The Gazette from Cedar Rapids, Iowa • 20

ffiW tm Cedar RapidsThursday, Aug 23, 1984 Iowan designs hot-selling video game Everything finally fell together by 1983, and Lode Runner was ready to be sold That's when the rejection slips started coming in Big-name celebs hawk personal computers Would you buy a particular computer because a famous person says you should9 The computer ompanies must think so We're starting to see big name celebs popping up in their advertising Computers must have hit the big time Isaac Asimov and Bill Bixby have been hired to sing the praises of Radio Shack computers, while Atari and Alan Alda inked a five year, $10 million contract When hes not hawking American Express, Monty Python funnyman John leese shows us the lighter side of Compaqs IBM compatible IBM itself is using a Charlie haplin look alike to give the illusion that the multi billion dollar Doug Smith Lode Runner" designer By Susan Blocker Iowa News Service SPENCER Doug Smith was bored one summer, so he decided to get rich Well, thats not exactly how it happened First he decided to develop a video game, then he decided to sell it and THEN he got rich Doug, it turns out, just happened to design "Lode Runner, one of the top selling video games on the market The road to Dougs "six figure income fiom Lode Runner began in Spencer, where he was born in 1960, the youngest of Lowell and Leona Smiths four children But they moved to Renton, Wash in 1968, and it was at the high school there that Doug got his first taste of computers "I took a computer class because a friend took it Doug said "I didn see any future in it Doug was so turned off by computers, in fact that he decided to major in architecture when he went to the University of Washington at Seattle THE UNIVERSITYS multi million dollar com putcr complex helped change lus mind He started taking computer classes and tried to get into the computer science program Irom cully, his grade point average didnt meet the programs strict standards Instead, he became a "computer consultant, helping university students with their programs lhats what he was doing the summer of 1982 DOUG REVISED the program and added color graphics The next thing he knew, he received offers from five companies all on the same day Broderbund Software of California had the best offer More months were put into perfecting the game and it hit the stores in the fall of 1983 Sales took off and Billboard magazine listed Lode Runner as the number one video game for 21 weeks It eventually won eight awards, including "video game of the year by both Billboard and ST Games magazines So far, over 300,000 copies have been sold This month a special championship version of the game is to be marketed THE SUCCESS of Lode Runner Doug said, hes in the challenge and strategy of it A laser toting galactic commando must recover a cache of gold stolen by the Bungelmg Empire Fending off the pursuing enemy, the hero must climb ladders, run along walkways and swing from rope to rope "If you die, it your own fault You can learn from your mistakes Doug said "It not a fast reflex game There are strategies and secrets corporation is just like us little guys Chaplin isnt even alive to collect the royalties Roger Moore, on the other hand, appeared in ads for a dead computer, the Spectravideo SV 318 Bill Cosby did the saiie thing, hyping the Texas Instruments TI99 4A before it "During the summer, theres no one to help, he said "So we decided to write a game Doug worked with fellow student James Bratsanos, who had already developed some elements of the game while still in high school Doug was put most of his time into developing the game and eventually bought the full rights to it from Bratsanos for $1,500 A 14 year old nephew prompted Doug to adapt it to home computers a difficult task "I had to take from a million dollar computer to an Apple he said He worked on that for about six months making changes here and there "I was, at that point, addicted to computers, he said "My friends were wondering about my social life Computers at TEAM Electronics was pulled off the market Don worry about Cos hes still got Jello Pudding Pops and Diet Coke to help pay the bills Youll also see Leonard Nimoy (Hes science software), Bruce Jenner (Activision games), and Ernest Borgmne (O Hanlon software) representing omputer produc ts Borgmne is getting a reported $1 million a year Thats a lot more than he ever made on McHales Navy And if you take a close look at Martina cvratilova left sleeve COMPUTER REPORT TODAY on TV this summer you 11 see a little pate that says "Computerland ARE COMPUTERS becoming over commercialized Of course As computers became more popular endorsements were inevitable Be careful when you buy computer pioducts Youd have to be pretty foolish to buy software based solelv on the advice of a man who became famous wearing pointy ears Smart shoppers will buy their computers because of features not because James Bond Hawkeye Pierce, or Mr Spock tell them to THE OHIO VIETNAM Veterans Leadership Program has teamed up with CompuServe to establish a national computer network for veterans the Military Veterans Forum Any veteran with a computer and modem can access this new system The network provides on line conferenc es message exchanges and reference libraries There is a locator service to help vets find buddies they served with, information on starting small businesses, and veteran benefit entitlements under the I Bill Since the Forum was started in May, 250 veterans have become members and they've accessed the system over 3,000 times If youre interested in accessing the Forum and youre already a CompuServe subscriber, you can go directly to the menu by typing GO SFP 10 at any (') prompt If youre not a CompuServe subscriber, call or contact Ohio Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program, PO Box 61080, Columbus Oh 43216 (614) 228 1488 PATENTS to avoid collision By memory means a vehicle may be caused to turn or pause at various points Besides mines the system has been discussed for operatorless use in warehouses Sun-powered pump A solar powered heat pump system that could be used on a large scale to heat or cool a building has been invented for the Department of Energy The patent was obtained for the agency by Maurice Meader and six other staff members of United Technologies Corp in Hartford Conn The equipment called a turbocompressor utilizes a power turbine and a compressor turbine in conjunction with a working fluid The following are noteworthy patents issued last week by the Patent and Trademark Office in Washington Coal mine vehicle Automated vehicles intended for use in mines without control by an operator were patented by Marshall Collins an engineer and computer programmer in Morrow Ohio The invention is designed primarily for shuttle cars in an underground environment such as a coal mine Each car may receive a load from a continuous mechanical figure and then move along a corridor to dispose of the load Under the invention the cars can communicate with each other so as INAL ClEARANGI Womens and Childrens Summer Fashions Macintosh. 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