Christopher Erhardt
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| Christopher Erhardt | |
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| Born | Seattle, Washington |
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| Occupation | Video Game Producer |
Christopher Erhardt was born in Seattle, Washington in the late 1950s. He is currently a retired Professor of Game Design and Production of DigiPen Institute of Technology[1].
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[edit] Biography
During the first 10 years of his life, Christopher Erhardt lived in Seattle, WA, Detroit, MI, Riverside, CA and Arcadia, CA. He received a bachelors of science from the University of San Francisco, did graduate studies in Psychology at Harvard University and acquired his Masters degree in business from Capella University. As of 2007, he is working on a Doctoral dissertation on video game players demographic considerations. Currently he has over 19 years experience in the Interactive Media Industry, where in he was responsible for the production, design and product management of over 22 titles with such publishers as Infocom, Activision, Electronic Arts, Infogrames, and Ocean Software of America.
Christopher Erhardt first started working at an early age, putting himself through his undergraduate degree by odd jobs that ranged from magician to fur currier to line chef. In the early 80's he was a product planner for companies such as Teledyne and other TEMPEST secured, MIS-based programming and project management tasks. He moved into the game industry in 1987 when Infocom requested that his assistance in transitioning them from text-only games into graphical titles, leveraging his education in adolescent psychology to help them develop more compelling titles.
Christopher Erhardt currently is the President of Gameshastra Inc's Training Division based at Hyderabad, India.
[edit] Games Credited On
| Game | Role/Duty | Company |
|---|---|---|
| Total Control Football (PC) | Producer/Product Manager | Philips Media |
| Total Control Baseball (PC) | Producer/Product Manager | Philips Media |
| Centurion: Defender of Rome (SEGA) | Executive Producer | Electronic Arts |
| Starflight (SEGA) | Executive Producer | Electronic Arts |
| Rings of Power (SEGA) | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| Hard Nova (PC) | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo | Video Director | Electronic Arts |
| Noctropolis (PC) | Video Director | Electronic Arts |
| Black Crypt (PC) | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| Battletech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception (PC) | Producer | Activision |
| Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth (MAC) | Producer | Infocom |
| Pool of Radiance (MAC) | Designer/Producer | Strategic Simluations, Inc. |
| Chiller (NES) | Producer | ShareData |
| TV Sports: Soccer (PC) | Designer | Cinemaware |
| Hong Kong Mahjong (PC) | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| James Pond (SEGA) | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| James Pond 2: Codename Robocod (SEGA) | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| B.O.B. (SNES) | Executive Producer | Electronic Arts |
| Sword of Sodan (SEGA) | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| Battle Squadron (SEGA) | Producer | Electronic Arts |
| Ultimate Pinball (PC) | Producer | GT Interactive |
| Gearheads (PC) | Consultant Designer | Philips Media |
| Fighters Destiny (N64) | Executive Producer | Ocean of America |
| Wetrix (N64) | Product Manager | Ocean of America |
| Star Trek 5 (PC) | Designer | Mindscape |
| Spiderman (SEGA Genesis) | Designer | SEGA of America |
| Deal A Meal (PC) | Designer | GT Interactive |
| Mission: Impossible (N64) | Director of Development - USA | Infogrames |
[edit] Academic career
In 1998, Christopher Erhardt transitioned into an academic environment and became a Professor of Game Design and Production at DigiPen Institute of Technology. In 2000 he was responsible for co-creating, with Alex Dunne, the student submissions category of the Game Developers Conference Independent Games Submission (www.indiegames.com). In 2002 he moved to Beirut, Lebanon and spent 2 years teaching game software design and production to French and Arabic speaking computer engineering students. In 2005, upon his return to the US, he approached Valve to develop a Level Design program at DigiPen using their FPS engine Hammer. In 2006 he worked with Microsoft Game Studios to bring XNA product development into DigiPen and inaugurated one of the first series of C#/XNA Game Studio Express product development programs at an accredited academic institution.
In 2007 Christopher Erhardt left DigiPen Institute of Technology and moved to India to head Gameshastra's training division.
[edit] 2005- 2007 Public Presentations
- Co-Presenter: GDC 2005 session ('The DigiPen Video Game Curriculum: From the Game to the Classroom')[2]
- Moderator: PAX 2006 ('Gaming and Controversy')[3]
- Moderator: November 2005 Game Producers Boot Camp[4]
- Speaker: WritersUA 2006 ('User Assistance in Video Gaming')
- Panelist 2006 Games Initiative ('Applying Transferable Skill Sets')[5]
- Panelist 2006 E3 Expo ('The New Gamemaker: Trends in the trenches of game making and publishing')
- Member: 'Seattle Bureau of Trade-2007 World Cybergames Steering Committee'
- Moderator: PAX 2007 ('Growing Old in Gaming', Getting an education in Gaming')
- Presenter: VGEXPO 2007 ('Education and Gaming')[6]
[edit] References
- ^ "DigiPen's Faculty Roster", digipen.edu.
- ^ "GDC", cmpevents.com.
- ^ "DigiPen newsletter", digipen.edu.
- ^ "DigiPen newsletter", digipen.edu.
- ^ "2006 Seattle Game Conference press release", stageselect.com.
- ^ "VG Expo", vgxpo.com.
