Henk Rogers (born 24 December 1953) is a Dutch

video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipline ...

and entrepreneur. He is known for producing Japan's first major turn-based

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

The Black Onyx is a 1984 role-playing video game released in Japan, developed by Bullet-Proof Software, with development led by Henk Rogers. It was originally released for the NEC PC-8801, and ported to several other platforms. The Famicom version featured ...

'', securing the rights to distribute ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appro ...

'' on video game consoles where the game found popularity, and as the founder of

Bullet-Proof Software Blue Planet Software, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher. Established as Bullet-Proof Software, Inc. in Japan, Blue Planet Software became a separate company founded by Henk Rogers in Honolulu, Hawaii Hawaii ( ; h ...

(now called Blue Planet Software) and

The Tetris Company The Tetris Company, Inc. (TTC) is based in Nevada and is owned by Henk Rogers, Alexey Pajitnov and Blue Planet Software. The company is the exclusive licensee of Tetris Holding LLC, the company that owns Tetris rights worldwide. It licenses the ...

, which licenses the ''Tetris'' trademark. He was instrumental in resolving licensing disputes that brought Tetris to the

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

. Nowadays, he is managing director of The Tetris Company. In 2007, Rogers founded Blue Planet Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity focused on activities of advocacy, building awareness and fostering action for

clean energy Clean may refer to: * Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment * Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt Arts and media Music A ...

in Hawaii. In 2015, the foundation led the campaign to make Hawaii the first state in the nation with a

100% renewable energy 100% renewable energy means getting all energy from renewable resources. The endeavor to use 100% renewable energy for electricity, heating, cooling and transport is motivated by climate change, pollution and other environmental issues, ...

law. In 2015, Rogers also founded Blue Planet Energy, one of the leading providers of

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...

systems (i.e., batteries) that power homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. Rogers is also chairman of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) and founder of the International MoonBase Alliance, which developed the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), a 1,200 square-foot Mars and moon analog habitat on

Mauna Loa Mauna Loa ( or ; Hawaiian: ; en, Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano (as opposed to subaqueous volcanoes) in both mass and ...

. PISCES' core mission is to develop and grow an

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

industry in Hawaii through applied research,

workforce development Workforce development, an American approach to economic development, attempts to enhance a region's economic stability and prosperity by focusing on people rather than businesses. It essentially develops a human-resources strategy. Work-force dev ...

and

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

initiatives.

References

External links

www.tetris.comInterview with Planet GameCubeAvatar RealityBlue Lava TechnologiesBlue Planet FoundationBlue StartupsBlue Planet Energy
1953 births Living people Dutch computer programmers Dutch emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Amsterdam University of Hawaiʻi alumni Businesspeople from Hawaii {{Netherlands-bio-stub