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Amanda Wixted | |
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| Born | November 23, 1981 Paris, France |
| Education | University of Arizona (2002-2005) |
| Occupation | Video game programmer |
Amanda Wixted (born November 23, 1981) is an American video game programmer and founder of Meteor Grove Software.
Wixted was born on November 23, 1981, in Paris, France. At the age of two, she moved to Kuwait City, and at the age of nine, to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and at age 15 moved again to attend Stevenson School, a boarding school in Pebble Beach, California. [1] She graduated from Stevenson School in 2000 and attended the University of Arizona [1] where she received a bachelor's degree in computer science.
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After graduating from the University of Arizona in 2005, Wixted took a job as a game programmer for SkillJam. There, she led a development team that created 10 mobile multiplayer games. Wixted also worked on a two-player turn-based strategy game while at SkillJam. [2]
In May 2007, Wixted left SkillJam and began working at Namco Networks America At Namco, Wixted ported games such as Pac-Man , Galaga , and Dig Dug to the iPhone and J2ME mobile devices . Wixted was only at Namco for a year and a half.
Wixted was hired as a network operator and server-side gameplay developer at Zynga. In 2009, the company launched a Facebook game called PetVille. Wixted developed the server-side gameplay features for PetVille. Previous to the release of PetVille, she was promoted to the tech lead for the iPhone team at Zynga. [2]
As tech lead, Wixted widely expanded the company's social gaming network on the iPhone. She led development teams on game applications such as LivePoker, Mafia Wars, Street Racing, Vampire Wars and FarmVille. [3]
In 2011, Wixted co-founded Hyperspace, Inc. in the Greater New York City area. There, she worked on Turf Geography Club, a mobile location-based game.
Wixted then started Meteor Grove Software in Austin, Texas in 2011 and consults on and developing iOS software. [1]
Wixted is currently CTO of Homer, an educational startup that helps kids learn to read.
In 2014, Wixted married Timothy Fitz. The two currently live in Austin, Texas with their child Ruby Polaris who was born on March 27, 2015.
Pac-Man, originally called Puck Man in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.
Dig Dug is a maze arcade video game released by Namco in 1982. It was distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player digs underground tunnels to attack enemies in each level, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rocks.
Pac-Man Vs. is a 2003 maze video game developed by Nintendo and published by Namco for the GameCube. In the game, one player takes control of Pac-Man, who must eat all of the pellets in the maze, while the others control the ghosts to try to catch them. The objective is to be the first to reach a set number of points, selected before the game begins. The player controlling Pac-Man uses the Game Boy Advance to play, while the others use the television to control the ghosts. The game requires the GameCube - Game Boy Advance link cable in order to play.
Mr. Driller is a puzzle video game franchise created by Yasuhito Nagaoka and Hideo Yoshizawa for Namco. The eponymous first game was released in 1999 for arcades and several home consoles, such as the PlayStation. Gameplay in the series consists of controlling Susumu Hori, the titular Mr. Driller, or one of his friends and destroying colorful formations of blocks to make it to the bottom of a well. In order to survive, players need to collect air capsules to replenish their depleting oxygen and avoid being crushed by falling blocks.
Rally-X is a maze chase arcade video game developed in Japan and Germany by Namco and released in 1980. In North America, it was distributed by Midway Manufacturing and in Europe by Karateco. Players drive a blue Formula One race car through a multidirectional scrolling maze to collect yellow flags. Boulders block some paths and must be avoided. Red enemy cars pursue the player in an attempt to collide with them. Red cars can be temporarily stunned by laying down smoke screens at the cost of fuel. Rally-X is one of the first games with bonus stages and continuously-playing background music.
A video game clone is either a video game or a video game console very similar to, or heavily inspired by, a previous popular game or console. Clones are typically made to take financial advantage of the popularity of the cloned game or system, but clones may also result from earnest attempts to create homages or expand on game mechanics from the original game. An additional motivation unique to the medium of games as software with limited compatibility, is the desire to port a simulacrum of a game to platforms that the original is unavailable for or unsatisfactorily implemented on.
A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessions, and require less learned skill. They do not expect familiarity with a standard set of mechanics, controls, and tropes.
Pac-Mania is a cavalier perspective maze game that was developed and released by Namco for arcades in 1987. In the game, the player controls Pac-Man as he must eat all of the dots while avoiding the colored ghosts that chase him in the maze. Eating large flashing "Power Pellets" will allow Pac-Man to eat the ghosts for bonus points, which lasts for a short period of time. A new feature to this game allows Pac-Man to jump over the ghosts to evade capture. It is the ninth title in the Pac-Man video game series and was the last one developed for arcades up until the release of Pac-Man Arrangement in 1996. Development was directed by Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani. It was licensed to Atari Games for release in North America.
