Accolade (game company)

Accolade, Inc.

Former type	Defunct
Industry	Video game development and publishing
Fate	Acquired
Successor	Infogrames
Founded	1984
Defunct	1999
Headquarters	San Jose, California
Key people	Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead, founders
Products	Star Control, Test Drive, Jack Nicklaus, HardBall!, Bubsy
Website	[N/A]

Accolade, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher of the 1980s and 1990s. Headquartered in San Jose, California, it was founded in 1984 by Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead after leaving another game developer and publisher they had founded, Activision.

History

Early years

According to legend, Miller and Whitehead named their company "Accolade" because it came before "Activision" alphabetically—implying that Accolade was superior to their previous company, as reportedly the name Activision was chosen as it came before Atari. Later, a new game development company, Acclaim, another company formed from ex-Activision employees, apparently formulated their name because it came before "Accolade." Absolute Entertainment, again, a third company formed from ex-Activision people, ended up being first with the 'first in the alphabet' race.

HardBall!, here seen on the Commodore 64, started a series that went on to become one of Accolade's most popular franchises.

Accolade's revenues grew from $1.5 million in 1985 to $5 million in 1986. It developed for most 1980s-era home computers, including the Commodore 64, Atari 400 & 800, the Amiga, Apple II and the PC. Some of their first titles include Law of the West, Psi-5 Trading Company, The Dam Busters, Mean 18 Golf, Test Drive, and HardBall!. Test Drive and HardBall! went on to become two of Accolade's longest-running franchises.

As the popularity of other systems waned, Accolade focused on PC and console development, including the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, Super NES and PlayStation.

All of Accolade's initial titles were developed in-house. But being a publisher as well as a developer, Accolade began to publish titles produced by other developers as well. By the mid-1990s, most of Accolade software development was done by third-party developers.

In October 1991, Accolade was served with a lawsuit regarding copyright infringement, that eventually led to the concept of reverse engineering for interoperability purposes. Sega wanted to keep a hold on their consoles, and wanted all its games exclusive to Sega. Unwilling to conform to single platform games, Accolade engineers reverse engineered the Genesis console and created their own development systems; until then, game developers had to obtain the systems from Sega in order to develop games for the platform. Sega sued Accolade over the practice and won an initial injunction, forcing Accolade to remove all Genesis product from store shelves. Accolade, however, won on appeal and reached an out of court settlement with Sega that allowed Accolade to continue building their own Genesis cartridges, but as an official licensee.

Demise

The company had marginal successes during the early 1990s. Bubsy for the Genesis and Super NES sold well and was the company's best-selling game until Test Drive 4 came out in 1997. Star Control 2 for the PC (1992, DOS) is still very well regarded and was one of the highest rated games of its time.

However, beginning in the mid-1990s, Accolade started publishing a variety of games of differing genres which were perceived to be indistinguishing and lacking polish.

During a conference of management and producers, Accolade decided to focus only on sports and action games. Accolade already had several franchises based in these categories. Franchises in the sports genre included HardBall!, Unnecessary Roughness and Jack Nicklaus Golf. In the broad "action" category they had the long-running franchise Test Drive.

Bob Whitehead left Accolade shortly after its founding; Alan Miller left in 1995. Before Miller left, the position of CEO was taken over by Peter Harris, who was placed there by Prudential Investments (Prudential had made a US$10 million investment in the company). Harris was on the board of directors and was formerly the CEO of FAO Schwarz and after Accolade, became the president of the San Francisco 49ers. Harris left the fate of the company in the hands of game industry neophyte, Jim Barnett. Under Barnett's direction, the company relaunched the successful Test Drive series, began the Test Drive Offroad series and introduced both series to the PlayStation platform.

Accolade did well in its early years, but by the 1990s, Accolade's sales suffered and several rounds of lay-offs ensued. Under Barnett's direction, Accolade was rebuilt around action games and published Test Drive 4, 5 and 6 as well as Test Drive Offroad, all of which sold millions of units and become part of Sony's greatest hits program. Accolade was eventually purchased by French publisher Infogrames in 1999, right after publishing their last game Redline. Accolade was the entry point for Infogrames' North America expansion and was merged with Infogrames' other operations and moved to Los Angeles. All of Accolade's assets are now owned by Tommo, Inc. .

Many employees from the time of the acquisition still work for both Tommo and Atari.

Games

Accolade was responsible for publishing many influential games. Some of the best known and best-selling series include Star Control, Test Drive, Jack Nicklaus Golf, HardBall and Bubsy.

