Distinctive Software

Distinctive Software

Industry	Video games
Founded	1982 (1982)
Defunct	1991 (1991)
Fate	Merged into EA Canada
Successor	EA Canada
Headquarters	Burnaby, British Columbia , Canada
Key people	Don Mattrick Jeff Sember Paul Lee Tarrnie Williams Bruce McMillan
Products	Test Drive series 4D Sports series
Parent	Electronic Arts

Distinctive Software, Inc. was a Canadian video game developer established in Burnaby, British Columbia, by Don Mattrick and Jeff Sember after their success with the game Evolution. Mattrick (age 17) and Jeff Sember approached Sydney Development Corporation, who agreed to publish Evolution in 1982. Distinctive Software was known in the late 1980s and early 1990s for their racing and sports video games, including the Test Drive series, Stunts, 4D Boxing, and Hardball II. In 1991, Distinctive was acquired by Electronic Arts in a deal worth US$10 million and became EA Canada, which is where the most EA Sports branded games are developed.

Unlimited Software and lawsuit

In 1989, programmers Pete Gardner and Amory Wong of Distinctive, under the pseudonym USI (Unlimited Software, Inc.), converted Sega's arcade game Out Run for MS-DOS. They used several software libraries they had developed for Test Drive II. Consequently, Accolade charged that Distinctive violated a working agreement, and sued. Accolade sought a preliminary injunction against the distribution and sale of Out Run. Distinctive Software argued that it had only used source code that did routine functions, such as clearing the video screen and that Accolade did not own a copyright on those functions. Accolade argued that their contract for Test Drive II gave them the ownership and copyright of the final product—the game—and the source code used to create it. Distinctive Software won; the court ruled that "the licensing agreement transfers to Accolade the copyright to the concept and design of the video game but not the underlying source code." The court also found that Accolade had failed to demonstrate that the balance of hardships was in its favor.

Games

Game	Published	Publisher	Platform
4D Sports Boxing	1991	Mindscape/Electronic Arts	Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Mac
4D Sports Tennis	1990	Mindscape	MS-DOS
Accolade Comics	1987	Accolade	Apple II, C64
Ace of Aces	1987	Accolade	Atari 8-bit, C64, MS-DOS
After Burner	1988	Sega	Amiga, C64, MS-DOS
Altered Beast	1990	Sega	Amiga, C64, MS-DOS
Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge	1990	Konami	Amiga, handheld, Mac, NES, MS-DOS
Castlevania	1990	Konami	C64, MS-DOS
Champions Forever Boxing	1992	NEC	TG-16
Dick Tracy: The Crime-Solving Adventure	1991	Walt Disney Computer Software	Amiga, MS-DOS
Grand Prix Circuit	1988	Accolade	Amiga, Apple IIGS, C64, MS-DOS
Fight Night	1985	Accolade	Apple II, Atari 8-bit, C64
Hardball!	1985	Accolade	Apple IIGS, C64
Mario Andretti's Racing Challenge	1991	Electronic Arts	MS-DOS
Metal Gear	1990	Ultra Games	C64
Mission: Impossible	1991	Konami	MS-DOS
Out Run	1989	Sega	C64, MS-DOS
Pipe Dream	1990	Bullet-Proof Software	Amiga, C64, MS-DOS, NES
Stunts (4D Sports Driving)	1990	Broderbund/Mindscape	Amiga, MS-DOS
Super C	1990	Konami	Amiga, MS-DOS
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	1990	Ultra Games/Konami	Amiga, C64, MS-DOS
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Manhattan Missions	1991	Konami	MS-DOS
Test Drive	1987	Accolade	Amiga, C64, MS-DOS
The Cycles: International Grand Prix Racing	1989	Accolade	C64, MS-DOS
The Duel: Test Drive II	1989	Accolade	Amiga, Apple IIGS, C64, MS-DOS
The Simpsons: Bart's House of Weirdness	1992	Konami	MS-DOS
Top Gun: Guts and Glory	1993	Konami	Game Boy
Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?	1991	Konami	NES

External links

• Distinctive Software at MobyGames