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{{Infobox company
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{{Infobox_company|name = Accolade|location = San Jose, California (USA)|years = 1984-2000|consoles = Mega Drive (Unlicensed) - NES - PC Engine - SNES - PS1|aliases = Infogrames North America, Inc.|connected = Ballistic}}'''Infogrames North America, Inc.''' (formerly '''Accolade, Inc.''') was an American video game developer and publisher.
  
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|name = Accolade
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based in San Jose, California. The company was founded as '''Accolade''' in November 1984 by Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead, who had previously co-founded Activision in October 1979.
  
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|image = File:Accolade logo.png
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|imagewidth = 250px
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|caption = Logo.
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|location = San Jose, California (USA)
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|years = 1984-2000
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|consoles = Mega Drive (Unlicensed) - NES - PC Engine - SNES - PS1
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|aliases = Infogrames North America, Inc.
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|connected = Ballistic
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}}
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'''Accolade''' was an American computer game developer and publisher. Initially concentrating on home computer platforms, they began publishing games for home consoles in the early 1990s.
   
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Just like Nintendo, Sega demanded royalties and exclusivity agreements from their third-party developers. Unwilling to accept such demands, Accolade reverse-engineered other Sega Genesis games to learn about its hardware and security lockout mechanisms, releasing several games as an ''unlicensed'' publisher. For the same reason, Accolade's later Genesis games included copies of Sega's [https://segaretro.org/TradeMark_Security_System Trademark Security System (TMSS)] file to run on later revisions of the Genesis console that required the TMSS file to be present.
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In April 1999, Accolade was acquired by French video game company Infogrames Entertainment for a combined sum of US$60 million, of which US$50 million in cash and US$10 million in growth capital, and was renamed Infogrames North America, Inc. The company chief executive officer, Jim Barnett, was named head of Infogrames Entertainment's American distribution subsidiary. In December 1999, Infogrames additionally acquired a controlling stake in GT Interactive for a total investment of US$135 million, and renamed it Infogrames, Inc.
  
   
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These activities prompted Sega of America in 1991 to initiate a lawsuit against Accolade ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade Sega vs. Accolade]), claiming trademark and copyright infringement as well as unfair competition. Accolade countersued, claiming unfair competition for falsely labeling licensed games from third-party publishers as originating from Sega. After an initial verdict in Sega's favor and an appeal by Accolade, the two parties settled in 1993, with Accolade becoming a ''licensed'' publisher on the Sega Genesis.
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On September 11, 2000, Infogrames North America was acquired by Infogrames, Inc. for 28 million market shares transitioned to Infogrames Entertainment, effectively merging Infogrames North America into a newly founded, wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames, Inc.
  
   
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Many of Accolade's earlier Genesis titles run only on the Sega Genesis Model 1 for lacking the TMSS file.
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In June 2017, Hong Kong holding company Billionsoft announced that they had acquired the "Accolade" label, and announced ''Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back'', in cooperation with developer Black Forest Games and publisher Tommo, to be the first game released under it.
  
   
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== Unlicensed Sega Genesis Games ==
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Accolade's revenues grew from $1.5 million in 1985 to $5 million in 1986. It developed for most 1980s-era home computers, including the Commodore 64, Atari 400 & 800, the Amiga, Apple II and the PC. Some of their first titles include ''Law of the West'', ''Psi-5 Trading Company'', ''The Dam Busters'', ''Mean 18 Golf'', ''Test Drive'', and ''HardBall!''. ''Test Drive'' and ''HardBall!'' went on to become two of Accolade's longest-running franchises.
  
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{|class="wikitable"
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!Year
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As the popularity of other systems waned, Accolade focused on PC and console development, including the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, Super NES and PlayStation.
  
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!Title
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|-id="0.E2.80.939"
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All of Accolade's initial titles were developed in-house. But being a publisher as well as a developer, Accolade began to publish titles produced by other developers as well. By the mid-1990s, most of Accolade's game development was done by third-party developers.
  
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|1990
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|''[[Ishido: The Way of Stones]]''
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In October 1991, Accolade was served with a lawsuit regarding copyright infringement, that eventually led to the concept of reverse engineering for interoperability purposes. Sega wanted to keep a hold on their consoles, and wanted all its games exclusive to Sega. Unwilling to conform to single platform games, Accolade engineers reverse engineered the Genesis console and created their own development systems; until then, game developers had to obtain the systems from Sega in order to develop games for the platform. Sega sued Accolade over the practice and won an initial injunction, forcing Accolade to remove all Genesis product from store shelves. Accolade, however, won on appeal and reached an out of court settlement with Sega that allowed Accolade to continue building their own Genesis cartridges, but as an official licensee.
  
