Richard Garriott

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Frecklefoot (talk | contribs) at 15:28, 30 June 2012 (→‎Games: what was with all the small text? Fixed). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Richard Garriott de Cayeux
Born (1961-07-04) July 4, 1961 (age 62)
Cambridge, England, UK
NationalityBritish / American
OccupationVideo game developer
Known forVideo game development
Space tourism

Richard Garriott de Cayeux (born Richard Allen Garriott on July 4, 1961) is a video game developer and entrepreneur. He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa. A well-known figure in the video game industry, Garriott was originally a game designer and programmer and now engages in various aspects of computer game development and business.

On October 12, 2008, Garriott launched aboard Soyuz TMA-13 to the International Space Station as a self-funded tourist,[1][2] returning 12 days later aboard Soyuz TMA-12.

Garriott founded a new video game development and publishing company in 2009, called Portalarium.[3]

In 2011 he was married and changed his name to Richard Garriott de Cayeux.[4]

Biography

Early life

Garriott was born in Cambridge, England to American parents, [5] and was raised in Nassau Bay, Texas, United States. He is the son of scientist Owen K. Garriott, who became an astronaut and flew with Skylab 3 and Space Shuttle mission STS-9. At Clear Creek High School, he convinced the school to let him create a self-directed course in programming, in which he created fantasy computer games on the school's teletype machines[6].

In the summer of 1977, Richard's parents sent him to the University of Oklahoma for a seven-week computer camp. Shortly after he arrived, some of the other boys attending the camp introduced themselves. When Garriott replied to their greeting of "Hi" with "Hello" they decided he sounded like he was from Britain, and gave him the nickname "British". Garriott uses the name to this day for his various gaming characters, including Ultima character Lord British and Tabula Rasa character General British,[7] however, despite his nickname and birthplace, Garriott's parents moved to Texas when he was a baby and his accent is American rather than British.[8]

Game design career

In the summer of 1979, Garriott went to work at a ComputerLand store where he had his first encounter with Apple computers. He created Akalabeth for fun, but the owner of the store convinced him it might sell. He spent US$200 getting a manual and a cover sheet drawn by his mother printed out, and put them in Ziploc bags to sell around the store. Although he sold less than a dozen copies at the store, one of them made it to California Pacific, who signed a deal with him. He sold over 30,000 copies, receiving $5 for each game sold. [9] In the fall, he entered the University of Texas at Austin, joined the school's fencing team and later joined the Society for Creative Anachronism.

In the early 1980s, Garriott developed the Ultima computer game series. Originally programmed for the Apple II, the first was published by California Pacific Computers and sold in Ziploc plastic bags to interested parties. The second part was published by Sierra On-Line, as they were the only company that agreed to publish it in a box. By the time he developed his third installment, the games had such a large following that Garriott (along with his brother, Robert, amongst others) established Origin Systems, their own video game publisher to handle the publishing and distribution of his title, now available on several platforms.

Garriott sold Origin to Electronic Arts in September 1992. In 1997, he coined the term massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), giving a new identity to the nascent genre previously known as graphical MUDs.[10] In 1999 and 2000, EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including Privateer Online, and Harry Potter Online.[11][12] In the midst of these events, Garriott resigned from the company and returned to the industry by forming Destination Games in April 2000 with his brother and Starr Long (the producer of Ultima Online). Once Garriott's non-compete agreement with EA expired a year later, Destination partnered with NCsoft where he acted as a producer and designer of MMORPGs. After that, he became the CEO of NCsoft Austin, also known as NC Interactive.

Tabula Rasa failed to be a commercial success despite its seven-year development period. On November 11, 2008, in an open letter on the Tabula Rasa website, Garriott announced his plans to leave NCsoft to pursue new interests sparked by his spaceflight experiences. Later, however, Garriott claimed that the letter was forged as a means of forcing him out of his position and that he had had no intention of leaving.[13] On November 24th, NCsoft announced that it planned to end the live service of Tabula Rasa. The servers shut down on February 28, 2009, after a period of free play from January 10 onward for existing account holders.[14]

In July 2010, an Austin District Court awarded Garriott USD$28 million in his lawsuit against NCsoft, finding that the company did not appropriately handle his departure in 2008.[15] In October 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment.[16]

Garriott founded the company Portalarium in 2009 with the intent of developing and publishing games for the emerging social network market.[17] The company will be launching a massively multiplayer spiritual successor to the Ultima series, though Garriott has remarked that if he were to secure the rights to the Ultima intellectual property from Electronic Arts, the game could literally become Ultima Online 2.[18]

Spaceflight

Richard Garriott
Born (1961-07-04) July 4, 1961 (age 62)
Cambridge, England, UK
NationalityBritish / American
OccupationGame designer
Space career
Space Adventures Tourist
Time in space
11d 20h 35m
MissionsSoyuz TMA-13/TMA-12
Mission insignia
File:Soyuz-TMA-13-Mission-Patch.png

The income from the success of Garriott's video game career allowed him to pursue his interest in spaceflight, and the sale of Origin Systems allowed him to invest in Space Adventures and purchase the ticket to become the first private citizen to fly into space. However, Garriott lost all of his wealth in 2001 after the dot-com bubble burst, and he was forced to sell his seat to Dennis Tito.[19]

