In 1987, Apogee came up with a unique method of marketing their games.  Since
then, other shareware companies have adopted their strategy.  Their scheme is
this:  each game they produce is divided into three to four, sometimes even
six episodes.  The first episode is free.  It can be downloaded from
the Internet or other online services or bought in a store that distributes
shareware games for disk copying charges.  You can distribute the shareware
episode to your friends yourself, if you like, provided you leave all the
original files intact.

Starting in June 1994, Apogee began the creation of specialized brands for its
games.  The company 3D Realms was created for Apogee's 3D action games.  In
February 1997, the Pinball Wizards division was born for its pinball games.
In the future, no more games will be released under the Apogee name; instead,
they'll be released under one of its specialized brands -- or, if necessary,
a new brand will be created.

If you like the shareware episode of an Apogee game, Apogee requires that you
register it.  This is the normal rule regarding shareware.  Upon registration,
you will receive the complete game.  Apogee uses this marketing scheme so that
people can have a good idea about the game they are buying before they put
their cash on the line.

Starting with Death Rally, the registered versions of most Apogee games were
published simultaneously in retail by GT Interactive (or, in the case of
Stargunner, one of its divisions, such as WizardWorks).  So, if you'd rather
not order Apogee games by mail, you can pick them up at your local software
}store.  Starting with Max Payne, Take 2 Interactive (many under its Rockstar
}label) started handling the publication of some of Apogee's games.