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Many of the Accolade titles for Genesis omit the TMSS protection chip, so it only works with the Sega Genesis Model 1.
  
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==Unlicensed Sega Genesis Games==
  
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
  
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! Year
  
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! Title [https://segaretro.org/Accolade]
  
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|- id="0.E2.80.939"
  
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| 1990
  
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| ''[[Ishido: The Way of Stones]]''
  
 
|-
  
|-
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| rowspan="5"|1991
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|rowspan="5"|1991
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| ''[[HardBall!]]''
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|''[[HardBall!]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Mike Ditka Power Football]]''
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|''[[Mike Ditka Power Football]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Onslaught]]''
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|''[[Onslaught]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Star Control]]''
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|''[[Star Control]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Turrican]]''
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|''[[Turrican]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| rowspan="3"|1992
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|rowspan="3"|1992
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| ''[[The Duel: Test Drive II]]''
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|''[[The Duel: Test Drive II]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Universal Soldier]]''
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|''[[Universal Soldier]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Winter Challenge]]''
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|''[[Winter Challenge]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| rowspan="6"|1993
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|rowspan="6"|1993
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| ''[[Double Dragon]]''
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|''[[Double Dragon]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[WarpSpeed]]''
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|''[[WarpSpeed]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Super Off Road]]''
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|''[[Super Off Road]]''
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Summer Challenge]]''*
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|''[[Summer Challenge]]''*
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Al Michaels Announces HardBall III]]''*
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|''[[Al Michaels Announces HardBall III]]''*
 
|-
  
|-
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| ''[[Jack Nicklaus' Power Challenge Golf]]''*
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|''[[Jack Nicklaus' Power Challenge Golf]]''*
 
|}
  
|}
 
* - Was unlicensed in early copies, but later copies are licensed.
  
* - Was unlicensed in early copies, but later copies are licensed.
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From Bubsy (1993) onwards, Accolade games had a licence of Sega.
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From ''Bubsy'' (1993) onwards, Accolade games had a licence of Sega.
   
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== Links: ==
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== External link ==
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* [https://segaretro.org/Accolade Sega Retro article]
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*[https://segaretro.org/Accolade Sega Retro article]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accolade_(company) Wikipedia article]
  
   
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{{Wikipedia|Accolade}}
  
 
{{Companies}}
  
{{Companies}}
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{{Wikipedia|Accolade (company)}}
 
[[Category:Companies from the USA]]
  
[[Category:Companies from the USA]]
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[[Category:Publishers]]
  
 
[[Category:Developers]]
  
[[Category:Developers]]
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[[Category:Publishers]]
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[[Category:1980s companies]]
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[[Category:1990s companies]]

Latest revision as of 02:38, 14 June 2021

Accolade was an American computer game developer and publisher. Initially concentrating on home computer platforms, they began publishing games for home consoles in the early 1990s.

Just like Nintendo, Sega demanded royalties and exclusivity agreements from their third-party developers. Unwilling to accept such demands, Accolade reverse-engineered other Sega Genesis games to learn about its hardware and security lockout mechanisms, releasing several games as an unlicensed publisher. For the same reason, Accolade's later Genesis games included copies of Sega's Trademark Security System (TMSS) file to run on later revisions of the Genesis console that required the TMSS file to be present.

These activities prompted Sega of America in 1991 to initiate a lawsuit against Accolade (Sega vs. Accolade), claiming trademark and copyright infringement as well as unfair competition. Accolade countersued, claiming unfair competition for falsely labeling licensed games from third-party publishers as originating from Sega. After an initial verdict in Sega's favor and an appeal by Accolade, the two parties settled in 1993, with Accolade becoming a licensed publisher on the Sega Genesis.

Many of Accolade's earlier Genesis titles run only on the Sega Genesis Model 1 for lacking the TMSS file.

Unlicensed Sega Genesis Games

Year Title
1990 Ishido: The Way of Stones
1991 HardBall!
Mike Ditka Power Football
Onslaught
Star Control
Turrican
1992 The Duel: Test Drive II
Universal Soldier
Winter Challenge
1993 Double Dragon
WarpSpeed
Super Off Road
Summer Challenge*
Al Michaels Announces HardBall III*
Jack Nicklaus' Power Challenge Golf* 
* - Was unlicensed in early copies, but later copies are licensed.

From Bubsy (1993) onwards, Accolade games had a licence of Sega.

External link

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