TCW Podcast Episode 251 - Virgin Games
As a companion piece to our Mastertronic episode, we look at the rise and fall of Virgin Games. Beginning with Richard Branson’s mail-order record business and the success of Virgin Records, the company expanded into games under executive Nick Alexander, whose interest in the industry led to the creation of a Virgin gaming subsidiary. Early successes included the Dan Dare series and computer adaptations of board games. In 1987 Virgin took a stake in Mastertronic, and in 1988 fully acquired the company, gaining both its budget software business and its role in the SEGA Master System launch. From there Virgin Games developed into two distinct arms. In Europe, the company focused on distribution, bringing major publishers and licenses into the region. In the United States, Virgin built on Mastertronic’s development studio, centering on strong talent and overlooked licenses, producing titles such as Spot, Cool Spot, Global Gladiators, and later major Disney games including Aladdin and The Lion King. On PC, the company found success with The 7th Guest and through the acquisition of Westwood Studios, gaining Command and Conquer. Virgin Games also had a hand in publishing Dune and Dune II. In the mid-1990s the Virgin Group began seeking a buyer, leading to Blockbuster’s acquisition of Virgin Interactive, which soon placed the company under Viacom following the Paramount merger. Heavy corporate debt and shifting priorities resulted in the sale of Westwood to Electronic Arts. What remained was largely a European distribution business that later entered an agreement with Interplay and was ultimately acquired by Titus Interactive. After the collapse of the dot-com bubble, mounting debt forced Titus to shutter the company, and in 2005 Virgin Interactive quietly disappeared
TCW 105 - The Big Voice of Magnavox: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-big-voice-of-magnavox/
TCW 106 - The Small Voice of Magnavox: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-small-voice-of-magnavox/
TCW 026 - The Magnavox Odyssey: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-magnavox-odyssey/
TCW 027 - The Magnavox Patent Lawsuits: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-magnavox-patent-lawsuits-friday-september-16-2016-1003-am/
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (Live BBC 1973): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbYQYOM66MA
Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future (ZX Spectrum): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUEDOu5ewIQ
Dan Dare II - Mekons` Revenge (ZX Spectrum): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lheo_ao8K4
Dan Dare III - The Escape (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK62NSaE75s
Monopoly - Virgin Games (DOS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un6iagpCwWw
Spot - The Video Game (NES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Ezmf6z3kM
7-Up Spot Commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNTMHqz6_c
TCW 229 - US Gold: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/us-gold/
TCW 023 - The Complete Tetris Story: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-complete-tetris-story/
Lure of the Temptress (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwSS5zA74jQ
Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pr3IsnqxGs
Cannon Fodder (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFP8WUrBVHc
Previous High Scores C&C Ad: https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolRidiculous/comments/x1k61n/could_you_even_imagine_if_westwood_studios/
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (NES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_1AGDZiLVY
Robin Hood Men in Tights - English Accent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9tEH7iWOyk
Global Gladiators (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy9_-iEdXAA
Cool Spot (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTROI2ODRM4
Aladin (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqx0rq7ACg
The Jungle Book (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BivK2swrtqM
Aladin (SNES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9m2gAuWkOY
The Lion King (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-U4RObki-k
TCW 194 - The 7th Guest: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-7th-guest/
The 7th Guest (PC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Z-Q5KVTyI
The Legend of Kyrandia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO6BE4HOjnM
TCW 208 - Two Dunes the Battle for Arrakis: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/two-dunes-the-battle-for-arrakis/
TCW 082 - An Unlikely Pairing of Siliwood: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/an-unlikely-pairing-of-siliwood/
TCW 064 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/rise-and-fall-of-infogrames-part-1/
TCW 065 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-rise-and-fall-of-infogrames-part-2/
New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!
TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com
Twitter: @tcwpodcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds
Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1
Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode
Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love
Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
