| Richard Garriott de Cayeux | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 4, 1961 Cambridge, England, UK |
| Nationality | British / American |
| Occupation | Video game developer |
| Known for | Video game development Space tourism |
Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961) is a British-American 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.
In 2011 he was married and changed his name to Richard Garriott de Cayeux.[3]
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Garriott was born in Cambridge, England,[4] and 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[5]. 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,[6] 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.[7]
In the summer of 1979 he 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 $200 getting a manual and a cover sheet drawn by his mom 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. [8]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.[9] In 1999 and 2000, EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including Privateer Online, and Harry Potter Online.[10][11] 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. In an open letter on the Tabula Rasa Web site that was posted on November 11, 2008, 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.[12] 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.[13]
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.[14] In October 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment.[15]
| Richard Garriott | |
|---|---|
| Space Adventures Tourist | |
| Nationality | British / American |
| Born | July 4, 1961 Cambridge, England, UK |
| Other occupation | Game designer |
| Time in space | 11d 20h 35m |
| Missions | Soyuz TMA-13/TMA-12 |
| Mission insignia | |
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.[16]
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][17] On October 12, 2008, Garriott became the second second-generation space traveler (after Sergei Volkov)[18][19] and the first offspring of an American astronaut to go into space,[1][20][18] and the second person to wear the British Union flag in space.[21] The Soyuz docked with the station on October 14.
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.[22] 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.[23]
Garriott also worked with the Windows on Earth project, which provides an interactive, virtual view of Earth as seen from the ISS.[24] 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.[24]
Tracy Hickman wrote a screenplay for Garriott, for the first science-fiction film shot in space, Apogee of Fear.[25]
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.[26][27][28][29]
On June 3, 2009, the New York Daily News announced that Garriott would officiate at the first wedding to be held in zero gravity.[30] 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.[31]
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[32] (although the catalog incorrectly lists lot 68A as Luna 17/Lunokhod 1).[33]
Garriott acted as corner man for professional boxer and friend Jesús Chávez in his first title defense against Erik Morales in 2004.
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.[34]
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.[35]
Garriott became the ninth inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2006.
| Game Name | First Released | System Name(s) | Garriott's Role(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akalabeth: World of Doom | 1980 | Apple II & DOS | Game Designer & Programmer |
| Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness | 1980 | Apple II, Atari 8 bit systems, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns & MSX | Original Conceptor, Programmer & Graphic Artist |
| Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8 bit systems, Commodore 64, DOS & FM Towns | Game Designer |
| Ultima III: Exodus | 1983 | Apple II, Amiga, Atari 8 bit systems, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns, Mac OS & NES | Project Director |
| Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar | 1985 | Apple II, Amiga, Atari 8 bit systems, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns, MSX, NES, Sega Master System | Project Director |
| Autoduel | 1985 | Apple II, Amiga, Atari 8 bit systems, Atari ST, Commodore 64 & DOS | Programmer & Designer |
| Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny | 1988 | Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns & NES | Designer, Writer & Programmer |
| Omega | 1989 | Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 & DOS | Designer |
| Ultima VI: The False Prophet | 1990 | DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, 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 | Game Boy | Creative Director |
| Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss | 1992 | DOS, FM Towns & PlayStation | 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, FM Towns & NEC PC-9801 | Director & Voice Actor |
| Ultima VIII: Pagan | 1994 | DOS | Producer |
| Ultima: Runes of Virtue II | 1994 | Game Boy | Creative Director & Additional Design |
| Ultima VIII: The Lost Vale Expansion Pack | Cancelled | DOS | Producer |
| Bioforge | 1995 | DOS | Executive Producer |
| Ultima Online | 1997 | Windows | Producer |
| Ultima Online: The Second Age | 1998 | Windows | Executive Designer |
| Lineage | 1998 | Windows & Mac OS X | Executive Producer |
| Ultima IX: Ascension | 1999 | Windows | Director |
| Lineage II | 2003 | Windows | Executive Producer |
| City of Heroes | 2004 | Windows | Executive Producer |
| City of Villains | 2005 | Windows | Executive Management |
| Tabula Rasa | 2007 | Windows | Executive Producer |
| New Britannia [1] | TBA | Browser Based | Executive Producer |
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