GCC Technologies

From WE Computers Museum
GCC logo.png
GCC Technologies
Type Public
Founded 1981 (General Computer Corporation)
1982 (GCC Technologies, Inc.)
Dissolved on June 17, 2015
Headquarters Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
Key people Doug Macrae, founder
John Tylko, founder
Kevin Curran, founder
Industry video games, peripherals
Products video games, peripherals
Number of people not disclosed
Website N/A

GCC Technologies was a peripheral company based in Bedford, Massachusetts, USA.

General Computer Corporation

General Computer Corporation was founded in 1981 by Doug Macrae, John Tylko, and Kevin Curran.

GCC Technologies

In 1982, the company name was changed to GCC Technologies, Inc.

Partnership with Atari

They began by selling modified versions of arcade games. Atari sued after GCC released a sped-up version of Missile Command. The two parties settled out of court and Atari hired GCC to create arcade and console games for them.

GCC developed the arcade game Quantum, the arcade and Atari 7800 game Food Fight, the Atari 2600 game Atari Video Cube, the Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 game Desert Falcon, the Atari 2600 ports of Pac-Man, Pole Position, and Centipede, the Atari 5200 port of Kangaroo, and the Atari 7800 ports of Ballblazer, Dig Dug, Joust, Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position II, Rescue on Fractalus!, and Robotron: 2084.

They produced most of the Atari 5200 cartridges as well as the initial batch of Atari 7800 cartridges.

GCC also designed the chip for the Atari 7800.

Partnership with Midway

GCC developed a modification of Pac-Man titled Crazy Otto. They sold the game to Midway, which further developed it into Ms. Pac-Man.

GCC also developed Jr. Pac-Man for Midway.

Peripherals

In 1984, the company began creating peripherals for Macintosh computers.

Rights Issues

GCC Technologies sued Midway over royalties for the games the former developed for the latter, and in approximately 1983 a settlement was reached wherein the former was awarded a portion of the profits of the arcade version of Ms. Pac-Man. GCC also created another sequel titled Jr. Pac-Man, which was originally titled Pac-Baby, so they were granted a portion of the profits of the arcade version of that game as well.

In approximately 1987, the rights to everything related to Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man were transferred to Namco. This did not count the GCC contract, which still awarded the company a portion of the profits of the arcade versions of the games they created.

In 2002, GCC Technologies contacted Namco as they had not received any profits for the re-releases of Ms. Pac-Man. The company was unaware of the contract, as it had been approximately twenty years since the contract was signed, and most of the employees from that era no longer worked at Namco. After no progress on rights negotiations after approximately four years, an arbitrator was assigned to the case. The contract was deemed to only refer to coin-operated versions, but because the contract hadn't been updated since it was signed, the court ruled that versions for mobile phones, and any version that transmitted data through the internet or to other devices also applied to the contract because payment options were usually included within these versions.

Dissolution

GCC Technologies was dissolved on June 17, 2015.

Transfer of Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man rights to AtGames

In approximately 2019, AtGames purchased the contract from General Computer Corporation. This gave AtGames royalties for most versions of the games created by GCC.

Video game consoles designed by GCC Technologies

Title Manufacturer Released Added to Museum Notes
Atari 7800 Atari 1983 Not yet GCC developed the chipset of the Atari 7800.

Video games by GCC Technologies owned by WEC Museum

Title System Released Added to Museum Notes
Atari Video Cube Atari 2600 1982 November 29, 2020 The Atari 2600 version is included in the Atari Flashback Blast! Vol. 2.
Centipede Atari 2600 1982 May 10, 2019
January 30, 2021
GCC's Atari 2600 port of the 1980 game is included in the Atari Flashback 2+.
GCC's Atari 2600 port of the 1980 game is included in the Atari Flashback Blast! Vol. 1.
Desert Falcon Atari 2600
Atari 7800
1987 February 28, 2021
January 30, 2021
May 1, 2021
The NES port is included in the Atari Flashback.
The Atari 2600 version is included in the Atari Flashback Blast! Vol. 1.
The Atari 2600 version is included in Atari Collection 1 for Evercade.
Food Fight Arcade
Atari 7800
1983 February 28, 2021
May 1, 2021
The NES port is included in the Atari Flashback.
The Atari 7800 version is included in Atari Collection 1 for Evercade.
Ms. Pac-Man Arcade 1982 December 25, 2008 The arcade version is included in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for Xbox 360.