History Creator / MidwayGames

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bally-midway-logos_1057.jpg]] "Originally as an American distributor, the company later produces games that serves as both TakeThat and [[FollowTheLeader knockoffs]] to the [[Creator/{{Sega}} Japan]][[Creator/{{Namco}} ese]] [[Creator/{{Capcom}} arcade game]] [[Creator/{{Konami}} companies]].".

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bally-midway-logos_1057.jpg]] "Originally as an American distributor, the company later produces games that serves as both TakeThat and [[FollowTheLeader knockoffs]] to the [[Creator/Sega Japan]][[Creator/Namco ese]] [[Creator/Capcom arcade game]] [[Creator/Konami companies]].".

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bally-midway-logos_1057.jpg]]

* ''Pinball/DungeonsAndDragons''

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title (''Wheelman'', the last video game Midway had any involvement in, was published in North America by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}). In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed NBA/NHL/MLB/WWE/TNA sports titles- for obvious reasons[[note]]Midway did retain the ''NFL Blitz'' game library and included those in the sale, though ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' developer Creator/ElectronicArts ended up buying the rights to the ''Blitz'' name post-bankruptcy[[/note]]- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies.[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title (''Wheelman'', the last video game Midway had any involvement in, was published in North America by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}). In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed NBA/NHL/MLB/WWE/TNA sports titles- for obvious reasons[[note]]Midway did retain the ''NFL Blitz'' game library and included those in the sale, though ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' developer Creator/ElectronicArts ended up buying the rights to the ''Blitz'' name post-bankruptcy[[/note]]- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

Bally, later Bally/Midway, later Midway Games is an American company formerly known for being a major UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame manufacturer, {{Pinball}} creator, and VideoGame publisher and developer.

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title (''Wheelman'', the last video game Midway had any involvement in, was published in North America by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}). In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed NBA/NHL/MLB/WWE/TNA sports titles- for obvious reasons[[note]]Midway did retain the ''NFL Blitz'' game library and included those in the sale, though ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' developer Creator/ElectronicArts ended up buying the rights to the ''Blitz'' name post-bankruptcy[[/note]]-; ''Hydro Thunder'', which was acquired by Microsoft; and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

Midway is best remembered for two types of games: Fighting games which used arcades' more advanced hardware to make brutal fighters like Franchise/MortalKombat and War God, and in-your-face arcade-style sports games like VideoGame/NBAJam and VideoGame/NFLBlitz. Up until the mid-90's, they avoided the home market, instead letting Acclaim or Williams/WMS port and publish them. They began to release their games on consoles and eventually left the arcades for good in 2001.

Midway is best remembered for two types of games: Fighting games which used arcades' more advanced hardware to make brutal fighters like Franchise/MortalKombat and War God, and in-your-face arcade-style sports games like VideoGame/NBAJam and NFLBlitz. Up until the mid-90's, they avoided the home market, instead letting Acclaim or Williams/WMS port and publish them. They began to release their games on consoles and eventually left the arcades for good in 2001.

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title (''Wheelman'', the last video game Midway had any involvement in, was published in North America by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}). In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed NBA/NHL/MLB/WWE/TNA sports titles- for obvious reasons[[note]]Midway did retain the ''NFL Blitz'' game library and included those in the sale, though ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' developer Creator/ElectronicArts ended up buying the rights to the ''Blitz'' name post-bankruptcy[[/note]]- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

** ''Doom 64''

Bally/Midway's big VideoGame success came in 1978 with the popularity of ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' (Originally developed by Creator/{{Taito}}; they followed that up by successfully distributing many of [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]]'s arcade games, such as ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' and ''VideoGame/PacMan''. Their biggest coup was taking a ''Pac-Man'' clone named ''Crazy Otto'' and giving it a graphical conversion to create ''VideoGame/MsPacMan''. For nearly a decade, Bally/Midway was the leading producer of arcade video games in the United States. They were also the second-most prolific producer of pinball machines, surpassed only by Creator/WilliamsElectronics.

Bally/Midway's big VideoGame success came in 1978 with the popularity of ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' (Originally developed by [[Creator/Taito]] ; they followed that up by successfully distributing many of [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]]'s arcade games, such as ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' and ''VideoGame/PacMan''. Their biggest coup was taking a ''Pac-Man'' clone named ''Crazy Otto'' and giving it a graphical conversion to create ''Ms. Pac-Man''. For nearly a decade, Bally/Midway was the leading producer of arcade video games in the United States. They were also the second-most prolific producer of pinball machines, surpassed only by Creator/WilliamsElectronics.