Zynga Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher known for its social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California. The company primarily focuses on mobile and social networking platforms. Zynga states its mission as "connecting the world through games".
Mafia Wars is a defunct freemium multiplayer social network game created by Zynga. Players assume the roles of gangsters while building their own Mafia-type organization. The players fight and "rob" other players online - completing jobs, missions, and operations to gain rewards and strength in an endless game.
FarmVille is a series of agriculture-simulation social network games developed and published by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to Happy Farm and Farm Town. Its gameplay involves various aspects of farmland management, such as plowing land, planting, growing, and harvesting crops, harvesting trees and raising livestock. The sequels FarmVille 2 and FarmVille 3 were released in September 2012 and November 2021, respectively.
We Rule was a free-to-play mobile game developed by Newtoy and published by ngmoco for iOS and later on Android. It was available for download on the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad on the App Store or iTunes, and attracted many users since its release in March 2010. Although a free app, customers were able to buy in-app purchases; as of April 2010, it was the highest-grossing free-to-download game for the iOS. Within weeks of release, We Rule was estimated to have been downloaded millions of times, with approximately two million user sessions per day. Its gameplay was in part inspired by the Zynga game FarmVille.
Namco Networks was an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones, based in San Jose, California. The company was founded on January 1, 2006, as the mobile phone division of Namco America, and produced video games for mobile phones in North America, Europe and Asia, many of which were ports of older Namco video games. Their first release was a port of Pac-Man, which was part of a batch of nine titles to be released for the iPod. Namco Networks' licensed port of Scene It? Movies is regarded as one of the first North American mobile games to incorporate downloadable, streaming video content for phones. In 2011, the company was merged with Namco Hometek, who was Namco's older home console division, to form Bandai Namco Games America, which subsequently became Bandai Namco Entertainment America in 2015.
CityVille was a casual social city-building game developed by Zynga, and released in December 2010.
Zynga with Friends was a video game developer founded in 2008 by brothers Paul Bettner and David Bettner, and their cousin Michael Chow. In November 2008, Newtoy, Inc. released its first game for the iPhone and iPod touch, Chess with Friends, an asynchronous multiplayer game released for the Apple App Store. In August the following year, it released its second game for iPhone and iPod touch, Words with Friends, another asynchronous multiplayer game with gameplay similar to Scrabble, which ultimately became their best known game. In November 2010, the company was acquired by Zynga for $53.3 million and an undisclosed amount of stock. Following the acquisition, the studio would be rebranded to Zynga with Friends in December of that year. Newtoy would be the company's fourteenth acquisition within its peak years.
CityVille Hometown is a defunct social city-building simulation game. Based on CityVille and developed by Zynga, the mobile game was released in June 2011 and is available on iOS.
Bubble Safari is a defunct tile-matching social network game by Zynga. The object is to help a monkey named Bubbles reconnect with his friends. Following its May 2012 release, Bubble Safari became the fastest-growing Facebook game, with 1.9 million active users for the week of July 9. PC Magazine ranked Bubble Safari as no. 5 on its Best Facebook Games list. Arcade game designer Mark Turmell, noted for such games as NBA Jam, received credit for Bubble Safari’s development. Bubble Safari is Zynga’s first arcade game, the first Zynga game released on Zynga.com and Facebook simultaneously, and the first game from Zynga San Diego.
Dream PetHouse is a defunct mobile simulation social network game created by Zynga. This game was available for users to download starting on February 2, 2012. The game was similar to other games that focus on building, such as Zynga Dream Zoo. In Dream PetHouse, users could collect and care for cute animals. A free version of the game was available to users, but to speed up advancement in the game, a user could pay real money to buy digital fruit, seeds or coins. This type of game is known as a freemium. The height of Dream PetHouse's popularity was in June, 2012, when according to Daily Active User (DAU) metrics, there were about 400,515 daily users. Using DAU metrics, Dream PetHouse had about 12,602 daily users in April, 2013. On May 21, 2013, Zynga announced that it would cease supporting this game on June 28, 2013. The server was finally shut down on July 4 or 5.
Cosmo Gang the Puzzle is a 1992 falling block puzzle arcade video game developed and published by Namco worldwide. The third game in its Cosmo Gang series, succeeding that year's Cosmo Gang the Video, players stack groups of blocks and aliens known as Jammers in a vertical-oriented well. The objective is to clear as many objects on the screen before they reach the top of the screen. Blocks are cleared by aligning them into complete horizontal rows, while Jammers are cleared by defeating them with blue-colored spheres.
Pac-Man 99 was a maze video game with battle royale elements developed by Arika and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the Nintendo Switch. It was released through the Nintendo Switch Online service on April 7, 2021.
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