XOR Corporation

Last updated

XOR Corporation (pronounced eks-or) [1] was a video game developer and publisher based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, founded in 1982 [1] by Glenn Diamond. [2] XOR was active until 1990 and primarily released games for DOS and Macintosh, but also released the DOS business applications Blu Chip, a stock portfolio manager, [3] : 119  and Thoth, a database manager, [3] : 125  [3] and the C utility C Tools. [3] : 143 

Contents

Two games published by XOR Corporation for Macintosh, MacGolf (1986) and MacSki (1990), were inducted into the Macworld Game Hall of Fame in the "Best Sports Game" category. [4] [5] MacGolf was a top-selling Macintosh game upon its release and had sold 70,000 copies by 1988; it was still the best-selling Macintosh game in September 1988. [6]

In 1985 XOR released NFL Challenge, an American football simulation game officially endorsed by the NFL, [7] for DOS and Macintosh. ESPN used NFL Challenge to simulate games for its NFL Dream Season television show, playing each game 100 times to determine the outcomes. [8] NFL Challenge was the first software officially licensed by the NFL. [9]

In the wake of NFL Challenge's success, XOR CEO Glenn Diamond approached the CIA in 1985 about an official endorsement and collaboration for an upcoming video game. The CIA rejected his proposal. [2]

In 1985, XOR corporation collaborated with Timothy Leary on an unreleased video game, book, and possible companion album by Devo with the working title The Brain Game. The game intended to use Leary's brain models to increase the player's intelligence via a symbiotic process of psychological testing and self-reflection. [1] [10] [11] [12]

Release history

Games

Business and utilities

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh Classic</span> Personal computer by Apple Computer

The Macintosh Classic is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from October 1990 to September 1992. It was the first Macintosh to sell for less than US$1,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe PageMaker</span> Desktop publishing program

Adobe PageMaker was a desktop publishing computer program introduced in 1985 by the Aldus Corporation on the Apple Macintosh. The combination of the Macintosh's graphical user interface, PageMaker publishing software, and the Apple LaserWriter laser printer marked the beginning of the desktop publishing revolution. Ported to PCs running Windows 1.0 in 1987, PageMaker helped to popularize both the Macintosh platform and the Windows environment.

<i>Macworld</i> Magazine and website dedicated to Apple products

Macworld is a digital magazine and website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AppleWorks</span> Office software suite from Apple

AppleWorks was an integrated office suite containing a word processor, database, and spreadsheet. It was developed by Rupert Lissner for Apple Computer, originally for the Apple II platform and launched in 1984. Many enhancements for AppleWorks were created, the most popular being the TimeOut series from Beagle Bros which extended the life of the Apple II version of AppleWorks. Appleworks was later reworked for the Macintosh platform.

Power Computing Corporation was the first company selected by Apple Inc to create Macintosh-compatible computers. Stephen “Steve” Kahng, a computer engineer best known for his design of the Leading Edge Model D, founded the company in November 1993. Power Computing started out with financial backing from Olivetti and Kahng.

<i>The Fools Errand</i> Meta-puzzle computer game from 1987

The Fool's Errand is a 1987 computer game by Cliff Johnson. It is a meta-puzzle game with storytelling, visual puzzles, and a cryptic treasure map. It is the tale of a wandering Fool who seeks his fortune in the Land of Tarot and braves the enchantments of the High Priestess. A sequel titled The Fool and His Money was released October 25, 2012.

The Print Shop is a basic desktop publishing software package originally published in 1984 by Broderbund. It was unique in that it provided libraries of clip art and templates through a simple interface to build signs, posters and banners with household dot-matrix printers. Over the years, the software has been updated to accommodate changing file formats and printer technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WriteNow</span> Word processor application

WriteNow is a word processor application for the original Apple Macintosh and later computers in the NeXT product line. The application is one of two word processors that were first developed with the goal that they be available at the time of the Mac product launch in 1984, and was the primary word processor for computers manufactured by NeXT. WriteNow was purchased from T/Maker by WordStar in 1993, but shortly after that, WordStar merged with SoftKey, which ultimately led to its discontinuation. It had a combination of powerful features, excellent performance, and small system requirements.