Name	Year	Platforms	Description
4th & Inches	1988	Amiga	A critically hailed American football sports game
	1987	Commodore 64
	1988	Apple II
		Apple IIGS
		DOS
4th & Inches Team Construction Disk	1988		An expansion that allowed for the editing and creation of teams for 4th & Inches
Accolade Comics	1987	Apple II	An adventure game with arcade sequences. Allows players to affect the story with branching choices.
		Commodore 64
Accolade In Action	1990
Ace of Aces	1986	Amstrad CPC	A World War II combat flight simulator where the player pilots a RAF Mosquito fighter-bomber
		Atari 8-bit
		Atari 7800
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		MSX
		Master System
		ZX Spectrum
Altered Destiny	1991	Amiga	A graphic adventure game featuring an average man sucked into an alien world who has to save the galaxy
	1990	DOS
Anatomic Man	1988
Apollo 18: Mission to the Moon	1987
Ballz	1995	3DO	A widely derided fighting game where the fighters are represented as a collection of spheres
	1994	Genesis
		Super NES
Bar Games	1989	DOS	A collection of games typical of a bar, such as darts and pool, including picking up women
Barkley Shut Up and Jam!	1994		A basketball sports game featuring Charles Barkley
		Genesis
		Super NES
Battle Isle 2200	1993	DOS	A turn-based tactics game; released as Battle Isle 2 in Europe
Big Air	1999	PlayStation	A sports game
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure	1991		Based on the movie of the same name
Blue Angels: Formation Flight Simulation	1989
Brett Hull Hockey 95	1994	DOS	An ice hockey sports game
		Genesis
		Super NES
Bubble Ghost	1987	Amiga	An arcade/action game where the player controls a ghost trying to protect a bubble
		Amstrad CPC
		Apple IIGS
		Atari ST
		Commodore 64
		DOS
	1990	Game Boy
Bubsy 3D: Furbitten Planet	1996	PlayStation	A widely derided and last entry in the Bubsy series of games
Bubsy II	1995	Game Boy	A widely derided sequel to 1993's Bubsy
	1994	Genesis
		Super NES
Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind	1993	Genesis	A highly anticipated, but ultimately just warmly received debut of the Bubsy series of games
		Super NES
	1995	Windows
Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales	1994	Atari Jaguar	The only Bubsy game released exclusively for the Atari Jaguar
Card Sharks	1987
The Cardinal of the Kremlin	1990
Combat Cars	1994	Sega Genesis/Mega Drive	A racing and vehicular combat game
Cyclemania	1994	DOS	A motorcycle racing game
The Cycles: International Grand Prix Racing	1989	Amiga	A motorcycle racing game featuring all the tracks of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
		Amstrad CPC
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		ZX Spectrum
The Dam Busters	1984	Apple II	A World War II combat flight simulator
		ColecoVision
		Commodore 64
		DOS
Day of the Viper	1989	Amiga	A first-person shooter adventure game where the user plays a robot
		Atari ST
		DOS
Deadlock: Planetary Conquest	1996	Windows	An ambitious turn-based strategy game that failed to impress critics
Deadlock II: Shrine Wars	1998	Windows	A sequel to the earlier Deadlock
Don't Go Alone	1989
Double Dragon	1992	Sega Genesis/Mega Drive	Based on the original arcade game, of all the ports of this game, this one comes closest to the original game
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark	1990	Amiga	Generally better received than its namesake, the 1988 film, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
		Atari ST
		Commodore 64
		DOS
Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus	1991	Amiga	A disappointing sequel to the first game, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
		Atari ST
		Commodore 64
		DOS
Eradicator	1996	DOS	A first and third-person shooter
Fast Break	1989	Amiga	A basketball sports game
		Apple IIGS
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		Macintosh
Fight Night	1985	Apple II	A boxing sports game
		Atari 7800
		Atari 8-bit
		Atari ST
		Atari XEGS
		Commodore 64
Fireteam Rogue	1995	Genesis	An unreleased action game
		Super NES
The Game of Harmony	1990	Amiga	A puzzle, strategy and action game involving manipulating spheres
		Amstrad CPC
		Atari ST
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		Game Boy
		ZX Spectrum
The Games: Summer Challenge	1991
The Games: Winter Challenge	1992
Grand Prix Circuit	1987	Amiga	A Grand Prix motor racing game
		Amstrad CPC
		Apple IIGS
