Editing Beam Software (section)

== History ==
=== Home computer era ===
In the early years, two of Beam's programs were milestones in their respective genres. ''[[The Hobbit (1982 video game)|The Hobbit]]'', a 1982 text adventure by Philip Mitchell and [[Veronika Megler]],<ref>{{citation|title=Author of '80s classic ''The Hobbit'' didn't know game was a hit|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/18/hobbit_author_veronika_megler_reminisces/|publisher=[[The Register]]|date=18 November 2012|access-date=10 December 2012|last=Sharwood|first=Simon}}</ref> sold more than 500,000 copies.<ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.beam.com.au/E3/comphist.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19971021035824/http://www.beam.com.au/E3/comphist.htm|title=Beam Software Company History|website=beam.com.au|archive-date=October 21, 1997|access-date=March 25, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Fred|last=Milgrom|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97755746/the-age/|title=Innovator keeps firing|newspaper=[[The Age]]|page=14|date=September 29, 1997|access-date=March 25, 2024|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> It employed an advanced parser by Stuart Richie and had real-time elements. Even if the player didn't enter commands, the story would move on.<ref name="demaria">DeMaria, Rusel and Wilson, Johnny L. (2004) ''High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games'' McGraw-Hill/Osborne, Berkeley, Calif., p. 347, {{ISBN|0-07-223172-6}}</ref> In 1985 Greg Barnett's two-player [[martial arts]] game ''[[The Way of the Exploding Fist]]'' helped define the genre of one-on-one fighting games on the home computer.<ref name="demaria" /> The game won Best Overall Game at the [[Golden Joystick Awards]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gamesradar.com/golden-joysticks-ultimate-list-ultimate-games-1983-2014/ | title=Golden Joysticks Awards' ultimate list of ultimate winners: 1983 - 2016 | date=27 October 2017 | publisher=GamesRadar.com | access-date=2017-12-31}}</ref>

In 1987 Beam's UK publishing arm,<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=12-18 February 1987|title=Mastertronic Buys Melbourne House|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2946&page=4|magazine=Popular Computing Weekly|pages=4}}</ref> Melbourne House, was sold to [[Mastertronic]] for £850,000.<ref>{{cite web |last=Guter |first=Arthur |title=A History of Mastertronic |url=http://www.aguter.plus.com/mastertronic/mastertronic_history.htm |website=Mastertronic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224213520/http://www.aguter.plus.com/mastertronic/mastertronic_history.htm |archive-date=February 24, 2018 |date=June 2016}}</ref> Beam chairman Alfred Milgrom recounted, "...around 1987 a lot of our U.K. people went on to other companies and at around the same time the industry was moving from 8-bit to 16-bit. It was pretty chaotic. We didn't have the management depth at that time to run both the publishing and development sides of things, so we ended up selling off the whole Melbourne House publishing side to Mastertronic."<ref name=NGen33/> Subsequent games were released through varying publishers. The 1988 fighting games ''[[Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo|Samurai Warrior]]'' and ''Fist +'', the third instalment in the Exploding Fist series, were published through Telecomsoft's [[Telecomsoft#Firebird|Firebird]] label. 1988 also saw the release of space-[[shoot'em-up]] ''Bedlam'', published by GO!, one of [[U.S. Gold]]'s labels, and ''[[The Muncher]]'', published by [[Gremlin Graphics]].

=== Shift to consoles and PCs ===
In 1987 Nintendo granted a developer's licence for the [[NES]] and Beam developed games on that platform for US and Japanese publishers. Targeted at an Australian audience, releases such as ''[[Aussie Rules Footy]]'' and ''[[International Cricket]]'' for the NES proved successful.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-03-24 |title=Why Cricket video games are vital to Australia's national identity |url=https://www.gameshub.com/news/features/why-cricket-video-games-are-vital-to-australias-national-identity-15303/ |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=GamesHub |language=en-AU}}</ref> In 1992 they released the original title ''[[Nightshade (1992 video game)|Nightshade]]'', a dark superhero comedy game. The game was meant to be the first part in a series, but no sequels were ever made; however, it served as the basis for ''[[Shadowrun (1993 video game)|Shadowrun]]''. Released in 1993, ''Shadowrun'' also used an innovative dialogue system using the acquisition of keywords which could be used in subsequent conversations to initiate new branches in the [[dialogue tree]]. Also in 1993 they released ''[[Baby T-Rex]]'', a [[Game Boy]] platform game that the developer actively sought to adapt the game to a number of different licensed properties in different countries around the world including the animated film ''[[We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (film)|We're Back!]]'' in North America and the puppet character [[Agro (puppet)|Agro]] in their home country of Australia.<ref name=alex>{{Cite web |last=Mansfield |first=Dylan |date=February 24, 2019 |title=Baby T-Rex: The Game Revised 10 Times |url=https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/02/24/baby-t-rex-the-game-revised-10-times/|access-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref>

