View Full Version : What Happened To Ocean?
Does anyone remember the software company called Ocean? They made games back in the day for the Spectrum, Amstrad, Commadore 64 and Amiga and usually made movie games like Batman, RoboCop and Total Recall. I loved those games but don't know if you can get them any more on any present machine. Does anyone know?
Also, does anyone know of SunSoft? The few games I played that they made for the Game Boy and Nintendo Entertainment System were great! How can we get hold of these games these days?
Ocean were great! Untouchables and Wizball were two of my faves. Cabal was a cracker too.
Ocean were a Manchester company weren't they? Didn't they do Chase HQ as well?
Infogrammes bought them in 98.
A shame as they did release some quality games.
MaxNutter
31-01-2007, 15:29
http://img475.imageshack.us/img475/9743/oceansoftwarelogors4.png
Ocean Software (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Software)
Infogrammes bought them in 98.
A shame as they did release some quality games.
back in the days of the Speccy, they were one of the top three companies, where ever release was anticipated with bated breath ... very prolific (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekpub.cgi?regexp=^Ocean+Software+Ltd$&loadpics=on) too!!
Calathea
31-01-2007, 15:58
Ocean always seemed to do the movie tie ins, and did them so damn well.
Does anyone know how to get these games again on Windows, Mac, Nintendo, PlayStation or X-Box?
Bapapapa
31-01-2007, 16:56
Ocean always seemed to do the movie tie ins, and did them so damn well.WTF?
The movie tie-ins were utter rubbish - unless you had a fetish for average platform games, that is... :suspect:
Daley Thompson was a classic, though.. :thumbs:
The Batman platformer was pretty good as was Robocop 2.
And Robocop 3 was one of the first fully 3D FPS games and was a million times better than the film. I'm sure there plenty of other film licences that worked pretty well.
Likewise Epic, the 3D space shooty game was fantastically atmospheric (if a little short and easy).
Does anyone know how to get these games again on Windows, Mac, Nintendo, PlayStation or X-Box?
Yeah, you can download plenty of Spectrum emulators (and others, such as C64) for free. The best one for the Speccie is probably RS-32, which you can get here (http://www.ramsoft.bbk.org/realspec.html). There are some ROMS for it (i.e. the games that run on it) available for free in the public domain, but other games are still technically under copyright.
The Spectrum 48k ROM was released royalty-free to the public domain a number of years ago so the emulators themselves are legit.
Looking at the list of games from Ocean there aren't many that I really liked. I'm ashamed to admit that I completed Sleepwalker but the money did go to Comic Relief I think.
I wouldn't like to guess how many hours of my life I spent playing games from Microprose or D.I.D. though.
Drysolder
31-01-2007, 17:33
Yeah, you can download plenty of Spectrum emulators (and others, such as C64) for free. The best one for the Speccie is probably RS-32, which you can get here (http://www.ramsoft.bbk.org/realspec.html). There are some ROMS for it (i.e. the games that run on it) available for free in the public domain, but other games are still technically under copyright.
The Spectrum 48k ROM was released royalty-free to the public domain a number of years ago so the emulators themselves are legit.
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/
Would be the place to get ALL of the legal roms available - and IIRC about 80% of the Spectrum catalogue is available legally, notable absences is the Ultimate stuff - which is a bloody shame.
sharp_circle
31-01-2007, 18:02
Ocean did worms too afaik.
I remember playing rainbow islands and new zealand story for months - those were the days.
Ocean did worms too afaik.
I remember playing rainbow islands and new zealand story for months - those were the days.
I think that was Team17 from the start wasn't it?
sharp_circle
31-01-2007, 18:13
of course you're right. Dunno why I thought it was ocean.
Nahh it was all Team 17 - a guy entered a competition in Amiga Format to program a game using AMOS (I think) and although he didn't win, it got picked up by Team 17 and developed into Worms
(I could have someof the details wrong, but I'm fairly sure that's the general gist of it
And Robocop 3 was one of the first fully 3D FPS games and was a million times better than the film.
Not too difficult mind :lol:
Rip Curl
31-01-2007, 19:27
Team 17 did a game called Alien .......something, I loved that game, Top down view. It had a coop too if i remember correctly.
LouBarlow
31-01-2007, 19:32
F29 Retaliator was one of my fave flying sims too :dork:
Sure that was Ocean - either way, a great company.
LouBarlow
31-01-2007, 19:33
Team 17 did a game called Alien .......something, I loved that game, Top down view. It had a coop too if i remember correctly.
Breed?
Mr Majestik
31-01-2007, 20:38
Team 17 did Worms (and Alien Breed) Ocean did publish the first version.
might have been from Ocean, but does anyone remember an old Spectrum game where you played a wizard, moving from screen to screen, and could change into a bird to fly?
steviep922
31-01-2007, 21:25
Do you mean The Alchemist? If so, that was released by Imagine.