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		Macintosh
		ZX Spectrum
Grand Prix Unlimited	1992
Gunboat	1990	Amiga	A warmly received combat simulation of a PBR during the Vietnam War.
		DOS
		TurboGrafx-16
		ZX Spectrum
Hardball!	1985	Amiga	A successful title for Accolade, a baseball game that incorporates managerial aspects as well as arcade action
		Amstrad CPC
		Apple II
		Apple IIGS
		Atari 8-bit
		Atari ST
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		Macintosh
		MSX
		Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
		ZX Spectrum
Hardball II	1989	Amiga	A baseball game, the 1989 entry in the Hardball! series of games
		DOS
		Macintosh
Hardball III	1992	DOS	A baseball game, the 1992 entry in the Hardball! series the console versions which, due to a lack of secondary storage, saved season stats via a lengthy password
		Genesis
		Super NES
HardBall 4	1994		A baseball game, the 1994 entry in the Hardball! series of games
HardBall 5	1995		A baseball game, the 1995 entry in the Hardball! series of games, which introduced some innovative features which have now become commonplace for all baseball video games
HardBall 6	1998		A baseball game, the penultimate entry of the long-running Hardball! series of games
HardBall 6 - 2000 Edition	1999		A baseball game, a revamping of Hardball 6 for the turn of the century
Heat Wave	1989
Hoverforce	1990
Ishido: The Way of Stones	1990	Amiga	A puzzle/board game based on matching stones
	1991	Atari Lynx
	1990	DOS
		Game Boy
		Macintosh
	1991	NES
	1990	Sega Genesis
	1995	Windows
Jack Nicklaus 4	1997	Macintosh	A golf sports game featuring the eponymous golfer
		Windows
Jack Nicklaus 5	1998	Windows	A golf sports game featuring the eponymous golfer
Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design: Signature Edition	1992	DOS	A golf course designer for the related Jack Nicklaus Golf games
Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf	1998	DOS	Eighteen favorite holes of the eponymous golfer
Jack Nicklaus' Unlimited Golf & Course Design	1990	DOS	A golf course designer for the related Jack Nicklaus Golf games
Killed Until Dead	1986	Amstrad CPC	A detective/mystery game loosely based on Cluedo
		Apple II
		Commodore 64
		ZX Spectrum
Law of the West	1985	Apple II	A graphical adventure/action game where the player is the sheriff in an Old West town
		Commodore 64
		Nintendo Entertainment System
Les Manley in: Lost in L.A.	1992		A graphical adventure game featuring a risqué theme, the second (and last) in the series
Les Manley in: Search for the King	1990		A risqué graphical adventure game, Accolade's attempt to duplicate the success of the Leisure Suit Larry series of games
Mean 18	1986	Amiga	A launch title for Accolade, a sports golf game featuring critically hailed innovative features
		Apple IIGS
		Atari 7800
		Atari ST
		DOS
Mike Ditka Power Football	1991		A sports game of American football
Mini-Putt	1987	Commodore 64	A sports game of miniature golf
		DOS
		Macintosh
		ZX Spectrum
Pelé!	1993	Sega Genesis/Mega Drive	An association football sports game featuring the famed Brazilian player
Pelé II: World Tournament Soccer	1994	Sega Genesis/Mega Drive	An association football sports game featuring Pelé, a sequel to 1993's Pelé!, released as Pelé's World Tournament Soccer in Europe
Pinball Wizard	1985	Amstrad CPC	A pinball game and construction set
	1986	Atari ST
	1985	Commodore 64
	1987	DOS
	1985	MSX
		Oric-1/Atmos
		ZX Spectrum
PO'ed	1995	3DO	A first-person shooter where the player is a cook on a crashed spaceship fighting for his life on a hostile alien planet
	1996	PlayStation
Power at Sea	1988	Commodore 64	A strategy video game, a simulation of the Battle of Leyte Gulf where the player commands several WWII naval vessels
Powerboat	1990
Pro Sport Challenge	1991
Project: Space Station	1985
Psi-5 Trading Company	1985	Amstrad CPC	A space trading and combat game where the player must command a crew of a spaceship trying to deliver cargo
		Apple II
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		ZX Spectrum
Rack 'Em	1988	Commodore 64	A cue sports simulator with a variety of game types available
		DOS
Redline	1999	Windows	A post-apocalyptic combination first-person shooter/racing video game
Road & Car	1991
Serve & Volley	1988
Slave Zero	1999	Dreamcast	An action game where the player controls a 60-foot-tall humanoid robot, released to mixed reviews
		Windows
Snoopy's Game Club	1992
