Welcome to the “Solstice Museum”! This personal project of mine is a video game history preservation effort with the intent of discovering, documenting, and preserving the history of the 1990 Nintendo (NES) video game Solstice: The Staff of Demnos (Developed by Software Creations and published by CSG Imagesoft/Sony Group).
In addition to painstakingly researching the history of Solstice, I am acquiring and preserving physical historical items related to the game, its development, and marketing.
This project’s efforts over the past decade have been documented extensively on its dedicated Facebook page, but the intent has always been to consolidate that into a “virtual museum” website.
Eventually, as time permits, this section of Paths to Adventure will be dedicated to that purpose. As a low priority, this section of the website remains in perpetual “under construction” status until I officially launch it upon completion.
- The Solstice Collection (See some of the physical items that make up the museum’s collection.)
Project Preamble
It's my belief that if inclined fans would select a single, less-mainstream title to focus documenting efforts on (as I've done here with Solstice), that a lot of lost gaming history could be preserved for future generations.
These past several decades have been the very roots of modern gaming, and the impact it has had and will continue to have on the direction of society, technology, and cultural exchange are immeasurable.
Recent Project Updates
- Theory of Branding/Cover Art Evolution
This post is a part of Justin’s personal “Solstice Museum” video game history preservation project. Here is my theory on the evolution of the branding/cover artwork for Solstice: The Staff of Demnos. It’s a curious tale of character evolution through the lens of 90s marketing, and a glance into how branding for video games of…
Recent Posts to the Project Facebook Page…
Good evening! This is not a piece included the "museum collection", but one I'm still very excited to document and share. Mike Webb, programmer of solstice, reached out to me and provided photos of the award Solstice won at the 1990 CES for "Best Nintendo Strategy Game"; awarded by Game Player's (magazine). A great piece of gaming history right here!
So, here is my theory on the evolution of the Solstice branding/cover artwork. It's a curious tale of character evolution through the lens of 90's marketing, and a glance into how branding for video games of the era was approached.
I've condensed the basic details of the theory for the slide image attached, but the entire theory is detailed here in this post (including linked cited sources and links to artifacts included in this "Solstice Museum" collection).
1. In 1989 (or perhaps earlier) Mark Wilson created the art used in the Solstice video game intro screen. The intro screen exists both in the prototype demo I own as well as the contemporary official Software Creations "Making of Solstice" video that was recorded before game's publication, and later released as a mail-in offer marketing promotion as a "Player's Pak" that included the video on Video8 (8MM) mini-tape with branded stickers and cards. (Software Creations official "Making of Sosltice" video [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I4crk1F8Pc ]), (The "Player Pak" mail-in promotion contents as included in this collection [ https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1842662629389480&set=a.1842662149389528 ]).
2. In 1989 Neal K. Sutton ( https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050501085032 ) created the proposed cover art sent to CES from Mark Wilson of Software Creations. In this rendition Shadax was almost entirely based on the video game intro screen design, and a henge was added in the background. This is confirmed via an interview with Mark Wilson in Edge Magazine #181, Nov 2007. [ https://archive.org/.../Edge%20Gaming.../page/106/mode/2up ]
(Website of Neal Sutton: https://nealksutton.artweb.com/about-me ), (Archived info from the currently unavailable "Jolly Roger" website dedicated to the art work of Neal Sutton: https://web.archive.org/web/20040806112139/http://www.jolly-roger.freeserve.co.uk/history.htm ), (Neal Sutton's prints online store: https://spazarto.bigcartel.com/biog )
3. An unknown artist (assumed hired by CSG) created a third design. This design was based on Neal Sutton's art and carried over the inclusion of the henge in the background and the skeleton, but introduced new elements to Shadax including blond hair, blue pants, green boots, and the design of the staff of demnos. This art by an unknown artist was only ever used *once* in full for advertising: on a two-sided advertisement was a dealer-facing promotional insert in handout from the the Winter 1990 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) that was held in Las Vegas in January 1990.
The only other use of this artwork is as a small partial cutaway that made an appearance in the July/August 1990 issue of Nintendo Power [p. 45]. ( https://archive.org/details/nintendopowerissue014julyaugust1990/page/n43/mode/2up ).[Note: I would really like to track down who this artist was to add that information to the history of the game]
4. In 1990 CSG hired Mike Winterbauer (Winterbauer Arts) to create what would become the final branding/cover art for the game. The art created by the unknown artist had to have been provided to Mike Winterbauer as the primary reference for the final design continued the elements of blond hair, blue pants, green boots, leather belt, and the Staff of Demnos (which looks nearly identical in both art pieces, but nothing like it does in the actual game inventory screen).
