Imagic

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Imagic (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) was an American video game developer and publisher that created games initially for the Atari 2600. Founded in 1981 by corporate alumni of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were Atlantis, Cosmic Ark, and Demon Attack.<ref name="daaa">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Imagic also released games for Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit computers, TI-99/4A, IBM PCjr, VIC-20, Commodore 64, TRS-80 Color Computer, and Magnavox Odyssey². Their Odyssey² ports of Demon Attack and Atlantis were the only third-party releases for that system in America. The company never recovered from the video game crash of 1983 and was liquidated in 1986.

History

Imagic was the second third-party publisher for the Atari 2600, formed after Activision.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Founders included Bill Grubb, Bob Smith, Rob Fulop, and Denis Koble from Atari, Inc.,<ref name="rfgam">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Jim Goldberger, Dave Durran and Brian Dougherty from Mattel<ref name="Atlantis">Template:Cite episode</ref> as well as Pat Ransil<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> and Gary Kato.

Grubb previously served as the vice president of sales and marketing for Atari for 18 months.<ref name="nyt1">Template:Cite news</ref> Before that, he was with the marketing department at Black and Decker for 11 years.<ref name="atarihq1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was Grubb's goal to take Imagic public<ref name="Atlantis" /> and to eventually overtake Activision as the number one third-party video game publisher.<ref name="atarihq1" /> Fulop, meanwhile, was previously a programmer at Atari, and claimed in a 2019 interview with Paleotronic Magazine that he left the company in favor of Imagic after being paid for developing the Atari 2600 port of Missile Command with a Safeway coupon for a free turkey rather than the monetary Christmas bonus he had expected.<ref name="Paleotronic 2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Atari sued Imagic over Demon Attack because of its resemblance to Phoenix,<ref name="dareview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to which Atari had the exclusive home-version rights. The case was settled out of court.

Despite initial success and sales greater than projections, the company's fortunes reversed after the stock market dumped videogame stocks in late 1982, scuttling Imagic's initial plan to become a publicly traded company.<ref name="Atlantis" />

Fan club

During its height, Imagic ran a fan club for their games, the Numb Thumb Club, which published an annual newsletter.<ref name="nt">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Only two issues were published before Imagic's decline began in late 1983.<ref name="nt" />

Decline

Although Imagic grew quickly in its early years, it was irreparably harmed by the video game crash of 1983. It released 24 games before going out of business by 1986, but the exact time it disbanded is unknown. In 1983, the company laid off 40 of their 170 employees<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but appeared at the 1984 Consumer Electronics Show with plans for four IBM PCjr games.<ref name="cook19840306">Template:Cite news</ref> The rights to Imagic's most popular titles have been owned by Activision since the late 1980s,Template:Citation needed and they have been re-released on several occasions.

Games

Template:More citations needed section Imagic 2600 cartridges were distinct from both Activision and Atari cartridges with an extended ridge at the top of the cart. Packaging was distinctive due to the use of reflective silver on the boxes, with a tapered, ridged end intended for an easy grip. The years are for the original versions only, not subsequent ports.

Title	Released	Platform
Atlantis	1982	Atari 2600, Intellivision, Vic-20 (1983), Atari 8-bit (1983), Odysssey 2 (1983)
Cosmic Ark	1982	Atari 2600
Demon Attack	1982	Atari 2600, Intellivision, Atari 8-bit (1983), Odyssey 2 (1983), Vic-20 (1983), TI-99/4A (1983), IBM PC (1984), TRS-80 CoCo (1984), Commodore 64 (1984)
Dragonfire	1982	Atari 2600, Intellivision, Vic-20 (1983), ZX Spectrum (1984), TRS-80 CoCo (1984) Colecovision (1984), Commodore 64 (1984), Apple II (1984)
Fire Fighter<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	1982	Atari 2600
Beauty & the Beast	1982	Intellivision
Microsurgeon	1982	Intellivision, IBM PC (1984), TI-99/4A (1984)
Riddle of the Sphinx	1982	Atari 2600
Swords & Serpents<ref name="nt" />	1982	Intellivision
Star Voyager	1982	Atari 2600
Trick Shot	1982	Atari 2600
Dracula<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1983	Intellivision
Fathom	1983	Atari 2600, Intellivision
Ice Trek	1983	Intellivision
Laser Gates	1983	Atari 2600
Moonsweeper<ref name="holyoak19840530">Template:Cite news</ref>	1983	Atari 2600, Colecovision, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, MSX, TI-99/4A
No Escape!	1983	Atari 2600
Nova Blast	1983	Intellivision, Colecovision, Commodore 64 (1984)
Quick Step	1983	Atari 2600
Safecracker	1983	Intellivision
Shootin' Gallery	1983	Atari 2600
Solar Storm	1983	Atari 2600
Subterranea	1983	Atari 2600
Tropical Trouble	1983	Intellivision
Truckin'	1983	Intellivision
White Water!	1983	Intellivision
Wing War	1983	Atari 2600, Colecovision (1984), TI-99/4A (1984)
Chopper Hunt, formerly Buried Bucks from ANALOG Software	1984	Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64
Injured Engine	1984	Commodore 64, Apple ii
Touchdown Football	1984	IBM PC, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Atari 7800
Tournament Tennis	1984	Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Colecovision, MS-DOS (1985), Atari ST (1985), Amstrad CPC (1985), Sinclair QL (1985), Thompson TO (1985)