurling'', and '' Gaelic Games: Football 2'' in November 2007. Both of these games were developed exclusively for the PlayStation 2 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment of Ireland.

In 2007, Transmission Games worked with fellow Melbourne company Acheron Design to develop '' Brian Lara Pressure Play'', a PSP version of Codemasters's Brian Lara series of Cricket games. The game debuted at No.1 on the UK sales charts when it was released in mid-2007.

Transmission Games' last sports game release was ''Ashes Cricket 2009,'' the latest in the Codemasters' series of cricket games, formerly known as Brian Lara International Cricket. The game was released in August 2009 in England and Australia. The game debuted at number 1 in the All Formats UK charts.Ashes Cricket 2009 Debuts at Number 1 in UK Charts
/ref>

Equestrian games

Transmission Games was also known for development and publishing of equestrian-related computer and console game titles. From 1996 to early 2000, Transmission Games developed its own equestrian computer games ''Mary King's Riding Star'' and ''Equestriad'' in conjunction with Melbourne software companies Blue Tongue Entertainment and Tantalus Interactive. Both ''Mary King's Riding Star'' and ''Equestriad'' continue to have worldwide appeal and have been sold on the PC and PlayStation formats in seven different languages. In 2002, Transmission Games released ''The Saddle Club – Willowbrook Stables'', featuring the license from ''The Saddle Club'' television show.

In 2007, Transmission Games released ''Lucinda Green's Equestrian Challenge'' on PlayStation 2 and PC. ''Lucinda Green's Equestrian Challenge'' is an equestrian game based on the sport of 3-day horse eventing. The game features Show Jumping, Dressage and Cross Country events.

Games

*''Heroes Over Europe'' (2009)
*''Ashes Cricket 2009'' (2009)
*'' Gaelic Games: Hurling'' (2007)
*'' Gaelic Games: Football 2'' (2007)
*'' Brian Lara Pressure Play'' (2007)
*''AFL Premiership 2007'' (2007)
*''Heatseeker'' (2007)
*'' Lucinda Green's Equestrian Challenge'' (2006)
*'' AFL Premiership 2006'' (2006)
*''Heroes of the Pacific'' (2005)
*'' Gaelic Games: Football'' (2005)
*''AFL Premiership 2005'' (2005)
*''AFL Live Premiership Edition'' (2004)
*''AFL Live 2004'' (2003)
*''AFL Live 2003'' (2002)
*'' Kevin Sheedy AFL Coach 2002'' (2002)
*''The Saddle Club – Willowbrook Stables'' (2002)
*''Equestriad'' (2001)
*''Mary King's Riding Star'' (1999)

References

External links

Transmission Games Home Page

Heroes of the Pacific Home Page

IR Gurus
at MobyGames
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

IR Gurus Profile
at IGN

Transmission games closes doors report

{{Authority control

Video game development companies
Video game companies established in 1996
Video game companies disestablished in 2009
Defunct video game companies of Australia
Australian companies established in 1996
Australian companies disestablished in 2009