California games releasing date

[Tony Landais]

It s mentioned 1992 in HOL but I think it was released before. Maybe 1990

[Galaxy]

I think the HOL record is probably correct - if anything it should be 1989 (rather than 1988 as in the record) as all the magazines reviewed it ~Feb/Mar 1989.

You must have been looking at California Games 2 which was released in 1992

http://hol.abime.net/hol_search.php?...fornia%20games

[Retro-Nerd]

Just checked the game files for California Games II:

Amiga = 1992
PC DOS = 1990

California Games was of course released in 1987/1988 (8bit/16bit)

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

I think the HOL record is probably correct - if anything it should be 1989 (rather than 1988 as in the record) as all the magazines reviewed it ~Feb/Mar 1989.

It's definitely 1988- the date stamps on game files (Nov 88) rarely lie. Arguably, the reviews also support a 1988 release, since most mags usually released issues 2-3 months in advance of the actual month of release. The other thing is that all the California Games reviews listed in AMR are from Euro mags, whereas the Ami version was developed for Epyx in the U.S. by Westwood (i.e. quite likely that the U.S. release by Epyx preceded the Euro release by GO!).

[Tony Landais]

Sorry guys for making a debate out of nothing. I forgot the 2 in my title so no doubt about the first release. I was just surprised the sequel came so late

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by Tony Landais

I forgot the 2 in my title so no doubt about the first release. I was just surprised the sequel came so late

That was due to Epyx declaring bankruptcy in the U.S. in 1989. At the time they'd only started on PC and C64 versions, with an Amiga version planned. Most thought the company was toast and a lot of gear (including unreleased code) got dumped. The Epyx owners, however, managed to cut a deal with creditors, laid off most of their staff and moved to smaller premises. The PC code was salvaged and finished in 1990 by the small team of remaining coders, but the C64 code was lost forever. Barely having a pulse, they licensed out California Games 2 for conversion on other platforms, including the Amiga, to inject some quick 'n' easy money into the company. All the licensed console/computer conversions that were finished were released in 1992/93 I think. Amiga/ST/C64 conversions were handled by UK coding teams as they were pretty much dead platforms in the U.S. by 1991/92. So there you have it!