GTE Interactive Media


GTE Interactive Media was founded as GTE ImagiTrek in 1990 by Richard E. Robinson, as a division of GTE Vantage, a wholly owned subsidiary of the now defunct telecommunications provider GTE. Located in Carlsbad, California, the unit's focus was on the development of videos, of interactive television platforms, and of interactive video game products for arcade machines, home console cartridges, and CD-ROMs, including development and publishing under the GTE Entertainment brand.

History

Originally named GTE ImagiTrek, it was renamed GTE Interactive Media in 1994. Richard Scott, vice president of New Ventures at GTE said "At its inception, GTE Interactive Media was viewed as a complementary adjunct to GTE's plans to develop broadband video services networks."
In January 1995, the division entered a partnership with Nintendo for the development of arcade games and of online networking. In the same month, the partnership previewed its first title, FX Fighter, at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
In 1995, the division experienced a high of 120 employees. Experiencing difficulties in the video game market and with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 putting a pinch on GTE due to deregulation, the division began to steadily lay off staff. The parent company GTE planned to cease its own content creation in favor of feeding its networks with the rapidly expanding market of third party content.
Failing to find a buyer or partner, the division announced in January 1997 that it would lay off 85 employees and cease operations on March 14, 1997. The remaining "skeleton staff" would provide technical support and further shutdown services through June 30. Citing hardships in the entire CD-ROM market, Dick Nordman, finance director for GTE's New Ventures group in Irving, Texas, explained, "In the beginning, the idea was that we wanted to get into the content business. Now, with everything else going on in the telecommunications industry, we felt our energies would be better spent in the telco arena."

List of games

This is a list of video games designed in whole or in part by GTE Interactive Media.
TitlePlatformDeveloperRelease Date
Time Traveler HologramArcadeGTE Interactive Media
1991
M.C. Hammer's SoulfireSEGA GenesisUnknownUnreleased
StreetSports JammitPC, 3DO, SNES
SEGA Genesis		GTE Interactive Media1994
Vitsie Visits DinosaursPC, MACGTE Interactive Media
1994
Vitsie Visits SpacePC, MACGTE Interactive Media
1994
Vitsie Visits the OceanPC, MACGTE Interactive Media
1994
FX FighterPCArgonaut Games1995
Rolling Stones Voodoo LoungePCSecond Vision1995
Forrest Gump: Artists, Music, and TimesPCGTE Interactive Media1995
NCAA Championship BasketballPCGTE Interactive Media1995
Street Hockey '95SNESGTE Interactive Media1995
Night LightPC, MACGTE Interactive Media
1995
Tank GirlPCArgonaut GamesUnreleased
'PCCyberflix1995
Sea LegendsPCOcean SoftwareMay 31, 1996
Skull CrackerPCCyberflixSep 30, 1996
TimelapsePC, MACGTE Interactive MediaOct 16, 1996
'PCCyberflixNov 12, 1996
FX Fighter TurboPCArgonaut Games1996