Beam Software

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Australian video game studio

title: "Beam Software" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["australian-companies-established-in-1980", "australian-companies-disestablished-in-2010", "companies-based-in-melbourne", "defunct-video-game-companies-of-australia", "golden-joystick-award-winners", "video-game-development-companies", "video-game-companies-established-in-1980", "video-game-companies-disestablished-in-2010"] description: "Australian video game studio" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_Software" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian video game studio ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameKrome Studios Melbourne
logoAtari Melbourne House.png
logo_captionMelbourne House's final logo (2004/2006)
defunct
foundation1980 in Melbourne, Australia
founderAlfred Milgrom
Naomi Besen
num_employees40
locationMelbourne, Australia
industryVideo games
former_namesBeam Software (1980–1993)
Laser Beam Entertainment (1993–1997)
Beam Software
Melbourne House (1997–1999)
Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd. (1999–2003)
Atari Melbourne House Pty Ltd. (2003–2006)
parentInfogrames (1999–2000)
Atari, Inc. (2000–2006)
Krome Studios (2006–2010)
productsThe Hobbit
The Way of the Exploding Fist
Shadowrun
Le Mans 24 Hours
websitemelbournehouse.com (archived)
::

| name = Krome Studios Melbourne | logo = Atari Melbourne House.png | logo_caption = Melbourne House's final logo (2004/2006) | defunct = | foundation = 1980 in Melbourne, Australia | founder = Alfred Milgrom Naomi Besen | key_people = | num_employees = 40 | location = Melbourne, Australia | industry = Video games | revenue = | former_names = Beam Software (1980–1993) Laser Beam Entertainment (1993–1997) Beam Software Melbourne House (1997–1999) Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd. (1999–2003) Atari Melbourne House Pty Ltd. (2003–2006) | parent = Infogrames (1999–2000) Atari, Inc. (2000–2006) Krome Studios (2006–2010) | products = The Hobbit The Way of the Exploding Fist Shadowrun Le Mans 24 Hours | website = melbournehouse.com (archived)

Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software, was an Australian video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Australia. Initially formed to produce books and software to be published by Melbourne House, a company they had established in London in 1977, In 2006 the studio was sold to Krome Studios.

The name Beam was a contraction of the names of the founders: Naomi Besen and Alfred Milgrom.

History

Home computer era

In the early years, two of Beam's programs were milestones in their respective genres. The Hobbit, a 1982 text adventure by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler, sold more than 500,000 copies. It employed an advanced parser by Stuart Richie and had real-time elements. Even if the player didn't enter commands, the story would move on. In 1985 Greg Barnett's two-player martial arts game The Way of the Exploding Fist helped define the genre of one-on-one fighting games on the home computer. The game won Best Overall Game at the Golden Joystick Awards.

In 1987 Beam's UK publishing arm, Melbourne House, was sold to Mastertronic for £850,000. Beam chairman Alfred Milgrom recounted, "...around 1987 a lot of our U.K. people went on to other companies and at around the same time the industry was moving from 8-bit to 16-bit. It was pretty chaotic. We didn't have the management depth at that time to run both the publishing and development sides of things, so we ended up selling off the whole Melbourne House publishing side to Mastertronic." Subsequent games were released through varying publishers. The 1988 fighting games Samurai Warrior and Fist +, the third instalment in the Exploding Fist series, were published through Telecomsoft's Firebird label. 1988 also saw the release of space-shoot'em-up Bedlam, published by GO!, one of U.S. Gold's labels, and The Muncher, published by Gremlin Graphics.

Shift to consoles and PCs

In 1987 Nintendo granted a developer's licence for the NES and Beam developed games on that platform for US and Japanese publishers. Targeted at an Australian audience, releases such as Aussie Rules Footy and International Cricket for the NES proved successful. In 1992 they released the original title Nightshade, a dark superhero comedy game. The game was meant to be the first part in a series, but no sequels were ever made; however, it served as the basis for Shadowrun. Released in 1993, Shadowrun also used an innovative dialogue system using the acquisition of keywords which could be used in subsequent conversations to initiate new branches in the dialogue tree. Also in 1993 they released Baby T-Rex, a Game Boy platform game that the developer actively sought to adapt the game to a number of different licensed properties in different countries around the world including the animated film We're Back! in North America and the puppet character Agro in their home country of Australia.

