Humongous Entertainment

Short description: American video game developer (1992-2006)

Humongous Entertainment, Inc.

Type| Subsidiary
Industry| Video games
Fate| Closed, assets sold
Founded| March 1992; 31 years ago (1992-03) in Woodinville, Washington, US
Founder|

* Ron Gilbert
* Shelley Day

Defunct| August 22, 2005; 18 years ago (2005-08-22)
Headquarters|

Bothell, Washington

Parent| Atari (1996–2005)
Website| humongous.com

Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company is best known for developing multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam and Spy Fox, which, combined, sold over 15 million copies and earned more than 400 awards of excellence.[1]

Humongous Entertainment was acquired by GT Interactive (later renamed Infogrames, Inc., then Atari, Inc.) in July 1996. By October 2000, sales of Humongous games had surpassed 16 million copies.[2] GT sold the Humongous business to its parent company, Infogrames (later renamed Atari SA), in August 2005 and laid off the studio's employees. Infogrames held the assets under a new subsidiary, Humongous, Inc., until its bankruptcy in 2013, in which the assets were sold to Tommo. Tommo re-released some of its games into digital distribution channels in conjunction with Night Dive Studios.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Formation (1992–1996)
* 1.2 Acquisitions, decline, dissolution (1996–2006)
* 1.3 Post-closure asset handling (2006–present)
* 2 Games developed
* 2.1 Putt-Putt
* 2.2 Freddi Fish
* 2.3 Pajama Sam
* 2.4 Spy Fox
* 2.5 Fatty Bear
* 2.6 Blue's Clues
* 2.7 Big Thinkers
* 2.8 Junior Field Trips
* 2.9 Backyard Sports
* 2.10 Other
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## History

### Formation (1992–1996)

Humongous Entertainment was formed by Shelley Day and Ron Gilbert in March 1992,[3] then based in Woodinville, Washington.[4] The name Humongous Entertainment was suggested by Gilbert's ex-LucasArts colleague, Tim Schafer.[5] It became known for creating four point-and-click adventure game series intended for young children, branded collectively as "Junior Adventures", with the four series being the Putt-Putt series, the Freddi Fish series, the Pajama Sam series and the Spy Fox series. Despite all four series being developed and released in parallel, characters from one series do not cross over with ones in another (except for Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear's Activity Pack, where Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear combined their Fun Packs) and instead appear as cameos or Easter eggs in any of the three other series. The company became the third largest children's educational-software company.[6]

In 1995, Gilbert and Day established a company division, Cavedog Entertainment, in Seattle, set to develop games of alternative genres, and released Total Annihilation, a real-time strategy (RTS) game, in 1997. This was followed by two expansion packs in 1998, as well as a variation called Total Annihilation plus an expansion pack in 1999.[7]

### Acquisitions, decline, dissolution (1996–2006)

On July 11, 1996, Humongous Entertainment was purchased by GT Interactive for US$76 million.[8] In November 1997, Humongous Entertainment signed a five-year worldwide deal with Nickelodeon to develop games based on the Nick Jr. series, Blue's Clues, making it the first and only time that Humongous has developed games based on a licensed character as opposed to its original characters.[9] The same year, Humongous released their first "Backyard Sports" title, Backyard Baseball. Backyard Sports would go on to become the company's longest-running series. In November 1999, GT Interactive was acquired by Infogrames and renamed to Infogrames, Inc. In 2000, Humongous Entertainment released a One-Stop Fun Shop activity center game for each Junior Adventure series, with the exception of Spy Fox.[10] The co-founders tried to buy Humongous Entertainment back from Infogrames, Inc., using external funding, but the day of the planned purchase was the day of the dot-com collapse, wherefore the funding was pulled. The founders soon left Humongous, alongside many other key employees, and formed a new studio, Hulabee Entertainment, in 2001. In June 2001, Infogrames, Inc. laid off 82 personnel, over 40% of staff from Humongous Entertainment.[11] In May 2003, after Infogrames, Inc. purchased Hasbro Interactive—which owned the rights to the Atari brand—the company was renamed Atari, Inc.

On August 22, 2005, facing financial struggles, Atari, Inc. sold the Humongous Entertainment business to Infogrames for shares worth US$10.3 million. As part of the deal, the assets were transferred to a new Infogrames subsidiary (Humongous, Inc.), while the employees of Humongous Entertainment were laid off. Infogrames expected to sell Humongous, Inc. further. On the same day, Atari, Inc. signed an agreement with Homongous, Inc. to exclusively distribute the company's games in North America through March 2006, which was later extended through March 2007.[12][13]