Bally/Midway's big VideoGame success came in 1978 with the popularity of ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''; they followed that up by successfully distributing many of [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]]'s arcade games, such as ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' and ''VideoGame/PacMan''. Their biggest coup was taking a ''Pac-Man'' clone named ''Crazy Otto'' and giving it a graphical conversion to create ''Ms. Pac-Man''. For nearly a decade, Bally/Midway was the leading producer of arcade video games in the United States. They were also the second-most prolific producer of pinball machines, surpassed only by Creator/WilliamsElectronics.

With the decline of arcade gaming in the mid-80s, the company was acquired by Creator/WilliamsElectronics, who also had their own video game unit with ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}'' under their wing, in 1988. For a decade, Williams/Bally/Midway continued to manufacture pinball machines under the Williams and Bally labels, reserving the Midway brand for video games. In 1998, Williams' success in lottery and slot machines eventually prompted them to spin off the video game division as Midway Games,[[note]]The Bally name would be given to several other entities, and today is most well-known for another company that makes slot machines, Bally Technologies.[[/note]] with Midway taking Williams' video game assets with them and letting go of their own pinball division to Williams.

Unfortunately, the TurnOfTheMillennium also brought bad business policies. Midway exited the arcade industry in 2001 in an effort to return to profitability, and two years later shut down Midway Games West (formerly Atari Games), effectively killing the last remaining remnant of the original Atari. They also began expensive buyouts of independent game developers to expand their market share. None of these moves helped Midway in any way, and the only way Midway could operate at accelerated losses was through debt offerings that came at the expense of their stock price.

Midway is best remembered for two types of games: Fighting games which used arcades' more advanced hardware to make brutal fighters like Franchise/MortalKombat, and in-your-face arcade-style sports games like VideoGame/NBAJam and NFLBlitz. Up until the mid-90's, they avoided the home market, instead letting Acclaim or WMS port and publish them. They began to release their games on consoles and eventually left the arcades for good in 2001.

* ''Wrestling/{{TNA}} Impact''

* ''Xenophobe''

* ''Blitz: The League''
** ''NFL Blitz''

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title (''Wheelman'', the last video game Midway had any involvement in, was published in North America by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}). In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed NBA/NHL/MLB/WWE sports titles- for obvious reasons[[note]]Midway did retain the ''NFL Blitz'' game library and included those in the sale, though ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' developer Creator/ElectronicArts ended up buying the rights to the ''Blitz'' name post-bankruptcy[[/note]]- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

Unfortunately, the TurnOfTheMillennium also brought bad business policies. Midway exited the arcade industry in 2001 in an effort to return to profitability, and two years later shut down Midway Games West (formerly Atari Games), effectively killing the last remaining remnant of the original Atari. They also began expensive buyouts of independent game developers to expand their market share. [[EpicFail None of these moves helped Midway in any way]], and the only way Midway could operate at accelerated losses was through debt offerings that came at the expense of their stock price.

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title (''Wheelman'', the last video game Midway had any involvement in, was published in North America by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}). In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed NBA/NHL/MLB sports titles- for obvious reasons[[note]]Midway did retain the ''Blitz'' game library and included those in the sale, though Creator/ElectronicArts ended up buying the rights to the ''Blitz'' name post-bankruptcy[[/note]]- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title (''Wheelman'', the last video game Midway had any involvement in, was published in North America by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}). In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed sports titles- for obvious reasons- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

* ''Spy Hunter'' (2001 reboot)

Unfortunately, the TurnOfTheMillennium also brought bad business policies. Midway exited the arcade industry in 2001 in an effort to return to profitability, and two years later shut down Midway Games West (formerly Atari Games), effectively killing the last remaining remnant of the original Atari. They also began expensive buyouts of independent game developers to expand their market share. [[EpicFail None of these moves helped Midway in any way]], and the only way Midway could operate financially was through debt offerings that came at the expense of their stock price.

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title. In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed sports titles- for obvious reasons- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchang after their stock price fellow below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title. In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed sports titles- for obvious reasons- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

With the decline of arcade gaming in the mid-80s, the company was acquired by Creator/WilliamsElectronics in 1988. For a decade, Williams/Bally/Midway continued to manufacture pinball machines under the Williams and Bally labels, reserving the Midway brand for video games. In 1998, Williams' success in lottery and slot machines eventually prompted them to spin off the video game division as Midway Games.[[note]]The Bally name would be given to several other entities, and today is most well-known for another company that makes slot machines, Bally Technologies.[[/note]]

Unfortunately, the TurnOfTheMillennium also brought bad business policies, and in 2009 Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed sports titles- for obvious reasons- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies due to [[AuthorExistenceFailure Publisher Existence Failure]].[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011.