Robert J. Woodhead is an
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
,
software engineer
Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development.
A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term ''p ...
and former
game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which f ...
. He claims that a common thread in his career is "doing weird things with computers".
Career
In 1979 he co-founded Sirotech (later known as
Sir-Tech) with Norman Sirotek and Robert Sirotek. Along with
Andrew C. Greenberg
Andrew Clifford Greenberg (born 1957) co-created ''Wizardry'' with Robert Woodhead, which was one of the first role-playing video games for a personal computer. He was also involved with the production of the game '' Q-Bert'' and several of the ...
, he created the
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-m ...
game
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...
''
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord'', one of the first
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 ...
s written for a
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or te ...
, as well as several of its sequels.
Woodhead designed the 1982 Apple II arcade game ''
Star Maze'', which was programmed by Gordon Eastman and sold through Sir-Tech.
[ He told ''TODAY'' magazine in 1983, "I have loads of arcade game ideas, but lack the patience to do the actual coding. I'm sort of a big project person; I like the challenge of a program like ''Wizardry''."][
Later, he authored Interferon and ]Virex
McAfee VirusScan is an antivirus software created and maintained by McAfee (formerly known as Intel Security, and Network Associates prior to that). Originally marketed as a standalone product, it has been bundled with McAfee LiveSafe, McAfee An ...
, two of the earliest anti-virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.
Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...
applications for the Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
, and co-founded AnimEigo
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to lic ...
, one of the first US anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
releasing companies. As a result of this venture, while living in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, he married his translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
and interpreter, Natsumi Ueki, together with whom he has two children.Robot Fighting League
Robot combat is a mode of robot competition in which custom-built machines fight using various methods to incapacitate each other. The machines have generally been remote-controlled vehicles rather than autonomous robots.
Robot combat compet ...
National Champions in the 30 lb Featherweight class.
Woodhead made a cameo appearance in the 1982 video game '' Ultima II'' as an NPC; when the player talked to him he would scream "Copy Protect!", a sarcastic reference to the extensive copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media.
Copy protection is most commonly found o ...
methods used in video games of the time. He also has a screen credit in the film ''Real Genius
''Real Genius'' is a 1985 American comic science fiction film directed by Martha Coolidge and written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and PJ Torokvei. Starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret, the film, set on the campus of Pacific Tech, a science ...
'' as their "Hacking Consultant".
Woodhead has created two successful Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
projects, "''Bubblegum Crisis
is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by AIC and Artmic. The series was planned to run for 13 episodes, but was cut short to just 8.
The series involves the adventures of the K ...
'' Ultimate Edition Blu-Ray Set" ($153,964 pledged on a $75,000 goal),Eve Online
''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profes ...
Council of Stellar Management with an in-game avatar name of Trebor Daehdoow. He was re-elected for 4 terms, serving in his last term as Chairman.
References
External links
Animeigo homepage
Family website
Campaign page for CSM 7 election
Robert Woodhead
at Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
Robert Woodhead
at MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...
Candidacy post for CSM 7 elections
Eve Online Profile page for Trebor Daehdoow
Eve Online Blog
Audio interview for the CSM 8 election campaign
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodhead, Robert
20th-century American businesspeople
American businesspeople in retailing
American video game designers
American video game programmers
Anime industry
Computer programmers
Cornell University alumni
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)