Chris Melissinos
Encyclopedia
Christopher Robert Melissinos is a leading figure in the Java
community. He serves as Sun Microsystems
' Chief Evangelist
and Chief Gaming Officer
. During his tenure at Sun, he was responsible for the creation of their Game Technologies Group and was a driving political force behind the formation of several open source Java gaming technologies including Project Darkstar
, and Java bindings for OpenGL
, OpenAL
and input.
Melissinos is a prolific speaker, regularly speaking at conferences such as the Consumer Electronics Show
, Electronic Entertainment Expo, Game Developers Conference
, Harvard's Cyberposium
, JavaTM Conference in Milan, Italy, and Ziff-Davis's Electronic Gaming Summit. He was also the host of JavaOne 2009.
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
community. He serves as Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
' Chief Evangelist
Technology evangelist
A technical or technology evangelist is a person who attempts to build a critical mass of support for a given technology in order to establish it as a technical standard in a market that is subject to network effects...
and Chief Gaming Officer
Chief Gaming Officer
A chief gaming officer is an executive position whose holder is focused on research and technical issues within a computer game company....
. During his tenure at Sun, he was responsible for the creation of their Game Technologies Group and was a driving political force behind the formation of several open source Java gaming technologies including Project Darkstar
Project Darkstar
Project Darkstar was an open source MMOG middleware solution written in Java by the Project Darkstar team at Sun Microsystems. It was a research project headed by Sun Microsystems engineer Jim Waldo that was publicly released on August 30, 2007, and "aims to help developers and operators avoid a...
, and Java bindings for OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
, OpenAL
OpenAL
OpenAL is a cross-platform audio API. It is designed for efficient rendering of multichannel three dimensional positional audio. Its API style and conventions deliberately resemble those of OpenGL.- History :...
and input.
Melissinos is a prolific speaker, regularly speaking at conferences such as the Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
, Electronic Entertainment Expo, Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, Harvard's Cyberposium
Cyberposium
Cyberposium is the largest MBA technology and media conference in the world. Held at Harvard Business School for the past 15 years, the conference draws some 1,000 attendees from the tech/media industries as well as the VC and startup communities...
, JavaTM Conference in Milan, Italy, and Ziff-Davis's Electronic Gaming Summit. He was also the host of JavaOne 2009.
Past Pixels
In 2009, Chris Melissinos founded the Past Pixels organization that is dedicated to the preservation of video games.- Past Pixels website: www.PastPixels.com
The Art of Video Games Exhibition
Past Pixels is leading "The Art of Video Games" exhibition that will be held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from March 16, 2012 to September 30, 2012. The exhibit aims to demonstrate the influence of art and popular culture on video games, and the subsequent reflection of video games on culture with titles spanning over four decades of gaming. Chris Melissinos is the exhibit curator and he has created an advisor board made up of experts, developers, and journalists in the interactive entertainment industry.- Smithsonian American Art Museum "The Art of Video Games" Exhibit Information
- The Art of Video Games voting site