Fantavision

Fantavision was an animation program by Scott Anderson and published by Brøderbund for the Apple II series in 1985. It was ported to other platforms such as the Commodore Amiga (1988), Apple IIGS (1987), and DOS (1988).

Advertisements claimed that Fantavision was "a revolutionary software breakthrough that, for the first time, brings to home computers the special powers known to computer animators as "tweening" and "transforming." It allowed the user to create short vector graphics animations frame-by-frame using a mouse, keyboard, or other device. The software would then use a primitive morphing technology to generate frames in-between the user-created frames, allowing complex animations to be created without the requirement that every frame be drawn by the user. Because this was done in real-time, it allowed for creative exploration and quick changes.

The interface was GUI-like—similar to the Macintosh of the day—with pull-down menus and black text on a white background.

Reception

FantaVision

FantaVision (Japanese: ファンタビジョン, Hepburn: Fantabijon) is a PlayStation 2 launch title developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, released March 9, 2000, in Japan, October 26, 2000, in North America, and November 24, 2000, in Europe. It is a real-time puzzle video game involving fireworks. It relies on quick color matching and symbol recognition skills.

Fantavision was at first a tech demo for the PlayStation 2, but it surprised many as something that actually could be a game, resulting in its release. Initially, the game was released in Japan, only featuring single-player mode. The American and European releases of the game, which were launch titles, were released with two-player mode support.

On December 4, 2015, during PlayStation Experience, Sony Computer Entertainment announced its plan to port PlayStation 2 games to the PlayStation 4, FantaVision being one of the first planned titles for the service, alongside other games published by Sony during the PlayStation 2 era.