Accolade

Accolade was a video game developer and publisher during the 1980s and 1990s, founded in (1984) by Bob Whitehead and Alan Miller, after they left Activision, another game developer and publisher they had founded in 1979.

Accolade developed titles for the majority of 80s-era home computers, including the PC, Atari 400 & 800, Commodore 64, Apple II and Amiga. They soon became known for developing high quality games, such as Psi-5 Trading Company, Mean 18 Golf, Law of the West, The Dam Busters, Test Drive and Hardball!, the latter two going on to become Accolade's longest-running franchises. As the popularity of other systems decreased, Accolade focused on console and PC development, including the Mega Drive (Genesis), NES, SNES and Sony PlayStation.

Although all of Accolade's initial titles were developed in-house, Accolade also published titles produced by other developers, and by the mid-1990s, most of Accolade software development was carried out by third-party developers. However, by this time, some of the games published lacked the polish Accolade used to be known for, and it was decided that the company would focus only on sports games and simulations, such as Jack Nicklaus Golf and Test Drive. This policy led to marginal success during the mid 1990s, with Test Drive 4 becoming the company's best-selling game, and Star Control 2 for the PC one of the highest rated games of its time.

In (1992), Accolade was involved in a lawsuit regarding console development. Accolade was unhappy with the high development fees that Nintendo and Sega were charging, and instead of paying the fees, Accolade reverse engineered the Mega Drive (Genesis) and the SNES. Sega then sued Accolade over the practice and won an initial injunction, which forced Accolade to remove all Genesis products from the shops. However, Accolade, went on to win on appeal and reached an out of court settlement that allowed them to continue building their own Genesis cartridges.

In 1995, Alan Miller left Accolade in 1995 (Bob Whitehead had left shortly after the company was founded). Prudential Investments (who owned a large stake in the company) placed Peter Harris in the position of CEO, who left the company in the hands of game industry neophyte, Jim Barnett. Under Barnett's management, the company began to flounder and suffered a number of layoffs until it was finally bought by French publisher Infogrames in 1999, who own Accolade's assets under the name of their subsidiary, Atari.

Games

Accolade was responsible for developing a huge range of memorable games, with best-selling series including Test Drive, Star Control, Hardball, Jack Nicklaus Golf and Bubsy. Other titles include:

• 4th & Inches (1987)
• 4th & Inches Team Construction Disk (1988)
• Accolade Comics (1987)
• Accolade In Action (1990)
• Ace of Aces (1986)
• Altered Destiny (1990)
• Ballz (1994)
• Bar Games (1989)
• Barkley: Shut Up and Jam! (1994)
• Battle Isle 2 (1993) PC
• Big Air (1998) PlayStation
• Blue Angels: Formation Flight Simulation (1989)
• Brett Hull Hockey 95 (1994)
• Bubble Ghost (1987)
• Bubsy 3D: Furbitten Planet (1996)
• Bubsy II (1994)
• Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (1993)
• Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales (1994)
• The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1990)
• Combat Cars (1994) Sega Genesis
• Cyclemania (1994) PC
• The Cycles: International Grand Prix Racing (1989)
• Dam Busters (1984)
• Day of the Viper (1989)
• Deadlock: Planetary Conquest (1996) PC
• Deadlock II: Shrine Wars (1998) PC
• Don't Go Alone (1989)
• Double Dragon (1988)
• The Duel: Test Drive II (1989)
• Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1990)
• Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus (1991)
• Eradicator (1996) PC
• Fast Break (1988)
• Fight Night (1985)
• The Game of Harmony (1990)
• The Games: Summer Challenge (1991)
• The Games: Winter Challenge (1992)
• Grand Prix Circuit (1988)
• Grand Prix Unlimited (1992)
• Gunboat (1990)
• HardBall 4 (1994)
• Hardball 5 (1995)
• HardBall 6 - 2000 Edition (1999)
• HardBall II (1989)
• HardBall III (1992)
• HardBall! (1985)
• Hoverforce (1990)
• Ishido: The Way of Stones (1990)
• Jack Nicklaus 4 (1997)
• Jack Nicklaus 5 (1998)
• Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design: Signature Edition (1992)
• Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf (1988)
• Jack Nicklaus' Unlimited Golf & Course Design (1990)
• Killed Until Dead (1986)
• Law of the West (1985)
• Les Manley in: Lost in L.A. (1992)
• Les Manley in: Search for the King (1990)
• Mean 18 (1986)
• Mike Ditka Ultimate Football (1991)
• Mini-Putt (1987)
• Pelé II: World Tournament Soccer (1994)
• PO'ed (1995)
• Power at Sea (1987)
• Project: Space Station (1985)
• Psi-5 Trading Company (1986)
• Rack 'Em (1988)
• Redline (1999)
• Road & Car (1991)
• Serve & Volley (1988)
• Slave Zero (PC) (1999)
• Snoopy's Game Club (1992)
• Speed Racer in The Challenge of Racer X
• Star Control
• Star Control 1 & 2 CD Compendium
• Star Control 3
• Star Control Collection
• Star Control II
• Steel Thunder
• Stratego
• Strike Aces
• SunDog: Frozen Legacy
• Super Bubsy
• Test Drive
• Test Drive 4 (PlayStation, PC)
• Test Drive 5 (PlayStation, PC)
• Test Drive II Car Disk: Musclecars
• Test Drive II Car Disk: The Supercars
• Test Drive II Scenery Disk: California Challenge
• Test Drive II Scenery Disk: European Challenge
• Test Drive II: The Collection
• Test Drive III: The Passion
• Test Drive Off-Road 3
• Test Drive: Off-Road
• Test Drive: Off-Road 2
• The Third Courier
• TKO
• The Train: Escape to Normandy
• Turrican
• Universal Soldier
• Unnecessary Roughness
• Unnecessary Roughness '95 (PC, Sega Genesis)
• Unnecessary Roughness '96 (PC)
• Waxworks (PC)
• Winter Challenge
• Zero Tolerance (Sega Genesis)
• Zyconix