TCW Podcast Episode 210 - Accolade Part 2

In our second look at Accolade, we cover the company’s gradual decline in the 90's leading to its acquisition by Infogrames. The desire to expand into console games grew too strong, and Accolade decided to save money on production costs by clean-room engineering the lockout mechanism on the SEGA Genesis. Meanwhile, SEGA was working on an internal revision that would tie their trademarked logo into the startup handshake. This would give them the leverage they needed to sue anyone who reverse-engineered the system. Accolade managed to get the injunction on their games dissolved, but SEGA still retained the option to sue them. Ultimately, Accolade was forced to settle with SEGA to release their games, which left them with ongoing debt that would continue to haunt them. Accolade continued to struggle to grow their franchises. They had the disastrous release of Bubsy 3D, coinciding with the launch of classics like Mario 64, Tomb Raider, and Crash Bandicoot. In the end, Infogrames acquired Accolade, largely due to its distribution network. However, this acquisition was soon overshadowed by Infogrames’ later purchase of GT Interactive. What little was left of Accolade was merged into Infogrames Inc.

Jack Nicklaus Golf (Konami - NES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOitBakgLKo

Star Control (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFHzXAuB1tE

Hardball! (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkeCqRXihJE

Mega Turrican (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H-qskYLiAE

Onslaught (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-C_CcoE6d4

Mike Ditka Power Football (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xJwyug0_xI

Secrets of the Nintendo Gameboy Logo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1cUIGHZLGA

Les Manley in - Lost in LA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpTnB_nIgcU

Altered Destiney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMqmjiGrkq0

Star Control II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnV8yQ-OQ0c

Outrun (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EJdB3Hw8xE

Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkSqtgmBrM

Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (SNES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVngvbQfkk4

Bubsy Pilot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HRZV5AXBy8

Bubsy II (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyQ9yuGOylQ

Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales (Atari Jaguar): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R1Irhk1haU

FAO Schwarz Private Family Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmdHfzkE3-8

TCW 128 - Nintendo in 1985: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/nintendo-in-1985/

Big - Piano Scene (1988): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF7-rz9nIn4

Test Drive 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKqfnnSFDPg&list=PLPQkf2wwvE4Ln1CY2F2Vrw4ZY1OGXkZwV

Test Drive Off Road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kJxqImIfOU

Deadlock - Planetary Conquest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BTFq25WWhs

Star Control III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmPwJKcMGKY&list=PLi8KI0sgXnc43fDeUJh7injkgM69bZ7Rp

Jack Ncklaus 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zjju2_hesw

Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge: https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Lee_Carvallo%27s_Putting_Challenge

Bubsy 3D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ2A36p9D8o

Jumping Flash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAONnDAYJOE

Super Mario 64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT3AaQ77ges

Crash Bandicoot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-h4M4Aetg

Tomb Raider: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byJ5to20C6I

TCW 064 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/rise-and-fall-of-infogrames-part-1/

TCW 065 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-rise-and-fall-of-infogrames-part-2/

Test Drive 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1PXuzZjRsI

Test Drive Off Road 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWwtC_fwAoQ

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/