Cathryn Mataga
Cathryn Mataga (formerly William Mataga)[1][2][3][4] is a game programmer and founder of independent video game company Junglevision.[5]
Biography
Mataga designed the game Shamus in 1982,[3] which she wrote under the name William for the Atari 400 and 800 computers.[2] Much of the game's appeal was said to come from Mataga's sense of humor, such as creating a "grand rendition" of the Alfred Hitchcock theme song in the game's introduction.[6]
Steve Hales of Synapse Software, in an interview for the book Halcyon Days, states that he and Mataga convinced company founder Ihor Wolosenko to get the company into interactive fiction.[7]
Mataga developed an interactive fiction programming language known as BtZ (Better than Zork) for Brøderbund in the early 1980s.[4] Mataga worked with Hales and poet Robert Pinsky on the interactive fiction game Mindwheel (1984).[4]
Mataga was one of the programmers working at Stormfront Studios on the original Neverwinter Nights MMORPG.[8] Don Daglow credits Mataga as one of the programmers who made Daglow's assertion come true that he could make the game a success.[9]
Credited games
- Grand Theft Auto Advance (2004), Rockstar Games, Inc.
- Dragon's Lair (2001), Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
- Rayman (2001), Ubi Soft Entertainment Software[10]
- Spyro: Season of Ice (2001), Universal Interactive Inc.
- X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse (2001), Activision Publishing, Inc.
- Rampage 2: Universal Tour (1999), Midway Games
- Stronghold (1993), Strategic Simulations, Inc.
- Treasures of the Savage Frontier (1992), Strategic Simulations, Inc.
- Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991), Strategic Simulations, Inc.
- Neverwinter Nights (1991), Strategic Simulations, Inc.[11][12]
- Breakers (1986), Brøderbund Software, Inc.
- Brimstone (1985), Brøderbund Software, Inc.
- Essex (1985), Brøderbund Software, Inc.
- Mindwheel (1984), Brøderbund Software, Inc.[13][14][15]
- Shamus Case II (1984), Synapse Software
- Zeppelin (1983), Synapse Software
- Shamus (1982), Synapse Software[14]
References
- ^ "Game Designers Just Wanna Be Girls: Interview with Jamie Faye Fenton". Next Generation. June 21, 1999.
Then there was the designer of the great 8-bit classic, Shamus, William Mataga. He recently wrapped-up work on a Color Game Boy version of that game and is looking for a publisher. Only he now goes by Cathryn.
- ^ a b Shamus Manual (PDF). 1983.
- ^ a b "The Classic Game Shamus".
- ^ a b c Bateman, Selby (June 1985). "The Prose and the Parser: How Writers See Games". Compute! Gazette. 3 (24).
- ^ "Junglevision: Company". Junglevision.
- ^ David Small, Sandy Small and George Blank, ed. (1983). "Shamus". The Creative Atari. Creative Computing Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0916688349.
- ^ Halcyon Days interview with Steve Hales
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=6dgTAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Cathryn+Mataga%22&dq=%22Cathryn+Mataga%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Gjp4U8rPDtahyATtx4LYCA&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA
- ^ http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/102180/Column_Playing_Catch_Up_Stormfront_Studios_Don_Daglow.php
- ^ Charla, Chris (November 2001). "Digital Eclipse's Rayman Advance", Game Developer 8 (11): 42–48.Archived
- ^ van Looy, Jan (2010). Understanding computer game culture: the cultural shaping of a new medium. Lambert Academic Pub. p. 271.
- ^ Marks, Robert (2003). Everquest Companion: The Inside Lore of a Game World. McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Kosek, Steven (July 21, 1985). "Poet Robert Pinsky goes hi-tech to give electronic novel a whirl", Chicago Tribune, p. 33.
- ^ a b "Mindwheel: An Electronic Novel". QuestBusters. 2 (3): 11. March 1985.
- ^ "Pinsky, Robert (Neal)." Contemporary Poets. Gale. 2001. Retrieved May 21, 2014 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3401600586.html
External links
- Jungle Vision
- Cathryn Mataga profile on MobyGames
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