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Islands Of Kesmai
''Island of Kesmai'' was an early commercial online game in the MUD, multi-user dungeon (MUD) genre, innovative in its use of roguelike pseudo-graphics. It is considered a major forerunner of modern massively multiplayer online role-playing game, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Launch date In the summer of 1980 University of Virginia classmates John R. Taylor III, John Taylor and Kelton Flinn wrote ''Dungeons of Kesmai'', a six player game inspired by ''Dungeons & Dragons'' which used Roguelike ASCII graphics. They founded the Kesmai company in 1982 and in 1985 an enhanced version of ''Dungeons of Kesmai'', ''Island of Kesmai'', was launched on CompuServe. Later, its 2-D graphical descendant ''Legends of Kesmai'' was launched on AOL in 1996. The games were retired commercially in 2000. Price to play The game was available on CompuServe for no additional charge. However, CompuServe charged $6 per hour for 300 baud or $12 per hour for 1200 baud access ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kesmai
Kesmai was a pioneering video game developer, game developer and online Video game publisher, game publisher, founded in 1981 by Kelton Flinn and John R. Taylor III, John Taylor. The company was best known for the combat flight sim ''Air Warrior'' on the GEnie online service, one of the first graphical MMOGs, launched in 1987. They also developed an ASCII-based MUD, ''Island of Kesmai'', which ran on CompuServe. The company was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (1980–2013), News Corp. in 1994. The company continued to develop massively multiplayer games such as ''Air Warrior 2'' and ''Legends of Kesmai''. They distributed their games through AOL and eventually a new gaming service formed with three other publishers, GameStorm. AOL purchased CompuServe in 1997 and retooled its AOL Games Channel in a way that placed Kesmai unfavorably compared to its own games division, WordPlay. Kesmai sued AOL for monopolistic practices. The suit was settled out of court with undis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rogue (computer Game)
''Rogue'' (also known as ''Rogue: Exploring the Dungeons of Doom'') is a dungeon crawling video game by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman with later contributions by Ken Arnold. ''Rogue'' was originally developed around 1980 for Unix-based mainframe systems as a freely distributed executable. It was later included in the official Berkeley Software Distribution 4.2 operating system (4.2BSD). Commercial ports of the game for a range of personal computers were made by Toy, Wichman, and Jon Lane under the company A.I. Design and financially supported by the Epyx software publishers. Additional ports to modern systems have been made since by other parties using the game's now-open source code. In ''Rogue'', players control a character as they explore several levels of a dungeon seeking the Amulet of Yendor located in the dungeon's lowest level. The player-character must fend off an array of monsters that roam the dungeons. Along the way, players can collect treasures that can help them off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1985 Video Games
1985 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as ''Super Mario Bros.'' and ''Kung Fu'', along with new titles such as ''Commando'', ''Duck Hunt'', '' Gauntlet'', ''Ghosts 'n Goblins'', ''Gradius'', ''Hang-On'', ''Space Harrier'' and ''The Way of the Exploding Fist''. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were ''Hang-On'' and ''Karate Champ'' in the United States, and ''Commando'' in the United Kingdom. The year's bestselling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the second year in a row, while the year's bestselling home video game was ''Super Mario Bros.'' Financial performance In the United States, annual home video game sales fell to ( adjusted for inflation) in 1985. Meanwhile, the arcade game industry began recovering in 1985. Highest-grossing arcade games Japan In Japan, the following titles were the top-grossing arcade video games on the bi-weekly '' Game Machine'' charts in 1985. United Kingdom and United States In the Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ars Technica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, science, technology policy, and video games. ''Ars Technica'' was privately owned until May 2008, when it was sold to Condé Nast Digital, the online division of Condé Nast Publications. Condé Nast purchased the site, along with two others, for $25 million and added it to the company's ''Wired'' Digital group, which also includes ''Wired'' and, formerly, Reddit. The staff mostly works from home and has offices in Boston, Chicago, London, New York City, and San Francisco. The operations of ''Ars Technica'' are funded primarily by advertising, and it has offered a paid subscription service since 2001. History Ken Fisher, who serves as the website's current editor-in-chief, and Jon Stokes created ''Ars Technica'' in 1998. Its purpose was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TSR (company)
TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for ''D&D'', a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular ''D&D'' as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon (magazine)