In 1997, Beam relaunched the Melbourne House brand,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=In the Studio |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=29|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=May 1997 |page=17}}</ref> under which they published the PC titles ''[[KKnD (video game)|Krush Kill 'n' Destroy]]'' (KKND), and the sequels ''KKND Xtreme'' and ''[[KKND2: Krossfire]]''.<ref name = GSpyBio/> They released ''KKND2'' in South Korea well before they released it in the American and European markets, and pirated versions of the game were available on the internet before it was available in stores in the U.S. They were the developers of the 32-bit versions of ''[[The Lost Vikings 2|Norse By Norse West: The Return of the Lost Vikings]]'' for the [[Sega Saturn]], [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] and [[Personal computer|PC]] in 1996.<ref name = GSpyBio/> They also helped produce [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] games such as ''[[WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling]]'', ''[[Super Smash TV]]'' and an updated version of ''International Cricket'' titled ''[[Super International Cricket]]''.<ref name = GSpyBio/> They ported the Sega Saturn game ''[[Bug!]]'' to [[Windows 3.1x|Windows 3.x]] in August 1996.

1998 saw a return to RPGs with ''[[Alien Earth]]'', again with a dialogue tree format.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.thecomputershow.com/computershow/reviews/alienearth.htm | title = Alien Earth | author = Al Giovetti | publisher = The Computer Show}}</ref> Also in 1998, the studio developed racing games ''[[DethKarz]]''<ref name = GSpyBio/> and ''[[GP 500]]''.

In 1999 Beam Software was acquired by [[Infogrames]] and renamed to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.

=== 2000s ===
They continued to cement a reputation as a racing game developer with ''[[Le Mans 24 Hours (video game)|Le Mans 24 Hours]]'' and ''[[Looney Tunes: Space Race]]'' (both [[Dreamcast]] and [[PlayStation 2]]), followed by ''[[Grand Prix Challenge]]'' ([[PlayStation 2]]), before going into third-person shooters with ''[[Men in Black II: Alien Escape]]'' ([[PlayStation 2]], [[GameCube]]).<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/men-in-black-ii-alien-escape/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2|title=Men in Black II: Alien Escape|website=Metacritic|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

In 2004 the studio released ''[[Transformers Armada#PlayStation 2 video game|Transformers]]'' for the [[PlayStation 2]] [[games console]] based on the then current [[Transformers Armada]] franchise by [[Hasbro]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Dunham |first=Jeremy |date=2003-12-09 |title=Transformers Armada: Prelude to Energon Hands-On |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/12/09/transformers-armada-prelude-to-energon-hands-on |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=IGN |language=en}}</ref> The game reached the top of the UK [[PlayStation 2]] games charts, making it Melbourne House's most successful recent title.

The studio then completed work on [[PlayStation 2]] and [[PlayStation Portable]] ports of Eden's next-generation [[Xbox 360]] title ''[[Test Drive Unlimited|Test Drive: Unlimited]]''.

In December 2005, Atari decided to shift away from internal development, seeking to sell its studios, including Melbourne House.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcvuk.com/news/808/Atari-plans-studio-sell-off |title=Atari plans studio sell-off |first=Lisa |last=Foster |date=17 February 2006 |work=MCV |publisher=Intent Media |access-date=2010-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609021505/http://www.mcvuk.com/news/808/Atari-plans-studio-sell-off |archive-date=9 June 2007}}</ref> In November 2006, [[Krome Studios]] acquired Melbourne House from [[Atari]] and was renamed to Krome Studios Melbourne.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kromestudios.com/press/pressmain.php?id=00094 |title=Krome Studios expands with new studio in Melbourne |date=3 November 2006 |publisher=Krome Studios |access-date=2010-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929162812/http://www.kromestudios.com/press/pressmain.php?id=00094 |archive-date=29 September 2011}}</ref> It was closed on 15 October 2010, along with the main Brisbane office. Next to the game development, Beam Software also had the division Smarty Pants Publishing Pty Ltd., that created software titles for kids, as well as the proprietary video compression technology VideoBeam, and Famous Faces, a facial motion capture hardware and software solution.