(Website of Mike Winterbauer: https://www.winterbauerarts.com/ ) (Mike Winterbauer's prints online store: https://www.winterbauerarts.com/shop-art )
5. Mike Winterbauer's version of the character design would later make it into the production costume design of the game commercial (created by Ad-marketing, the Los Angeles ad agency who created the commercial under direction of their president, Jack Roth. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JILZo0JQ4Oc ], (Tuesday, November 27, 1990 issue of the Los Angeles Times — [ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2307578616231210&set=a.1852737111715365 ]).
6. The live-action commercial production also included a photo shoot of the actor who played Shadax that was utilized in additional print media advertising the game. (Full spread ad [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/3014582335530831/?type=3 ]), (Half page ad [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/3014584408863957/?type=3 ]). This "live action" version of advertising included the rendition of the Solstice logo and Staff of Demnos artwork created by Japanese artist, Naoyuki Kato (加藤 直之), as depicted in the Japan release of the game on Famicom. [Full spread Japan Famicom ad (https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/3014582365530828/?type=3 ]), (Mr Kato's art blog [ http://naokatoh.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/ ]).
**I think my theory here is substantial enough that I'm going to accept this as the history of the game cover design without further evidence suggesting otherwise. I would love to have any further details to further flesh out the marketing/branding history of Solstice. **
My "extension to the theory" as to why I think this evolution occurred as it did is rooted in CSG as a subsidiary of Sony Group, and their PR push that seemed to be determined to brand Solstice as a "metal" game. The marketing team for Solstice was in-house and managed by Larry M. Castro. I'm not sure if this branding direction was at the discretion of Mr. Castro or a directive pushed from higher ups in Sony Group. (Larry M. Castro's CSG Imagesoft Inc business card as found affixed to the version Solstice 4.0 prototype included in this collection [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/3014580062197725/?type=3 ]).
This is reflected in their inclusion of the game ads in Heavy Metal magazine like Riff [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/1854185941570482/?type=3 ], and their multi-issue promotion in the official CSG newsletters about the game being the favorite of Kelly Nickels, bassist for the rock band, L.A. Guns. [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/1887899881532421/?type=3 , https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/1887900041532405/?type=3 ]
While the final "rendition" of Shadax feels less connected to the game, the evolution certainly pushed him into a more "heavy metal" theme by the game's release. I think perhaps Sony CSG just felt that that the Shadax of the game wasn't "exciting" enough to market, and marketing in the 90s often had little to do with the actual product.
In any case, the cover art for Solstice certainly became an icon of 90's video games.
I've condensed the basic details of the theory for the slide image attached, but the entire theory is detailed here in this post (including linked cited sources and links to artifacts included in this "Solstice Museum" collection).
1. In 1989 (or perhaps earlier) Mark Wilson created the art used in the Solstice video game intro screen. The intro screen exists both in the prototype demo I own as well as the contemporary official Software Creations "Making of Solstice" video that was recorded before game's publication, and later released as a mail-in offer marketing promotion as a "Player's Pak" that included the video on Video8 (8MM) mini-tape with branded stickers and cards. (Software Creations official "Making of Sosltice" video [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I4crk1F8Pc ]), (The "Player Pak" mail-in promotion contents as included in this collection [ https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1842662629389480&set=a.1842662149389528 ]).
2. In 1989 Neal K. Sutton ( https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050501085032 ) created the proposed cover art sent to CES from Mark Wilson of Software Creations. In this rendition Shadax was almost entirely based on the video game intro screen design, and a henge was added in the background. This is confirmed via an interview with Mark Wilson in Edge Magazine #181, Nov 2007. [ https://archive.org/.../Edge%20Gaming.../page/106/mode/2up ]
(Website of Neal Sutton: https://nealksutton.artweb.com/about-me ), (Archived info from the currently unavailable "Jolly Roger" website dedicated to the art work of Neal Sutton: https://web.archive.org/web/20040806112139/http://www.jolly-roger.freeserve.co.uk/history.htm ), (Neal Sutton's prints online store: https://spazarto.bigcartel.com/biog )
3. An unknown artist (assumed hired by CSG) created a third design. This design was based on Neal Sutton's art and carried over the inclusion of the henge in the background and the skeleton, but introduced new elements to Shadax including blond hair, blue pants, green boots, and the design of the staff of demnos. This art by an unknown artist was only ever used *once* in full for advertising: on a two-sided advertisement was a dealer-facing promotional insert in handout from the the Winter 1990 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) that was held in Las Vegas in January 1990.