Screen capture from Windows on Earth, used by Garriott on ISS to identify targets for Earth photography. (Coast of Peru)

On September 28, 2007, Space Adventures announced that Garriott would fly to the International Space Station in October 2008 as the sixth space tourist, reportedly paying $30 million USD.[1][20] On October 12, 2008, Garriott became the second second-generation space traveler (after Sergei Volkov)[21][22] and the first offspring of an American astronaut to go into space,[1][23][21] and the second person to wear the British Union flag in space.[24] The Soyuz docked with the station on October 14. His father Owen K. Garriott was at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch of his son Richard and was in attendance when a Soyuz capsule returned with his son twelve days later.[citation needed]

During his spaceflight, Garriott took part in several education outreach efforts. He is an Amateur Radio Operator (callsign W5KWQ), and during his stay on the International Space Station (ISS), communicated with students and other Amateur Radio operators using Amateur Radio.[25] Garriott also transmitted photographs using the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) slow-scan television system. Garriott also placed a geocache while aboard the ISS.[26]

Garriott also worked with the Windows on Earth project, which provides an interactive, virtual view of Earth as seen from the ISS.[27] Garriott used Windows on Earth software to assist in the selection of locations on Earth to photograph, and the public were able to use the same online tool to track the ISS and see the view Richard was experiencing out an ISS window. Richard's photographs, along with images taken by his astronaut father Owen Garriott in 1973, will be available to the public through Windows on Earth, adding a personal element to studies of Earth and how Earth has changed over time.[27]

Tracy Hickman wrote a screenplay for Garriott, for the first science-fiction film shot in space, Apogee of Fear.[28]

On October 24, Russian cosmonauts of ISS Expedition 17, Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, along with space tourist Richard Garriott, aboard Soyuz TMA-12 capsule, landed safely (ideal) at 9:37 a.m. (0336GMT, 07:36 Moscow time), 55 miles north of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. They were lifted to the Kazakhstan Baikonur space center by helicopter, and then flew to Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City), Moscow Region.[29][30][31][32]

On June 3, 2009, the New York Daily News announced that Garriott would officiate at the first wedding to be held in zero gravity.[33] The wedding took place in a specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft, G-Force One, operated by Zero Gravity Corp, or ZERO-G, a company offering weightless flight experiences, of which he is the co-founder.[34]

Other accomplishments and interests

Garriott bought the Luna 21 lander and the Lunokhod 2 rover (both currently on lunar surface) from the Lavochkin Association for $68,500 in December 1993 at a Sotheby's auction in New York[35] (although the catalog incorrectly lists lot 68A as Luna 17/Lunokhod 1).[36]

Garriott acted as corner man for professional boxer and friend Jesús Chávez in his first title defense against Erik Morales in 2004.[37]

He is also an avid magician and magic collector, and appeared on the cover of the January 2008 issue of MUM, the magazine of the Society of American Magicians.[38]

Garriott built a haunted house/museum at his residence called Britannia Manor in Austin, Texas. He also promotes private space flight as vice-chairman of the board of directors for Space Adventures and as a trustee of the X PRIZE Foundation.[39]

Awards

Garriott became the ninth inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2006.

Games

Video game platforms
Ami Amiga
AppII Apple II
ATR Atari 8-bit family
C64 Commodore 64
DOS MS-DOS
FMT FM Towns
GB Game Boy
Mac Mac
MSX MSX
NES Nintendo Entertainment System
PC98 PC-9800 series
PS1 PlayStation
PS2 PlayStation 2
SMS Master System
SNES Super NES
ST Atari ST
Win Windows
  
Game Name First Released Platforms Garriott's Role(s)
Akalabeth: World of Doom 1980 AppII, DOS Game Designer & Programmer
Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness 1980 AppII, ATR, C64, DOS, FMT, MSX Original concept, Programmer & Graphic Artist
Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress 1982 AppII, ATR, C64, DOS, FMT Game Designer
Ultima III: Exodus 1983 AppII, Ami, ATR, C64, DOS, FMT, Mac, NES Project Director
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar 1985 AppII, Ami, ATR, C64, DOS, FM Towns, MSX, NES, SMS, ST Project Director
Autoduel 1985 AppII, Ami, ATR, ST, C64, DOS Programmer & Designer
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny 1988 AppII, Ami, ST, C64, DOS, FMT, NES Designer, Writer & Programmer
Omega 1989 AppII, Ami, ST, C64, DOS Designer
Ultima VI: The False Prophet 1990 Ami, ST, C64, DOS, FMT, SNES Designer, Producer, Sound Effect Worker, Writer & Voice Actor
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire 1990 DOS, SNES Executive Producer
Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams 1991 DOS Creative Director
Ultima: Runes of Virtue 1991 GB Creative Director
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss 1992 DOS, FMT, PS1 Director & Voice Actor
Ultima VII: The Black Gate 1992 DOS, SNES Director & Producer
Ultima VII: The Forge of Virtue 1993 DOS Creative Assistance & Producer
Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle 1993 DOS Creative Director & Audio Team Member
Ultima VII Part Two: The Silver Seed 1993 DOS Director & Voice Actor
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds 1993 DOS, FMT, PC98 Director & Voice Actor
Ultima VIII: Pagan 1994 DOS Producer
Ultima: Runes of Virtue II 1994 GB Creative Director & Additional Design
Ultima VIII: The Lost Vale Expansion Pack Cancelled DOS Producer
Bioforge 1995 DOS Executive Producer
Ultima Online 1997 Win Producer
Ultima Online: The Second Age 1998 Win Executive Designer
Lineage 1998 Win & Mac Executive Producer
Ultima IX: Ascension 1999 Win Director
Lineage II 2003 Win Executive Producer
City of Heroes 2004 Win Executive Producer
City of Villains 2005 Win Executive Management
Tabula Rasa 2007 Win Executive Producer
Ultimate Collector: Garage Sale[40] 2012 Mobile, Social Executive Producer
Ultimate RPG (working title)[41] TBA Mobile, Social Executive Producer

