ICOM Simulations

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ICOM Simulations's logo.

ICOM Simulations was an American video game developer and publisher which existed from 1981-1998. They are most popular because of their series of story-like puzzle games.

The company was originally formed on 1981-03-04 by Tod Zipnick as TMQ Software and it developed games for the ill-fated Panasonic JR-200. In 1984, the company name was changed to ICOM Simulations just prior to the release of the first game in the MacVenture series. Unfortunately, after four successful games, Zipnick died from caner in 1991. At the beginning of the 1990s, ICOM chose the TurboGrafx-16 as their home console to work with, and it unfortunately never saw the expected popularity they were hoping for. This led to ICOM being bought by Viacom New Media at the end of 1993, and being renamed to Rabid Entertainment. Rabid Entertainment was primarily given the task of developing licensed games on an extremely tight schedule, resulting in inferior game play. The company also never saw its name on any of the titles it developed. In 1997, Viacom New Media's parent company wanted to leave the video game industry and shut down Viacom New Media, and Rabid Entertainment was released from their contract. Unable to find a new publisher, Rabid Entertainment officially shutdown a few months later on 1998-02-14.

Personal

Like with most video game companies, I became aware of them not through their business, but through their games. In ICOM's case, it was the NES ports of Shadowgate, Uninvited, and Déjà Vu. It wasn't until many years later than I learned about ICOM simulations and their impressive MacVenture engine, but, by that time, the company was out of business.

Video Games

The following are games released by ICOM Simulations are important to me:

Staff

These are people who were employed by Origin whose work I appreciate.

Logos

Links

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