The Bitmap Brothers

infobox company
company_name = The Bitmap Brothers
company_
company_type = privately owned
foundation = 1987
location = Wapping flagicon|UK United Kingdom
industry = Video games
key_people = Mike Montgomery, CEO
Eric Matthews
Steve Kelly
products = Computer and video games
homepage = http://www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk/

The Bitmap Brothers were a UK based video game developer founded in 1987. The company entered the industry in 1988 with the scrolling shooter "Xenon". They quickly followed with the classic "Speedball". Prior to becoming the publisher of their own games (under Renegade Software), early Bitmap Brothers titles were distributed by Image Works and Konami.

The Bitmap Brothers released several games on the Amiga and Atari ST, and were one of the most successful companies on those platforms. They became known in particular for releasing games from a variety of different genres that usually came to be regarded as leaders in their respective fields. Their PC games have never matched the sales of their previous Amiga titles. Since 2002, the company have released ports of several of their most popular games for both the Game Boy Advance and Pocket PC platforms.

Details

The Bitmap Brothers were based in Wapping, East London and were privately owned. The company's MD was Mike Montgomery, who had founded the company together with Eric Matthews and Steve Kelly [ [http://www.gods-country.de/tcr/tcr_bros2.htm Article] in ST Format issue #18 1991 from http://www.gods-country.de] .

Mark John Coleman is a computer graphics developer who frequently worked with the Bitmap Brothers; his graphics tend to be blocky, featuring rock, metal, and shiny organic textures; his animations tend to be cartoonesque and fluid.

Legacy

Two former core members of the company - Mike Montgomery and John Phillips - have gone on to found Tower Studios (along with Sensible Software founder Jon Hare), and state their involvement with Bitmap Brothers as having ended in 2004. [ [http://www.tower-studios.co.uk/about.htm Tower Studios webpage] (last checked July 2007)]

After years of silence a newspost on the official website announces Speedball2 which shall be released summer 2007 by Frogster Interactive [ [http://www.speedball2.com/ Speedball2 official website] ] .

Titles

In chronological order:

* "Xenon" (1988)
* "Speedball" (1988)
* "" (1989)
* "Cadaver"
* "" (1990)
* "Gods" (1991)
* "Magic Pockets"
* "The Chaos Engine" (1993)
* "" (1996)
* "Z" (1996)
* "Speedball 2100" (2000)
* "" (2001)
* "Speedball Arena" (cancelled)
* ""

References

External links

* [http://www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk/company/staff-profiles/directors/index.htm Official website]
* [http://www.gamealmighty.com/story-individual/story/Blast_From_the_Past_The_Bitmap_Brothers/ Feature Article With Video Clips]
* [http://www.gods-country.de/ The Chaos Regime] (fansite)
* [http://www.mobygames.com/company/bitmap-brothers Page at Mobygames]
* [http://www.spong.com/company/182 Page at Spong]