Centipede is a vertically oriented fixed shooter arcade game produced by Atari, Inc. In June 1981. The game was designed by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg.It was one of the most commercially successful games from the video arcade's golden age. For a Centipede game, it isn't bad. The trouble is, it has stiff competition in the form of Apeiron from Ambrosia. Because of Apeiron, Firefall is only my second favourite Centipede game - and a distant second since Apeiron runs on Mac OS X, and Firefall doesn't. Larry mayer (4/23/2004. Centipede is a vertically oriented fixed shooter arcade game produced by Atari, Inc. In June 1981. The game was designed by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg.It was one of the most commercially successful games from the video arcade's golden age.The player fights off centipedes, spiders, scorpions and fleas, completing a round after eliminating the centipede that winds down the.
| Ambrosia Software | |
|---|---|
| Basic Information | |
| Private | |
Foundation | August 18, 1993 |
| Sharewarevideo games and utilities | |
Industry | Software, video games |
| Andrew Welch — President | |
Ambrosia Software is a predominantly Macintoshsoftware company located in Rochester, New York. Ambrosia produces utilities and games. Its products are distributed as shareware; demo versions can be downloaded and used for up to 30 days.
Ambrosia's best-selling program is the utility Snapz Pro X,[1] although the company is better known for the production and the distribution of games. It was incorporated August 18, 1993, by its president, Andrew Welch, after graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1992.[2]
The first game produced by Ambrosia was Maelstrom, a remake of the Asteroids arcade game. Maelstrom and won a number of software awards.[3] This initial success led Ambrosia to release several more arcade-style games. These included Apeiron (a remake of Centipede), and Swoop (a remake of Galaxian).
The unofficial mascot of Ambrosia Software is Hector the Parrot.
- 1Products
Products[edit | edit source]
Games[edit | edit source]
Ambrosia Software's games, in order of release:
- Apeiron — later ported to Mac OS X
- Bubble Trouble — later ported to Mac OS X
- Bubble Trouble X — Mac OS X port of original, with minor gameplay changes
- Uplink — Mac OS X port
- Apeiron X — Mac OS X port of the original, with enhanced graphics
- Darwinia — Mac OS X port
- DEFCON — Mac OS X port
- pop-pop — Universal Binary release
- Uplink — Universal Binary release
- Aki — Universal Binary release
- Aki — iPhone/iPod Touch release
- Aquaria — Mac OS X port
- Escape Velocity Nova — Universal Binary release
- Multiwinia — Mac OS X port
Ambrosia, in conjunction with DG Associates, has also released the Escape Velocity Nova Card Game.
Productivity Software[edit | edit source]
Ambrosia Software's utilities, in order of release:
- Big Cheese Key
- FlashWrite
- FlashWrite ][
- ColorSwitch
- Snapz
- To Do!
- Oracle
- Snapz Pro— Screen capture application
- iSeek — Desktop search application
- Snapz Pro X — Mac OS X-compatible version of original
- WireTap Pro — Audio recording utility
- Screen Cleaner Pro — April Fool's joke
- EasyEnvelopes — Mac OS X v10.4 and Mac OS X v10.5Dashboard widget
- Dragster — File transfer application
- iToner — iPhone custom ringtone transfer utility
- WireTap Studio — Audio recording, editing and master storage; won a 2007 'Eddy Award' from Macworld
- WireTap Anywhere — professional virtual audio patchbay utility, enabling the recording of any Mac OS X application's audio output from within any Mac OS X audio application.
- Soundboard — Mac OS X Audio playback ('computerized cart machine')
'Crippled' shareware[edit | edit source]
One of Ambrosia's founding mantras was that shareware software should not be distributed as crippleware. The company's software was released on the honor system with only a short reminder that you had used the unregistered software for 'x' amount of time, creating what is commonly called nagware. This policy has since been changed and the company today employs typical shareware piracy prevention measures. Their software products now fall under the category of crippleware. An article in the company's newsletter, the Ambrosia Times, outlines the factors that played into the policy change.[4]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑MacSlash Interview: Andrew Welch of Ambrosia
- ↑'Home-grown Ambrosia feeds software niche', Michael Saffran. In RIT: The University Magazine, Vol. 10, #1
- ↑Into the Maelstrom. The Mac Observer (199-12-08). Retrieved on 2007-07-08
- ↑Andrew Welch (2000-01-22). Ambrosia Times: President's Letter: On CDs and Shareware. Ambrosia Software. Retrieved on 2008-06-25
External links[edit | edit source]
| Private | |
| Industry | Software, video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 18, 1993; 26 years ago |
| Defunct | July 19, 2019; 8 months ago |
| Headquarters | Rochester, New York, U.S. |
Key people | Andrew Welch |
| Products | Sharewarevideo games and utilities |
| Website | www.ambrosiasw.com |
Ambrosia Software was a predominantly Macintoshsoftware company founded in 1993 and located in Rochester, New York, U.S. Ambrosia Software was best known for its video games, but also published utility software. Its products were distributed as shareware; demo versions could be downloaded and used for up to 30 days. The company also released some products for iOS. Ambrosia's best-selling program was the utility Snapz Pro X,[1] according to a 2002 interview with company president Andrew Welch.
