1982-1983 In April 1982, Martin D. Meeker, former financial consultant to hi-tech electronics firms such as Intel and Amdahl, and five computer software engineers established Data Age, Inc. They got off to a terrific start, but Data Age's good fortunes were short-lived... VERY short lived. Data Age made its debut at the 1982 Summer Consumer Electronics Show with 10 employees, five science-fiction games and a commitment to ship those games on October 1. Data Age met the ship date it announced at CES and accompanied its initial release with what was regarded (at the time) as "one of the most innovative point-of-purchase materials in the industry. Called "Mindscape," the 3 1/2 minute sound track, recorded on a flexible plastic disc, dramatized the sounds of Data Age's Bugs, Sssnake, Airlock, Warplock, and Encounter at L-5 games. The disc, an audio version of the standard consumer catalog, was offered free to dealers and its customers and was the first industry-wide attempt at using the sound medium to generate buyer enthusiasm (today, music CDs for games such as Final Fantasy and Street Fighter are wildly popular, at least in Japan.) Less than a month after shipping its first five games, Data Age announced a new concept in video gaming that had seemingly been overlooked by other manufacturers (save for pinball companies). The original concept, known as "the world's first rock 'n roll video game," featured Journey in a game called "Journey Escape." The introduction of Journey Escape let to another unprecedented achievement. Reversing the arcade licensing trend that was prevalent in the home video game industry, Data Age licensed the Journey Escape title to Bally Manufacturing, Co., giving the coin-operated video game manufacturer exclusive rights to manufacture and market an arcade version of the "Journey Escape" home video game. Sounds like a company on its way to the top, right? Well, not exactly. Data Age suffered the same fate that almost sunk Acclaim and TH*Q nearly a decade later -- recognizable franchises used in crappy games. "The games Data Age has chosen to introduce in 1983 are based on familiar characters that have been in the public's eye for a long period of time and have, therefore, generated extensive awareness," explained Bob Rice, Vice President of Marketing at Data Age. "Journey Escape is indicative of the kind of product Data Age will release." And they followed their philosophy until their eventual demise in late 1983. Gamers quickly realized that titles based on hit movie or character franchises were just as apt to be a boring game as any other title. Encounter at L-5, Bermuda's Triangle and Journey Escape were terrible games that lose all consumer confidence in Data Age. In fact, the latter sold so horribly that Data Age went bankrupt after they were unable to pay the licensing fees owed to the rock group. To Data Age's credit, they did publish some decent titles that have been largely overlooked. Frankenstein's Monster was arguably one of the best 2600 games ever made. Unfortunately, for every good game they produced, a truckload of poor efforts were unleashed to market, as evidenced by Bugs and Sssnake, two of THE worst games in the history of videogames. DATA AGE FACT Mr. Bill's Neighborhood and Smokey the Bear, two titles which were heavily promoted before ultimately being canceled, were apparently completely playable and finished. Unfortunately, no prototype of these two games have yet to surface. SOFTWARE LIST Airlock Bermuda Triangle Bugs Encounter at L-5 Frankenstein's Monster Journey Escape Mr. Bill's Neighborhood (not released) Smokey the Bear (not released) Sssnake Warplock MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS Mindscape Record