From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Canadian video game publisher
Camerica was a Canadian
video game company founded in 1988.
[2] It released various unlicensed video games and accessories for the
Nintendo Entertainment System , such as the
Game Genie , and was the North American publisher for British developer
Codemasters .
[4]
History
The company was owned and operated by David J. Harding and was originally formed in 1988 as a wholesale association with giftware such as
Waterford Crystal and
Blue Mountain Pottery .
The company entered the video game market, featuring
Nintendo World Championship of 1990 winner
Thor Aackerlund as the spokesperson,
[5] considered one of the first
professional gamers .
[6] Camerica held the rights to publish most
Nintendo Entertainment System games from Codemasters in North America.
[7] Camerica also released the Codemasters-designed
Game Genie in
Canada and the
UK .
[8] They had a distribution deal with toy company
Galoob .
[9] The company created several early peripherals for the NES, including the
Aladdin Deck Enhancer expansion peripheral and Supersonic: the Joystick a.k.a.
Turbotronic , a wireless controller.
[10]
Camerica was notable for being an unlicensed distributor,
reverse engineering
cartridges
[11] that would bypass Nintendo's
10NES
lock-out chip .
[12] Like the circuit used in
Color Dreams cartridges, Camerica's workaround generates
glitch pulses that freeze the lock-out chip. These cartridges are shaped and colored slightly differently from Nintendo's official cartridges, though they still fit in the NES. All Camerica cartridges were originally produced gold-colored, and later silver.
[13] They feature a switch for use with European NES consoles.
In
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc ,
Galoob , distributor of Camerica products in the United States, was ruled not an infringer of the
Copyright Act because the Game Genie was not a
derivative work and was protected by
fair use .
[14]
[15]
In
Nintendo of America Inc. v. Camerica Corp (
1991 ), it was held that it did not violate Nintendo's trademark for Camerica to advertise compatibility with the NES despite being an unlicensed distributor.
[16]
Camerica declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in 1993.
[17]
Games
See also
References
^
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^
a
b
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Archived from the original on 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2019-02-22 .
^
" 'Darlings' of UK games honoured" . BBC News . 2008-06-13.
Archived from the original on 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^ McGuire, Keegan (2020-12-15).
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Archived from the original on 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
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Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^ Jesudason, David (23 October 2020).
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Archived from the original on 2022-08-11. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
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Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^ Fachon, Marine (2021-12-27).
"L'histoire du Game Genie, le dispositif de triche que Nintendo a essayé (et échoué) à tuer. - Miroir Mag" . www.miroir-mag.fr (in French).
Archived from the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
"Supersonic The Joystick" . NintendoAge . n.d. Archived from
the original on 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2009-03-31 .
^
"That Time Atari Cracked The Nintendo Entertainment System" . Hackaday . 2018-10-22.
Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
"Super 3-D Noah's Ark lets you break animal faces with coconuts" . Destructoid . 2021-07-10.
Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
"The Making Of Micro Machines, The Best Racer On The NES" . Nintendo Life . 2017-05-01.
Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
"Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., Plaintiff-appellee, v. Nintendo of America, Inc., Defendant-appellant.nintendo of America, Inc., Plaintiff-appellant, v. Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., Defendant-appellee, 964 F.2d 965 (9th Cir. 1992)" . Justia Law .
Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
"Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of Am., Inc. | Case Brief for Law School | LexisNexis" . Community .
Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
"Claiming compatibility: a guide for advertising and product packaging" . Lexology . 2014-01-28.
Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
^
"The Game Genie was originally meant to do much more than help you beat Battletoads" . The A.V. Club . 2018-06-18.
Archived from the original on 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-08-15 .
External links