| Origin Systems, Inc. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Slogan | We Create Worlds |
| Fate | disbanded |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Defunct | 2004 |
| Location | Austin, Texas,  United States |
| Industry | Computer games |
| Products | Ultima series Wing Commander series Crusader series Strike Commander System Shock Wings of Glory |
| Key people | Richard Garriott Robert Garriott co-founders |
| Former Parent | Electronic Arts |
Origin Systems, Inc. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather Wing Commander is a Media franchise consisting of Space combat simulation computer games from Origin Systems Inc For other uses see Crusade (disambiguation. Crusader is a series of action-oriented Computer games developed by Strike Commander is a flight sim Computer game for MS-DOS released in 1993 by the now defunct Origin Systems and was designed System Shock is an Action role-playing game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. Wings of Glory is a combat flight simulator Computer game for MS-DOS, developed by the now defunct Origin Systems. Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961) also known as Lord British in Ultima and General British Robert K Garriott (born December 7, 1956) is a computer game industry figure and Entrepreneur. (sometimes abbreviated as OSI) was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " It is most famous for the Ultima, Wing Commander, and Crusader game franchises. Wing Commander is a Media franchise consisting of Space combat simulation computer games from Origin Systems Inc For other uses see Crusade (disambiguation. Crusader is a series of action-oriented Computer games developed by
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History
The company was founded in 1983 by brothers Robert and Richard Garriott, their father Owen and Chuck Bueche after Richard had terminated his contract with Sierra On-Line to publish the third part in Richard's Ultima series, Ultima III: Exodus. Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961) also known as Lord British in Ultima and General British Owen Kay Garriott, PhD (born November 22, 1930) is a former NASA Astronaut who spent 60 days aboard Skylab in 1973 and Chuck Bueche (also known as Chuckles) is a Game programmer most famous for his involvement with the Ultima computer game series Sierra Entertainment Inc is a Worldwide American Video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Ultima III Exodus is the third game in the Ultima series Exodus is also the name of the game's principal antagonist
In September 1992, Electronic Arts acquired the company. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) This is a list of acquisitions by Electronic Arts. Electronic Arts is a company that is an American developer, marketer publisher, and distributor of
In 1997, they released one of the earliest and most successful graphical MMORPGs, Ultima Online. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) is a genre of Computer role-playing games (CRPGs in which a large number of players interact with Ultima Online ( UO) is a graphical Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG released on September 25 1997 As of After this title, Electronic Arts decided that Origin would become an online-only company after the completion of Ultima IX in 1999. Ultima IX Ascension ( 1999) is the ninth and final part of the Computer role-playing game series Ultima. However, within a year's time, EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including Ultima Online 2, Privateer Online, and Harry Potter Online. Ultima Worlds Online Origin (UWOO &mdash originally titled Ultima Online 2 (UO2 &mdash was to be the first sequel to the popular 1997 Wing Commander is a Media franchise consisting of Space combat simulation computer games from Origin Systems Inc Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J Richard Garriott left Origin shortly after and founded Destination Games in 2000. Destination Games is the computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long
In later years, Origin mainly existed to support and expand Ultima Online and to develop further online games based on the Ultima franchise such as Ultima X: Odyssey, originally to be released in 2004 but later canceled. Ultima X Odyssey (UXO was to be a Massively multiplayer Computer role-playing game ( MMORPG) based in the Ultima universe In February of 2004, the studio was disbanded by Electronic Arts.
Notable employees
Origin employed many young game developers over its tenure who have since gone on to leading roles in numerous game development companies, especially in Austin. Among its prominent employees were (alphabetically):
- Raymond Benson was head writer on Ultima VII--The Black Gate, contributed some writing to Ultima VII, Part Two--Serpent Isle, and went on to work as a game designer for MicroProse and Viacom New Media, then later became an official continuation author of the James Bond 007 novels. Raymond Benson (born September 6, 1955) is an American author best known for being the last official author of the adult James Bond novels MicroProse, as a corporation and brand name has been owned by several entities since its original founding by Sid Meier and Bill Stealey in 1982 Viacom ( ( short for " Vi deo & A udio Com munications" is an American Media conglomerate with various worldwide interests James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story
- Tom Chilton was lead designer on Ultima Online: Age of Shadows and went on to be a lead designer for Blizzard Entertainment. Tom Chilton is the lead designer (specifically over game systems game balance character classes combat items pvp auctions mail system and world events for the massively multiplayer Ultima Online Age of Shadows is the fifth Expansion pack for the popular MMORPG Ultima Online. Blizzard Entertainment is an American Video game developer and publisher headquartered in Irvine California.
- Britt Daniel was a composer for numerous titles and went on to found the rock band Spoon. Britt Daniel (born 1971 is the co-founder lead singer and guitarist of the Austin Texas, rock band Spoon. Spoon is an American Indie rock band from Austin Texas. The band is led by Britt Daniel (vocals guitar Jim Eno (drums Rob
- Ken Demarest created the technical prototype for Ultima Online, directed BioForge, led programming on Ultima VII, and coded on Wing Commander 1. Kenneth Llewellyn Demarest III is a computer game programmer business person and artist
- Richard Garriott aka "Lord British" creator of Ultima, and cofounder of Origin. Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961) also known as Lord British in Ultima and General British Later founded Destination Games later acquired by NC Soft. Destination Games is the computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long ncSoft Limited was a software development organisation which developed one of the first suite of web-based financial applications
- Robert Garriott, brother of Richard Garriott, cofounded Origin and Destination Games. Robert K Garriott (born December 7, 1956) is a computer game industry figure and Entrepreneur. Destination Games is the computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long
- Martin Galway was a Sound Designer/Composer and Audio Technician who went on to work at Digital Anvil. Martin Galway (born January 3, 1966, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is one of the best known composers of music for the Commodore 64
- Paul Isaac was technical lead on the Wing Commander and Strike Commander series. Paul C Isaac (born June 29 1968) is a computer game developer. He later became a lead developer at Digital Anvil / Microsoft worked on Freelancer and more recently joined Certain Affinity as engineering lead. Digital Anvil was a Computer game company It was founded in 1996 when Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts left Origin Systems Inc Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer Certain Affinity is an American video game development studio based in Austin Texas, in the USA.
