Henk Rogers
Encyclopedia
Henk Rogers is a video game designer and entrepreneur. He is known for producing Japan's first major turn-based role-playing video game
The Black Onyx
, securing the rights to distribute Tetris
on video game consoles where the game found popularity, and as the founder of The Tetris Company which licenses the Tetris trademark.
and is of Dutch
-Indonesian
(Indo) descent. He lived in New York City
, United States
, from the age of eleven. He attended Stuyvesant High School
where he got his first taste of computer programming. He then studied Computer Science
and Role Playing Games at the University of Hawaii
.
During the late 1970s, he moved to Japan
. He established his own publishing company Bullet-Proof Software to bring The Black Onyx
to market. This game, inspired by Lord of the Rings and Wizardry
, was the first major turn-based RPG
to hit stores in Japan (where it was a departure from real-time RPGs
such as Bokosuka Wars
, Dragon Slayer and Hydlide
), predating the seminal Dragon Quest
(1986).
In 1986, Rogers published his first Nintendo game Kyuroban Igo on the Japanese 8-bit Famicom
, called the Nintendo Entertainment System
outside of Japan. His second Nintendo
game was Super Black Onyx for which he commissioned graphic artist Roger Dean to do the cover art. It would be the first of many joint projects for Henk Rogers and Roger Dean.
Rogers discovered Tetris during a Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas
in 1988. At the time, the game was being distributed in several countries under a master license agreement which the original licensee had not honored. Rogers went to Moscow
(without an invitation) to see if he could obtain rights to distribute the game. Two other companies were simultaneously bidding for the same rights. Rogers brought Nintendo
on board and secured the exclusive rights to market Tetris on video game consoles. Nintendo successfully used this grant to squeeze its rival Atari
out of the market, as Atari had sought to market Tetris based on the original (invalid) license.
During the negotiations in Moscow, Rogers also became friends with the game's Russian author Alexey Pajitnov. In 1990, he helped Pajitnov move to the United States and set up a new company, AnimaTek, to develop new computer graphic technologies.
In 1996, the rights for Tetris reverted to Pajitnov. Rogers moved from Japan to Hawaii, where he founded Blue Planet Software
and The Tetris Company, a Delaware company that exclusively licenses the Tetris trademark.
Rogers founded Blue Lava Wireless in 2002 to develop mobile gaming software. The company was sold to Jamdat in 2005, along with a license to the mobile game trademark rights to Tetris.
After selling Blue Lava Wireless, Rogers co-founded two new companies in December 2005: Blue Lava Technologies / iLovePhotos and Avatar Reality
. Blue Lava Technologies was started to focus on bringing photo slideshows to any platform. Their product, iLovePhotos, was released at the DEMOfall conference and is one of the only desktop products to use facial detection to help organize photos on the Mac. Avatar Reality was started to create a massively multiplayer online game
based on a terraformed
Mars.
Rogers is currently involved in the development of Blue Mars
, a virtual world.
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
The Black Onyx
The Black Onyx
The Black Onyx is a 1984 computer role-playing game released in Japan by Bullet-Proof Software, and written by Henk Rogers. It was one of the first Japanese-language RPGs ever made, and helped familiarize the Japanese public with RPGs. It was originally released for the NEC PC-8801, and ported to...
, securing the rights to distribute Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
on video game consoles where the game found popularity, and as the founder of The Tetris Company which licenses the Tetris trademark.
Life and career
Henk B. Rogers was born in the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and is of Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
-Indonesian
Overseas Indonesian
An Overseas Indonesian is a person of Indonesian origin who lives outside of Indonesia. This term applies to people of Indonesian birth and descent who are citizens or residents of temporary status.-History:...
(Indo) descent. He lived in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, from the age of eleven. He attended Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...
where he got his first taste of computer programming. He then studied Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and Role Playing Games at the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
.