The only other use of this artwork is as a small partial cutaway that made an appearance in the July/August 1990 issue of Nintendo Power [p. 45]. ( https://archive.org/details/nintendopowerissue014julyaugust1990/page/n43/mode/2up ).[Note: I would really like to track down who this artist was to add that information to the history of the game]
4. In 1990 CSG hired Mike Winterbauer (Winterbauer Arts) to create what would become the final branding/cover art for the game. The art created by the unknown artist had to have been provided to Mike Winterbauer as the primary reference for the final design continued the elements of blond hair, blue pants, green boots, leather belt, and the Staff of Demnos (which looks nearly identical in both art pieces, but nothing like it does in the actual game inventory screen).
(Website of Mike Winterbauer: https://www.winterbauerarts.com/ ) (Mike Winterbauer's prints online store: https://www.winterbauerarts.com/shop-art )
5. Mike Winterbauer's version of the character design would later make it into the production costume design of the game commercial (created by Ad-marketing, the Los Angeles ad agency who created the commercial under direction of their president, Jack Roth. [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JILZo0JQ4Oc ], (Tuesday, November 27, 1990 issue of the Los Angeles Times — [ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2307578616231210&set=a.1852737111715365 ]).
6. The live-action commercial production also included a photo shoot of the actor who played Shadax that was utilized in additional print media advertising the game. (Full spread ad [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/3014582335530831/?type=3 ]), (Half page ad [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/3014584408863957/?type=3 ]). This "live action" version of advertising included the rendition of the Solstice logo and Staff of Demnos artwork created by Japanese artist, Naoyuki Kato (加藤 直之), as depicted in the Japan release of the game on Famicom. [Full spread Japan Famicom ad (https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/3014582365530828/?type=3 ]), (Mr Kato's art blog [ http://naokatoh.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/ ]).
**I think my theory here is substantial enough that I'm going to accept this as the history of the game cover design without further evidence suggesting otherwise. I would love to have any further details to further flesh out the marketing/branding history of Solstice. **
My "extension to the theory" as to why I think this evolution occurred as it did is rooted in CSG as a subsidiary of Sony Group, and their PR push that seemed to be determined to brand Solstice as a "metal" game. The marketing team for Solstice was in-house and managed by Larry M. Castro. I'm not sure if this branding direction was at the discretion of Mr. Castro or a directive pushed from higher ups in Sony Group. (Larry M. Castro's CSG Imagesoft Inc business card as found affixed to the version Solstice 4.0 prototype included in this collection [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/3014580062197725/?type=3 ]).
This is reflected in their inclusion of the game ads in Heavy Metal magazine like Riff [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/1854185941570482/?type=3 ], and their multi-issue promotion in the official CSG newsletters about the game being the favorite of Kelly Nickels, bassist for the rock band, L.A. Guns. [ https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/1887899881532421/?type=3 , https://www.facebook.com/StaffOfDemnos/photos/pb.100066286374332.-2207520000/1887900041532405/?type=3 ]
While the final "rendition" of Shadax feels less connected to the game, the evolution certainly pushed him into a more "heavy metal" theme by the game's release. I think perhaps Sony CSG just felt that that the Shadax of the game wasn't "exciting" enough to market, and marketing in the 90s often had little to do with the actual product.
In any case, the cover art for Solstice certainly became an icon of 90's video games.
Greetings, Solstice fans! Though, I feel like the "Solstice Museum" collection itself is complete (or at least very nearly completed), I have continued in my spare time to dig through endless archives, articles, obscure documents, old photos, etc. To tease out as much of the history of the game as I can muster.
One curiosity among these was the "hand drawn" style art that I had tracked down on the above advertisement, though for years I had no clue it's origin or any details about it. Well, now I do!
It turns out the above two-sided advertisement was a dealer-facing promotional insert in handout from the the Winter 1990 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) that was held in Las Vegas in January. This was create before the final cover art was painted by Mike Winterbauer.