- Raph Koster was lead designer of Ultima Online and later joined Sony Online Entertainment in Austin developing Everquest II and Star Wars Galaxies. Raphael "Raph" Koster (born 7 September 1971) is an American Entrepreneur, game designer, and Author of
- Mike McShaffry was lead developer of several of the Ultima series. Mike McShaffry graduated from the University of Houston, and began his Video game industry career working for Origin Systems in 1990. Later co-founded other Austin studios and has written and taught on game development theory.
- Sheri Graner Ray was a writer and designer on several of the Ultima series. Sheri Graner Ray has been making Computer games since 1990 She has worked for such companies as Electronic Arts, Origin Systems Sony Online Entertainment Went on to work with several major companies including Sony Online Entertainment and Cartoon Network. Also founder of Women In Games International.
- Chris Roberts creator of the Wing Commander Series. Chris Roberts (born May 27, 1968) is a Computer game designer and programmer and a Film producer and Founder of Digital Anvil, later acquired by Microsoft.
- John Romero was shortly working for Origin in 1987-1988 before joining id Software
- Zack Booth Simpson was Director of Technology and Research Fellow and went on to co-found Titanic Entertainment and later became a pioneer of interactivity as a fine art with installations in museums around the world. Alfonso John Romero (born October 28 1967 in Colorado Springs, Colorado) is a Game designer, programmer, and id Software (ɪd officially is an American computer game developer based in Mesquite, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Zachary Booth Simpson is an engineer scientist and artist A high-school dropout he was a game developer and the Director of Technology for Origin and Titanic Entertainment Interactive art is a form of installation-based art that involves the spectator in some way
- Warren Spector producer of Ultima Underworld which was developed by Doug Church and Looking Glass Studios as well as System Shock, Wings of Glory and numerous other titles. Warren Spector is a veteran computer game designer. He is known for having worked to merge elements of role-playing games and first-person shooters Doug Church is an American computer game designer and producer Looking Glass Studios was a computer game development company during the 1990s He later co-founded ION Storm and managed its Austin office, creating Deus Ex. Deus Ex (abbreviated DX and pronounced as ˌdeɪəsˈɛks day-uss ex) is a Cyberpunk -themed Action role-playing game developed
- Paul Steed was a leading artist on the Wing Commander series and went on to serve as an art lead for id Software on the Quake series. Paul Howard Steed Jr is a video game modeller and artist He has worked for Origin Systems, Electronic Arts, Id Software, Wild Tangent, Quake is a First-person shooter Computer game that was released by Id Software on June 22, 1996.
- Brian G. Smith worked on Privateer, Longbow, and Wing Commander, and went on to work on Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius.
Characteristics
Origin's motto was "We Create Worlds" and its games were known for their well-realized plots and the amount of detail furnished. OSI was always ahead of the curve in terms of cutting edge graphics and game versatility.
The original Wing Commander, for instance, came with a booklet purporting to be a shipboard magazine named Claw Marks, written and published by the crew of the Tiger's Claw (ghost-written by Aaron Allston); it provided the player with a number of irrelevancies (such as an interview with the star of a popular televised wartime drama) as well as convenient statistics and user guides for ships, weapon systems, and information regarding pilots and tactics on both Terran and Kilrathi sides and also hints on a rich background history. A ghostwriter is a professional Writer who is paid to write books articles stories reports or other content which are officially credited to another person Aaron Allston (born 1960 in Corsicana Texas) is an American Novelist of many Science fiction books notably Star Wars Wing Commander is a Media franchise consisting of Space combat simulation computer games from Origin Systems Inc
Gameography
- 2400 A.D. (1987)
- Autoduel (1985)
- Bad Blood (1990)
- Bioforge (1995)
- Crusader series (1995–1996)
- CyberMage: Darklight Awakening (1995)
- Jane's Combat Simulations: AH-64D Longbow (1996)
- Jane's Combat Simulations: AH-64D Longbow: Flash Point Korea (1996)
- Jane's Combat Simulations: Longbow 2 (1997)
- Knights of Legend (1989)
- Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony (1985)
- Ogre (1986)
- Omega (1989)
- Pacific Strike (1994)
- Privateer (1993)
- Privateer 2: The Darkening (1996)
- Shadowcaster (1993)
- Space Rogue (1989)
- Strike Commander (1993)
- System Shock (1994)
- Tangled Tales (1989)
- Times of Lore (1988)
- Ultima series (1983–1999)
- Ultima Online (1997)
- Windwalker (1989)
- Wings of Glory (1994)
- Wing Commander series (1990–1998)
References
External links
- The Collectible ULTIMA: Origin history
- The Conquest Of Origin in The Escapist
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