My question to the AI results page of Google Search;
"History of House Martin games?"
Google's Answer;
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There
are no games made by a company called "House Martin Games." The query
likely refers to Housemarque, a Finnish video game developer acquired by
Sony in 2021
.The history of Housemarque can be summarized by its transition from indie arcade-style games to big-budget "AAA" titles like Returnal, its deep relationship with PlayStation, and its beginnings as a pair of companies started by former demoscene developers.
Origins in the Finnish demoscene
- Early days (1993–1995): The company was formed from the merger of two of Finland's first commercial game developers, Bloodhouse and Terramarque, which were founded in 1993. Both companies were led by veterans of the country's "demoscene" and worked on titles for Amiga and PC.
- Formation of Housemarque (1995): The two companies merged to become Housemarque in July 1995. The studio's early projects included Super Stardust (1996) and The Reap (1997).
- First million-seller (1999): The studio achieved commercial success with Supreme Snowboarding (released in North America as Boarder Zone), a title for PC and Game Boy Color that sold over 1.5 million copies.
PlayStation partnership and the "arcade is dead" era
- Sony collaboration: Beginning in 2007, Housemarque developed a close relationship with Sony Interactive Entertainment, creating a series of well-received downloadable games, most of which were PlayStation exclusives.
- Arcade-style hits: These exclusive titles included:
- Super Stardust HD (2007)
- Dead Nation (2010)
- Resogun (2013), a PlayStation 4 launch title
- Alienation (2016)
- Nex Machina (2017)
- Struggles and a new direction (2017–2020): Despite critical acclaim, these arcade-style games were not commercially successful enough for the studio to remain financially stable. Following the release of Nex Machina, Housemarque announced that it was abandoning the arcade genre to focus on a larger, more ambitious "AAA" project.
Returnal and acquisition by Sony
- Returnal development (2020): After three years in pre-production, Housemarque's new project was revealed as Returnal, a third-person, story-driven roguelike. It was created specifically for the PlayStation 5, allowing the studio to utilize the console's unique features, such as the DualSense controller.
- Critical and commercial success (2021): Returnal launched in April 2021 to glowing reviews and strong sales. It demonstrated the studio's ability to transition from smaller-scale titles to a cinematic "AAA" experience while retaining its signature focus on tight, arcade-inspired gameplay.
- Acquired by Sony (2021): The success of Returnal led Sony to acquire Housemarque in June 2021, making the developer part of PlayStation Studios.
- Future projects (2026): Housemarque announced its next title, Saros, during a February 2025 State of Play event. It is scheduled for release in 2026 and is described as a spiritual successor to Returnal.
AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more
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My supplementary;
"Do
you realise how incredibly false and inaccurate your answer is? House
Martin were probably Britain's third largest games issuer at one point
after Waddington's and Spears, and their products are listed all over
eBay and Etsy."
Google's response;
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thinking...
Kicking off 5 searches
Looking at 45 sites
Getting info from 
Shopping
Putting it all together
You
are correct. The previous response was inaccurate and confused two
different companies: the British board game manufacturer House-Martin,
and the Finnish video game developer Housemarque
. My apologies for this error. House-Martin
was a genuine, but far smaller, UK-based board game manufacturer known
for its vintage editions of classic parlour games and wooden sets, not a
major game issuer on the scale of Waddingtons or Spears. They have been
defunct since at least the 1990s, and the availability of their games
on sites like eBay and Etsy reflects their status as vintage and
collectible items.
Here is an accurate history of House-Martin:
Focus on classic games
- House-Martin specialized in manufacturing and issuing traditional board and parlour games, particularly chess, backgammon, and draughts.
- Their games are often distinguished by their high-quality wooden pieces and presentation, which makes them popular with vintage collectors today
- The History of Housemarque – from the Finnish Demoscene to ...
- 27 Mar 2022 — The History of Housemarque – from the Finnish Demoscene to PlayStation Studios. ... How Finland's longest-running game .
PlayStation.Blog
Company - Housemarque
COMPANY.
Founded in 1995, Housemarque is an award winning game development
studio with the goal of creating memorable game experie...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's utter determination to return to Housemarque, even after correcting itself and apologising, probably has more to do with Millions (in Yen, possibly billions with a 'B') of advertising revenue from Sony Corp.
AI is dismantling human civilisation, with a drip-drip-drip feed of monetised bollocks!
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Y is for You'll Have to Google it!
Without a shadow of a doubt, the weirdest thing Brian Berke sent the Blog in his image packages last year was the following three items, which we'll look at before I explain, as once you've looked at them, you'll realise an explanation is the least you can expect!
This is the most extraordinary phenomena, for several reasons, firstly Skibidi Toilet, is a purely amateur, one-man, AI-assisted, CGI-generated cartoon series, made by one YouTube content creator from Georgia (the country) on his own PC, you'll have to Google it! Second, it's entirely an online, 'Gen-Alpha' fan-driven phenomena, which has exploded in a singular section of youth society.
But, thirdly, as far as I can tell (you'll have to google it), the guy (Alexey Gerasimov) responsible has only produced the material on YouTube, which suggests that these toys (you'll have to google them) are entirely unlicensed, hence the lack of branding beyond the title-graphics, nicked from YouTube.
And your Googling will rapidly reveal tons of these toys on Amazon, evilBay and Alibaba, among other platforms, so a factory, almost certainly in China is making an absolute fortune out of one guy's weird Gen-Alpha flex on YouTube . . . You'll have to Google it, but the whole Skibidi Toilet story is amazing, these Gen-Alpha's will not fight in Trump's, Netanyahu's or Putin's coming wars, they are as alien to us, as we are to the Romans.
You can see the figures are toy-soldier'y, in not being articulated 'action figures' and my own Googling suggests many of them have been issued, and I thank Brian for shooting them on his Italian holiday, and sending them to the Blog, where I've had a crash-course in what's really happening out there! Weird, but you'll have to Google it!
*********************************
I've just Googled them again, and in a few months, the picture has changed greatly, with many more figural products, including deforms, action figures and larger statuettes, when Brian sent the images (last June), these (roughly 60-mil I think) were pretty-much all there were, but many of them. Maybe some of the products are now licensed from the originator?
