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Personk
''Personk'' is a 1978 video game, and the debut work of Tom Snyder, who would later release many educational series under Tom Snyder Productions. Development Snyder is an educator and video game developer. Snyder, who had a master's degree in teaching, attained a teaching job in the 1970s and eventually began thinking about teaching aids. In 1978, Snyder had a meeting arranged with the head of game acquisitions at Parker Bros. He hoped to present a wood-wire-string contraption named ''Personk'', that was a simplified model of a computer. Despite having planned the meeting for months, constantly redesigning the game and putting considerable time and money into the project, he went to the meeting on the wrong date and lost the opportunity. This event gave Snyder a creative burst of energy; within the week he had purchased a microcomputer, taught himself to program, and transformed the three-dimensional ''Personk'' into a piece of software for children with the assistance of a Radio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soup2Nuts
Soup2Nuts (sometimes referred to as Soup2Nuts Studios, and formerly part of Tom Snyder Productions) was an American animation studio founded by Tom Snyder. The studio is known for its animated comedy series, its use of Squigglevision, a technique of animation that reuses frames to make the animation look more kinetic, and for its style of improvisation in voice acting. History Tom Snyder, a teacher at Shady Hill School, began designing computer programs in the 1970s to enhance his 4th to 8th grade classes' learning environments. In 1980, Jere Dykema, the parent of one of Snyder's Shady Hill students, gave Snyder $30,000 to establish Computer Learning Connection (later renamed Tom Snyder Productions) for a 30% equity stake. Dykema also loaned CLC $100,000, which they paid back. Tom Snyder Productions created and produced its first TV show, ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' in 1995 for Comedy Central. On February 23, 1996, the company announced it would be acquired by Torstar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Snyder Productions
Soup2Nuts (sometimes referred to as Soup2Nuts Studios, and formerly part of Tom Snyder Productions) was an American animation studio founded by Tom Snyder. The studio is known for its animated comedy series, its use of Squigglevision, a technique of animation that reuses frames to make the animation look more kinetic, and for its style of improvisation in voice acting. History Tom Snyder, a teacher at Shady Hill School, began designing computer programs in the 1970s to enhance his 4th to 8th grade classes' learning environments. In 1980, Jere Dykema, the parent of one of Snyder's Shady Hill students, gave Snyder $30,000 to establish Computer Learning Connection (later renamed Tom Snyder Productions) for a 30% equity stake. Dykema also loaned CLC $100,000, which they paid back. Tom Snyder Productions created and produced its first TV show, ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' in 1995 for Comedy Central. On February 23, 1996, the company announced it would be acquired by Torstar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 1980s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers, were comparatively much larger and more expensive (though indeed present-day mainframes such as the IBM System z machines use one or more custom microprocessors as their CPUs). Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense). An early use of the term ''personal computer'' in 1962 predates microprocessor-based designs. ''(See "Personal Computer: Computers at Companies" reference below)''. A ''microcomputer'' used as an embedded control system may have no human-readable input ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1978 In Video Gaming
1978 saw the release of new video games such as ''Space Invaders''. The year is considered the beginning of the golden age of arcade video games. The year's highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game ''Space Invaders'', while the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS). Financial performance Highest-grossing arcade games ''Space Invaders'' was the top-grossing video game worldwide in 1978. The following table lists the top-grossing arcade games of 1978 in Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and worldwide. Japan In Japan, the following titles were the highest-grossing arcade games of 1978, according to the third annual '' Game Machine'' chart, which lists both arcade video games and electro-mechanical games (EM games) on the same arcade game chart. Taito's ''Space Invaders'' was the first video game to become highest-grossing overall arcade game on the annual ''Game Machine'' charts, after the two previous charts were top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single-player
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usually a game mode designed to be played by a single player, though the game also contains multi-player modes. Most modern console games and arcade games are designed so that they can be played by a single player; although many of these games have modes that allow two or more players to play (not necessarily simultaneously), very few actually require more than one player for the game to be played. The ''Unreal Tournament'' series is one example of such. History The earliest video games, such as ''Tennis for Two'' (1958), ''Spacewar!'' (1962), and ''Pong'' (1972), were symmetrical games designed to be played by two players. Single-player games gained popularity only after this, with early titles such as ''Speed Race'' (1974) and ''Space Invade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products were ''Monopoly (game), Monopoly'', Cluedo, Clue (licensed from the British publisher and known as ''Cluedo'' outside of North America), ''Sorry! (game), Sorry!'', ''Risk (game), Risk'', ''Trivial Pursuit'', ''Ouija'', ''Aggravation (board game), Aggravation'', ''Bop It'', ''Scrabble'' (under a joint partnership with Milton Bradley Company, Milton Bradley in North America and Canada), and ''Probe (parlor game), Probe''. The trade name became defunct with former products being marketed under the "Hasbro Gaming" label with the logo shown on Monopoly (game), Monopoly games. History Parker Brothers was founded by George Swinnerton Parker, George S. Parker. Parker's philosophy deviated from the prevalent theme of board game design; he believed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creative Computing (magazine)
''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format than the rather technically oriented ''Byte''. The magazine was created to cover educational-related topics. Early issues include articles on the use of computers in the classroom, various simple programs like madlibs and various programming challenges, mostly in BASIC. By the late 1970s, it had moved towards more general coverage as the microcomputer market emerged. Hardware coverage became more common, but type-in programs remained common into the early 1980s. The company published several books, the most successful being '' BASIC Computer Games'', the first million-selling computer book. Their ''Best of Creative Computing'' collections were also popular. ''Creative Computing'' also published software on cassette and floppy disk for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Search Series
''The Search Series'' is a five-game series of educational video games by Tom Snyder Productions and published by McGraw-Hill Education in 1980. It runs on either Apple II or TRS-80 Models I and III. Development In the late 1970s, Snyder had bought a TRS-80 computer and began designing educational simulations on it. He hired a consultant for $500 a day to observe whether his creations had value. The consultant saw something special and won Snyder a contract McGraw-Hill, who bought all five packages immediately, forming The Search Series. Snyder went on the road in 1981 to promote the series. Educational goals The series exemplified Snyder's philosophy of keeping learning in the foreground of the gaming experience and encouraging players (recommended within the classroom) to work together in teams. The content was specifically designed to connect with curricula. An example of the series is Geography Search, which simulates Christopher Columbus's discovery of the New World. Teams ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1978 Video Games
Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – The Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since World War II. * January 10 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, a critic of the Nicaraguan government, is assassinated; riots erupt against Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Somoza's government. * January 18 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the British government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture. * January 22 – Ethiopia declares the ambassador of West Germany ''persona non grata''. * January 24 ** Soviet Union, Soviet satellite Kosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. ** ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Educational Video Games
An educational video game is a video game that provides learning or training value to the player. Edutainment describes an intentional merger of video games and educational software into a single product (and could therefore also comprise more serious titles sometimes described under children's learning software). In the narrower sense used here, the term describes educational software which is primarily about entertainment, but tends to educate as well and sells itself partly under the educational umbrella. Normally software of this kind is not structured towards school curricula and does not involve educational advisors. Educational video games play a significant role in the school curriculum for teachers who seek to deliver core lessons, reading and new skills. Gamification of education allows learners to take active roles in learning and develop technological skills that are needed for their academic and professional careers. Several recent studies have shown that video game ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
