Brent "Buzzboy" Iverson is a programmer best known as a

simulations A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

game developer. Among his credits are the

PC DOS PC or pc may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Player character or playable character, a fictional character controlled by a human player, usually in role-playing games or computer games * ''Port Charles'', an American daytime TV soap opera * ...

version of

Chuck Yeager's Air Combat ''Chuck Yeager's Air Combat'' is a 1991 combat flight simulation video game by Electronic Arts. Chuck Yeager was a technical consultant in the game and his digitized voice is featured in the game, giving encouragement and praise before and af ...

, LHX Attack Chopper, and Jane's US Navy Fighters, all published by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

Background

Iverson's experience with computers began at the age of fifteen when he went to a friend's house to play games on an

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-mold ...

. He liked working on computers but still planned to major in Art in college. However, after beginning his studies at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

he learned that even talented artists rarely make a good living with their art, but that computer

programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

s make more money as a general rule. As a result, he majored in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

Career

Iverson has worked at Electronic Arts (EA) since 1986,Edge Magazine Online, "The Hot 100 Game Developers of 2008", 20 February 2008
he is now the Chief Technical OfficerStanford University Center for the Study of Language and Information, "Calendar of Public Events, Vol. 18, No. 12", 27 November 2002
and Senior Director of Development of Electronic Arts' Redwood Shores studio. In November 2005 he participated on a panel of industry tech experts at an

International Game Developers Association The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit professional association whose stated mission is to "support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers." The IGDA is incorpo ...

panel.GameSpot: "IGDA panel talks middleware", 30 November 2005
/ref> During that panel discussion, Iverson expressed his opinion of developing games within the limitations of marketing concerns:

"I think that technology and code you're given, design decisions you're given... aren't really limiters; they're actually enablers. If someone said, 'Make a great game,' and that's all the instructions you had, it would be pretty darn difficult to get started. But if somebody said, 'Make a great game about this movie that's coming out, or about dinosaurs, or pirates, that's a turn-based strategy game,' now all of a sudden you've got a lot of stuff that's laid out for you, and you don't have to think about those things anymore. Now you can say, 'How can I innovate in that space?' "I think technology a lot of times has that same effect.... Now you can stop worrying about that stuff and you can say, 'Well, what do I do that's really interesting to the customer on top of that framework?'"

Development credits

* MySims Kingdom (EA, 2008) *

Boom Blox ''Boom Blox'' is a puzzle video game for the Wii console, mobile devices and N-Gage 2.0 developed by EA Los Angeles in conjunction with film director Steven Spielberg. It was released on May 6, 2008 in North America and on May 9, 2008 in Europe. T ...

(EA, 2008) * MySims (EA, 2007) * The Godfather: The Game (EA, 2006) * 007: Everything or Nothing (EA, 2004) *

The Sims ''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time. The games ...

(EA, 2003) * 007: Nightfire (EA, 2002) * Combat Medic: Special Ops (LI, 2002) *

Freekstyle ''Freekstyle'' is a 2002 motocross racing video game for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Game Boy Advance. There are four levels of gameplay: the circuit, a quick race, freestyle, and free run. The game features an assortment of real-life FMX ...

(EA, 2002) *

Rumble Racing ''Rumble Racing'' is a 2001 racing video game developed and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 2 console. It was heavily influenced by ''NASCAR Rumble''. Reception The game received "favorable" reviews according to the review agg ...

(EA, 2001) * Sub Command (EA, 2001) * Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 (EA, 2001) * Jane's Combat Simulations: WWII Fighters (EA, 1998) * Jane's Combat Simulations: U.S. Navy Fighters '97 (EA, 1997) *

Marine Fighters Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

(EA, 1995) *

U.S. Navy Fighters ''U.S. Navy Fighters'' is a combat flight simulation game developed and published in 1994 by Electronic Arts for DOS PCs. The expansion pack ''Marine Fighters'' and a "Gold" compilation were both released in 1995. Electronic Arts would re-bran ...

(EA, 1994) *

Bulls vs Blazers and the NBA Playoffs ''Bulls vs. Blazers and the NBA Playoffs'', later released in Japan as ''NBA Pro Basketball: Bulls vs Blazers and the NBA Playoffs'', is a 1993 basketball video game produced by Don Traeger and developed by Electronic Arts and released for the ...

(EA, 1992) *

(EA, 1991) * PGA Tour Golf (EA, 1991) * LHX Attack Chopper (EA, 1990) *

SU-25 Stormovik ''Stormovik: SU-25 Soviet Attack Fighter'' is a 1990 video game published by Electronic Arts. Gameplay ''Stormovik: SU-25 Soviet Attack Fighter'' is a game in which high ranking members of the American and Soviet national defense industries use ...

(EA, 1990) MobyGames, "Brent Iverson Developer Bio"
/ref> Iverson also wrote the

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few oper ...

and

Apple IIGS The Apple IIGS (styled as II), the fifth and most powerful of the Apple II family, is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Computer. While featuring the Macintosh look and feel, and resolution and color similar to the Amiga and Atari S ...

versions of

Deluxe Paint Deluxe Paint, often referred to as ''DPaint'', is a bitmap graphics editor created by Dan Silva for Electronic Arts and published for the then-new Amiga 1000 in November 1985. A series of updated versions followed, some of which were ported ...

, a program originally written for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

by Dan Silva.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iverson, Brent American video game designers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Michigan alumni