|
Sensible Software 1986–1999
Read-Only Memory is a British publisher of art books on topics of video game history and video game culture, culture. Following a resurgence of interest in 1980s and '90s British video game development, the company crowdfunded and produced four art books: an oral history of that Britsoft era, two books on British developers Sensible Software and The Bitmap Brothers, and a definitive volume on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, for which the publisher became best known. Read-Only Memory's books are archival anthologies, including original design documents juxtaposed with developer interviews and high-quality prints of in-game graphics. Reviewers were particularly impressed with each book's breadth of unreleased concepts. History and publications The 30th anniversary of the ZX Spectrum home computer in 2012 generated renewed interest in Britsofta "Golden age (metaphor), golden era" of British video game development, particularly in the 1980s and '90s, little publicised outside Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Books
Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind objects. There is not a singular definition of an artist's book, and formulating a definition is cumbersome and subject to debate. Importantly, the creation of artists' books incorporates a variety of formats and genres. They have a complex history, with a particular focus and growth in contemporary artist movements. They also have recently grown in popularity, especially in art institutions, and have become popular in art library reference workshops. The exact definition and usage of artists' books has become more fluid and porous alongside the growth in popularity of artists' books. Overview Artists' books have employed a wide range of forms, including the traditional Codex form as well as less common forms like scrolls, fold-outs, conc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wizball
''Wizball'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter written by Jon Hare and Chris Yates (co-founders of Sensible Software) and released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and later in the year for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Versions for the Amiga and Atari ST were released in the following year. Wizball was also ported to IBM PC compatibles (for the Color Graphics Adapter) and the Thomson MO5. ''Wizballs more humorous sequel, ''Wizkid'', was released in 1992 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and IBM PC compatibles. Gameplay ''Wizball'' is set in the once colourful realms of Wizworld, where the evil Zark has stolen all the colour, making it dull and grey. It is up to Wiz and his cat Nifta to restore it to its former brilliance as Wizball and Catellite. ''Wizball'' is a scrolling shooter inspired by ''Gradius'' with an additional collection dynamic. It is a horizontally scrolling game taking place over eight levels, which involves navigating around a landscape and shooting at sprites. Howe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuji Naka
, credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game designer and programmer. He is the co-creator of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and was the president of Sonic Team at Sega until his departure in 2006. Naka joined Sega in 1984 and worked on games including ''Girl's Garden'' (1985) and ''Phantasy Star II'' (1989). He was the lead programmer of the original ''Sonic'' games on the Mega Drive in the early 1990s, which greatly increased Sega's market share. After developing ''Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game), Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1991) in Japan, Naka moved to California to develop ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2'' (1992), ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' (1994) and ''Sonic & Knuckles'' (1994) with Sega Technical Institute. Naka returned to Japan to lead development on Sonic Team games including ''Nights into Dreams'' (1996), ''Burning Rangers'' (1998), ''Sonic Adventure'' (1998) and ''Phantasy Star Online'' (2000). After Sega left the console market in 2001, Naka remained as an execu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OutRun
(also stylized as ''OutRun'') is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and the hydraulic motion simulator deluxe arcade cabinet. The goal is to avoid traffic and reach one of five destinations before time runs out. The game was designed by Yu Suzuki, who traveled to Europe to gain inspiration for the game's stages. Suzuki had a small team and only ten months to program the game, leaving him to do most of the work himself. The game was a critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing arcade game of 1987 worldwide as well as Sega's most successful arcade cabinet of the 1980s. It was ported to numerous video game consoles and home computers, becoming one of the best-selling video games at the time and selling millions of copies worldwide, and it spawned a number of sequels. ''Out Run'' is conside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yu Suzuki