Ocean were just a publisher surely?
Anyway, yeah - I remember Ocean cos I nicked their logo style for an art compo at school once and won :D
EDIT: someone should really have a look at remaking their back catalogue.
Mr Majestik
31-01-2007, 21:57
Ocean did have a development studio.
After Ocean got swollowed up Acclaim used the building for it's Manchester studio a few years later.
A cursed building if ever there was one.
Here's a list of software Ocean released on the ZX Spectrum at World of Spectrum (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekpub.cgi?regexp=^Ocean+Software+Ltd$&model=spectrum) . Ocean released some memorable games (Wizball, Head over Heels, Chase HQ, Batman, Batman the movie, DT's Decathlon, Robocop) and some decent arcade conversions (New Zealand story) but they did also have a few duffers (Highlander, Knight Rider, Miami Vice, Mailstrom).
LouBarlow
31-01-2007, 22:16
Head o't Hills was surely Imagine? And Wizball?
Ocean did have a development studio.
After Ocean got swollowed up Acclaim used the building for it's Manchester studio a few years later.
A cursed building if ever there was one.
I went there a couple of times to pitch for their PR business (Ocean, not Acclaim). Had lovely doors.
Head o't Hills was surely Imagine? And Wizball?
No AFAIR both were Ocean, as was the batman isometric game - they were bloody tough as i recall!!
Scottola
31-01-2007, 22:46
I used to love the style of Ocean's adverts, always seemed good quality. I've still got all my old games magazines in the loft, maybe I'll have to have a scan through for old times sake.
I loved the music on Rambo, it was the first C64 game I got. I just used to sit and listen, Martin Galway if I recall.
alphatyrant
31-01-2007, 22:46
What about US Gold :D They handled all the Capcom games like Black Tiger, Ghouls & Ghosts, Ghosts & Goblins etc.
And for those of you old enough to remember, Eagle comic (home of Dan Dare) had a strip based on Capcom games, where a young kid was taken from the real world and placed into the gaming environment....pretty good at the time ;)
Whatever happened to Epyx?
Great company - especially their C64 stuff.
MaxNutter
31-01-2007, 23:04
I used to love the style of Ocean's adverts, always seemed good quality. I've still got all my old games magazines in the loft, maybe I'll have to have a scan through for old times sake.
the glorious work of Bob Wakelin ...
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~wizkid/art/wakelin/
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1217626
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3193/wakelincoverart1velkyxb0.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4871/wakelincoverart2velkyse9.jpg
I thought EA bought them out. Guess I was wrong. I remember they distributed Exhaust Heat in Britain which was done by some obscure Japanese developer. One of my favourite racing games.
Bapapapa
31-01-2007, 23:41
And for those of you old enough to remember, Eagle comic (home of Dan Dare) had a strip based on Capcom games, where a young kid was taken from the real world and placed into the gaming environment....pretty good at the time ;)Teh Computer Warrior!! :dork: :dork: :dork:
The House of Daemon was the best story in Eagle tho.. :dork:
Do you mean The Alchemist? If so, that was released by Imagine.
Yes!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemist_%28video_game%29
alphatyrant
31-01-2007, 23:43
Teh Computer Warrior!! :dork: :dork: :dork:
The House of Daemon was the best story in Eagle tho.. :dork:
Nosense...Doomlord was the best, still one of my favourite characters ever.
Scott C R
31-01-2007, 23:44
I was just reading about the famous Ocean Loader via the Ocean page on Wikipedia. And found this link on Paulie's Ocean Loader Page :-
http://theoceanexperience.co.uk/
What about US Gold :D They handled all the Capcom games like Black Tiger, Ghouls & Ghosts, Ghosts & Goblins etc.
And for those of you old enough to remember, Eagle comic (home of Dan Dare) had a strip based on Capcom games, where a young kid was taken from the real world and placed into the gaming environment....pretty good at the time ;)
I was wondering when someone was going to mention US Gold!
US Gold were founded by Geoff Brown and his buisness partner (whos name I forget). Specialising in converting American games to UK computers (Speccy, C64, Amstrad, etc). Like Ocean, they brought some great stuff to the UK market, but also some total duffers.
Geoff then sold US Gold to Domark (which itself later became Eidos), before buying them back a few years later. Along the way the name became Silicon Dreams, where they made games such as World League Soccer, Michael Owens Soccer, Mia Hamm Soccer, UEFA Champions League, Sega Worlwide Soccer (Dreamcast), SWWS Euro Edition, UEFA Dream Soccer, Lego Island 2, Lego on the GBA (whos name I forget!), Lego Soccer and Dogs Of War (which had been called WarMonkeys in development, until a publisher decided that was a crap name, even though the readers of Edge magazine and others already knew of the game with that name - it totally bombed at retail).
