Gadgeteer Games

Company Owner
Oliver Zehn

Age: 23

Position: Lead Developer

Location
Vancouver

British Columbia

Canada

Company History
Although interested in video games and programming, Oliver Zehn's family was never wealthy and thus he only had experience with the consoles of friends and school computers.

After winning a raffle draw for $50k, he realized he couldn't afford college even with the prize and instead bought himself a computer to begin creating a game to test the waters. Oliver gathered a few like-minded friends with their own home computers to finish the game and form his new upstart gaming studio.

Buddy Bear's Toyland
Buddy Bear's Toyland (Kumocha no Bōken in Japan) was a toy-themed 2D action platformer game for PC where you played as Buddy Bear, a teddy bear in a land of toys who must rescue a princess from an evil goblin king. The game was the first game to ever use 'achievements', a unique feature that 1980s North America had mostly been kept in the dark about until the game's release.

Due to the average PC specs of the time versus that of consoles, Buddy Bear's Toyland used comparatively low-end graphics and sound. Graphics were 4-bit 16 color sprites, while sound was nothing more than blips. In addition, multiplayer mode was restricted by the technology; in two player mode, either both players would use the keyboard, or the first player would use the game controller. No other configurations were allowed.

The game was advertised with magazine ads showing a comic made by one of Gadgeteer Games' graphic artists, as well as three different posters for the game. Promotional posters for Buddy Bear's Toyland made by Blink! Wall Art, Ltd. could be bought from Toys Galore and Radio Mansion outlets for $0.75 CAD ($0.55 USD at the time). 12-inch Buddy Bear stuffed toys and a "Pretty Princess Fashion Doll" version of Bashō USA's popular Barbara-Ann fashion doll are available for purchase at Toys Galore stores.

Buddy Bear's Toyland was sold at Toys Galore stores and at Radio Mansion electronics shops for $35 USD in the USA and $40 CAD ($30 USD) in Canada, starting on October 28th of 1985. Copies purchased at Toys Galore come with a free 6-inch Buddy Bear toy, while copies bought at Radio Mansion received all three of the promotional posters for free.

Buddy Bear's Toyland for the Pixel Cube
Buddy Bear's Toyland was ported to the Pixel Cube console on 10/12/1985. The port had upgraded 5-bit 32 color sprites, and 4 channel mono sound. The upgraded multiplayer mode also allows both players to use controllers, or for one of the players to use a keyboard while the other uses a controller.

The port sold for $25 USD in North America.

Differences between Buddy Bear's Toyland and Kumocha no Bōken
Aside from the obvious translation, the three principal characters were renamed for the Japanese PC release. Buddy Bear was changed to "Kumocha" (a deformation of Omocha no Kuma (Toy Bear), while the Pretty Princess Fashion Doll was renamed "Ningyō Hime" (Doll Princess), and the Homework Goblin King was rebranded as "Goburin-ō" (Goblin King).

The marketing also had key differences. The 12-inch Buddy Bear stuffed toy and the "Pretty Princess Fashion Doll" version of the Barbara-Ann doll were never sold in Japan, while the 6-inch Buddy Bear toy given away with games bought at Toys Galore outlets in North America were instead distributed with games sold at Joi Paresu toy stores in Japan, due to a lack of retail presence by Toys Galore. Similarly, the three free posters given away at Radio Mansion were distributed by Denshi Habu electronic retail franchises as Radio Mansion does not operate in Japan. Of note is that both the 6-inch toy and the posters were surplus American merchandise, and thus the posters are the North American versions despite the Japanese posters commonly seen and sold leading up to the game's release. The same is true of the stuffed toy, but is less noticeable due to the nature of the merchandise.

Although the Pixel Cube port was released before the Japanese PC version, had superior graphics and sound, the Japanese PC version sold for $30 USD ($5 more than the port) due to translation costs.

Aquatopia
Aquatopia was a City/Ocean-themed Simulation-Strategy where the player is put in charge of a futuristic colony on the ocean floor. The player must manage food, desalinated water, air, electricity, money, public support and government support, all while building up the colony.

The goal is to get the highest peak amount of cash over your entire game, which is outputted as your high score when you inevitably fail; the game is very much a survival run. The game will have a range of difficulty settings, but high score tables are separate for each run. Achievements have again been included, with a full 50 different ones to unlock.

The game had a specialized pricing plan, being sold for $40 USD at retail for the first two months and then reduced to $30 afterwards.

Fractalspace
Fractalspace was a scrolling shooter (Shoot 'em Up) in the vein of Xevious and Voidrunner.

The game takes place in a a 2-dimensional world, where sentient shapes roam the flat "landscape" living their lives. Among these shapes a heiarchy has risen. Less complex shapes like circles and triangles are at the bottom, with shapes like hexagons farther up, and patterns composed of one or more smaller shapes higher up still.

At the top of this heiarchy is the fractals. Claiming they are superior due to their ability to stretch into infinity, the fractals rule over all they see.

You play as a lone pattern of minimal size, two triangles and a diamond in a vague arrow shape. On behalf of the people, you have made it your mission to end the rule of the fractals at any cost.

Fractalspace retailed for $40, and was available on the Pixel Cube.

Horsepower
Horsepower is an upcoming racing simulation game, in which you can own up to 5 expies of street-legal vehicles and upgrade them for racing on official tracks and inquestionably legal street races.

About 100 different vehicles are available to own, and colors can be chosen from most of the color palette of the host platform. It will be available on PCs and the Pixel Cube console.