<i>Moonmist</i> 1986 video game

Moonmist is an interactive fiction computer game written by Stu Galley and Jim Lawrence and published by Infocom in 1986. The game was released simultaneously for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TRS-80, TI-99/4A, and Macintosh. It is Infocom's twenty-second game. Moonmist was re-released in Infocom's 1995 compilation The Mystery Collection, as well as the 1996 compilation Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casady & Greene</span>

Casady & Greene was a software publisher and developer active from 1988 to 2003. The company primarily released software for Macintosh, but also released software for Windows and Newton. Casady & Greene was formed in 1988 when Greene, Inc. acquired CasadyWare, a company owned by Robin Casady.

<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>At the Carnival</i> 1989 video game

At The Carnival is a puzzle video game by Cliff Johnson published in 1989 by Miles Computing.

Canvas X is a drawing, imaging, and publishing computer program from Canvas GFX for personal computers.

The Mac286 was an Intel 80286-based MS-DOS coprocessor expansion card for one of Apple Computer's first expandable Macintosh computers, the 1987 Macintosh II. It was developed by Phoenix Technologies under contract to Apple Computer and sold by AST Research in an effort to close the gap between the Macintosh and IBM PC computing worlds. AST also introduced the related Mac86 card for the Macintosh SE.

Orange Micro Inc. was an American computer hardware company that made products for use with Apple computers. The company made a variety of products for many machines, ranging from the Apple II series to the Macintosh line. The company went out of business in 2004.

<i>Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth</i> 1988 video game

Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth is an interactive fiction role-playing video game developed by Scott Schmitz and Ken Updike and released by Infocom for Macintosh in 1988. The game features a text parser, graphics, a dynamically updated map, and a graphical interface that incorporates Mac OS hierarchical menus.

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

Transylvania is an adventure video game published by Penguin Software. It was released for the Apple II in 1982 followed by ports to the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64. A Macintosh conversion was published in 1984, then versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS in 1985.

<i>Sargon III</i> 1983 video game

Sargon III is a computer chess software. It is a sequel to Sargon II.

<i>Reader Rabbit</i> (video game) 1984 video game

Reader Rabbit is a 1984 video game and the first of the long-running Reader Rabbit edutainment series. It was made by The Learning Company for Apple II and later for other computers. It also made use of the KoalaPad graphics tablet. The Connelley Group helped with the Atari 8-Bit conversion in 1984. A Talking version was developed for the Apple IIGS in 1989. An enhanced version was released for DOS on 1991. A Deluxe version was released in 1994 for Macintosh and Windows 3.x. In 1997, the game was remade for Windows and Macintosh under the title "Reader Rabbit's Reading 1".

<i>Grand Slam: World Class Tennis</i> 1986 sports video game

Grand Slam: World Class Tennis is a 1986 video game published by Infinity Software for Macintosh and Amiga.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Needle, Dave (September 19, 1983). "Leary: computer as partner in symbiotic relationship". InfoWorld . Vol. 5, no. 38. Popular Computing, Inc. p. 4.
  2. 1 2 "LETTR TO GLENN DIAMOND (SANITIZED)". CIA.gov. CIA. September 3, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Creative Computing 1984 Software Buyer's Guide . Ziff-Davis. 1984.
  4. ↑ Levy, Steven (December 1986). "The Game Hall of Fame". Macworld. Vol. 3, no. 12. San Francisco, CA: PCW Communications, Inc. pp. 120–121.
  5. ↑ Levy, Steven (December 1990). "The Game Hall of Fame". Macworld. Vol. 7, no. 12. San Francisco, CA: Macworld Communications, Inc. p. 213.
  6. ↑ Gross, Steve (November 24, 1988). "Making sure games are fun is serious business to them". Star Tribune . p. 11B.
  7. ↑ Brown, Eric (November 1985). "NFL Challenge: Play-by-Play". PC World . Vol. 3, no. 11. PC World Communications, Inc. pp. 168–177.
  8. ↑ Phipers, Todd (1989-09-01). "ESPN gives fans chance to dream". The Denver Post .
  9. ↑ "News Briefs: But does it simulate Howard Cosell?". InfoWorld . Vol. 6, no. 11. Popular Computing, Inc. March 12, 1984. p. 22.
  10. ↑ "Tradetalk". Softalk . Vol. 2, no. 8. Softalk Publishing, Inc. January 1984. p. 61.
  11. ↑ Mehrin, Elizabeth (February 17, 1994). "People in the News: Timothy Leary". PC Magazine . Vol. 3, no. 2. Ziff-Davis Publishing. p. 62.
  12. ↑ Brunt, Stephen (November 26, 1983). "Tim Leary turns on to video". The Globe and Mail . p. 10.
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.