The promotions placement was book-ended by similar dealer-facing promotions for "Cosmic Epsilon" for NES by Asmik (preceding) and "Isolated Warrior" for NES by NTVIC (proceeding) which also seem to have both been presented with pre-production art different from the art used upon release.
As far as I can tell this practice of creating "placeholder" promotional art before project completion was commonplace for the era.
A small partial cutaway of the art also made an appearance in the July/August 1990 issue of Nintendo Power [p. 45]
Having been provided the cover of this add by the research I did in tandem with the Video Game History Foundation (they were not sure of it's origins at the time), I've been searching for more details about it and who the potential artist may have been and exactly why it had been created.
We know that pre-roduction art was was created by artist Neal Sutton. In an article interview with Mark Wilson (Solstice Designer), he stated that prior to Mike Winterbauers cover art creation that, "a proposed cover created by Neal Sutton that had already been supplied to CSG" ("The Making of... Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos". Edge. Future plc. November 2007. pp. 104–107.— https://archive.org/details/Edge_Gaming/Edge%20Gaming%20Magazine%20181/page/106/mode/2up ). However as a small thubnail of that piece create by Neal Sutton was included in the article stub, we can confirm that's not the origin of this piece [You can few the thumbnail in the linked article above, however I'll add that thumbnail to the comments section below as well].
It is interesting to note that the proposed cover art done by Neal Sutton that was mentioned by Mark Wilson very closely resembles the game's intro screen design, where as the hand-drawn art used in the Winter 1990 CES handout feels much more connected to the final art done by Mike Winterbauer (including the long blonde hair, the staff's design, and the addition of blue clothes under the robe and green boots). I suspect that this hand drawn art from the CES insert may have been the concept provided to Mike Winterbauer to base the character design upon (I hope to confirm this with Mike).
One curiosity among these was the "hand drawn" style art that I had tracked down on the above advertisement, though for years I had no clue it's origin or any details about it. Well, now I do!
It turns out the above two-sided advertisement was a dealer-facing promotional insert in handout from the the Winter 1990 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) that was held in Las Vegas in January. This was create before the final cover art was painted by Mike Winterbauer.
The promotions placement was book-ended by similar dealer-facing promotions for "Cosmic Epsilon" for NES by Asmik (preceding) and "Isolated Warrior" for NES by NTVIC (proceeding) which also seem to have both been presented with pre-production art different from the art used upon release.
As far as I can tell this practice of creating "placeholder" promotional art before project completion was commonplace for the era.
A small partial cutaway of the art also made an appearance in the July/August 1990 issue of Nintendo Power [p. 45]
Having been provided the cover of this add by the research I did in tandem with the Video Game History Foundation (they were not sure of it's origins at the time), I've been searching for more details about it and who the potential artist may have been and exactly why it had been created.
We know that pre-roduction art was was created by artist Neal Sutton. In an article interview with Mark Wilson (Solstice Designer), he stated that prior to Mike Winterbauers cover art creation that, "a proposed cover created by Neal Sutton that had already been supplied to CSG" ("The Making of... Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos". Edge. Future plc. November 2007. pp. 104–107.— https://archive.org/details/Edge_Gaming/Edge%20Gaming%20Magazine%20181/page/106/mode/2up ). However as a small thubnail of that piece create by Neal Sutton was included in the article stub, we can confirm that's not the origin of this piece [You can few the thumbnail in the linked article above, however I'll add that thumbnail to the comments section below as well].
It is interesting to note that the proposed cover art done by Neal Sutton that was mentioned by Mark Wilson very closely resembles the game's intro screen design, where as the hand-drawn art used in the Winter 1990 CES handout feels much more connected to the final art done by Mike Winterbauer (including the long blonde hair, the staff's design, and the addition of blue clothes under the robe and green boots). I suspect that this hand drawn art from the CES insert may have been the concept provided to Mike Winterbauer to base the character design upon (I hope to confirm this with Mike).
It's been over a year since my last post about this project, so just wanted to take a moment to chime in. I'm still actively searching, almost daily (it's just sort of become part of my daily routine), for items I've yet to acquire to help preserve the history of Solstice. Over this past year, I've yet to find a single new or previously unknown item or article.
I would really love to track down the current owner of the original box art paintings, owner original painting of the in-game poster, as well as the owner of the penciled sketch that was presented as a proposal before the painting was made. Both were sold directly by the artist (Winterbauer Arts) a short time before I began this effort years ago.