is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimensional sprite-scaling games that used "taikan" motion simulator arcade cabinets, such as '' Hang-On'', '' Space Harrier'', '' Out Run'' and '' After Burner'', and pioneering polygonal 3D games such as '' Virtua Racing'' and '' Virtua Fighter'', which are some of the games besides others from rival companies during that era credited with popularizing 3D graphics in video games; as well as the critically acclaimed '' Shenmue'' series. As a hardware engineer, he led the development of various arcade system boards, including the Sega Space Harrier, Model 1, Model 2 and Model 3, and was involved in the technical development of the Dreamcast console and its corresponding NAOMI arcade hardware. In 2003, Suzuki became the sixth person to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toejam & Earl
''ToeJam & Earl'' is a 1991 action video game developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega for the Genesis console. It centers on ToeJam and Earl— alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth—as they attempt to escape the planet, players assume the role of either character and collect pieces of their wrecked spacecraft. It references and parodies 1980s and early 90s urban culture and is set to a funk soundtrack. ''ToeJam & Earls design was heavily influenced by the role-playing video game '' Rogue'' (1980) and derived various features from the game, such as the random generation of levels and items. As such, ''ToeJam & Earl'' is often considered to be an example of a roguelike game. The game was positively received by critics, who praised its originality, soundtrack, humor and two-player cooperative mode. It attained sleeper hit status despite low initial sales, and its protagonists were used as mascots by Sega. ''ToeJam & Earl'' was followed by two seque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Johnson (game Designer)
Greg Johnson (born 1960) is an American video game designer known for the ''ToeJam & Earl'' and ''Starflight'' games. He has worked for Binary Systems and Electronic Arts and co-founded ToeJam & Earl Productions with Mark Voorsange. In 2006, he founded HumaNature Studios. His game credits include ''Orly's Draw-A-Story'' (1997), ''Kung Fu Panda World'' (2010), and ''Doki-Doki Universe'' (2013). Early life Johnson was born in Passaic, New Jersey to an African-American father and a Jewish mother whose family had escaped Russia during World War II. He is one of five children, three of whom are step-siblings. His mother was an administrator for a special education school, and his father was a professor of philosophy and musicology. When Johnson was three, his parents separated and his mother moved the family to Los Angeles, where, when Johnson was 12, his mother married a child psychologist who became Johnson's stepfather. Johnson attended Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Kalinske
Thomas Kalinske (born July 17, 1944) is an American businessman who has worked for Mattel (1972–1987), Matchbox (1987-1990), Sega of America (1990–1996) and LeapFrog (1997–2006). At Mattel, Kalinske was credited with reviving the Barbie and Hot Wheels brands, launching Masters of the Universe, then being promoted to CEO from 1985 to 1987. He next became CEO of Matchbox, and then was recruited to be the president and CEO of Sega of America from 1990 to 1996, and then CEO and COB of LeapFrog from 1997 to 2006. His aggressive marketing decisions during his time at Sega, such as price drops, anti-Nintendo attack ads and the famous "Sega Scream" TV campaign, are often cited as key elements in the success of the Sega Genesis. The book '' Console Wars'' and the documentary film of the same name chronicles Kalinske's strategies and success in competing with Nintendo. Kalinske was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 1997 and received a Lifetime Achievement award fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hayao Nakayama
is a Japanese businessman and was the former President and CEO of Sega Enterprises, Ltd from 1983 to 1999. Early life and career Nakayama was born into a family of doctors, and was expected to pursue medicine as a career. However, Nakayama decided to drop out of college and not to pursue medicine further. Through an advertisement in a newspaper, Nakayama found a job as a jukebox leasing salesman for the V&V Hifi Trading Company. He rose to head of a new sales department at V&V, but when the company would not take his advice to begin distributing arcade games, Nakayama left with four of his salesmen to form a company called Esco Trading in 1967. Esco served as a distributor of coin-operated amusements and represented both smaller domestic factories that did not have their own distribution network and foreign manufacturers looking to place their games in Japan. Sega Enterprises, Ltd. was one of its suppliers. Career with Sega In 1979, Esco Trading was purchased by Sega, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
