Noah Falstein
Encyclopedia
Noah Falstein is a freelance game designer and producer
who has been in the video game industry since 1980. He was one of the first 10 employees at Lucasfilm Games (which became LucasArts
Entertainment), DreamWorks Interactive (which became EALA), and The 3DO Company (which became defunct). Currently he runs The Inspiracy and writes the "Better by Design" column for Game Developer magazine. A few of his credits include:
Since 1996, Falstein has been president of The Inspiracy, a consulting firm specializing in game design and production for clients on five continents, ranging from corporate training (Cisco
, Microsoft
) to medical education (Hopelab
, Health Media Lab, Medical Cyberworlds) to entertainment (LucasArts, Disney, DreamCatcher
, Micro Forte
).
Falstein's work on "The 400 Project" has attracted recent attention. It is an attempt to collect rules of computer game design
under a standard format. The concept was pioneered by Hal Barwood
, who co-designed Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis with Falstein. Falstein is also active in the development of the emerging market of serious game
s.
Falstein was Chair of the International Game Developers Association
from 1997 to 1999, he is on the advisory boards of the Games for Health
Conference and Serious Games Summit.
Game producer
A video game producer is the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game.The earliest documented use of the term producer in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he founded Electronic Arts in 1982...
who has been in the video game industry since 1980. He was one of the first 10 employees at Lucasfilm Games (which became LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
Entertainment), DreamWorks Interactive (which became EALA), and The 3DO Company (which became defunct). Currently he runs The Inspiracy and writes the "Better by Design" column for Game Developer magazine. A few of his credits include:
- SinistarSinistarSinistar is an arcade game released by Williams in 1982. It belongs to a class of video games from the 1980s called "twitch games". Other "twitch games" include Tempest, Defender, and Robotron: 2084. Sinistar was developed by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical and Richard Witt...
(arcade gameArcade gameAn arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
) - project leader, co-designer (Williams Electronics, 1983) - Koronis RiftKoronis RiftKoronis Rift is a December 1985 computer game from Lucasfilm Games. It was produced and designed by Noah Falstein.The game was supplied on a flippy disk. One side had the Atari version, the other side had the Commodore 64 version...
(Commodore 64Commodore 64The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
) - project leader, designer, programmer (Lucasfilm Games, 1985) - PHM PegasusPHM PegasusPHM Pegasus is a ship simulation and action game released for the Commodore 64, Apple II, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The game was developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by Electronic Arts...
(Commodore 64Commodore 64The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
) - project leader, designer, programmer (Lucasfilm Games, 1986) - Battlehawks 1942Battlehawks 1942- External links :*****...
(DOSDOSDOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
) - producer, design contributor (Lucasfilm Games, 1988) - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic AdventureIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic AdventureIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1989 , published by Lucasfilm Games . It was the third game to use the SCUMM engine.-Plot:The plot closely follows, and expands upon, the film of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...
(DOS) - co-project leader, co-designer (LucasArts, 1989) - Indiana Jones and the Fate of AtlantisIndiana Jones and the Fate of AtlantisIndiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is a point-and-click adventure game by LucasArts originally released in 1992. Almost a year later, it was reissued on CD-ROM as an enhanced "talkie" edition with full voice acting and digitized sound effects...
(DOS) - co-designer (LucasArts, 1992) - Chaos Island (WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
) - designer (DreamWorks Interactive, 1997) - Hungry Red Planet (Windows) - designer (Health Media Lab, 2002)
Since 1996, Falstein has been president of The Inspiracy, a consulting firm specializing in game design and production for clients on five continents, ranging from corporate training (Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
) to medical education (Hopelab
HopeLab
HopeLab is a non-profit organization based in Redwood City, CA that conducts research and develops technology-based products to improve the health and quality of life of young people with chronic illness. HopeLab's work focuses on five diseases: cancer, obesity, sickle cell disease, major...
, Health Media Lab, Medical Cyberworlds) to entertainment (LucasArts, Disney, DreamCatcher
Dreamcatcher
Dreamcatcher is a Native American cultural object.Dreamcatcher may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Dreamcatcher , a 2001 novel by Stephen King** Dreamcatcher , based on the Stephen King novel...
, Micro Forte
Micro Forte
Micro Forté now known as Micro Forté Studios, is an Australian electronic entertainment company with development studios in Canberra, Australia and Sydney, Australia...
).
Falstein's work on "The 400 Project" has attracted recent attention. It is an attempt to collect rules of computer game design
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
under a standard format. The concept was pioneered by Hal Barwood
Hal Barwood
Hal Barwood is an American game designer and game producer best known for his work on games based on the Indiana Jones license.Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, he studied art at Brown University and later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, where he met and...
, who co-designed Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis with Falstein. Falstein is also active in the development of the emerging market of serious game
Serious game
A serious game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to products used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, health care, emergency management, city planning, engineering, religion,...
s.
Falstein was Chair of the International Game Developers Association
International Game Developers Association
International Game Developers Association is the professional society for over 10,000 video and computer game developers worldwide.It is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization....
from 1997 to 1999, he is on the advisory boards of the Games for Health
Games for Health
Games for Health is a series of conferences made possible in part by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of their Pioneer Portfolio program...
Conference and Serious Games Summit.
External links
- The Inspiracy - Falstein's company
- More on The 400 Project
- Interview with The Dig Museum