Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Midway Games
Midway Games is a video game publisher known for such game series as Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and Spy Hunter.
Midway, originally known as Midway Manufacturing, began as an independent manufacturer of amusement equipment which was purchased by Bally in 1968. After some years making coin-operated electromechanical arcade games such as puck bowling and a simulated western shoot-out, Midway became an early US maker of arcade video games in the mid-1970s, establishing licensing agreements with Japanese videogame developer Taito. Midway's breakthrough success came in 1978 with the licensing and distribution of the seminal arcade game Space Invaders in America; this was followed by a series of lucrative licensed titles including the hugely successful Pac-Man (1980). From the late 1970s through the late 1980s, Midway was the leading producer of arcade video games in the US.
The Midway division of Bally was purchased by the arcade and pinball game company Williams in 1988. Much later, in 1996, Williams also purchased Time-Warner Interactive , which included Atari Games, part of the former giant Atari. On October 25, 1999, all the company's pinball operations were shut down and the Atari Games division, now named "Midway", survived as the only remnant of Midway/Williams/Atari Games.
With this history Midway has a brilliant legacy, with games that were landmarks of their time, such as Joust, Spy Hunter, Tron, Mortal Kombat, and NBA Jam.
More recently Midway has fallen on harder times; they were listed as the #20 video game publisher in September 2003 by the magazine Game Developer. In October 2003 the company said it expected to see about $100 million in revenues for the 2003 year, and $100 million in losses despite this. Sumner Redstone, the head of Viacom, is a large investor in the company.
Midway Games is based in Chicago, Illinois.
List of arcade games developed or licensed by Midway (selection)
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