The story
Software and early years
Hi-Tech Expression was originally opened in 1986 as a subsidiary of Thoughtware, Inc. under the leadership of Henry Kaplan. Before making games, the company made software for occasions on the computer and makes printouts. Which are:
PartyWare: Design for Card and Party Kit with Database of Friends and Events.
CardWare: Design for Animated Birthday Greeting Disk and Card Maker.
HeartWare: Design for Animated Friendship Greeting Disk and Love Note.
JingleDisk: Design for Holiday Card and Animated Greeting Disk.
Additionally, there is a designer:
WareWithAll: Designer for paper, envelopes, stickers, markers, disks, and disk labels.
PrinterPaper: Designer for Greeting Cards, Banners, Letters, and Computer Creations. There is either an Assortment Pack or a Holiday Pack.
Read the full text
The address was originally in Coconut Grove, Florida, but later moved to Plantation, Florida in 1987, and then to New York City, New York.
It was initially formed in Florida as Thoughtware, then later launching a New York subsidiary Thoughtware Expressions as a subsidiary of Thoughtware, Inc., before becoming Hi Tech Expressions in October 1986. The company initially operated as an educational software publisher, before becoming a mainstream publisher. The company later expanded beyond software in 1987, by acquiring the game licensing rights of the Sesame Street franchise and the rights to its computer games from Children's Television Workshop.
Expansion
During its peak, the company became a major Nintendo license in 1988, making big name console games with the Sesame Street license, eventually expanding beyond computers. Billy Pidgeon was hired to run the video game division, while Asif Chaudhri was also hired as running the computer game division, who was later moved to the video game division after Pidgeon left.
Its expansion grew rapidly by acquiring big name licenses, like Chessmaster. The company later introduced the Print Kit program in the late 1980s. The company grew steadily with the Sesame Street Print Writer program, which was a word processing program for preschoolers. In 1990, the company expanded when the company produced a game Big Bird's Hide and Speak, a game that mainly featured extensive use of digitized speech for the NES.
In 1991, the company acquired the licensing rights to the Barbie dolls from Mattel. The company also acquired the rights to the Tom and Jerry franchise from Turner Entertainment Co. to make video games.
During its peak, the company became the second-largest American game publisher of console games behind Acclaim Entertainment but above the established giants Mindscape and THQ. In 1993, the company along with Riedel Software Productions continued their long-standing partnership, working on a Super NES version of Beethoven's 2nd. Also that year, the company signed deals with Acclaim Entertainment and Virgin Interactive to distribute a home computer release of Mortal Kombat.
Rename and defunct
In early 1994, the company acquired the video game licenses of Bobby's World and Baby's Day Out from 20th Century Fox. In mid 1994, the company was renamed to Hi Tech Entertainment, as conducted by Henry Kaplan before it went defunct in 1995 and signed deals with Capcom and Acclaim Entertainment before the name change.
After the company shuttered, Kaplan briefly went to Philips Interactive Media. In 1997, several former Hi Tech Expressions executives, including Henry Kaplan, formed NewKidCo as a spiritual successor to the company.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hi Tech Expressions, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4