Image taken from World of Games Publishing
While browsing eBay looking for CD Interactive listings I came across an eBay store selling titles that were published in 2023! This immediately got my attention and I had to investigate further. The store was selling several brand new CD-i titles that were originally produced in 1996 but were published much later, in 2023. After doing some digging I found out that the seller was the publisher, they were selling their own stock. So I went and browsed through their store and their website and found that they didn’t only have newly published CD-i games but they also had some 3DO games and even a title for the Sega Dreamcast. As far as I can gather the CD-i titles were produced way back when the CD-i was a few years into it’s life but they never ended up getting published. The developer probably contacted the modern day games publisher – “World of Games Publishing” when they found out they realized it might be feasible to get their software published now. As was the case for many CD-i software titles the games aren’t really proper games but somewhat of a mix of interactive software mixed with some mini game elements. Some are just straight out interactive edutainment type software titles. None of these are proper full fledged games so aren’t really that interesting in terms of retro video gaming. However the 3DO and Dreamcast titles are most definitely proper video games so I will talk about those.
First a little bit about the publisher and the history of the company “World of Games”, from the information on their website. The company was founded way back in 2003 by video gaming historian Joseph Hatcher, which started as a chain of retail stores in the United States. The man behind the business has a long history working in the video games industry beginning in 1996, having worked with some of the biggest names in video gaming such as Nintendo and Acclaim and has also been featured in various video gaming magazines. Joseph has a love for the Zelda and Castlevania series of games and also loves FMV games which would explain why he got involved with the CD-i and 3DO which are usually ignored by most video gamers, developers and publishers. In fact he believes in giving these largely FMV-based systems a second chance, as they were mostly considered as failures by the retro video gaming community. So he has focused his publishing business on working with software developers for these often overlooked gaming systems. While there are a lot of bad games released for both the CD-i and the 3DO there are some diamonds amongst the debris and both systems have their own unique good FMV and also non-FMV games that are worth playing. The owner of the video game publishing company has also produced movies and books too, that have both done quite well. As the business World of Games Publishing has grown it has evolved in various different forms starting from a physical retail game store to a video game consulting company and finally to the modern video game publishing company that it is today. The story of World of Games Publishing is truly a great success story of a small video games business surviving and growing from a small shop to video game publisher.
Image taken from World of Games Publishing
Now onto the games that they have recently published, some of which can still be purchased brand new from their website. Let’s start of with “The Adventure’s of Captain J” for the 3DO. There are no screenshots that I can find for this game so I only have the game description and the cover artwork to go by. It appears to be space ship shooter game like Raiden or R-Type however I’m unsure if it’s vertical scrolling, side scrolling or a different 3D-type perspective. It is described as having multiple levels of fast hard-hitting arcade action that put your reflexes to the test. The game is only available as NTSC-J format so you will need a 3DO that is compatible with Japanese games. The game can be ordered for $29.99 USD for the jewel case version or $59.99 for a limited 3DO big box edition that is numbered and limited to only 300 copies world-wide. You can find links at the bottom of this page of where to purchase it internationally as the website only ships to the USA. It is currently available to purchase as a pre-order which set to ship out very soon – the 25th of April 2025. So get your order in soon to make sure that you don’t miss out on getting a numbered copy in a genuine 3DO longbox otherwise you will have to settle for the jewel case version.
Images taken from World of Games Publishing
The next 3DO game I will talk about is called BioFury which is an FPS (first person shooter) game in the style of Wolfenstein or Doom. This game has already started selling and was only limited to 100 3DO long box, numbered copies which have already sold out. However you can still get your hands on a jewel case version copy for $29.99. This game has 12 levels and is in NTSC format, it will work on 3DO systems that can play either NTSC-JP or NTSC-US games. The other 3DO games released by World of Games Publishing were re-releases of “D” and “Plumber’s Don’t Wear Ties” which they sold through a partnership with Limited Run Games. Both 3DO versions of these re-released games have sold out however versions for some newer consoles that I won’t mention (as we deal with retro gaming here) may still be available at the Limited Run Games website.
There is one other game worth talking about and that is the game that WOGP have released for the Sega Dreamcast. A classic adventure game of the 90’s golden age of point and click adventures which has not been released on the Sega Dreamcast until now. Many of you adventure game enthusiasts are probably familiar with this game and would have played it a long time ago on your PC’s. It’s a classic SCUMM adventure game, one of the great well known titles – “Flight of the Amazon Queen”! This one is a favorite point and click adventure of mine, the first time I played it was when I got hold of a demo CD for my 486 PC back in the 1990s. After figuring out the puzzle to escape the room you get locked into I was instantly hooked on the game and it went to the top of my wishlist! Having been a child still with no income of my own I was unable to buy the game and only obtained the full version later when it became available on abandonware websites. I still have not fully completed the game, I have gotten quite far but when I get stuck I don’t look up the solution I just get back to it later with a fresh mind. However I haven’t gotten back to it in a long time, but now I think I will have to do that very soon as I’m long overdue to finish this one. The game is avaialable in versions the regular jewel case version with pressed disc art, jewel case and full color manual for $19.99 USD and the limited edition which also includes the soundtrack in it’s own jewel case together with the Dreamcast jewel case version of the game for $29.99.
Image taken from World of Games Publishing
The Adventures of Captain J 3DO Limited Edition International Shipping
The Adventure of Captain J 3DO Standard Version International Shipping
BioFury 3DO Standard Version International Shipping
Flight of The Amazon Queen Dreamcast Standard Version
World of Games Publishing Website Online Store – All Games US Shipping Only