In 2017, customers reported on Ambrosia's Facebook page that attempts to contact the company were unsuccessful and they were unable to make new purchases.[2] As of July 2019, the website is offline.
History[edit]
Ambrosia Software was incorporated August 18, 1993 by Andrew Welch after he graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1992.[3]The first game produced by Ambrosia was Maelstrom, a 1992 remake of the 1979 Asteroids arcade game. Maelstrom won a number of software awards.[4] This initial success led Ambrosia to release several more arcade-style games, including Apeiron (a remake of Centipede), Swoop (a clone of Galaxian), and Barrack (a clone of JezzBall). In 1999, Cameron Crotty of Macworld wrote 'No other company has gotten so much mileage out of renovating mid-1980s arcade hits.'[5]
Nearly all of the company's ten employees were laid off in 2013, but Welch denied rumors of the company shutting down.[6]
Products[edit]
Games[edit]
Mac Game Centipede Ambrosia Salad
Ambrosia Software's games, in order of release:
- Maelstrom — Asteroidsremake
- Chiral
- Apeiron — Centipede remake
- Swoop — Galaxian clone
- Barrack — JezzBall clone[7]
- Bubble Trouble — Pengo remake
- Harry the Handsome Executive
- Slithereens
- Cythera
- Deimos Rising
- Coldstone game engine
- Bubble Trouble X — Mac OS Xport of original, with minor gameplay changes
- pop-pop
- Uplink — Mac OS X port
- Aki
- Apeiron X — Mac OS X port of the original, with enhanced graphics
- Darwinia — Mac OS X port
- DEFCON — Mac OS X port
- pop-pop — Universal Binary release
- Uplink — Universal Binary release
- Aki — Universal Binary release
- Mondo Solitaire
- Aki — iPhone/iPod Touch release
- Aquaria — Mac OS X port
- Escape Velocity Nova — Universal Binary release
- Multiwinia — Mac OS X port
- Hypnoblocks
Ambrosia, in conjunction with DG Associates, has also released the Escape Velocity Nova Card Game.
Productivity Software[edit]
Ambrosia Software's utilities, in order of release:
- Eclipse — Screen saverCDEV
- Big Cheese Key — FKey to mask screen image from boss.
- FlashWrite — Text editor Desk Accessory
- FlashWrite ][
- ColorSwitch — Menu bar item to change monitor color depth
- EasyEnvelopes — Envelope printing Desk accessory. Later a Mac OS X v10.4 and Mac OS X v10.5Dashboard widget.
- Snapz
- To Do!
- Oracle
- Snapz Pro— Screen capture application
- iSeek — Desktop search application
- Snapz Pro X — Mac OS X-compatible version of original
- WireTap Pro — Audio recording utility
- Screen Cleaner Pro — April Fool's joke
- Dragster — File transfer application
- iToner — iPhone custom ringtone transfer utility
- WireTap Studio — Audio recording, editing and master storage; won a 2007 'Eddy Award' from Macworld
- WireTap Anywhere — professional virtual audio patchbay utility, enabling the recording of any Mac OS X application's audio output from within any Mac OS X audio application.
- Soundboard — Mac OS X Audio playback ('computerized cart machine')
- Big Cheese Key X — Mac OS X-compatible version of original
No 'Crippled' shareware[edit]
One of Ambrosia's founding mantras was that shareware software should not be distributed as crippleware. The company's software was released on the honor system with only a short reminder that you had used the unregistered software for 'x' amount of time, creating what is commonly called nagware.[8]
This policy was later changed and the company employed typical shareware piracy prevention measures,[9] as well as more innovative ones such as used in the Escape Velocity line of games where the team's mascot, Hector the Parrot (known in-game as Cap'n Hector), would use her heavily armed ship to ceaselessly attack players of unregistered copies after the trial period had expired. Their software products therefore fell under the category of crippleware.[9] Now that the company no longer provides new expiring license codes, customers who had purchased Ambrosia software are now treated as though they have expired trial versions, for instance meaning that Cap'n Hector's attacks in Escape Velocity games cannot be stopped.
Matt Slot has written about the factors that played into the policy change.[8]
Mac Game Centipede Ambrosia Game
References[edit]
- ^'MacSlash Interview: Andrew Welch of Ambrosia'. MacSlash (retrieved from the Internet Archive). 2002-01-23. Archived from the original on 2007-12-31. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
- ^'Ambrosia Software'. Facebook. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
- ^'Home-grown Ambrosia feeds software niche', Michael Saffran. In RIT: The University Magazine, Vol. 10, #1
- ^'Into the Maelstrom'. The Mac Observer. 1999-12-08. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
- ^Crotty, Cameron (January 1999). 'Mars Rising'. Macworld.
- ^Mathis, Joel. 'Despite layoffs, Ambrosia says it's still in business'. Macworld.
- ^Salvador, Phil. 'Barrack'. The Obscuritory.
- ^ abSlot, Matt (2002-03-11). 'The Plain Truth about Casual Software Piracy'. TidBITS. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
- ^ abWelch, Andrew (2000-01-22). 'Ambrosia Times: President's Letter: On CDs and Shareware'. Ambrosia Software. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
External links[edit]
- The Ambrosia Archive (a fan-run archive of Ambrosia Software installers)
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