Editing Starpath

{{Short description|Defunct American video game company}}
{{Infobox company
| name             = Starpath Corporation
| predecessor      = Arcadia Corporation
| logo             = Logo of Starpath Corporation, formerly Arcadia Corporation.jpg
| caption          = 
| type             = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| foundation       = [[Livermore, California|Livermore]], [[California]], [[United States|USA]]<br> June 1981
| defunct          = 1984<ref name=1984epyx>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ey4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=Supercharger+starpath&pg=PA30 This week:News Brief:More games:Epyx], Page 30, InfoWorld, Jan 9-16, 1984, ''Epyx, ...announced it will acquire Starpath... The Starpath inventory of games and Superchargers will be closed out before the acquisition.''</ref>
| founder          = Alan Bayley(1933-2010)<ref name=billboard1982intro>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1yQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Supercharger+Arcadia&pg=PT31 Upgrades Atari Capacity:Arcadia Sets 'Supercharger Unit], By John Sippel, Page 32, Billboard, 21 Aug 1982, ''Headed by Alan Bayley, founder and chairman of the defunct [[General Recorded Tape|GRT]] tape combine...''</ref><ref>Palo Alto Online - Lasting Memories, [http://www.paloaltoonline.com/obituaries/memorials/alan-j-bayley?o=311 Alan J. Bayley memorial].  Retrieved 2013-03-09.</ref><br>Robert Brown<br>Craig Nelson
| location         = [[Santa Clara, California|Santa Clara]], [[California]], [[United States|USA]]
| key_people       = Dennis Caswell, programmer<br>Steve Hales, programmer<br>Stephen Landrum, programmer<br>Jon Leupp, programmer<br>Brian McGhie, programmer<br>Scott Nelson, programmer<br>Kevin Norman, programmer
| industry         = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| products         = [[Starpath Supercharger]]<br>12 games
| revenue          = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income       = 
| owner            = [[Epyx]] (1984-1993)<br>Bridgestone Multimedia Group (1993-present)
| num_employees    =
| parent           = 
| homepage         = 
}}

'''Starpath Corporation''' was a [[United States|U.S.]] company known for creating the [[Starpath Supercharger]] in August 1982. The company was founded under the name Arcadia Corporation in 1981 by Alan Bayley, Robert Brown, and Craig Nelson.  It changed its name to Starpath shortly after for trademark reasons because [[Emerson Radio Corporation]] had released a [[video game console]] named the [[Emerson Arcadia 2001]].<ref name="starpath">[http://thedoteaters.com/?bitstory=epyx The Dot Eaters - Epyx | The Dot Eaters>]</ref><ref>[http://www.digitpress.com/library/newsletters/arcadeexpress/arcade_express_v1n7.pdf Arcadia has a new name], 1982-11-07, Arcade Express Newsletter, Volume 1 no.7</ref>

The [[Starpath Supercharger]] is a peripheral cartridge for the [[Atari 2600]] [[video game console]] that expands the machine capabilities by adding more [[Random-access memory|RAM]], allowing for higher resolution graphics and larger games, and by providing a connector to which a regular [[cassette tape|cassette]] player can be connected, thus permitting larger games, stored on tape, to be loaded.

As the [[Video game crash of 1983|video game console market collapsed]] Starpath's fortunes began to worsen. Sales of their existing titles were in a steep decline as the console market flooded with games. Retailers were also uninterested in stocking new titles as they couldn't sell what they already had. Without enough capital to switch to developing for the [[home computer]] market Starpath looked for a buyer. [[Epyx]], which shared some board members with Starpath, would purchase the company in 1984.<ref name=1984epyx /> Several development staff continued to work at Epyx after the merger and transitioned to making home computer games. One of the last titles in development at Starpath, 'Sweat! The Decathlon Game' for a Supercharger equipped Atari 2600, was redeveloped as a [[Commodore 64]] game.<ref name="Retro Gamer">{{cite magazine |last=Milne |first=Rory |date=July 2021 |title=The Evolution of Summer |issue=222 |page=34 |magazine=[[Retro Gamer]] |publisher=[[Future plc]]}}</ref> Rechristened [[Summer Games (video game)|Summer Games]] it became a big hit for Epyx and resulting in a long succession of ports, sequels, and spinoffs. Scott Nelson, the developer of Sweat!, worked on both Summer Games and its direct sequel [[Summer Games II]]. {{As of|2004}}, rights to Starpath games are owned by Bridgestone Multimedia, a religious multimedia company.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web
 | url         = http://www.atarihq.com/2678/3party/starpath.html
 | title       = Third Party Profile: Starpath
 | work        = Atari Gaming Headquarters
 | access-date  = February 6, 2011 }}
* {{cite book
 | title       = Stella Gets a New Brain!, Version 2.0
 | first1       = Glenn
 | last1        = Saunders
 | first2      = Russ
 | last2       = Perry, Jr.
 | first3      = Dan
 | last3       = Skelton
 | publisher   = Cyberpunks
 | year        = 1999
 }}
{{refend}}

[[Category:Video game companies established in 1981]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States]]