Parroty Interactive
Encyclopedia
Parroty Interactive, of Larkspur, California
, was a video game developer
, active during the 1990s; the company is no longer in business.
Parroty created a number of notable parody
video games for the PC
and Apple Macintosh. The company's name was intended as a play-on-words between "parody" and "parrot
"; the company logo depicted a red parrot, with Groucho Marx
-style glasses
, moustache
, and cigar
. Parroty was a division of Palladium Interactive; the parent company's main focus was on children's educational and "home productivity" software. Palladium Interactive was bought out by The Learning Company
in 1998, and the Parroty division was discontinued.
Larkspur, California
Larkspur is a city in Marin County, California, United States. Larkspur is located south of San Rafael, at an elevation of . As of the 2010 Census, the city's population was 11,926. Larkspur is located north of San Francisco near Mount Tamalpais. Larkspur's Police Department is shared with that...
, was a video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
, active during the 1990s; the company is no longer in business.
Parroty created a number of notable parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
video games for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and Apple Macintosh. The company's name was intended as a play-on-words between "parody" and "parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
"; the company logo depicted a red parrot, with Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
-style glasses
Glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
, moustache
Moustache
A moustache is facial hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip. It may or may not be accompanied by a type of beard, a facial hair style grown and cropped to cover most of the lower half of the face.-Etymology:...
, and cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
. Parroty was a division of Palladium Interactive; the parent company's main focus was on children's educational and "home productivity" software. Palladium Interactive was bought out by The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
in 1998, and the Parroty division was discontinued.
Parroty releases
- PystPystPyst is a computer game published in 1996. It was created as a parody of the highly successful adventure game, Myst. The parody features full motion video of John Goodman as "King Mattruss", the ruler of "Pyst Island". Pyst was written by Peter Bergman, a co-founder of the Firesign Theatre, and...
, a parody of the popular game MystMystMyst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September... - Driven, (unreleased) intended as a sequel to Pyst, it was a parody of the Myst sequel, RivenRivenRiven is a puzzle adventure game and the sequel to Myst. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Brøderbund. Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released on October 29, 1997, in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM, with improved audio and a...
- Star WarpedStar WarpedStar Warped is a parody video game, set in the Star Wars universe. It was created by Parroty Interactive, which was a division the game's publisher, Palladium Interactive. Star Warped was released in late 1997, with versions for the Windows PC and Apple Macintosh operating systems...
, a parody set in the Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
universe, spoofing both Star Wars and the Star Wars fan community. - The X-Fools, a parody of The X-FilesThe X-FilesThe X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
- Microshaft Winblows 98, a parody of Microsoft Windows 98 for Mac OSMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.
External links
- Parroty Interactive at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- Preview of Microshaft Winblows 98