Of course, I'd love to find a way to obtain them all and make them a part of the collection, but more than that I'd love just to be able to know their current state and condition, whether the owners know about this effort years in the making, and I am curious if the owners are fans of the game or just game art in general.
Anyway! My eyes are still peeled, and this page is still active; I've just nothing much new to add presently. Hope everyone is doing wonderfully! Stay safe!
I would really love to track down the current owner of the original box art paintings, owner original painting of the in-game poster, as well as the owner of the penciled sketch that was presented as a proposal before the painting was made. Both were sold directly by the artist (Winterbauer Arts) a short time before I began this effort years ago.
Of course, I'd love to find a way to obtain them all and make them a part of the collection, but more than that I'd love just to be able to know their current state and condition, whether the owners know about this effort years in the making, and I am curious if the owners are fans of the game or just game art in general.
Anyway! My eyes are still peeled, and this page is still active; I've just nothing much new to add presently. Hope everyone is doing wonderfully! Stay safe!
And with this addition, the (known) contemporary print media part of the "Solstice Historical Project" collection is complete. (Of course pending anything that fell completely off the radar even with years of research). The collection now has every contemporary publication in every language. This Sweedish version of the Nintendo Magazine (that has an article on Solstice) took years for me to finally track down, and I paid a bit more for it than I would have liked due to the grading and case, but it's the only copy in all these years I've seen go up on the market. So... here it is! My eyes are still peeled for this collection, but with as extensive as it has become, new items don't show up often.
Research update 07/28/2025: Creator located. They are offered as "storage finds" from the company called Slapmats (Sweden). Since they "found" them in a warehouse, there's no issue with selling them secondhand.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Slapmats
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Research update 05/28/2025: There are two variants of this album. The sleeves and contents and labels are identical to one another, but the color of the record is different. There is a pink version (this one) and a blue version.
We know these were made in Europe, exactly when or who by has yet to be determined, but it's worth noting that the company/person who made these also made one for Pictonary (which also had Tim Follin write the music) and which is ALSO a Software Creations game.
Considering the folks from Software Creations weren't huge fans of the final Solstice box art, it's unlikely that whomever created them was affiliated to the company, but I do find it interesting that the only two games covered with this particular artistic signature are for two of their games. I think perhaps appreciation for Follin's music might be a more likely reason for this. Posting a comment with images of the variant blue Solstice record.
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Just when I think this collection is complete, I run across something I've never seen or heard of. It's a vinyl record for Solstice that includes all the video game tracks. It has absolutely no copyright or trademark information, and the record sleeve cover seems to be a custom rendition of Shadax. I'm assuming this is fan/artisan made after market, but whoever did it put a lot of love into it. It's *incredibly* well made (absolutely production quality) and comes with a two-sided leaflet insert, and two stickers representing the Japanese release and western releases of the game. I... have no idea. Would love any information about this if anyone has a clue where it originated. The individual I bought it from stated they bought it at a record store in the UK, but had no further information. Very neat little item to add to the collection. Glad to have it!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Slapmats
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Research update 05/28/2025: There are two variants of this album. The sleeves and contents and labels are identical to one another, but the color of the record is different. There is a pink version (this one) and a blue version.
We know these were made in Europe, exactly when or who by has yet to be determined, but it's worth noting that the company/person who made these also made one for Pictonary (which also had Tim Follin write the music) and which is ALSO a Software Creations game.
Considering the folks from Software Creations weren't huge fans of the final Solstice box art, it's unlikely that whomever created them was affiliated to the company, but I do find it interesting that the only two games covered with this particular artistic signature are for two of their games. I think perhaps appreciation for Follin's music might be a more likely reason for this. Posting a comment with images of the variant blue Solstice record.
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Just when I think this collection is complete, I run across something I've never seen or heard of. It's a vinyl record for Solstice that includes all the video game tracks. It has absolutely no copyright or trademark information, and the record sleeve cover seems to be a custom rendition of Shadax. I'm assuming this is fan/artisan made after market, but whoever did it put a lot of love into it. It's *incredibly* well made (absolutely production quality) and comes with a two-sided leaflet insert, and two stickers representing the Japanese release and western releases of the game. I... have no idea. Would love any information about this if anyone has a clue where it originated. The individual I bought it from stated they bought it at a record store in the UK, but had no further information. Very neat little item to add to the collection. Glad to have it!