In 1997, Beam relaunched the Melbourne House brand, under which they published the PC titles Krush Kill 'n' Destroy (KKND), and the sequels KKND Xtreme and KKND2: Krossfire. They released KKND2 in South Korea well before they released it in the American and European markets, and pirated versions of the game were available on the internet before it was available in stores in the U.S. They were the developers of the 32-bit versions of Norse By Norse West: The Return of the Lost Vikings for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation and PC in 1996. They also helped produce Super NES games such as WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling, Super Smash TV and an updated version of International Cricket titled Super International Cricket. They ported the Sega Saturn game Bug! to Windows 3.x in August 1996.

1998 saw a return to RPGs with Alien Earth, again with a dialogue tree format. Also in 1998, the studio developed racing games DethKarz and GP 500.

In 1999 Beam Software was acquired by Infogrames and renamed to Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.

2000s

They continued to cement a reputation as a racing game developer with Le Mans 24 Hours and Looney Tunes: Space Race (both Dreamcast and PlayStation 2), followed by Grand Prix Challenge (PlayStation 2), before going into third-person shooters with Men in Black II: Alien Escape (PlayStation 2, GameCube).

In 2004 the studio released Transformers for the PlayStation 2 games console based on the then current Transformers Armada franchise by Hasbro. The game reached the top of the UK PlayStation 2 games charts, making it Melbourne House's most successful recent title.

The studio then completed work on PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable ports of Eden's next-generation Xbox 360 title Test Drive: Unlimited.

In December 2005, Atari decided to shift away from internal development, seeking to sell its studios, including Melbourne House. In November 2006, Krome Studios acquired Melbourne House from Atari and was renamed to Krome Studios Melbourne. It was closed on 15 October 2010, along with the main Brisbane office. Next to the game development, Beam Software also had the division Smarty Pants Publishing Pty Ltd., that created software titles for kids, as well as the proprietary video compression technology VideoBeam, and Famous Faces, a facial motion capture hardware and software solution.

Games

As Beam Software

As Infogrames Melbourne House/Atari Melbourne House

::data[format=table]

YearTitlePlatform(s)Publisher(s)
Le Mans 24 HoursDreamcastInfogrames
Looney Tunes: Space Race
Le Mans 24 HoursPlayStation 2
Space Race
Le Mans 24 HoursWindows
Men in Black II: Alien EscapePlayStation 2
Grand Prix Challenge
Men in Black II: Alien EscapeGameCube
Terminator 3: Rise of the MachinesPlayStation 2, XboxAtari
TransformersPlayStation 2
Test Drive UnlimitedPlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
::

As Krome Studios Melbourne

::data[format=table]

YearTitlePlatform(s)Publisher(s)Note(s)
Viva Piñata: Party AnimalsXbox 360Microsoft Game StudiosCo-developed with Krome Studios
Hellboy: The Science of EvilXbox 360, PlayStation 3Konami
Star Wars: The Force UnleashedWii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation PortableLucasarts
Scene It? Box Office SmashXbox 360Microsoft Game Studios
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber DuelsWiiLucasartsCo-developed with Krome Studios
Transformers: Revenge of the FallenWii, PlayStation 2Activision
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic HeroesMicrosoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation PortableLucasarts
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'HooleXbox 360, PlayStation 3, WiiWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Blade KittenMicrosoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3Atari / Krome Studios
Blade Kitten: Episode 2Microsoft WindowsKrome Studios
::