### Post-closure asset handling (2006–present)

In April 2008, Infogrames would purchase and merge with Atari, Inc.[14][15] Following this merger, Infogrames Entertainment's company name was changed to Atari SA, who would go on to publish numerous more Backyard Sports titles.[16] In March 2008, Majesco Entertainment announced that they would publish Wii ports of three Humongous titles.[17] Mistic Software developed ports of the first installments of each Junior Adventure series, except Putt-Putt, taking advantage of the Wii Remote's point-and-click functionality.[1] However, their availability was greatly limited by a legal conflict concerning their development.[18] Beginning in November 2011, in collaboration with Nimbus Games, Atari began releasing Android and iOS ports of several Humongous Entertainment Junior Adventure titles.[19] These releases continued into 2012.[20] In 2013, Atari SA filed bankruptcy for Atari, Inc., Atari Interactive, and Humongous. As part of the resolution proceedings, the Humongous brand and most game assets were sold to Tommo on July 19, 2013. The Backyard Sports series was acquired by The Evergreen Group,[21] and MoonBase Commander by Rebellion Developments.[22]

Beginning in 2014, the relaunched Humongous brand under Tommo began re-releasing the original Junior Adventure and Junior Arcade titles for Windows and Mac; ports for most of these titles were also released for mobile devices.[23] In early 2022, Humongous released Nintendo Switch ports of several of the Junior Adventure titles, followed by ports of these titles for the PlayStation 4 later that year.[24][25][26] A digital compilation of these releases, titled "Humongous Classic Collection" was released in December 2022 for both systems, while a Nintendo Switch exclusive physical compilation was released in 2023.[27][28][29]

## Games developed

### Putt-Putt

* Putt-Putt Joins the Parade (1992)
* Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon (1993)
* Putt-Putt's Fun Pack (1993)
* Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear's Activity Pack (1994)
* Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo (1995)
* Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama (1996)
* Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog on a Stick (1996)
* Putt-Putt Travels Through Time (1997)
* Putt-Putt Enters the Race (1999)[30]
* Putt-Putt's One-Stop Fun Shop (2000)
* Putt-Putt Joins the Circus (2000)
* Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise (2003)

### Freddi Fish

Main page: Software:Freddi Fish

* Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds (1994)
* Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse (1996)
* Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness (1997)
* Freddi Fish and Luther's Water Worries (1997)
* Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell (1998)
* Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch (1999)
* Freddi Fish's One-Stop Fun Shop (2000)
* Freddi Fish 5: The Case of the Creature of Coral Cove (2001)

### Pajama Sam

Main page: Software:Pajama Sam

* Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside (1996)
* Pajama Sam's Sock Works (1997)
* Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening (1998)
* Pajama Sam's Lost & Found (1998)
* Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat from Your Head to Your Feet (2000)
* Pajama Sam's One-Stop Fun Shop (2000)
* Pajama Sam: Games to Play On Any Day (2001)
* Pajama Sam: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff! (2003)

### Spy Fox

Main page: Software:Spy Fox

* Spy Fox in "Dry Cereal" (1997)
* Spy Fox in "Cheese Chase" (1998)
* Spy Fox 2: "Some Assembly Required" (1999)
* Spy Fox in "Hold the Mustard" (1999)
* Spy Fox 3: "Operation Ozone" (2001)

### Fatty Bear

* Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise (1993)
* Fatty Bear's Fun Pack (1993)
* Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear's Activity Pack (1994)

### Blue's Clues

* Blue's Birthday Adventure (1998)
* Blue's ABC Time Activities (1998)
* Blue's 123 Time Activities (1999)
* Blue's Treasure Hunt (1999)
* Blue's Reading Time Activities (2000)
* Blue's Clues: Blue's Art Time Activities (2000)

### Big Thinkers

* Big Thinkers Kindergarten (1997)
* Big Thinkers 1st Grade (1997)

### Junior Field Trips

* Let's Explore the Farm (1994)
* Let's Explore the Airport (1995)
* Let's Explore the Jungle (1995)

### Backyard Sports

* Backyard Baseball (1997)
* Backyard Soccer (1998)
* Backyard Football (1999)
* Backyard Basketball (2001)
* Backyard Hockey (2002)
* Backyard Skateboarding (2004)

