Red Orb Stays With Mindscape

Mindscape Entertainment Thursday announced that it would continue to support games under the Red Orb Entertainment brand, which was acquired by Mindscape's parent, The Learning Company, in a merger with Broderbund, which ran Red Orb.

Mindscape will continue with the Myst, Warlords, and Prince of Persia product lines, and the Red Orb brand will continue to be used. In October, Ages of Myst, a commemorative edition of both Myst and Riven with some new features, and the Prince of Persia Collection Limited Edition will ship to stores.

However, Mindscape did say that The Journeyman Project 4 has gone back to its developer, Presto Studios, and opportunities for Baja 1000 Racing and Extreme Warfare are "under evaluation."

"Identifying key product lines is crucial to our success," said Chuck Kroegel, executive vice president of the Mindscape Entertainment Division. "We made our decisions based on careful evaluation of the products themselves and our strategic objectives as a business unit. We're focusing our attention on the titles that make sense for our business."

Mindscape also announced that work on the anticipated Prince of Persia 3D is continuing at full speed as the entire production team has joined Mindscape's Entertainment division, including creator Jordan Mechner.

"Mindscape has made it clear that they believe in Prince 3D and are committed to completing the project as it was originally conceived," said Mechner. "The original Prince 3D development team, led by Andrew Pedersen, will continue on the job. This is an excellent outcome for all concerned and will enable us to maintain a consistent vision and high level of quality. Mindscape is known for its excellent marketing and distribution, and I am confident that the Mindscape Entertainment Division will bring Prince 3D to market effectively."