Cinemaware

TCW Podcast Episode 256 - Cinemaware

Bob Jacob launched Cinemaware to fuse movies and video games on Amiga, hiring journalist Kellyn Beeck to design Defender of the Crown's medieval themes. Programmer John Cutter led in-house development after massive outside studio delays, tapping coder R.J. Michael for an intense programming marathon to barely hit deadline and make Defender the Amiga's killer app. Lone coders followed with Doug Sharp's janky Macintosh hypercard-style King of Chicago and Bill Williams' Sinbad, creator of Mind Walker. Licensed properties piled on, Rocket Ranger, Three Stooges, and Lords of the Rising Sun, plus TV Sports Football that inspired EA Sports' empire. Jacob chased Academy Award glory with a 1927 Wings adaptation you couldn't lose, featuring a story told by WWI pilot journals where downed fliers were memorialized via an end credits roll. With poor Amiga reception in the US, loyalty to the system cost them dearly. Pivots to consoles like obscure View-Master I