By this time the Geoff Brown Empire had grown to include ATD, Pivotal Games(Conflict: Desert Storm etc), Games Works and AudioMotion (motion capture specialists) and had renamed to Kaboom Studios. Which I thought was a crap name. Well, not long after that, Kaboom went Kaboom and the whole group went under - although Pivotal survived (mainly cos they sold games that people actually bought!) and AudioMotion was sold off and continues to this day in Oxford (I think).
The last I heard Geoff was helping Gusto Games get established, although I could be wrong about this - Gusto is made up of a number of ex-Silicon Dreams people.
MetalGearAl
01-02-2007, 08:24
Whatever happened to Epyx?
Great company - especially their C64 stuff.
California Games on the C64 :notworthy
goTimmygo
01-02-2007, 09:28
I want to dig out my Amiga now!
How can I get Amiga games on my PC?
Whatever happened to Epyx?
Great company - especially their C64 stuff.
Some of the history of Epyx can be found here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epyx). There are quite a few sites about the demise of Epyx.
Good news is that System3 (of Last Ninja fame) has purchased the rights to some of the games and are supposedly releasing Impossible Mission and California Games for the DS, PSP and Wii, this year.
I know California Games is a bit limited, compared to today's expansive games, but I think it will suit the controller on the Wii, down to the ground.
This thread brings back a lot of memories. :cry:
I want to dig out my Amiga now!
How can I get Amiga games on my PC?
I would start with looking at UAE (http://uae.coresystems.de/) .
Team 17 did Worms (and Alien Breed) Ocean did publish the first version.
Team 17... now there's a cracking company. Based in my hometown of Wakefield too. God knows how they didn't get sued by the makers of Alien when they made Alien Breed!
Classic game:)
carlito8
01-02-2007, 14:00
Once you've got Winuae I'd also recommend using the lemonade frontend from the good folks at http://www.lemonamiga.com/ (no dodgy roms here btw mods). Makes browsing a lot nicer :)
Mr Majestik
01-02-2007, 14:02
Team 17... now there's a cracking company. Based in my hometown of Wakefield too. God knows how they didn't get sued by the makers of Alien when they made Alien Breed!
Classic game:)
Just to be picky there in Ossett a bit further up the road. :p
Really? I thought they started off in Wakefield off Westgate near Argos, where they started by selling public domain titles. I may be wrong though!
iirc there was a big piece all about Ocean in either GamesTM or Edge a few issues back.
santobugito
02-02-2007, 07:28
This is all that left of the castlefield headquarters!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/santobugito/228952581/
allan175
02-02-2007, 09:08
The building is still there, thats where Acclaim moved to (they used to be Software Creations but Acclaim bought their remains and moved them to that building).
Once you've got Winuae I'd also recommend using the lemonade frontend from the good folks at http://www.lemonamiga.com/ (no dodgy roms here btw mods). Makes browsing a lot nicer :)
That looks great! Be setting that up when i get home, should make it easier to find my games, WinSTon, the atari emulator had games lists built in afaik, something i always missed in WinUAE
mrpants99
02-02-2007, 17:01
That looks great! Be setting that up when i get home, should make it easier to find my games, WinSTon, the atari emulator had games lists built in afaik, something i always missed in WinUAE
hmm...never got to grips with winUAE - never spent much time with it - will have a look at lemonamiga too...shame I've just bought an amiga 500,600 and 1200 off ebay :doh:
I only meant to buy the amiga 500 and then I got hooked...nearly plumped for a CD32 and CDTV too :cuckoo: he he! but the missus stopped me in my tracks...I think I was going to start an amiga museum...
roll on the sytem3/epyx stuff on the psp and Wii - I'd preordered Last Ninja for the DS a year or two ago only for them to withdraw it :razz:
Ravenger
02-02-2007, 18:41
I've still got my Amiga 1000. Gave the monitor away ages ago though.
dataloss
02-02-2007, 18:48
May I suggest the Amiga Forever Set, it includes licenced kickstart roms and workbench plus a DVD of the history of the Amiga.
I've fond memories of the Ocean games on the speccy and fab ocean loaders on the C64. Rainbow Islands and Chase HQ, Operation Thunderbolt and New Zealand Story were classic.
I've still got a copy of TFX for PC around here somewhere, amazing memories of playing that on a P75 the soundtrack streaming of the game CD and Missles launching off your plane blowing up the bad guy over the horizon, probably the last great game Ocean put out...
Nosense...Doomlord was the best, still one of my favourite characters ever.
Energize to disintegrate! :nuts:
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