California Pacific Computer Company

Last updated

California Pacific Computer Company
Industry Video games
Founded1979
FounderAlvin Earl Remmers
DefunctMarch 3, 1986 (1986-03-03)
FateDefunct
Headquarters
Davis, California
,
United States

California Pacific Computer Co. was a computer software and game publisher active from 1979 to 1986, founded in Davis, California by Alvin Remmers. Its software was published exclusively for the Apple II computer and was an early commercial outlet for several important game designers including Richard Garriott, Bill Budge, and Michael Pondsmith.

Contents

History

The company was founded by Alvin Earl Remmers (1942-2022), who had previously been in the tie-dye shirt business and used early microcomputers to track SKUs. While traveling to computer stores in California, he saw a copy of Super Invader (1979) for the Apple II. He discovered the game had not been widely distributed so he created California Pacific Computer to act as a collector and publisher for Apple II programs. [1] Over 20,000 units of Super Invader sold; it was named the highest selling Apple II program by 1980. [2]

Remmers soon devised the concept of promoting the names of the software authors with his products. After meeting Bill Budge while seeking copy protection for the floppy disk version of Super Invader, California Pacific published three of his games in a collection titled Bill Budge’s Trilogy of Games (1980) and later four in Bill Budge's Space Album (1980). [1] After discovering Akalabeth: World of Doom (1980), Remmers collaborated with Softalk magazine to identify the author Richard Garriott under the pseudonym of Lord British [1] – a name that Remmers said he originated.

Al Remmers and his wife celebrated the first anniversary of On-Line Systems in 1981. Mr. and Mrs. Al Remers - On-Line Systems first anniversary celebration.jpg
Al Remmers and his wife celebrated the first anniversary of On-Line Systems in 1981.

California Pacific served as a distributor for early microcomputer software. it also served as the agent for early game companies Sirius Software and Strategic Simulations Inc. and its short-lived Oakland office distributed the operating system CP/M. [1] The publisher was known for its high quality packaging, though its games were distributed in sealed plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes. It used the label "Top of the Orchard Software" on many advertisements and disks. Much of the art on the packaging was provided by Michael Pondsmith – future creator of the Cyberpunk tabletop RPG – and Denis Loubet, who later worked with Origin Systems. Steve Gibson developed the copy protection for California Pacific's later products.

California Pacific kept the loyalty of collaborators through generous royalty payments to programmers. In 1981, it published Ultima (1981), the first in the long-running Ultima series. However, publicizing the authors without employing them proved to weaken the company's negotiating position. This compounded on the changing economics of computer distribution which made California Pacific’s product less profitable. Lastly, Remmers suffered addiction which led to tensions between him and the authors, leaving the company bereft by the end of 1981.

The company published several further games, the last few under the Progame label. Remmers sought addiction treatment and changed businesses. He became a documentary filmmaker, and died in 2022. [3]

Software published

Related Research Articles

<i>Asteroids</i> (video game) 1979 video game

Asteroids is a space-themed multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg released in November 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a single spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers, while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire. The game becomes harder as the number of asteroids increases.

<i>Pinball Construction Set</i> 1982 video game

Pinball Construction Set is a video game by Bill Budge written for the Apple II. It was originally published in 1982 through Budge's own company, BudgeCo, then was released by Electronic Arts in 1983 along with ports to the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Garriott</span> American video game developer, entrepreneur and space tourist (born 1961)

Richard Allen Garriott is a British-born American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut.

<i>Akalabeth: World of Doom</i> 1979 video game

Akalabeth: World of Doom is a role-playing video game created in 1979 for the Apple II by Richard Garriott, and published by California Pacific Computer Company in 1980. Garriott designed the game as a hobbyist project, which is now recognized as one of the earliest known examples of a role-playing video game and as a predecessor of the Ultima series of games that started Garriott's career. Garriott is the sole author of the game, with the exception of title artwork by Keith Zabalaoui.

<i>Miner 2049er</i> 1982 video game

Miner 2049er is a 1982 platformer game developed and published by Big Five Software in December 1982. It is set in a mine, where the player controls the Mountie Bounty Bob. The player controls Bounty Bob through multiple levels of a mine, with the goal of traversing all of the platforms in each level all while avoiding enemies and within a set amount of time.

<i>Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness</i> 1981 video game

Ultima, later known as Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness or simply Ultima I, is the first game in the Ultima series of role-playing video games created by Richard Garriott, originally released for the Apple II. It was first published in the United States by California Pacific Computer Company, which registered a copyright for the game on September 2, 1980 and officially released it in June 1981. Since its release, the game has been completely re-coded and ported to many different platforms. The 1986 re-code of Ultima is the most commonly known and available version of the game.

<i>Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress</i> 1982 video game

Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, released on August 24, 1982, for the Apple II, is the second role-playing video game in the Ultima series, and the second installment in Ultima's "Age of Darkness" trilogy.

