The dna of Bits studio
licensed games
Bits Studio was an independent developer which relied on bagging deals with the major publishers of the day. As such, there was an abundance of titles based on movies, television and coin-op franchises but very few original titles. Big name games from Chase HQ to Alien 3, however, ensured that the money flowed.
talented staff
Foo Katan managed to surround himself with the most talented of coders, graphic artists, musicians and producers, all of who were in the early years of their careers. Many have risen in prominence from James Cox, who is now senior director of engineering at Natural Motion to Shahid Ahmad, the current director of Ultimatum Games.
Prolific Production
Bits knocked out games in droves, producing around 25 titles in its first five years alone. This was helped by the relatively simple nature of producing games in the early Nineties – it wasn’t until the mid-decade that development moved from two-person person teams to larger teams. Bits certainly made the most of it while it could.
unfulfilled ambition
Shahid Ahmad led the axed New Day project and called it one of the most ambitious in videogames history but it wasn’t the only one. Riqa had a female lead to rival Lara Croft but development took too long while Wizards was promising to push the boundaries of the Game Boy Advance handheld.
nintendo
Although Bits Studio developed relationships with major gaming platforms, its allegiance lay with the consoles produced by Nintendo. Bits Studio made a name for itself developing titles for the Game
Boy and it also developed for the NES, Gamecube and Nintendo 64 (the latter’s games were sadly canned).