22: WGE MAG
A MAN ON A
R
MISSION
By Burnes Saint Patrick Hollyman, the digital entertainment alliance © 2012
ichard Garriott is not your run of the mill game developer. In fact that’s somewhat of an understatement, Richard Garriott is not your run-of-the-mill game creator, his real life submarine adventures to see the Titanic, treks to the Arctic Pole and space rocket rides make Richard Branson’s life look tame.
The self-styled ‘Lord British’, son of a US astronaut, creator of the hugely successful ‘Ultima’ game franchise, credited with spawning the concept of MMORPG, and most recently the star of the ‘Man On A Mission’ documentary which followed Garriott’s quest to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an astronaut.
Since selling his Origin Systems company to EA in 1992 his role in the gaming industry has taken a backseat to his quest to become a spaceman.
“I think it is essential that if creators want to succeed, they will have to figure out how to deliver in five minutes what their game is about and why you should be there.”
Garriott looked all set to become the first private citizen to venture into space at the start of the millennium, but had to give up his ticket when he reportedly lost a fortune when the dot-com bubble burst. Undeterred, Garriott maintained his ambition and in October 2008 he left the earth’s atmosphere on the Russian Soyuz to link up with the International Space Station, reportedly paying upwards of $30m for the privilege.
Now on earth again, Garriott’s new company, Portalarium, is developing social and mobile games across multiple platforms, with plans to compete with Zynga and similar companies on Facebook.
WGE:MAG sent Burnes Saint Patrick Hollyman of the digital entertainment alliance to catch up with one of the industry’s leading lights.
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