Odyssey Software
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| Odyssey Software | |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer and Video Games |
| Founded | 1987 (defunct 1995) |
| Headquarters | Eastham, Massachusetts |
| Key people | Art V. Cestaro III |
Odyssey Software was a computer game developer founded in 1987 in Eastham, Massachusetts by Art V. Cestaro III. The company produced games for the Amiga and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). After starting with independent titles, Odyssey developed games under contract for companies such as Color Dreams and American Video Entertainment before going out of business in 1995.
History
Odyssey's earliest titles were expanded works based on arcade games popular at that time. Byteman was based on Pac-Man, Jailbreak was based on Arkanoid, Deathbots was based on Berzerk, and Space War was based on Asteroids as well as the original Spacewar! for the PDP-1.
After its early attempts at working as an independent game developer Odyssey began taking contracts from other established companies. In 1990, Moon Ranger, was produced under contract with Color Dreams for the NES. Odyssey established a relationship with American Video Entertainment, who contracted Deathbots for the NES. After Deathbots, Odyssey went on to produce Solitaire and Blackjack, which American Video Entertainment subsequently published. Three other Nintendo titles (Backgammon, Cue Stick, and Poker) were in production but American Video Entertainment went out of business before any of these titles could be published.
Odyssey was involved early in the Mad Dog McCree project, doing video cleanup by hand, but was never contracted for the final development of this title.
Odyssey Software went out of business in 1995.
Notable employees
Odyssey's original employees were programmers George C. Rucker III, Lane Waters, and Scott Lahteine, and graphic artists Soren Young, Dave Flamburis, John Silano, and Ranjeet Singhal. Around 1990, Mike Smith and Steve Tilton joined the team to work on Moon Ranger. In 1993, Jerry Normandin joined Odyssey for the Mad Dog McCree project. Other employees of Odyssey include Mike Davis, Mark Kelly, Monty Eriksin, Dennis St. Aubin, and Tomisa Starr.
Games developed by Odyssey
- Byteman (1988)
- Deathbots (for Amiga) (1988)
- Jailbreak (1988)
- Space War (1988)
- Moon Ranger (1989)
- Deathbots (for NES) (1990)
- Solitaire (1991)
- Blackjack (1992)
External links
- History of the company
- Concerto Software employs George C. Rucker III
- Softgame was founded by Lane Waters
- Thinkyhead Software was founded by Scott Lahteine
- Jerry Normandin's home page
- Ritual Entertainment now employs Ranjeet Singhal as Director of Art & Animation
- Nascar Racing 2 was designed by Dave Flamburis working for Papyrus Design Group
- NESWorld Article about American Video Entertainment was contributed to by Art and Jerry
- MobyGames' entry on Tomisa Starr
- Dino Wars was created by Art Cestaro, Ranjeet and Scott before Odyssey was founded