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World of Warcraft Could Not Have Existed If Not For Dani Berry

1/17/2012

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OK, so I exaggerate... but only a tiny bit. 
Dani Bunten Berry's first commercial title was a real-time stock simulation game called Wheeler Dealers in 1978. It was the first game to be sold in a box, and not a Ziploc bag. It came with a 4-player controller (that Dani built!) so that she could actualize her vision of bringing people together, using the computer as the vehicle to do it. 



Unfortunately, Wheeler Dealers was a bust. Though, it did prove that she could make, and get published, the kind of games she wanted (even though the technology hadn't caught up to her yet): Multiplayer. 

Dani was paving the road to multi-player gaming goodness in the late 70s. She realized early on that characters possessing human intelligence were much more challenging and enjoyable to play against (and with) than AI opponents. Her portfolio lists a slew of multi-player games, and only two single-player-only games. 

Ironically, one of those single-player games, Seven Cities of Gold, was the best seller of her career. I say it's ironic because, although it was her intent to create nothing but multiplayer games, it was a single-player game that achieved the most success. And here we are today,in the age ofMassively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games such as World of Warcraft. Sure, WoW may seem like a hover car compared to Dani's antique games, but you can't have a hover car before you invent the car. That's not to say 'If it wasn't for Dani, we wouldn't have WoW and other online games", but it does make you wonder how much her games influenced today's generation of computer programmers.

By the time Dani stopped creating games in 1992, AOL was letting to let the world know there was this thing called the internet (snide comment intended). As the internet rose in popularity for $24.95 a month (I jest!), previous LAN-only games were starting to tunnel their way into the online realm. Dani was way ahead of the pack when it came to creating the "online" experience, her games inspired many game designers. The technologies her and her team created didn't even exist before they created them. In fact, it was rare to find gamers who could play her multiplayer games because so few of them even owned modems! Yet, she persisted in her original pursuit of bringing people together to enjoy games, regardless of existing technology.

Dani Bunten may not have written the subroutines, or crafted the storylines, or rendered the 3D graphics of World of Warcraft, but she primed the pump for what would be the incredible success it is today. Would we have the WoW that we have today had it not been for her? Who knows! It's possible it would have been even more amazing had she been alive to help create it.  


Read Dani's bio and gameography here


Image source: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/


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Jim Nitchals would have been 50 today

1/15/2012

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He's the guy who gave Apple II owners a taste of arcade games with clones such as Bug Attack and Star Thief. He's also the guy who figured out how to reverse engineer the Sega Genesis when Electronic Arts wanted to make cartridges for the system (Steve Hayes was the other guy). Sega wouldn't budge on a more accommodating licensing deal, so Trip Hawkins of EA decided to have two of his top engineers take a "crack" at reverse engineering the system. 

Once the Genesis was figured out, EA took action and made a bunch of games. In fact, if it wasn't for Jim, EA may not have entered the cartridge market at all! Nintendo's licensing deals were extremely one-sided, and Sega wanted to follow suit by offering EA a highly unfavorable deal.

It wasn't until the Consumer Electronics Show in 1990 that changed Sega's mind about allowing EA to create games for the system under a much more desirable agreement. Trip told Sega execs that EA had reverse engineered the Genesis, and were ready to come out with cartridges without Sega's blessing. After an all night meeting, Sega backed down on their original licensing demands and agreed to terms that would keep Sega in the loop of all new EA games for the Genesis. The deal allowed for EA to license as many games as they wanted for the system, yet still allow both companies to profit. 

What both companies didn't realize however is that EA really wasn't holding all the cards. It turned out that Sega still could have locked out unlicensed EA cartridges, due to an oversight during the reverse engineering phase. It's true that Jim and Steve figured out how to run games on the Genesis, but there were still security measures Sega put in place that weren't found at the time. EA figured this out late in the game, after their CES meeting with Sega. And by then, if Sega didn't agree, EA would have been back-pedaling to get out of the muck and empty promises they made. 

Fortunately, when Sega and EA came to an agreement, EA didn't have to worry about using a not-fully-reverse engineered system, and Sega provided them with all they needed to make games for their system. It worked out quite profitably for both companies in the end, but funny how what turned out to be a bluff by EA (in hindsight), helped both companies succeed.

Jim played a pivotal role at EA, helping them gain ground in the cartridge market (something EA initially thought would be a step backwards in video gaming). This was just a small chapter in his life, but one that shifted an entire segment of the gaming public. After all, ever heard of the John Madden football series of video games? It all started as an EA cartridge on the Sega Genesis. 

See Jim Nitchal's bio and gameography here


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Just added Brian Wood of Relic Entertainment

1/14/2012

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Brian and his wife, Erin
Best known for his contributions in the Company of Heroes franchise, Brian R. Wood died on September 3rd, 2010 when a car hit him and his wife on Whidbey Island in Washington state. Relic and the gaming public lost a great designer that day. 

My heart goes out to his wife and child, who I'm sure are still working through the loss. His Bio and Gameography can be found here.

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    Rediscover the games you remember while honoring the game designers that created them. While we strive for accuracy, please let us know if you find any errors!


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    Player 1

    Do you miss the times sitting in front of your 4-color CGA monitor, or your 8-bit Apple II or Atari ST computer? 

    What about your Commodore 64? Everyone had one of those, right? Well... almost everyone. 
     
    As an early computer programmer, I've seen almost every iteration of interactive entertainment available. Though I never followed programming as a career, there's still a sense of connectedness I feel with many of the amazing game designers memorialized on this site. 

    Their personality lives on through their games, while their legacy is forever digitized online.

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