Speed Racer in My Most Dangerous Adventures	1994	Super NES	A racing action game based on the eponymous anime/manga series
Speed Racer in The Challenge of Racer X	1992	DOS	A racing action game based on the eponymous anime/manga series
Star Control	1990	Amiga	A well-received science fiction action/strategy game that laid the ground for the more successful sequel soon afterwards
	1991	Amstrad CPC
		Commodore 64
	1990	DOS
	1991	Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
		ZX Spectrum
Star Control II	1994	3DO	A science fiction space, adventure shoot 'em up, widely hailed as one of the greatest PC games ever
	1992	DOS
Star Control 1 & 2 CD Compendium			A combination packaging of Star Control and Star Control II
Star Control 3	1996	DOS	A largely ignored sci-fi real-time strategy sequel to Star Control II
		Mac OS
Star Control Collection
Steel Thunder	1988
Stratego	1991
Strike Aces	1990
SunDog: Frozen Legacy	1984	Apple II	Pioneering space trading game which implemented an advanced user interface that is now standard on most modern operating systems
	1985	Atari ST
Test Drive	1987	Amiga	A racing game where the player "test drives" a high-end sports car along a serpentine mountainside freeway at unsafe, high speeds in order to win the car for free
		Amstrad CPC
		Apple II
		Atari ST
		Commodore 64
		DOS
Test Drive II: The Duel	1989	Amiga	Also known as The Duel: Test Drive II, the second game in the Test Drive series of racing games
		Amstrad CPC
		Apple IIGS
		Atari ST
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		Macintosh
		MSX
		Genesis
		Super NES
		ZX Spectrum
Test Drive II Car Disk: Musclecars	1989		An expansion pack for Test Drive II that adds some classic muscle cars from the 1960s
Test Drive II Car Disk: The Supercars	1989		An expansion pack for Test Drive II that adds some an additional high-performance cars
Test Drive II Scenery Disk: California Challenge	1990		An expansion pack for Test Drive II that adds an additional course with several California themes
Test Drive II Scenery Disk: European Challenge	1990		An expansion pack for Test Drive II that adds six additional course through several European countries
Test Drive II: The Collection	1991		A collection of Test Drive II and all its expansion packs
Test Drive III: The Passion	1990	DOS	The first Test Drive series of racing games to use 3D graphics instead of sprites
Test Drive 4	1997	PlayStation	The fourth game in the Test Drive series of racing games
		Windows
Test Drive 5	1998	PlayStation	The fifth game in the Test Drive series of racing games
		Windows
Test Drive 6	1999	Dreamcast	The sixth game in the Test Drive series of racing games
		Game Boy Color
		PlayStation
		Windows
Test Drive: Off-Road	1997	PlayStation	The first game in the Off-Road spin-off series from the Test Drive series of racing games
		Windows
Test Drive: Off-Road 2	1998	PlayStation	The second game in the Off-Road spin-off series from the Test Drive series of racing games
		Windows
Test Drive: Off-Road 3	1999	Game Boy Color	The third and last game in the Off-Road spin-off series from the Test Drive series of racing games
		PlayStation
		Windows
The Third Courier	1990
TKO	1988
The Train: Escape to Normandy	1987	Apple II	An action game where the player commandeers a Nazi train and uses it to try and escape Nazi Germany during World War II
		Amstrad CPC
		Commodore 64
		DOS
		ZX Spectrum
Turrican	1991	Game Boy	A science fiction run and gun with multiple inspirations
		Genesis
		TG-16
Universal Soldier	1992	Game Boy	Released as Turrican II on other platforms, this game is a sequel to Turrican
		Genesis
Unnecessary Roughness			The first in the much maligned series of American football games by the company
Unnecessary Roughness '95	1995	DOS	A poorly received sequel to the first game in the Unnecessary Roughness series
		Genesis
Unnecessary Roughness '96	1996
Waxworks	1992	Amiga	A favorably received horror-themed, puzzle role-playing video game
		DOS
Warp Speed		Genesis
Winter Challenge	1991	DOS	A sports game, a collection of Olympic themed winter events
		Genesis
Zero Tolerance	1994	Genesis	One of the few first-person shooters released for this Sega console
Zyconix	1992	Amiga	A puzzle game

External links

• Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived April 29, 1999)
• Accolade at MobyGames
• Accolade at World of Spectrum
• Adventureland: Accolade's adventure games
• Sega vs Accolade details