GTE Interactive Media

GTE Interactive Media
Formerly
 GTE ImagiTrek
GTE Entertainment
Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Interactive television
Fate Dissolved
Founded 1990 (1990)
Defunct March 14,  1997 (1997 -03-14)
Headquarters Carlsbad, California, United States
Number of locations
 1 (1997)
Owner GTE Corporation
Number of employees
 120 high in 1996, 85 end (1997)
Parent GTE Vantage
Website www.im.gte.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

GTE Interactive Media was founded as GTE ImagiTrek in 1990 by Richard E. Robinson, as a division of GTE Vantage, a wholly owned subsidiary of the now defunct telecommunications provider GTE. Located in Carlsbad, California, the unit's focus was on the development of videos, of interactive television platforms, and of interactive video game products for arcade machines, home console cartridges, and CD-ROMs, including development and publishing under the GTE Entertainment brand.[1][2][3]

History

Originally named GTE ImagiTrek, it was renamed GTE Interactive Media in 1994. Richard Scott, vice president of New Ventures at GTE said "At its inception, GTE Interactive Media was viewed as a complementary adjunct to GTE's plans to develop broadband video services networks."[4]

In January 1995, the division entered a partnership with Nintendo for the development of arcade games and of online networking.[5] In the same month, the partnership previewed its first title, FX Fighter, at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.[6]

In 1995, the division experienced a high of 120 employees. Experiencing difficulties in the video game market and with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 putting a pinch on GTE due to deregulation, the division began to steadily lay off staff. The parent company GTE planned to cease its own content creation in favor of feeding its networks with the rapidly expanding market of third party content.[4]

Failing to find a buyer or partner, the division announced in January 1997 that it would lay off 85 employees and cease operations on March 14, 1997.[4] The remaining "skeleton staff" would provide technical support and further shutdown services through June 30.[7] Citing hardships in the entire CD-ROM market, Dick Nordman, finance director for GTE's New Ventures group in Irving, Texas, explained, "In the beginning, the idea was that we wanted to get into the content business. Now, with everything else going on in the telecommunications industry, we felt our energies would be better spent in the telco arena."[1]

List of games

This is a list of video games designed in whole or in part by GTE Interactive Media.[8]

Title Platform Developer Release Date
Time Traveler Hologram Arcade GTE Interactive Media
(for SEGA)		 1991
M.C. Hammer's Soulfire SEGA Genesis Unknown Unreleased
StreetSports Jammit PC, 3DO, SNES
SEGA Genesis		 GTE Interactive Media 1994
FX Fighter PC Argonaut Games 1995
Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge PC Second Vision 1995
Forrest Gump: Artists, Music, and Times PC GTE Interactive Media 1995
NCAA Championship Basketball PC GTE Interactive Media 1995
Street Hockey '95 SNES GTE Interactive Media 1995
Tank Girl PC Argonaut Games Unreleased
Dust: A Tale of the Wired West PC Cyberflix 1995
Sea Legends PC Ocean Software May 31, 1996
Skull Cracker PC Cyberflix Sep 30, 1996
Timelapse PC GTE Interactive Media Sep 30, 1996
Timelapse MAC GTE Interactive Media Oct 1, 1996
Titanic: Adventure Out of Time PC Cyberflix Nov 12, 1996
FX Fighter Turbo PC Argonaut Games 1996

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kaplan, Karen (January 27, 1997). "GTE Hangs Up on Bid to Enter Multimedia". Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ Andrews, Edmund. "GTE Introduces an Interactive Video Unit", "New York Times", June 21, 1994. Retrieved on May 12, 2008.
  3. ↑ Scherer, Ron (June 17, 1994). "GTE Plunges Into Interactive Media". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "News for the week of January 6th". PC Gamer Online. January 6, 1997. Archived from the original on October 12, 1997. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  5. ↑ "GTE's Venture With Nintendo". International New York Times. The New York Times Company. January 9, 1995. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  6. ↑ Carlton, Jim (January 4, 1995). "Nintendo/GTE Interactive to Offer Games for Interactive-TV". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  7. ↑ Yans, Cindy (January 7, 1997). "GTE: RIP". CD Mag. Archived from the original on June 14, 1997. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  8. ↑ "GTE Entertainment Profile"GameSpot Retrieved on May 12, 2008.
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