Vblank Entertainment
{{notability|1=Companies|date=June 2025}}
{{Short description|Canadian video game developer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Vblank Entertainment
| industry = Video games
| founder = Brian Provinciano
| products = {{Unbulleted list|Retro City Rampage|Shakedown: Hawaii}}
| website = {{URL|https://www.vblank.com}}
}}
Vblank Entertainment is a Vancouver based independent video game developer founded by Brian Provinciano. Provinciano programs, produces, designs, and leads art for Vblank's games.{{cite web |title=Retro City Rampage Sold 170,000 Copies, 270,000 More Through PS+ |url=https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/07/29/retro-city-rampage-sold-170000-copies-on-ps3ps-vita-270000-more-through-ps/ |website=Playstation Lifestyle |date=29 July 2013 |access-date=20 November 2024}} The studio has released the titles Retro City Rampage (2012) and its sequel Shakedown: Hawaii (2019).{{cite web |title=Games |url=https://www.vblank.com/#games |website=Vblank Entertainment |access-date=20 November 2024}} The studio's games are self-published. Vblank's titles are known to satirize and pay homage to retro titles they take inspiration from.{{cite web |title=Review Retro City Rampage |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/15/retro-city-rampage-review |access-date=20 November 2024 |website=IGN|date=15 October 2012 }}
Overview and history
Around 2002, in Provinciano's spare time, he constructed his own Nintendo Entertainment System development kit and began remaking Grand Theft Auto III with 8-bit sprite graphics under the codename Grand Theftendo. At the 2011 Game Developers Conference, he revealed how he built software tools to help him overcome the limitations of Nintendo Entertainment System hardware, before shifting development to the PC. In 2007, the project shifted and would become Vblank's 2012 release Retro City Rampage.{{cite web |title=GDC 2011: The Next Steps of Indie Brian Provinciano on Retro City Rampage |url=https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/25574/gdc-2011-the-next-steps-of-indie-brian-provinciano-on-retro-city-rampage |website=Nintendo World Report |access-date=20 November 2024}}
Retro City Rampage was released in 2012 for Windows and seventh-generation consoles.{{cite web |title=12 years after launch, this GTA style crime game just got a surprise update |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/retro-city-rampage/update-gta-like-game?__cf_chl_tk=xgccR2IH.H.ZJrS7t7wJcG.bPopUQ464edFzGb.Lo.A-1732134843-1.0.1.1-4dHxQrlE8c1vABpUogIMlea_Rs3W1eccTRPg.kBu5Z8 |website=PC Games N | date=16 November 2024 |access-date=20 November 2024}} It received mixed to positive reviews from critics.{{cite web |title=Retro City Rampage |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/retro-city-rampage/ |website=Metacritic |access-date=20 November 2024}} As of December 2014, the game had sold around 400,000 copies across all platforms. It has since been ported to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo 3DS.{{cite web |title=Retro City Rampage Made More Revenue On Nintendo 3DS Than Xbox 360 |url=https://mynintendonews.com/2014/04/05/retro-city-rampage-made-more-revenue-on-nintendo-3ds-than-xbox-360/ |website=My Nintendo News |date=5 April 2014 |access-date=20 November 2024}}
In 2015, Vblank announced a sequel to Retro City Rampage titled Shakedown: Hawaii, which was released in 2019.{{cite web |title=Retro City Rampage sequel Shakedown: Hawaii announced |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2015/11/retro-city-rampage-sequel-shakedown-hawaii-announced |website=Gematsu |date=24 November 2015 |access-date=20 November 2024}} Shakedown: Hawaii was ported to legacy consoles such as Wii, WiiU, and PlayStation 3. The Wii version was a limited run of 3,000 limited copies.{{cite web |title=The Wii and Wii U are still getting games in 2020 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/6/26/21304491/shakedown-hawaii-nintendo-wii-u-ports-release-date-vblank |website=Polygon |date=26 June 2020 |access-date=20 November 2024}} A physical 3DS version was released in 2023.{{cite web |title=Shakedown: Hawaii physical release announced for 3DS |url=https://nintendoeverything.com/shakedown-hawaii-physical-release-announced-for-3ds/ |website=Nintendo Everything |date=30 October 2023 |access-date=20 November 2024}}
Games developed
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Platforms |
|---|
| 2012 |
| 2019
| PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 3, Windows, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo WiiU, Nintendo 3DS |