Backbone Entertainment is an independent video game development company with offices in Emeryville, California, Vancouver, British Columbia, and formerly Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Backbone Entertainment is the result of a merger between Digital Eclipse Software (which specializes in arcade game emulation), and ImaginEngine (which specializes in children's software). One of their first franchise projects as Backbone Entertainment was Death Jr., for the PSP. They have also produced a sequel, Death, Jr. II: Root of Evil, and a Nintendo DS version of the franchise entitled Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom. When Death Jr. was first announced, the CEO of Backbone spoke on making DJ a full-featured franchise, with comic books, a TV show, action figures, and more. Though many of these have happened since the launch of the game, the success of the franchise overall is considered by some to be hampered by the mediocre quality of the games themselves. According to Gamerankings.com [1], the average review score for the three games in the franchise is a 59% (out of 100% total), with Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom scoring the lowest overall. In 2004 the company merged with another video game developer, The Collective, Inc. in Newport Beach, CA to form a new conglomerate, Foundation 9 Entertainment. The Foundation 9 Entertainment conglomerate continues to use the Backbone Entertainment brand for its original titles, the Digital Eclipse brand for its arcade emulation titles, and ImaginEngine for many children's titles. This company is also known for making Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2. They developed Bomberman Live, Shrek N' Roll, and Yaris for the Xbox 360, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and Sega Genesis Collection for the Playstation 2 and Playstation Portable. They also created the Halo 3 interactive bonus disc included with Collector's and Legendary versions of the game. In 2008, they are set to develop Monster Lab for the Wii, to be published by Eidos Interactive.
Games developed
| Year | Video Game | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | NGage |
| 2004 | PC | |
| 2005 | RIFTS: Promise of Power | NGage |
| 2005 | Death Jr. | PSP |
| 2006 | Age of Empires: The Age of Kings | Nintendo DS |
| 2006 | Charlotte's Web | Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance |
| 2006 | PSP | |
| 2006 | PSP | |
| 2006 | Sonic Rivals | PSP |
| 2006 | Nintendo DS | |
| 2007 | Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom | Nintendo DS |
| 2007 | Sonic the Hedgehog | iPod |
| 2007 | Brooktown High | PSP |
| 2007 | Sonic Rivals 2 | PSP |
