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==History== Color Dreams was based in [[Brea, California]], and was started by Daniel Lawton, a self-educated computer programmer and vocal opponent of [[Nintendo]]'s licensing policy.<ref name=EGM100>{{cite magazine |title=What Ever Happened to: Color Dreams |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=101 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |date=December 1997|page=34}}</ref> Founded in 1988, Color Dreams was one of the largest producers of unlicensed games for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]], but, due to pressure from Nintendo, it faced many difficulties getting retailers to stock its games.<ref name=WTabout>{{cite web |url=http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/odd/scans/wisdomtree.html|title=About Color Dreams/Wisdom Tree|work=AtariHQ|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Bogost2007>{{cite book |last=Bogost|first=Ian|title=Persuasive games: the expressive power of videogames |url=https://archive.org/details/persuasivegamese00bogo |url-access=registration |access-date=July 2, 2017|date=July 1, 2007|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=9780262026147 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/persuasivegamese00bogo/page/287 287]–288}}</ref> Although Color Dreams violated no laws in opting out of the Nintendo licensing system with its workaround of Nintendo's [[10NES]] lockout chip,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-evangelical-twins-who-want-to-make-a-bible-video-game-that-doesnt-suck/|title=These Evangelical Twins Want to Make a Bible Video Game That Doesn't Suck|last=Maiberg|first=Emanuel|date=October 9, 2014|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref> Nintendo was displeased that it was receiving no revenues from Color Dreams games, and wanted to prevent other companies from following. Nintendo threatened to cease selling games to retailers that sold unlicensed NES games.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infiniteneslives.com/aux15.php|title=Sunday Funday: The Ride|work=Infinite NES Lives|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref> Because retailers could not afford to stop doing business with Nintendo, unlicensed companies were at a disadvantage. Color Dreams had great difficulty accessing the retail market, and worked outside of mainstream NES distribution channels. Also, many of its games were reported to have problems getting to run properly, occasionally even requiring instructions on the cartridge, and were criticized for their lack of quality and gameplay.<ref name=WTabout/><ref name=Bogost2007/> The problems with running Color Dreams games stemmed from physical changes in later models of the NES; long-time Color Dreams employee Vance Kozik (best known as the programmer of ''[[Menace Beach]]'') recalled having customers who called Color Dreams and read off the [[serial number]] of their NES unit so that they could send them a compatible cartridge.<ref name=EGM100/> The quality issues with the games were in part due to the [[reverse engineering]] required to develop unlicensed NES games, which effectively forced the company's programmers to work within stricter technical limitations than licensed NES developers had, such as fewer [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]] displayed on-screen.<ref name=EGM100/> In 1990, Color Dreams began to consider producing games with [[bible|biblical]] themes. At the time, there were few religious video games for console systems. Officials at Color Dreams saw a market for them and that many stores that would be most interested in retailing Christian games. Christian bookstores were likely not to sell video games at all, and thus not vulnerable to pressure from Nintendo.<ref name=Halter>{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/features/play-to-pray|title=Play to Pray from 1UP.com |last=Halter|first=Ed|date=December 14, 2006|work=[[1UP.com]]|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Bogost2007/> Christian bookstores sold much more than books, like religious [[Film|movies]], [[Contemporary Christian music]], and other goods, but not video games. To convince these stores to sell religious games, Color Dreams formed Wisdom Tree and promoted this new genre of video games.<ref name=Bogost2007/> Wisdom Tree sent Christian bookstores 3-foot ''[[Bible Adventures]]'' displays, and [[VHS]] cassettes showing gameplay. These promotional videos made the case to Christian bookstores using lines like: "This game promotes Bible literacy and teaches children about the Bible while they play a 'fun and exciting' ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' style video game." Ultimately, these efforts proved successful, and Color Dreams gained a new distribution channel for its games, and launched a new genre of video games, without direct competition.<ref name=Murphy>{{cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/wisdom-tree-lazy-uninspired-corporate-strategy-at-its-finest|title=Gamasutra: Rosstin Murphy's Blog - Wisdom Tree: Lazy, Uninspired Corporate Strategy at Its Finest|last=Murphy|first=Rosstin|date=June 6, 2013|work=[[Gamasutra]]|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Mixon | first = Bernie | title = Religious Figures Do Battle in Video Game World| work = Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) | date = February 26, 1995 | access-date = September 2, 2018 | url = https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24994220.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180902052306/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24994220.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = September 2, 2018 }}</ref> Kozik later commented, "No one knew it was going to take off, but it took off like crazy."<ref name=EGM100/> Nintendo never threatened any legal action against Wisdom Tree, and probably feared a [[public relations]] backlash from parents and religious groups.<ref name=WTabout/><ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Steven L.| author-link=Steven L. Kent|title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon and Beyond- The Story That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World|url=https://archive.org/details/ultimatehistoryv00kent|url-access=limited|orig-year=2001|edition=First|publisher=Prima Publishing|location=Roseville, California|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/ultimatehistoryv00kent/page/n618 400]|year=2001|quote=Wisdom Tree presented Nintendo with a prickly situation. The general public did not seem to pay close attention to the court battle with Atari Games, and industry analysts were impressed with Nintendo's legal acumen; but going after a tiny company that published innocuous religious games was another story.}}</ref> Color Dreams also published games with the Bunch Games label. In 1996, its StarDot Technologies division started selling digital security cameras.<ref name=EGM100/>
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