1979 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Space Invaders Part II and Super Speed Race, along with new titles such as Asteroids, Football, Galaxian, Head On, Heiankyo Alien, Monaco GP, Sheriff and Warrior. For the second year in a row, the highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game Space Invaders and the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Budge</span> American video game programmer and designer

Bill Budge is a retired American video game programmer and designer. He is best known for the Apple II games Raster Blaster (1981) and Pinball Construction Set (1983).

<i>Softalk</i>

Softalk was an American magazine of the early 1980s that focused on the Apple II computer. Published from September 1980 through August 1984, it featured articles about hardware and software associated with the Apple II platform and the people and companies who made them. The name was originally used on a newsletter of Apple Software pioneer company, Softape, who in 1980 changed its name to Artsci Inc.

<i>Raster Blaster</i> 1981 video game

Bill Budge's Raster Blaster is a home computer pinball simulation written by Bill Budge for the Apple II and published in 1981 by Budge's company, BudgeCo. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers. Raster Blaster resembles the Williams Firepower table from 1980.

Nasir Gebelli is an Iranian-American programmer and video game designer usually credited in his games as simply Nasir. He became known in the early 1980s for programming action games for Apple II, such as Space Eggs. These were initially published by Sirius Software, then he started his own company, Gebelli Software. Several of the games he wrote for Gebelli Software were 3D space combat simulators for the Apple II.

<i>Super Invader</i> 1979 video game

Super Invader is a fixed shooter video game and a clone of Space Invaders. It was written by Japanese programmer M. Hata for the Apple II and published by Creative Computing Software in November 1979.

<i>Apventure to Atlantis</i> 1982 video game

Apventure to Atlantis is the sequel to Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure written by Bob Clardy for the Apple II and published by Synergistic Software in 1982.

<i>Bandits</i> (video game) 1982 video game

Bandits is a 1982 fixed shooter written by Tony and Benny Ngo for the Apple II and published by Sirius Software. The game is a clone of Taito's 1980 Stratovox arcade video game where the goal is to prevent aliens from stealing objects. Bandits was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and VIC-20.

<i>Bill Budges Space Album</i> 1980 video game collection

Bill Budge's Space Album is a collection of four Apple II action games written by Bill Budge and published by California Pacific Computer Company in 1980. The games are Death Star, Asteroids, Tail Gunner, and Solar Shootout. Death Star was based around a scenario similar to the Death Star "trench battle" that formed the climax of the 1977 film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Asteroids was a variant of the popular arcade video game of the same name.

<i>Apple-Oids</i> 1980 video game

Apple-Oids is a clone of Atari, Inc.'s Asteroids arcade video game. It was written by Tom Luhrs for the Apple II and published by California Pacific Computer Company in 1980. The asteroids in Apple-oids are in the shape of apples.

<i>Adventure in Time</i> 1981 video game

Adventure in Time is a text adventure written by Paul Berker for the Apple II. It was published in 1981 by Phoenix Software, followed by a version for Atari 8-bit computers in 1983.

<i>Empire II: Interstellar Sharks</i> 1982 video game

Empire II: Interstellar Sharks is a 1982 video game for the Apple II published by Edu-Ware. It is the second game in the Empire trilogy, preceded by Empire I: World Builders (1981) and followed by Empire III: Armageddon (1983).

<i>Black Belt</i> (1984 video game) 1984 video game

Black Belt is a fighting game published in 1984 by Earthware Computer Services for the Apple II and Commodore 64. It was released as an educational video game supplement to real life taekwondo training. The player spars with another human or computer opponent while strictly adhering to the rules of the sport including scoring and penalties. Black Belt is the fourth game from Earthware and the second programmed by Kevin Ryan for the company.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Knudsen, Richard (January 1981). "Innovative Marketing Budges Retailers". Softalk. Vol. 1, no. 4. pp. 32–34.
  2. ↑ "Super Invader Is Readers' Choice". Softalk . Vol. 1. April 1981. p. 13.
  3. ↑ "Alvin Earl Remmers". The Davis Enterprise. December 30, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "The Top Thirty". Softalk . Vol. 1, no. 1. October 1980. p. 27.
  5. ↑ "Apple-Oids". Peelings II. Vol. 2, no. 3. May 1981. p. 10.
  6. ↑ "Ultima ...the ultimate fantasy role-playing game". Softalk . Vol. 1. April 1981. p. 2.
  7. ↑ "High Scores". Softline. Vol. 1. July 1982. p. 35.
  8. ↑ "Marketalk News". Softalk. Vol. 3. May 1983. p. 127.
  9. ↑ "Lady Tut". Softalk . Vol. 3. July 1983. p. 167.
  10. ↑ "Marketalk". Softalk . Vol. 3. August 1983. p. 173.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.