References

  1. ^ a b c Mark Carreau (2008). "$30 million buys Austin resident a ride on Soyuz mission". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  2. ^ Tariq Malik. "Former Astronaut's Son Signs on as Next Space Tourist". SPACE.com. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Garriott de Cayeux, Richard. "By the way..." Google+. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  5. ^ "Inside Ultima IV". Computer Gaming World. March 1986. pp. 18–21.
  6. ^ Official Book of Ultima by Shay Addams, page 3-5
  7. ^ King, Brad (2003). Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic. McGraw-Hill. pp. 11–12. ISBN 0-07-222888-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ BBC, News (2008-07-15). "BBC NEWS - Science/Nature - Private mission set for ISS". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-11-11. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  9. ^ The Official Book of Ultima, page 8
  10. ^ Safko, Ron; Brake, David (2009). The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success. Wiley. ISBN 0-470-41155-4. Richard Garriott first coined the term MMORPG in 1997.
  11. ^ Linder, Brian (2001-05-10). "IGN: Harry Potter LEGO Redux". Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  12. ^ Matonis, Misty (2002-01-05). "When Kings Fall: Part II of II". Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  13. ^ http://cdn2.libsyn.com/gamepolitics/Garriott-NCsoft-complaint.pdf?nvb=20090509051652&nva=20090510052652&t=049ea4934066248c20f32
  14. ^ Garriott, Richard (2008-11-11). "Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa - An Open Letter from General British". Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  15. ^ Citizen, Jessica (2010-07-30). "Garriott wins $28 million lawsuit against NCsoft". GamePron.com. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  16. ^ Gaar, Brian (2011-10-25). "Appeals court upholds Garriott's $28 million verdict against NCsoft". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  17. ^ [2]
  18. ^ [3][4][5][6]
  19. ^ "Richard Garriott: The Overview Effect". The Moth. 2010-12-13. 7:00 minutes in. Retrieved 2010-12-13. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ Space Adventures, Ltd. (2008). "Space Adventures Announces 1st Second Generation Astronaut". Space Adventures, Ltd. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  21. ^ a b Peter Leonard for The Associated Press (October 12, 2008). "US game designer blasts into space with DNA cargo". USA Today. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
  22. ^ Marcia Dunn for The Associated Press (2008). "Space tourist will pay high price for adventure". MSNBC. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  23. ^ Chris Bergin (2008). "Soyuz TMA-13 launches trio on journey to the ISS". NASA Spaceflight.com. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  24. ^ Second person to wear the Union flag in space
  25. ^ Frank H. Bauer (2008-09-19). "Richard Garriott on ISS". Southgate Amateur Radio Club. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  26. ^ "International Space Station Traditional Geocache".
  27. ^ a b TERC (2008). "Richard Garriott's Mission in October, 2008". Technical Education Research Centers. Retrieved October 12, 2008. [dead link]
  28. ^ "LTUE, Day 2". Tachyon City (Nathan Shumate). Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  29. ^ "Soyuz space capsule lands safely". BBC. October 24, 2008.
  30. ^ ap.google.com, American, Russians return from space station
  31. ^ en.rian.ru/russia, Soyuz capsule safely lands in Kazakhstan - 2
  32. ^ itar-tass.com, Cosmonauts examined with special system
  33. ^ Boyle, Christina (3 June 2009). "So in love they could float away: Brooklyn couple to wed in zero gravity". New York Daily News.
  34. ^ www.reuters.com, Couple floats into zero gravity nuptials
  35. ^ The Bloc on the Block (by Jeffrey Kluger): Discover magazine, April 2004
  36. ^ Sotheby's Catalogue - Russian Space History, Addendum, Lot 68A, December 11, 1993
  37. ^ http://www.richardinspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=About_Richard.Austin
  38. ^ http://www.cs4fn.org/spacetravel/thespacegame.php
  39. ^ http://www.xprize.org/about/board-of-trustees
  40. ^ Ultimate Collector from Portalarium
  41. ^ Ultimate RPG from Portalarium

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Richard Garriott.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richard Garriott.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Garriott&oldid=500057279"