Techno Source is a
handheld electronic game
Handheld electronic games are very small, portable devices for playing interactive electronic games, often miniaturized versions of video games. The controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit. Rather than a general-purpose ...
and
TV game company selling electronic toys, games and learning aids. Based in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
with an office in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, it is a
privately owned company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
founded in 2000 by Wayne Nathan and Rich Migatz. In April 2011, Techno Source was acquired by
Li & Fung.
Products
20Q was invented in 1988 as an experiment for
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
. In 2004,
Radica made the game handheld. In 2011, an improved version by Techno Source was introduced, featuring more answers and better interaction.
The company worked in the
retro gaming market, creating TV game systems that plugged directly into a television set. After entering into a licensing agreement with
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. In 1984, ...
in 2003, Techno Source introduced the Intellivision 25, which featured 25 original Intellivision games in one plug-and-play unit. Following the release of the Intellivision 25 and its follow-up, the Intellivision 10, Techno Source claimed that they had sold over 1,000,000 units and received the
National Parenting Center's "Seal of Approval" in 2004.
This line later included the 2-player Intellivision X2 and the Intellivision 10 2nd Edition. According to the
Blue Sky Rangers, the original programmers of the Intellivision games, Techno Source sold more Intellivision games than Mattel Electronics originally sold in the 1980s.
In 2003, Techno Source and
Crayola
Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylv ...
released electronic handheld games and plug-and-play units for
pre-school
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary schoo ...
users. Two of their TV Game units, ''My First TV Play System'' and ''My First Electronic Coloring Book'', received the National Parenting Center's "Seal of Approval" in 2004 & 2005, and the
Dr. Toy Smart "Play Smart" Toy Award in 2005. They were also featured as part of
MarketWatch
MarketWatch is a website that provides financial information, business news, analysis, and stock market data. Along with ''The Wall Street Journal'' and '' Barron's'', it is a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company, a property of News Corp.
His ...
's coverage of the Licensing Show in 2004.
In 2005, the company and
Coleco
Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consol ...
reintroduce their "Head-to-Head" handheld electronic games, which lets two players play against each other in football, basketball, baseball, and soccer simultaneously. Dr. Toy named Techno Source to its list of the 10 Best High-Tech Children's Products as well as one of the 100 Best Products for this assortment in 2005.
They also agreed a licensing partnership with
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and ...
in 2005, producing a series of handheld electronic games and TV games designed to entertainment and promote learning. Several of these products won multiple awards, such as the Dr. Toy Smart Toy Award and the Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award in 2006.
The company's handheld Touch Screen
Sudoku
Sudoku (; ja, 数独, sūdoku, digit-single; originally called Number Place) is a logic-based, combinatorics, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. In classic Sudoku, the objective is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each co ...
, which was nominated for Game of the Year by the
Toy Industry Association
The Toy Association is an American trade association for the US toy industry.
Description
The Toy Association leads the health and growth of the U.S. toy industry, which has an annual U.S. economic impact of $98.6 billion, and represents hundre ...
in 2006. A version with embedded
Swarovski
Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski.
The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...
crystals was given out at the 12th Annual
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
Awards.
On 9 February 2006 the company announced a worldwide licensing agreement with
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATVI) to develop and distribute products based on Activision properties from the 1980s including
Pitfall 2
''Pitfall II: Lost Caverns'' is a platform video game originally released for the Atari 2600 by Activision in 1984. It is the sequel to '' Pitfall!'' (1982). Both games were designed and programmed by David Crane and star jungle explorer Pi ...
,
River Raid,
Chopper Command,
Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in ...
and
Kaboom. The deal included TV plug and play Systems and LCD-based handheld games, which were available at retail in September 2006.
On 19 June 2006 the company and Rubik's announced a line of electronic games based on the original
Rubik's Cube
The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Pentangle Puzzles in t ...
.
[http://www.technosourcehk.com/prr-29.php 'Techno Source Puts A New Twist on Classic Rubik's Cube' Techno Source press release 19 June 2006 ]
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Techno Source Official site
Handheld electronic games
Privately held companies of China