Imagic

Imagic was the second third-party publisher for the Atari 2600, formed after Activision.{{Cite web |title=Classic Gaming Expo Distinguished Guest: Alan Miller |url=http://www.cgexpo.com/bios/amiller.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208143935/http://www.cgexpo.com/bios/amiller.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2012 |access-date=2006-08-30 |website=Classic Gaming Expo}} Founders included Bill Grubb, Bob Smith, Rob Fulop, and Denis Koble from Atari, Inc.,{{Cite web |title=Playing Catch Up: Night Trap's Rob Fulop |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11832 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108225158/http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11832 |archive-date=January 8, 2007 |access-date=2007-04-09 |website=Gamasutra |publisher=CMP}} Jim Goldberger, Dave Durran and Brian Dougherty from Mattel{{Cite episode |year=1982 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhy0bs_7eGA |title=The Making of Atlantis |series=Enterprise |network=PBS |via=YouTube}} as well as Pat Ransil{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NbOw1eAbgk&t=17s |title=Just Kidding TV Show - The Making of Imagic's Wing War |via=YouTube}} and Gary Kato.

Grubb previously served as the vice president of sales and marketing for Atari for 18 months.{{Cite news |last=Hayes |first=Thomas C. |date=22 November 1982 |title=Imagic Scores in Video Games |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/22/business/imagic-scores-in-video-games.html |access-date=29 January 2014 |work=The New York Times}} Before that, he was with the marketing department at Black and Decker for 11 years.{{Cite web |last=Grubb |first=Bill |last2=Koble |first2=Dennis |date=January 1983 |title=Video Games Interview: Bill Grubb and Dennis Koble |url=http://www.atarihq.com/othersec/library/imagic.html |access-date=29 January 2014 |website=Video Games Magazine |publisher=Atari HQ}} It was Grubb's goal to take Imagic public and to eventually overtake Activision as the number one third-party video game publisher. 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.{{Cite web |date=29 March 2019 |title=An Interview with Atari 2600 Developer and Imagic Co-Founder Rob Fulop |url=https://paleotronic.com/2019/03/29/an-interview-with-atari-2600-developer-and-imagic-co-founder-rob-fulop/ |access-date=5 February 2024 |website=Paleotronic Magazine |ref=Paleotronic 2019}}

Atari sued Imagic over Demon Attack because of its resemblance to Phoenix,{{Cite web |last=Nobles |first=Ethan C. |date=February 19, 2002 |title=Demon Attack: This Game Is Pure Imagic! |url=http://www.ataritimes.com/article.php?showarticle=224 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025043822/http://www.ataritimes.com/article.php?showarticle=224 |archive-date=2006-10-25 |access-date=2007-04-10 |website=Atari Times}} 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.

During its height, Imagic ran a fan club for their games, the Numb Thumb Club, which published an annual newsletter.{{Cite web |title=Imagic Titles for Intellivision |url=http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/imagic.shtml |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208104806/http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/imagic.shtml |archive-date=2006-12-08 |access-date=2007-04-09 |website=Intellivision Lives |publisher=Intellivision Productions}} Only two issues were published before Imagic's decline began in late 1983.

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{{Cite news |date=September 17, 1983 |title=Imagic Layoffs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/17/business/imagic-layoffs.html |page=34 |newspaper=The New York Times}} but appeared at the 1984 Consumer Electronics Show with plans for four IBM PCjr games.{{Cite news |last=Cook |first=Karen |date=1984-03-06 |title=Jr. Sneaks PC into Home |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhoP0KRkQe4C&pg=PA35 |access-date=24 October 2013 |work=PC Magazine |pages=35 |via=Google Books}} The rights to Imagic's most popular titles have been owned by Activision since the late 1980s,{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}} and they have been re-released on several occasions.

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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.

{{Reflist}}

{{Atari 2600}}

Category:Atari 2600

Category:Video game development companies

Category:Video game companies established in 1981

Category:Video game companies disestablished in 1986

Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States

Category:Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area