Interplay Productions Inc

Resolving an unusual turf battle in the computer game business, Interplay Productions Inc. said it has settled a trademark dispute with a company that had been selling software based on one of Interplay's most popular titles. LaserSoft Inc., a tiny company based in Eden Prairie, Minn., admitted it had infringed on Interplay's intellectual property rights and agreed to stop selling add-on software linked to Irvine-based Interplay's products. But LaserSoft did get a consolation prize.

Irvine-based Interplay Entertainment Corp., a money-losing developer of video games, filed plans to raise up to $72 million in an initial public stock offering, according to an SEC filing. Proceeds will be used to repay $33.6 million in debts, a $1-million bonus to founder Brian Fargo and $1.5 million to distributor Universal Interactive Studios, according to SEC documents. The company, which has not turned an annual profit since 1995, has a reputation for outrageous marketing campaigns.

In an uncommon turf battle, computer game producer Interplay Productions Inc. has obtained a temporary court order forcing a tiny Minnesota software company to recall a product that closely resembles one of Interplay's most popular game titles. The restraining order is scheduled to be reviewed during a hearing Monday at U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. The order stems from a civil suit filed Sept. 21 by Interplay against LaserSoft Inc., a small software company in Eden Prairie, Minn.

In the computer game world, gratuitous violence is an everyday commodity. But lust doesn't sell--at least not on the shelves at Costco Cos. Take Tribal Dreams' forthcoming release, "Of Light and Darkness--The Prophecy." The game, which features a digital likeness of actress Lolita Davidovich and the voice of actor James Woods, has a painting of a sexy, futuristic-looking angel on the cover of its box.

Brian Fargo, who 10 years ago was just a small-time video game designer, has turned his Interplay Productions Inc. in Irvine into a major player with $60 million in annual sales. A block away from Interplay, Martin Alper, a poker partner of Fargo's, has expanded Virgin Interactive Entertainment Inc. to a venture with more than $100 million in annual revenue. They both anticipated the rising popularity of multimedia games, which combine sound, graphics, video and text.

A federal judge Monday extended a court order requiring a Minnesota-based computer software company to recall a product that closely resembles one of the most popular computer games produced by Interplay Productions Inc. of Irvine, attorneys for Interplay said. The order, which had been scheduled to expire Monday, will now be in effect until a lawsuit that Interplay brought against LaserSoft Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minn.

Interplay Productions Inc. said Thursday it has garnered the rights to create video and CD-ROM games based on "Waterworld," the most expensive film ever made, which is due out this summer. It is the second such deal made between the studio and the Irvine game-maker. Since MCA invested in Interplay last year, the firm gets first glance at MCA's productions and picks those it wants to turn into games. "They have treated us like we are their own division," said Brian Fargo, president of Interplay.

After a decade of producing computer games on floppy disks, the head of Interplay Productions Inc. in Irvine gave the order last year to shut down all new production of such titles. Instead, company President Brian Fargo invested $3 million in new computer equipment and diverted all development money to CD-ROM games. He feared a drop in sales as the company shifted, but the trough never appeared.

Sometimes, the old-fashioned ways work too. Irvine computer and video game maker Interplay Productions Inc. is all over the Web and has been getting a lot of notice because several of its games are featured at the new and extremely high-tech Sega Gameworks entertainment center in Seattle. But now its Interplay OEM Inc. subsidiary has signed a marketing deal that will put artwork from some of its hottest games on notebooks--the paper kind. The deal with Vestwin Paper Corp.

MCA Inc., the Japanese-owned movie and entertainment giant, said Thursday that it has purchased a "significant minority stake" in Interplay Productions Inc., one of Orange County's largest video game publishers. * Brian Fargo, president of Interplay, said the company was courted by all of the major Hollywood studios but decided on MCA, parent company of Universal Studios, because of its extensive entertainment holdings--from books and movies to records and theme parks.

Irvine-based Interplay Productions has signed the creative team behind the blockbuster video game "Tomb Raider" to produce an undisclosed number of titles. Artist Toby Gard and programmer Paul Douglas were a multimedia dynamo at London-based Core Design and the lead duo behind one of this year's most successful video games. Since its release last fall, analysts say consumers have grabbed more than 2 million copies of the PC and Sony PlayStation versions of "Tomb Raider."

In February, Cindy Wilson learned she was suffering from an aggressive form of lung cancer. On June 24, Wilson, a 36-year-old mother of two and a sales manager at Interplay Productions in Irvine, died. In between, something extraordinary happened at Interplay, a leading developer of computer games whose products include the popular Battle Chess and Stonekeep.

Interplay Productions in Irvine is known for its hokey--but effective--ploys for publicity. There were freebie slime balls tacked on "Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure." Then, a fake announcement that the game company planned to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers. (The bid would come right after 10 million fans picked up copies of its "Virtual Reality Baseball.") Now, it's a blood drive for its killer driving game, "Carmageddon."

Sometimes, the old-fashioned ways work too. Irvine computer and video game maker Interplay Productions Inc. is all over the Web and has been getting a lot of notice because several of its games are featured at the new and extremely high-tech Sega Gameworks entertainment center in Seattle. But now its Interplay OEM Inc. subsidiary has signed a marketing deal that will put artwork from some of its hottest games on notebooks--the paper kind. The deal with Vestwin Paper Corp.

Engage Games Online, a company created by Irvine-based Interplay Productions to establish an interactive games service on the Internet, opened its Web site to the public last week. The service is still not up to full speed, but it does have about seven games that players from virtually anywhere can play over the Internet. Engage is one of a handful of companies venturing into the largely uncharted territory of online computer game competition.

Interplay Productions in Irvine has resorted to a number of cheap ploys to get media attention recently. And, truth be told, the ploys have worked. First there was the farcical news release listing the top 10 reasons Interplay's long-delayed "Virtual Reality Baseball" game has yet to hit the market. (No. 4: Stupidly hired "Codeless" Joe Jackson as lead programmer.) Then there was the company's spurious announcement that it intended to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers . . .

An Orange County video-game maker hopes to make a killing by giving its product away. Thousands of people have been playing "Descent," a shoot-'em-up computer game by Interplay Productions Inc., since December, the company says, when it began offering a basic version on-line for free. Starting Friday, players who want the more advanced version will be able to get it at stores--at $30 to $40 a copy.

Eavesdrop on a conversation between David Siller and Rita Zimmerer, top executives at video game publisher SunSoft Inc., and it's easy to see that Orange County's game entrepreneurs are a zany lot. "Our hero, Aero the Acro-Bat, is something different; I call him Aero-dynamic," says Siller, product development manager. "He's a hero for the '90s, someone who rides flumes and goes bungee jumping." "I like to call him an acro- brat ," interjects Executive Vice President Zimmerer.

Computer games have changed a lot over the last 20 years--from the tedium of Pong to the sensory overload of today's titles--but 1997 may be a turning point for the industry. Until now, games have mostly been solitary affairs. One player, holding one joystick, matching his or her skills against a microprocessor. But industry leaders say that the Internet is ushering in an era when players around the globe can compete against each other--not just machines--in online tournaments.

The software industry is notorious for missing product deadlines, and usually it's not a laughing matter. Apple Computer Inc., for instance, has been in obvious agony for months trying to figure out whether it can afford to wait for its own long-delayed new operating system to arrive, or whether it would be better to just buy a new one from somebody else. But taking things too seriously is rarely a problem for the computer game programmers at Interplay Productions.