Mike Pondsmith
Michael Alyn Pondsmith is an American roleplaying, board, and video game designer. He is best known for founding the publisher R. Talsorian Games in 1982, where he developed a majority of the company's role-playing game lines. Pondsmith is the author of several RPG lines, including '' Mekton'' (1984), ''Cyberpunk'' (1988) and '' Castle Falkenstein'' (1994). He also contributed to the Forgotten Realms and Oriental Adventures lines of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game, worked in various capacities on video games, and authored or co-created several board games. Pondsmith also worked as an instructor at the DigiPen Institute of Technology. Early life and education Born into a military family, Mike Pondsmith was the son of a psychologist and an Air Force officer, who traveled around the world with the U.S. Air Force for the first 18 years of his life. He graduated from the University of California, Davis with a B.A. in graphic design and a B.S. in behavioral psycholog ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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University Of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institution was first founded as an agricultural branch of the system in 1905 and became the seventh campus of the University of California in 1959. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The UC Davis faculty includes 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 30 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 17 members of the American Law Institute, 14 members of the Institute of Medicine, and 14 members of the National Academy of Engineering. Among other honors that university faculty, alumni, and researchers have won are two Nobel Prizes, one Fields Medal, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, three Pulitzer Prizes, three MacArthur Fellowships, and a National Medal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The 100 Best
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Manga
Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. In Japan, people of all ages and walks of life read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action, adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, drama, historical, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy, erotica ('' hentai'' and '' ecchi''), sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has become an increasingly major part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at (), with annual sales of 1.9billion manga books a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mecha
In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is more inclusive, and or 'giant robot' is the narrower term. Fictional mecha vary greatly in size and shape, but are distinguished from vehicles by their humanoid or biomorphic appearance, although they are bigger, often much bigger, than human beings. Different subgenres exist, with varying connotations of realism. The concept of Super Robot and Real Robot are two such examples found in Japanese anime and manga. Real-world piloted humanoid or non-humanoid robotic platforms, existing or planned, may also be called "mecha". In Japanese, "mecha" may refer to mobile machinery or vehicles (including aircraft) in general, manned or otherwise. Characteristics 'Mecha' is an abbreviation, first used in Japanese, of 'mechanical'. In Japanese ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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-molded plastic case, Rod Holt developed the switching power supply, while Steve Jobs's role in the design of the computer was limited to overseeing Jerry Manock's work on the plastic case. It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a personal computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists. ''Byte'' magazine referred to the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 as the "1977 Trinity". As the Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors. The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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University Of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of the coastal community of Santa Cruz, the campus lies on of rolling, forested hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Founded in 1965, UC Santa Cruz began with the intention to showcase progressive, cross-disciplinary undergraduate education, innovative teaching methods and contemporary architecture. The residential college system consists of ten small colleges that were established as a variation of the Oxbridge collegiate university system. Among the Faculty is 1 Nobel Prize Laureate, 1 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences recipient, 12 members from the National Academy of Sciences, 28 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and 40 members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Eight UC Santa Cruz alumn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. Garriott, who is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, was originally a game designer and programmer, and is now involved in a number of aspects of computer-game development. On October 12, 2008, Garriott flew aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 mission to the International Space Station as a space tourist, returning 12 days later aboard Soyuz TMA-12. He became the second space traveler, and first from the United States, to have a parent who was also a space traveler. During his ISS flight, he filmed a science fiction movie '' Apogee of Fear''. The creator of the '' Ultima'' game series, Garriott was involved in all games in the series, and directly supervised all eleven main installments, starting with 1979's '' Akalabeth: World of Doom'' an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ultima (series)
''Ultima'' is a series of open world fantasy role-playing video games from Origin Systems, Inc. ''Ultima'' was created by Richard Garriott. Electronic Arts has owned the brand since 1992. The series sold over 2 million copies by 1997. A significant series in computer game history, it is considered, alongside '' Wizardry'' and '' Might and Magic'', to be one of the norm-establishers of the computer role-playing game genre. Several games of the series are considered seminal entries in their genre, and each installment introduced new innovations which then were widely copied by other games. The games take place for the most part in a world called Britannia; the constantly recurring hero is the Avatar, first named so in ''Ultima IV''. They are primarily within the scope of fantasy fiction but contain science fiction elements as well. Games The main ''Ultima'' series consists of nine installments (the seventh title is divided into two parts) grouped into three trilogies, or " Ages ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bill Budge
Bill Budge (born August 11, 1954) is a retired American video game programmer and designer. He is best known for the Apple II games '' Raster Blaster'' (1981) and ''Pinball Construction Set'' (1983). Early games Budge says he became interested in computers while obtaining a PhD at UC Berkeley. He purchased an Apple II and began writing games. He enjoyed it so much that he dropped out of school and became a game programmer. Budge's first game was a ''Pong'' clone, called ''Penny Arcade'', which he wrote using his own custom graphics routines. He traded the completed game to Apple Computer for a Centronics printer.An interview with Budge from ''Halcyon Days'' California Pacific published a collec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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California Pacific Computer Company
California Pacific Computer Company is a defunct software company that published games and related software for the Apple II family of computers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. California Pacific is best known as the publisher of the first installment of Richard Garriott's popular '' Ultima'' game series, and for '' Super Invader'', a ''Space Invaders'' clone voted the most popular software of 1978–80. Software * '' Akalabeth: World of Doom'' by Richard Garriott (1979) * '' Apple-oids'' by Tom Luhrs (1980) * '' Super Invader'' by M. Hata (1980), later renamed to ''Cosmos Mission'' * '' Bill Budge's Space Album'' (1980), collection of four games * ''Fender Bender'' * ''Trilogy of Games'' by Bill Budge (1980): ''Night Driver'', ''Pinball'', ''Space War'' * '' Ultima'' by Richard Garriott (1981) * ''3-D Game Tool'' by Bill Budge (1981) * ''Brainteaser Boulevard'' by Chuck Bueche (1982), ''Frogger'' clone * ''Lady Tut'' by Greggy (1983) See also *Steve Gibson (computer prog ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Green Ronin
Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas and Nicole Lindroos, they have published several role-playing game–related products. They won several awards for their games including multiple Origins, ENnie, Pen & Paper, and Inquest Fan Awards. History In early 1996, Chris Pramas acquired '' The Whispering Vault'' rights from Mike Nystul and formed Ronin Publishing with his brother, Jason Pramas, and their mutual friend, Neal Darcy. The company published two role playing game supplements, ''The Book of Hunts'' (1997) for ''The Whispering Vault'' and '' Blood of the Valiant'' for '' Feng Shui''. Ronin Publishing came to an end when Chris Pramas went to work for Wizards of the Coast in 1998. Pramas founded Green Ronin Publishing with his wife Nicole Lindroos in 2000. Green Ronin published its first book in July 2000: '' Ork!'' (2000), a beer and pretzels RPG about playing orks. Working at Wizards of the Coast, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers. History Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973. The founding members consisted of Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, Marc Miller, and Loren Wiseman. GDW acquired the Conflict Games Company from John Hill in the early 1970s. GDW published a new product approximately every twenty-two days for over twenty years. In an effort to bridge the gap between role players, board wargamers and miniature wargamers, the company published RPGs with fantastic settings alongside games with realistic themes including rulesets for 15mm and 20mm miniatures set during the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the modern era; and boardgames involving these eras such as the ''Air Superiority'' series and ''Harpoon''. The company disbanded February 29, 1996 after suffering financial troubles. Products Role-pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |