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Company:
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Eutechnyx Limited (and associated companies)
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Founded:
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1987 in Gateshead, UK
as Zeppelin Games Limited
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Managing Director:
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Brian Jobling
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Ownership:
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Jobling Family
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Studios:
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Gateshead, UK
Chengdu, China
Hong Kong, China
Pittsburgh, USA
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Employees:
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90 UK
65 Chengdu
30 Hong Kong
Pittsburgh (opened 2009)
180+ total employees
250+ subcontractors
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Total Games Produced:
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Over 100 8-bit Games
Numerous PC Titles
Three Sega Genesis Titles
Three Super Nintendo Titles
Seven PS1 Titles
Eight Xbox/PS2 Titles
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Three Next Generation Titles released, with another two in current development
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First Game:
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Zybex on the ZX Spectrum – won Budget Game of the Year in 1988
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Development Cost of First Game:
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$5,000
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Current Games:
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Ride to Hell and SuperCar Challenge
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Current Game Development Cost:
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$10M+
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Best-selling Game:
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Big Mutha Truckers – over 1.3 Million units sold to date.
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Worst-selling Game:
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Fred on the Atari XL/XE – sold about 1.3 units.
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Current Systems Capabilities:
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Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC Online and Nintendo Wii.
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Past Systems Capabilities:
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ZX Spectrum
Commodore 64
Amstrad CPC
Atari XL/XE
Atari ST
Commodore Amiga
Sega Genesis
Nintendo SNES
Sony PlayStation 1
Microsoft Xbox
Sony PlayStation 2
Nintendo GameCube
Sony PSP
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Awards:
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The Guardian Tech Media Invest 100
Sunday Times Tech Track 100
Deloitte and Touche Fast 50
Deloitte and Touche Fast 500
Investor In People Outstanding Practice Gold Award for a Medium-Sized Business
Celebration of Learning Skills Award 2009
Develop Magazine Industry Excellence Award Nominee
Brian Jobling – Entrepreneur of the Year 2003
Darren Jobling – Lloyds-TSB Award for Export Achievement
BAFTA Nomination for Big Mutha Truckers
PC Format Gold Award (Le Mans 24 Hours)
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Coolest in-game Feature:
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The game Le Mans 24 Hours, based on the world-famous endurance race, included a “Hardcore” Option that allowed players to race the full distance in real-time: i.e. for 24 hours.
Cheats in Total Drivin (AKA Car & Driver Presents: Grand Tour Racing 98) are activated by the player tapping-out musical rhythms on the controller.
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MTV Pimp My Ride features scripts co-written by one of the show’s actual producers.
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Freaky Facts:
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The release of tongue-in-cheek comedy game, Big Mutha Truckers, garnered a number of abusive emails from truck drivers unhappy with “their portrayal” in the game. One driver even issuing a veiled death-threat to the team.
In the Zeppelin days, the average game development team consisted of three members of staff per game and the company would release four games per month.
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