| Industry | Video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Milan, Italy |
| Website | http://505games.com/ |
505 Games, formerly known as 505 Game Street, is an Italian video game publishing division of Italian company Digital Bros. group founded in 2006.[1] The company also maintains a UK division in Milton Keynes and a North American division in Los Angeles opened in May 2008.
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Founded in 2006, 505 currently publishes games in PAL and North American territories for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PSP, and Windows operating system, and previously for the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation and Xbox.
Some of the more high-profile games published by the company in PAL regions include IL2-Sturmovik, Cooking Mama, ArmA: Armed Assault, ArmA II, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Special Edition, Magna Carta: Tears of Blood, Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity, Fashion Designer: Style Icon and titles in the Bust-a-Move and Armored Core series. Additionally they have published certain more obscure niche titles, such as the games Graffiti Kingdom and Michigan, which may not have gained a PAL release otherwise. The first game released by the US branch was a game adaptation of the film Hotel for Dogs.
In addition to the full-price games, the company also published the Simply 20 line of budget titles for the PlayStation 2, most of which originate from D3 Publisher's Simple 2000 series. The range also includes games from companies other than D3, notably a large number of 2D shoot 'em ups licensed through Taito. However, D3 Publisher of Europe now has the European publishing rights to the Simple series, and it appears 505's Simply 20 line has been discontinued because of this. 505 Games' Australian distributor, Red Ant Enterprises went into receivership on January 16, 2009 and many of their high profile publishers, Capcom Europe and Konami of Europe cut the distribution deals with Red Ant along with Rising Star Games and other smaller publishers.
505 Games is working with several partners to develop games based on key intellectual properties, including games based on Grease and Michael Phelps. Over the years, 505 Games has formed strategic partnerships with Hasbro, Sony, Rolling Stone, Warner Bros, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Dreamworks.
At E3 2011, it was announced that 505 Games would be publishing Blackwater.
As revealed on the DVD Johnny Test: Super Smarty Pants, 505 Games is currently making a video game for the Nintendo DS based on the cartoon Johnny Test.
505 Games was also involved with the GameTribe online gaming portal, which contained Asian imports: Bust a Move Online, Kicks, KongKong and Dream of Mirror Online. The site was closed down in 2009.
The company has been criticized for their unclear publishing methods particularly regarding niche Japanese titles; the PAL-versions of Ar Tonelico, Raw Danger and Fire Pro Wrestling Returns for example are officially released, but seem to have seen such a limited release only in France and Italy that many people are unsure of their very existence. Wild Arms 5 on the other hand has been announced at first for 30 November 2007, then been delayed until 22 February 2008, only to be released on 11 April 2008 in such limited quantities as the before mentioned games. Its predecessor Wild Arms 4 was also published by 505 Games, but suffered from a bug that would make the game crash if played in 50 Hz-mode. In early 2010, 505 Games has been criticized by customers for failing to release a game-fixing patch for the Xbox 360 version of IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, even though the same patch was released for the PS3 version. Comments by the developers of IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey reveal that the patch has reportedly been finished, but has been sitting in limbo for months awaiting approval.[2]