GTE Interactive Media

GTE Interactive Media was founded as GTE ImagiTrek in 1990 by Richard E. Robinson, as a division of GTE Vantage, a wholly owned subsidiary of the now defunct telecommunications provider GTE. Located in Carlsbad, California, the unit's focus was on the development of videos, of interactive television platforms, and of interactive video game products for arcade machines, home console cartridges, and CD-ROMs, including development and publishing under the GTE Entertainment brand.[1][2][3]

GTE Interactive Media
FormerlyGTE ImagiTrek
GTE Entertainment
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Interactive television
FateDissolved
Founded1990 (1990)
DefunctMarch 14, 1997 (1997 -03-14)
Headquarters
Carlsbad, California
,
United States
Number of locations
1 (1997)
OwnerGTE Corporation
Number of employees
120 high in 1996, 85 end (1997)
ParentGTE Vantage
Websitewww.im.gte.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

History

Originally named GTE ImagiTrek, it was renamed GTE Interactive Media in 1994. Richard Scott, vice president of New Ventures at GTE said "At its inception, GTE Interactive Media was viewed as a complementary adjunct to GTE's plans to develop broadband video services networks."[4]

In January 1995, the division entered a partnership with Nintendo for the development of arcade games and of online networking.[5] In the same month, the partnership previewed its first title, FX Fighter, at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.[6]

In 1995, the division experienced a high of 120 employees. Experiencing difficulties in the video game market and with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 putting a pinch on GTE due to deregulation, the division began to steadily lay off staff. The parent company GTE planned to cease its own content creation in favor of feeding its networks with the rapidly expanding market of third party content.[4]

Failing to find a buyer or partner, the division announced in January 1997 that it would lay off 85 employees and cease operations on March 14, 1997.[4] The remaining "skeleton staff" would provide technical support and further shutdown services through June 30.[7] Citing hardships in the entire CD-ROM market, Dick Nordman, finance director for GTE's New Ventures group in Irving, Texas, explained, "In the beginning, the idea was that we wanted to get into the content business. Now, with everything else going on in the telecommunications industry, we felt our energies would be better spent in the telco arena."[1]

List of games

This is a list of video games designed in whole or in part by GTE Interactive Media.[8]

Title Platform Developer Release Date
Time Traveler Hologram Arcade GTE Interactive Media
(for Sega)		 1991
M.C. Hammer's Soulfire Genesis Unknown Unreleased
StreetSports Jammit PC, 3DO, SNES
Genesis		 GTE Interactive Media 1994
Vitsie Visits Dinosaurs PC, Mac GTE Interactive Media
(under the Interactive Toys brand)
Vitsie Visits Space
Vitsie Visits the Ocean
FX Fighter PC Argonaut Games 1995
Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge Second Vision
Forrest Gump: Artists, Music, and Times GTE Interactive Media
NCAA Championship Basketball
Street Hockey '95 SNES
Night Light PC, Mac GTE Interactive Media

(under the Interactive Toys brand)

Tank Girl PC Argonaut Games Unreleased
Dust: A Tale of the Wired West Cyberflix 1995
Sea Legends Ocean Software May 31, 1996
Skull Cracker Cyberflix September 30, 1996
Timelapse PC, Mac GTE Interactive Media October 16, 1996
Titanic: Adventure Out of Time PC Cyberflix November 12, 1996
FX Fighter Turbo Argonaut Games 1996

References
  1. Kaplan, Karen (January 27, 1997). "GTE Hangs Up on Bid to Enter Multimedia". Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  2. Andrews, Edmund. "GTE Introduces an Interactive Video Unit", "New York Times", June 21, 1994. Retrieved on May 12, 2008.
  3. Scherer, Ron (June 17, 1994). "GTE Plunges Into Interactive Media". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  4. "News for the week of January 6th". PC Gamer Online. January 6, 1997. Archived from the original on October 12, 1997. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  5. "GTE's Venture With Nintendo". International New York Times. The New York Times Company. January 9, 1995. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  6. Carlton, Jim (January 4, 1995). "Nintendo/GTE Interactive to Offer Games for Interactive-TV". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  7. Yans, Cindy (January 7, 1997). "GTE: RIP". CD Mag. Archived from the original on June 14, 1997. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  8. "GTE Entertainment Profile"GameSpot Retrieved on May 12, 2008.
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