Wikipedia

Gazillionaire

For other uses, see High-net-worth individual.

Gazillionaire, also stylized as Gazillionaire!, is a science-fiction business simulation developed by American studio LavaMind and originally published by Spectrum HoloByte for Windows-compatible PCs in 1994.

Gazillionaire
Developer(s)LavaMind
Publisher(s)Spectrum HoloByte
Designer(s)Stephen S. Hoffman
Naomi Kokubo
Platform(s)Windows
Release1994
Genre(s)Business simulation
Mode(s)Single-player video game, multiplayer

Gameplay

edit

Gazillionaire is a trading game involving trading exotics on different planets.[1] The game revolves around seven trade companies including the player and other companies such as Vandergriff, Hoffmeister and Puffer Inc. as they compete to build an empire by investing in larger ships, buying warehouses, outmaneuvering each other and transporting essential commodities such as Kryptoons, cantaloupes, hair tonic, polyester, frog legs, umbrellas and Oggle Sand between the seven planets in the Kukubian empire led by Emperor Dred Nicholson.

Development and release

edit

Gazillionaire was created by venture capitalist husband and wife team Steven S. Hoffman and Naomi Kokubo at their independent company LavaMind. Kokubo has a background in international finance and filmmaking while Hoffman has a background in interactive software development, electrical computer engineering, and information technology consulting. The pair met as college students and were pursuing their respective careers in Japan in 1992: Kokubo in film and finance and Hoffman working at Sega headquarters in Tokyo. After moving to San Francisco in early 1994, the couple founded LavaMind to focus on designing non-violent, intelligent video games.[2][3] Gazillionaire was completely self-funded by the couple who did nearly all of the project's work themselves.[4][5][6][7]

Development lasted nine months with a budget of $30,000 USD.[8] LavaMind first made Gazillionaire available for Windows 3.1 as online shareware in late 1994. Because personal webpages were not prevalent in the early days of the internet, Hoffman shared a trial version on bulletin board systems with a full version sold via mail-order.[4][7][9][10] Its retail distribution rights were picked up by Spectrum Holobyte shortly thereafter.[11] Although Hoffman claimed Gazillionaire was technically outdated upon completion, he said the publisher quickly agreed to the partnership after its quality assurance team had fallen in love with it.[9][10][12] The president of Spectrum Holobyte also informed Hoffman that its next big release, Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity, had been delayed to the following calendar year and that it needed a replacement to book revenue for the close of 1994 to prevent its stock price from dropping. This allowed Hoffman to negotiate an advance on royalty payment and the full rights to a Gazillionaire sequel after one year.[10] LavaMind's creative goal with Gazillionaire was to teach financial skills and inspire entrepreneurship in its players.[4][9][13] Gazillionaire proved popular as an educational video game and in the years following its launch it was adopted by various grade schools and universities as part of economic curriculums and by certain prisons to help reform convicts.[8][9][12][13]

According to Kokubo, the game's technical limitations allowed for easy design tweaks to extend its longevity.[6] An expanded edition, Gazillionaire Deluxe, was released toward the end of 1996. In addition to numerous gameplay improvements and added Windows 95 compatibility, it had a play-by-email mechanic for up to six people alongside to the hotseat multiplayer from the original game.[14][15] The developer eventually found it difficult to commercially compete in brick-and-morter stores and shifted to primarily selling the game online once again. By mid-1998, LavaMind estimated that 150,000 copies of Gazillionaire had been sold.[8] Yet another update, Gazillionaire III, was released for download around 2007 and was compatible with Windows Vista, XP, 98, 2000, Me, and NT.[16] A web browser release came in 2012 and required a yearly subscription fee.[17] Finally, LavaMind published Gazillionaire on Steam on January 14, 2020 and was capatible with Windows 10 and Mac devices using up to the Big Sur operating system.[18] This decision was made due to the impending discontinuation of Adobe Flash, software on which the most recent version was heavily relied. The Steam version includes hotseat multiplayer but no remote multiplayer.[19]

Reception

edit

Next Generation reviewed the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "A great title for gaming purists or children."[1]

Computer Game Review scored Gazillionaire a 92 out of 100, earning the game its "Golden Triad Award".[20] It was also named "Strategy Game of the Year" for 1995 from the magazine, tied with Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest and Blood Bowl. The editors wrote, "Tucked behind the strange graphics, bizarre names and, um, interesting items to trade was an economic engine that proved to be as good as they come."[21]

Reviews

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Next Generation staff (April 1995). "Finals". Next Generation. No. 4. Imagine Media. p. 92. ISSN 1078-9693.
  2. ^ Hoffman, Steven; Kokubo, Naomi (1997). "An Introduction to LavaMind". LavaMind. Archived from the original on July 9, 1997. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Nguyen, Kendrick (May 2014). "Steve & Naomi's Founders Space". SOMA Magazine. Ali Ghanbarian. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Goldin, Kara (December 13, 2021). "Episode 208: Steven Hoffman – Founder & CEO of Founders Space". The Kara Goldin Show. Archived from the original on July 15, 2024. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  5. ^ Lukas, Dave (September 2021). "267: Principles, Success Lessons, and Why Ideas Don't Matter with Steven Hoffman". Misfit Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Interviews". OKCollegeStart.org. Archived from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Janal, Daniel S. (1995). Online Marketing Handbook : How to Sell, Advertise, Publicize, and Promote Your Products and Services on the Internet and Commercial Online Systems. Van Nostrand Reinhold. pp. 18–9. ISBN 978-0-44-202058-3.
  8. ^ a b c Ryan, James (May 25, 1998). "Quirky PC Games Try to Find Market Niche in a Virtual Pet Cemetery". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d Weisz, Jeremy (August 11, 2021). "[Venture Capital Series] How to Survive a Startup with Steven Hoffman of Founders Space". Inspired Insider. Archived from the original on June 21, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Martignetti, Tony (April 11, 2022). "Radical Innovation, Breaking The Routine And Accelerating Success With Steve Hoffman". Inspired Purpose Partners. Archived from the original on June 12, 2024. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Bateman, Selby (March 1995). "Movers & Shakers". Next Generation. No. 3. Imagine Media. p. 29. ISSN 1078-9693.
  12. ^ a b Hoffman, Steven S. "BPI Network Views & Commentary: Make Elephants Fly". BPI Network. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  13. ^ a b ChildArt staff (July 1, 2012). "The money game". The Free Library. International Child Art Foundation. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  14. ^ Soucy, Glenn (January 1997). "Gazillionaire Deluxe by LavaMind". Coming Soon Magazine. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "Gazillionaire Deluxe". LavaMind. Archived from the original on November 5, 1996. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "Gazillionaire III". LavaMind. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  17. ^ Bell, Erin. "Gazillionaire!". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  18. ^ "Gazillionaire". Steam. Valve Corporation. Archived from the original on November 21, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  19. ^ Renadette, Brian (December 31, 2019). "1990's Business Game Gazillionaire Heading to Steam". TechRaptor. Archived from the original on July 25, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  20. ^ Perry, Kevin; Chapman, Ted; Kaiafas, Tasos (March 1995). "Reviews: Gazillionaire". Computer Game Review. Vol. 4, no. 8. Sendai Publishing. pp. 38–9. ISSN 1062-113X.
  21. ^ Staff (April 1996). "CGR's Year in Review". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Gazillionaire&oldid=1265035804"