During the late 1970s, he moved to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He established his own publishing company Bullet-Proof Software to bring The Black Onyx
The Black Onyx
The Black Onyx is a 1984 computer role-playing game released in Japan by Bullet-Proof Software, and written by Henk Rogers. It was one of the first Japanese-language RPGs ever made, and helped familiarize the Japanese public with RPGs. It was originally released for the NEC PC-8801, and ported to...
to market. This game, inspired by Lord of the Rings and Wizardry
Wizardry
Wizardry is a series of computer role-playing games, developed by Sir-Tech, which were highly influential in the development of modern console and computer role playing games. The original Wizardry was a significant influence to early console RPGs, such as Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. ...
, was the first major turn-based RPG
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
to hit stores in Japan (where it was a departure from real-time RPGs
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
such as Bokosuka Wars
Bokosuka Wars
is a 1983 action-strategy role-playing video game developed by Kōji Sumii and released by ASCII for the Sharp X1 computer, followed by ports to the MSX, FM-7, NEC PC-6001, NEC PC-8801 and NEC PC-9801 computer platforms, as well as an altered version released for the Nintendo Famicom console and...
, Dragon Slayer and Hydlide
Hydlide
is a action role-playing video game developed and published by T&E Soft. It was originally released for the NEC PC-6001 and NEC PC-8801 computer in 1984, in Japan only; an MSX release came the following year...
), predating the seminal Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest
, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles...
(1986).
In 1986, Rogers published his first Nintendo game Kyuroban Igo on the Japanese 8-bit Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, called the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
outside of Japan. His second Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
game was Super Black Onyx for which he commissioned graphic artist Roger Dean to do the cover art. It would be the first of many joint projects for Henk Rogers and Roger Dean.
Rogers discovered Tetris during a Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
in 1988. At the time, the game was being distributed in several countries under a master license agreement which the original licensee had not honored. Rogers went to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(without an invitation) to see if he could obtain rights to distribute the game. Two other companies were simultaneously bidding for the same rights. Rogers brought Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
on board and secured the exclusive rights to market Tetris on video game consoles. Nintendo successfully used this grant to squeeze its rival Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
out of the market, as Atari had sought to market Tetris based on the original (invalid) license.
During the negotiations in Moscow, Rogers also became friends with the game's Russian author Alexey Pajitnov. In 1990, he helped Pajitnov move to the United States and set up a new company, AnimaTek, to develop new computer graphic technologies.
In 1996, the rights for Tetris reverted to Pajitnov. Rogers moved from Japan to Hawaii, where he founded Blue Planet Software
Blue Planet Software
Blue Planet Software, formerly known as Bullet Proof Software, is a video game developer and publisher. The original Bullet Proof Software was founded in Japan in the 1980s. Blue Planet Software was founded by Henk Rogers in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1996....
and The Tetris Company, a Delaware company that exclusively licenses the Tetris trademark.
Rogers founded Blue Lava Wireless in 2002 to develop mobile gaming software. The company was sold to Jamdat in 2005, along with a license to the mobile game trademark rights to Tetris.
After selling Blue Lava Wireless, Rogers co-founded two new companies in December 2005: Blue Lava Technologies / iLovePhotos and Avatar Reality
Avatar Reality
Avatar Reality is a Honolulu-based game studio founded by Henk B. Rogers and Kazuyuki Hashimoto in December 2006. Rogers with Alexy Pajitnov is known for creating Tetris and introducing it to the world and especially to US markets, and Kazuyuki is best known for developing the game Final Fantasy...
. Blue Lava Technologies was started to focus on bringing photo slideshows to any platform. Their product, iLovePhotos, was released at the DEMOfall conference and is one of the only desktop products to use facial detection to help organize photos on the Mac. Avatar Reality was started to create a massively multiplayer online game
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
based on a terraformed
Terraforming
Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
Mars.
Rogers is currently involved in the development of Blue Mars
Blue Mars (video game)
Blue Mars is a 3D massively multiplayer virtual world platform currently in open beta. It falls in the general category of social virtual worlds allowing user-created content....
, a virtual world.