''Dragon'' is one of the two official magazines for source material for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game and associated products, along with ''Dungeon (magazine), Dungeon''. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, ''The Strategic Review''. The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007. Shortly after the last print issue shipped in mid-August 2007, Wizards of the Coast (part of Hasbro, Inc.), the publication's current copyright holder, relaunched ''Dragon'' as an online magazine, continuing on the numbering of the print edition. The last published issue was No. 430 in December 2013. A digital publication called ''Dragon+'', which replaces the ''Dragon'' magazine, launched in 2015. It is created by Dialect in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, and its numbering system for issues started at No. 1. History TSR In 1975, TSR, Inc. began publishing ''The Strategic Review''. At the time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through the 1990s and became one of the largest dedicated video game magazines, reaching around 500 pages by 1997. In the early 2000s its circulation was about 300,000, only slightly behind the market leader ''PC Gamer''. But, like most magazines of the era, the rapid move of its advertising revenue to internet properties led to a decline in revenue. In 2006, Ziff announced it would be refocused as ''Games for Windows'', before moving it to solely online format, and then shutting down completely later the same year. History In 1979, Russell Sipe left the Southern Baptist Convention ministry. A fan of computer games, he realized in spring 1981 that no magazine was dedicated to computer games. Although Sipe had no publishing experience, he formed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 the designers and programmers responsible for its games as "software artists." EA published numerous games and some productivity software for personal computers, all of which were developed by external individuals or groups until 1987's ''Skate or Die!''. The company shifted toward internal game studios, often through acquisitions, such as Distinctive Software becoming EA Canada in 1991. Currently, EA develops and publishes games of established franchises, including ''Battlefield'', ''Need for Speed'', ''The Sims'', ''Medal of Honor'', ''Command & Conquer'', ''Dead Space'', ''Mass Effect'', ''Dragon Age'', ''Army of Two'', ''Apex Legends'', and '' Star Wars'', as well as the EA Sports titles '' FIFA'', ''Madden NFL'', ''NBA Live'', ''NHL'', an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
America Online
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online service known as PlayNET. PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link (Q-Link), who went online in November 1985. A new IBM PC client launched in 1988, eventually renamed as America Online in 1989. AOL grew to become the largest online service, displacing established players like CompuServe and The Source. By 1995, AOL had about three million active users. AOL was one of the early pioneers of the Internet in the mid-1990s, and the most recognized brand on the web in the United States. It originally provided a dial-up service to millions of Americans, pioneered instant messaging, and in 1993 began adding internet access. In 1998, AOL purchased Netscape for $4.2 billion. In 2001, at the height ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sprite (computer Graphics)
Sprite commonly refers to: * Sprite (drink), a lemon-lime beverage produced by the Coca-Cola Company * Sprite (computer graphics), a smaller bitmap composited onto another by hardware or software * Sprite (folklore), a type of legendary creature including elves, fairies, and pixies Sprite may also refer to: Comics *Sprite (Eternal), a fictional member of the race of Eternals in the Marvel Universe * ''Sprite'' (manga), a 2009 Japanese manga series *Sprite, alias of the Marvel Comics character Kitty Pryde *Sprite comic, a webcomic that consists primarily of computer sprites from video games Computing and technology * Sprite (operating system), an operating system developed at the University of California, Berkeley * SPRITE (spacecraft), a proposed Saturn atmospheric probe mission * SPRITE infrared detector, a specialist detector device using a process known as signal processing in the element * De Havilland Sprite, a British rocket engine Vehicles * Sprite (motorcycle), a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player character, character (often in a fantasy world or science-fiction world) and takes control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from Online game, single-player or small Multiplayer online game, multi-player online RPGs by the number of players able to interact together, and by the game's persistent world (usually hosted by the game's video game publisher, publisher), which continues to exist and evolve while the player is offline and away from the game. MMORPGs are played throughout the world. Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005, and Western revenues exceeded a billion dollars in 2006. In 2008, the spending on subscription MMORPGs by consumers in North America and Europe grew to $1.4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth (world), Azeroth, approximately four years after the events of the previous game in the series, ''Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.'' The game was announced in 2001, and was released for the 10th anniversary of the ''Warcraft'' franchise on November 23, 2004. Since launch, ''World of Warcraft'' has had nine major expansion packs: ''The Burning Crusade'' (2007), ''Wrath of the Lich King'' (2008), ''World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Cataclysm'' (2010), ''Mists of Pandaria'' (2012), ''Warlords of Draenor'' (2014), ''World of Warcraft: Legion, Legion'' (2016), ''Battle for Azeroth'' (2018), ''World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, Shadowlands'' (2020), and ''World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Dragonflight'' (2022). Similar to other MMORPGs, the game allows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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