First Star Software, Inc. was a Chappaqua, New York based video game development, publishing and licensing company, founded by Richard Spitalny (who remains the company's president), Billy Blake, Peter Jablon, and Fernando Herrera in 1982. It is best known for the series' '' Boulder Dash'', which began on the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

, and '' Spy vs. Spy'', which first appeared on the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

. Games were ported to or written for home computers, consoles, and later for Macintosh,

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

, and portable devices. Millions of units have been sold in both the ''Boulder Dash'' and ''Spy vs. Spy'' series of games. As of January 1, 2018 the First Star Software name and website are owned by BBG Entertainment GmbH which also purchased all intellectual property rights pertaining to ''Astro Chase'', ''BOiNG!'', ''Boulder Dash'', ''Bristles'', ''Flip & Flop'', ''Millennium Warriors'', ''

Omnicron Conspiracy ''Omnicron Conspiracy'' is a 1989 video game published by Epyx in the United States and by Image Works in the UK and German markets. Gameplay ''Omnicron Conspiracy'' is a game in which a graphic adventure stars Ace Powers, Intergalactic Star Po ...

'', ''Panic Button'', ''Rent Wars'' and ''Security Alert''.

History

Fernando Herrera wrote an educational program for the

, ''

My First Alphabet ''My First Alphabet'' is an educational game for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. It was programmed by Fernando Herrera and published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1981. The game won the first Atari Star Award and was moved to Atari ...

'', which was published by the

Atari Program Exchange Atari Program Exchange (APX) was a division of Atari, Inc. that sold software via mail-order for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. Quarterly APX catalogs were sent to all registered Atari 8-bit owners. APX encouraged any programmer, not j ...

in 1981. That same year, Atari, Inc., created an award to honor the year's best APX submission. The first Atari Star went to ''My First Alphabet'' along with a $25,000 prize. Herrera partnered with Richard Spitalny, Billy Blake, and Peter Jablon to found First Star Software. His story of winning the Atari Star made him the face of the company. First Star's inaugural release was the Atari 8-bit computer shoot 'em up ''

Astro Chase ''Astro Chase'' is a multidirectional shooter written by Fernando Herrera for the Atari 8-bit family. It was published by First Star Software in 1982 as the company's first game. Parker Brothers licensed it, releasing cartridge versions for the A ...

'', which was later distributed by Parker Brothers. Herrera also wrote '' Bristles'' and '' Superman: The Game'' for First Star. First Star's two biggest titles came from outside developers, '' Boulder Dash'' and '' Spy vs. Spy'', each of which was the first game in a series.

Games

*''

'' *''Boing!'' (Atari 2600) *'' Boulder Dash'' *'' Bristles'' *''

Flip & Flop ''Flip and Flop'' is an isometric platform game for the Atari 8-bit family designed by Jim Nangano and published in 1983 by First Star Software. Statesoft released a Commodore 64 port the following year. The Commodore 64 box cover, which features ...

'' *''Millennium Warriors'' *''

'' *''Panic Button'' *''Rent Wars'' *''Security Alert'' *'' Spy vs. Spy'' *'' Superman: The Game'' *'' Superman: The Man of Steel'' *''U.S. Adventure''

References

External links

Fernando Herrera Interview
from 2014 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies {{US-videogame-company-stub