References

References

  1. Crookes, David. "The Wizards of Oz". Imagine.
  2. (September 1997). "NG Alphas: Melbourne House". [[Imagine Media]].
  3. "CRASH 3 - Melbourne House".
  4. "Beam Software Timeline".
  5. Sharwood, Simon. (18 November 2012). "Author of '80s classic ''The Hobbit'' didn't know game was a hit". [[The Register]].
  6. "Beam Software Company History".
  7. Milgrom, Fred. (September 29, 1997). "Innovator keeps firing". [[The Age]].
  8. DeMaria, Rusel and Wilson, Johnny L. (2004) ''High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games'' McGraw-Hill/Osborne, Berkeley, Calif., p. 347, {{ISBN. 0-07-223172-6
  9. (27 October 2017). "Golden Joysticks Awards' ultimate list of ultimate winners: 1983 - 2016". GamesRadar.com.
  10. (12-18 February 1987). "Mastertronic Buys Melbourne House".
  11. Guter, Arthur. (June 2016). "A History of Mastertronic".
  12. (2022-03-24). "Why Cricket video games are vital to Australia's national identity".
  13. Mansfield, Dylan. (February 24, 2019). "Baby T-Rex: The Game Revised 10 Times".
  14. (May 1997). "In the Studio". [[Imagine Media]].
  15. Al Giovetti. "Alien Earth". The Computer Show.
  16. "Men in Black II: Alien Escape".
  17. Dunham, Jeremy. (2003-12-09). "Transformers Armada: Prelude to Energon Hands-On".
  18. Foster, Lisa. (17 February 2006). "Atari plans studio sell-off". Intent Media.
  19. (3 November 2006). "Krome Studios expands with new studio in Melbourne". Krome Studios.
  20. "Strike Force (TRS-80)". Blue Flame Labs.
  21. "Penetrator (1982)".
  22. "H.U.R.G. [Spectrum 48K] {{!}} Melbourne House {{!}} 1983 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  23. "Asterix and the Magic Cauldron [Commodore 64/128] {{!}} Melbourne House {{!}} 1986 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  24. "Fist: The Legend Continues (1986)".
  25. (2017-11-19). "A brief history of 2000AD's 8-bit games". Eurogamer.net.
  26. "Knuckle Busters (1986)".
  27. (May 1986). "CVG Magazine Issue 055".
  28. "Inspector Gadget and the Circus of !!Fear!! (1987)".
  29. "Bop'n Rumble - C64-Wiki".
  30. "Company bio: Beam Software". Gamespy.
  31. "The Muncher at Spectrum Computing - Sinclair ZX Spectrum games, software and hardware".
  32. "Bad Street Brawler [computer game] {{!}} Laser Beam (Beam Software) {{!}} 1989 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  33. Worth, Jason. "Sgt. Slaughter's Mat Wars {{!}} WWE Games & Wrestling Games Database".
  34. "The Punisher [computer game] {{!}} LJN Entertainment, Inc. {{!}} 1990 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  35. "Choplifter II [computer game] {{!}} Laser Beam (Beam Software) {{!}} 1991 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  36. "Aussie Rules Footy [computer game] {{!}} Laser Beam (Beam Software) {{!}} 1991 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  37. "Shadowrun [SNES] {{!}} Data East USA {{!}} 1992 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  38. Fahs, Travis. (2008-11-21). "Rescue Me: The History of Choplifter".
  39. "Stargate [computer game] {{!}} Acclaim Entertainment Ltd {{!}} 1994 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  40. Trielle Corporation. (1995-07-01). "Nintendo Magazine System (AU) 28 July 1995".
  41. "The Dame Was Loaded [DOS] {{!}} Philips Interactive Media, Inc. {{!}} 1996 {{!}} ACMI collection".
  42. "Cricket 96 for DOS (1996)".
  43. "Caesars Palace for PlayStation (1997)".
  44. (1997-06-07). "Chairman's Report to Beam International Limited Shareholders".
  45. (February 26, 1997). "Beam announces Release Date For KKnD".
  46. Gentry, Perry. (30 October 1998). "What's in Stores Next Week (We Think)". [[CNET]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

australian-companies-established-in-1980australian-companies-disestablished-in-2010companies-based-in-melbournedefunct-video-game-companies-of-australiagolden-joystick-award-winnersvideo-game-development-companiesvideo-game-companies-established-in-1980video-game-companies-disestablished-in-2010