### Other

* MoonBase Commander (2002)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Majesco Brings Humongous' Best-Selling Children's Properties to Wii". GameZone. March 25, 2008. http://www.gamezone.com/news/majesco_brings_humongous_best_selling_children_s_properties_to_wii.
2. ↑ Kubin, Jacquie (October 1, 2000). "There's Humongous Rewards in Edutaining Little Kids". Animation World Network. https://www.awn.com/animationworld/theres-humongous-rewards-edutaining-little-kids.
3. ↑ "Humongous Entertainment Fast Facts". Humongous Entertainment. August 26, 1997. http://www.humongous.com/about/pr/more/corp.html.
4. ↑ "Humongous Entertainment's Child's Play Develops Maturity". Los Angeles Times. 1997-09-15. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-15-fi-32531-story.html.
5. ↑ Dave Grossman (2009-06-19). "Q&A With the Team". https://community.telltale.com/discussion/comment/138550/#Comment_138550. "True fact: It was Tim Schafer who suggested the name "Humongous Entertainment.""
6. ↑ Robert Sorbo. "Cyber Elite - Shelley Day". http://time.com/time/digital/cyberelite/24.html.
7. ↑ "Cavedog Entertainment". December 12, 1998. http://www.cavedog.com/aboutfrm.html.
8. ↑ "Company News; GT Interactive acquires Humongous Entertainment". New York Times. July 11, 1996. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/11/business/company-news-gt-interactive-acquires-humongous-entertainment.html.
9. ↑ "Nickelodeon and Humongous Entertainment Ink Exclusive Five-Year Worldwide Deal To Create CD-ROMs for Blue's Clues, Nick Jr.'s Top-Rated Preschool TV Show". Humongous Entertainment and Nickelodeon. November 6, 1997. http://humongous.com/parents/Pr/More/news/bluesclues.html.
10. ↑ "Humongous Entertainment's One-Stop Fun Shops". 4 May 2012. http://www.gamezone.com/news/humongous_entertainment_s_one_stop_fun_shops.
11. ↑ "Humongous cuts 40% of its staff". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2001-06-15. http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Humongous-cuts-40-of-its-staff-1057280.php.
12. ↑ "Atari Sells Humongous to Infogrames for $10.3 Million". Business Week. 2005-08-28. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2005-08-28/atari-sells-humongous-to-infogrames-for-10-dot-3-million.
13. ↑ "Form 10-K". Atari, Inc.. June 29, 2006. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1002607/000095012306008390/y22324e10vk.htm.
14. ↑ Infogrames Entertainment S.A. and Atari, Inc. Announce Agreement to Merge: Financial News Yahoo! Finance
15. ↑ "Atari GB". Corporate.infogrames.com. 9 October 2008. http://corporate.infogrames.com/infogramesgb/2008/10/infogrames_entertainment_sa_an_1.php.
16. ↑ "Infogrames Entertainment Fiscal Year 2008/2009 Earnings". Infogrames. 29 May 2009. http://files.atari.com/corporate/0908-GB_annual report.pdf.
17. ↑ "Majesco Entertainment and Interactive Game Group Bring Humongous' Best-Selling Children's Properties to Wii in the U.S.". 26 March 2008. https://purenintendo.com/majesco-entertainment-and-interactive-game-group-bring-humongous-best-selling-childrens-properties-to-wii-in-the-us/.
18. ↑ Moss, Richard (January 16, 2012). "Maniac Tentacle Mindbenders: How ScummVM's unpaid coders kept adventure gaming alive". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/01/maniac-tentacle-mindbenders-of-atlantis-how-scummvm-kept-adventure-gaming-alive/.
19. ↑ Atari. "Atari Brings Award Winning HUMONGOUS Kids Edutainment Games to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch for the First Time" (in en). https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/atari-brings-award-winning-humongous-kids-edutainment-games-to-iphone-ipad-and-ipod-touch-for-the-first-time-133874673.html.
20. ↑ "Nimbus Games to bring their newest title, Spy Fox in Dry Cereal, to Android" (in en-GB). 2012-05-16. https://www.droidgamers.com/news/game-news/nimbus-games-to-bring-their-newest-game-spry-fox-in-dry-cereal-to-android/.
21. ↑ "The Evergreen Group Has Agreed to Acquire Backyard Sports Video Game Franchise". Business Week. 2013-07-24. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130724006402/en/Evergreen-Group-Agreed-Acquire-Backyard-Sports-Video.
22. ↑ "Wargaming, Rebellion and Stardock all bid on Atari assets". Gamasutra. 2013-07-22. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/196701/Wargaming_Rebellion_and_Stardock_all_bid_on_Atari_assets.php.
23. ↑ Clark, Nicole (2019-05-09). "From 'Putt Putt' to 'Freddi Fish'—How Humongous Entertainment Made Edutainment Fun" (in en). https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwnwya/from-putt-putt-to-freddi-fishhow-humongous-entertainment-made-edutainment-fun.
24. ↑ Humongous [@HumongousEnt] (February 3, 2022). "Get your adventure on with four of the best games you've ever played, arriving for #NintendoSwitch on February 10th.". https://twitter.com/HumongousEnt/status/1489282536366690306.
25. ↑ Humongous [@HumongousEnt] (December 27, 2021). "Freddi Fish 3 and Putt-Putt Travels Through Time on January 3rd, 2022!". https://twitter.com/HumongousEnt/status/1475506007992246276.
26. ↑ "Once trapped in fragile plastic diskettes...". November 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/humongousent/status/1587973171080097792.
27. ↑ "Humongous Classic Collection". https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP2035-CUSA33979_00-8565719255820321.
28. ↑ "Amazon.com: Humongous Classic Collection - Nintendo Switch : Video Games". https://www.amazon.com/Humongous-Classic-Collection-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B0BPDVVTPX.
29. ↑ "Humongous Classic Collection for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site" (in en-US). https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/humongous-classic-collection-switch/.
30. ↑ "Humongous Entertainment Brings a New Perspective to Children's Software; Putt-Putt's Newest Junior Adventure™ Puts Kids in the Driver's Seat Putt-Putt Enters the Race™ Hits Retail Stores This Week; Humongous.com Kicks off Online Launch Party for Putt-Putt on January 14" (Press release). Humongous Entertainment. January 5, 1999. Archived from the original on October 2, 1999.

## External links

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humongous Entertainment. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Company:Humongous_Entertainment&oldid=3675391"