Camerica
Camerica was a company owned and operated by David J. Harding. It was a video game company that was notable for producing unlicensed Nintendo Entertainment System games and hardware. It was founded in 1988 and published games through 1992. It created a number of peripherals for the NES, including the Aladdin Deck Enhancer. Camerica had the rights to publish most of Codemasters' game titles, both on the NES and the Deck Enhancer. Thor Aackerlund was a spokesperson for the brand. Camerica created many early peripherals for the NES, such as Supersonic The Joystick, a wireless controller add-on.[1] However, they soon let their license expire for unknown reasons, while leaving many of these products on the market. Nintendo sued Camerica and their USA distributor, Galoob Toy, many times. Camerica and Galoob Toy prevailed every time. There were lawsuits in California, New York and Canada. Nintendo had to pay Galoob Toy USD$15,000,000 in damages over one of those lawsuits. Since Camerica still lacked license to produce NES games, they had to create their own cartridges that would bypass Nintendo's lock-out chip. Like the circuit used in Color Dreams cartridges, the Camerica lock-out defeat generated glitch pulses that froze the chip. The cartridges they made were shaped slightly differently from Nintendo's cartridges, though they still fit in the NES. The most notable difference however was in color: all Camerica cartridges were gold and later silver. They also featured a switch for play on European NES consoles. Camerica released the Codemasters-designed Game Genie in Canada and the UK.
Camerica at a Glance
If you are browsing PlayPile to learn about Camerica, you will find this Canadian company had a brief but distinct presence from 1990 to 1993. Founded in 1988 by David J. Harding, Camerica operated as a publisher rather than a developer and released exactly ten games through the site. Their catalog is heavily focused on the Nintendo Entertainment System with all ten titles appearing on that platform. They also published a small number of games for older systems like the Commodore C64, Amiga, and Atari ST, though these represent only a fraction of their output. The company was best known for producing unlicensed NES hardware and software. Camerica created peripherals such as the Aladdin Deck Enhancer and Supersonic The Joystick. They also held rights to publish most Codemasters titles on the NES and utilized special cartridges designed to bypass Nintendo's lock-out chip. These cartridges had a distinct gold or silver color and included a switch for European consoles. Their business practices led to multiple lawsuits against Nintendo across California, New York, and Canada. In one instance, Nintendo paid Galoob Toy USD$15,000,000 in damages after Camerica and the toy company prevailed in court. In terms of game genres, Camerica leaned heavily into Platform games with eight titles in that category. They also released two Shooters and single entries for Racing, Arcade, Puzzle, and Adventure. The quality of their published games appears mixed at best based on the available data. Across all rated titles on PlayPile, the average IGDB rating is 69.4 out of 100. This score comes from a single title, Micro Machines released in December 1991. There are no great-rated games on their list and only one game that falls into the good range. Their output was concentrated entirely in the 1990s with nine games released during that decade. Recent releases listed include Super Robin Hood in late 1993, followed by F-16 Renegade and Bee 52 in 1992. Big Nose Freaks Out also appeared in early 1992. Thor Aackerlund served as a spokesperson for the brand during this period. Camerica stopped publishing games after 1992, leaving their legacy tied to unlicensed hardware and a small library of titles that struggled to achieve high critical acclaim.
6.9
