Boffo Games
{{short description|American video game developer (1994–1997)}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Boffo Games
| logo = Boffo logo.png
| type = Defunct
| foundation = February 1994{{cite web | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324032240/http://cdmag.com/articles/030/176/meret_inter.html | url=http://cdmag.com:80/articles/030/176/meret_inter.html | title=Steve Meretzky | date=November 23, 2000 | author=Shif, Gil Alexander | work=Computer Games Magazine | archivedate=March 24, 2005 | url-status=dead | access-date=June 12, 2019 }}
| location =
| key_people = Steve Meretzky
Mike Dornbrook
Leo DaCosta
| industry = Video games
| products =
| revenue =
| homepage = {{URL|boffo.us}}
}}
Boffo Games was a video game developer founded in 1994 by Steve Meretzky, Mike Dornbrook, and Leo DaCosta. The logo was designed by Gayle Syska, formerly of Infocom. Boffo produced two games, Hodj 'n' Podj and The Space Bar, before closing its doors in 1997. Hodj 'n' Podj was originally designed for Media Vision but it divested all of its multimedia interests following a securities-fraud scandal and the title was purchased by Virgin Interactive. The Space Bar was originally to be published by Rocket Science Games (RSG) but SegaSoft bought out RSG and became the game's publisher.
History
{{expand section|date=June 2018}}
In late 1993, designer Steve Meretzky began to consider founding an independent game development studio with his friends Mike Dornbrook and Leo DaCosta. The three of them had gone to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology together, and Meretzky had worked with Dornbrook at Infocom and with DaCosta during the 1990s.
Following the 1989 closure of Infocom, Meretzky worked on a contractual basis for companies such as Legend Entertainment. However, Meretzky later called this period of remote work "creatively unsatisfying" and sometimes "frustrating".{{cite journal | author=Garneau, Brenda | authorlink=Brenda Romero | title=Interview; Steve Meretzky: Der Urvater schenkel klopfender Adventures | date=August 1997 | journal=Power Play | pages=158–163 }} He preferred to work on location with a team,{{cite web | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615004251/http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/169/ | url=http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com:80/index.php/site/interviews/169/ | title=Steve Meretzky | author=Jong, Philip | date=May 3, 2001 | archivedate=June 15, 2006 | work=Adventure Classic Gaming | url-status=live | access-date=June 12, 2019 }} and he decided that he no longer wanted "to design games for someone else thousands of miles away."
The involvement of Dornbrook, a business school graduate, made the idea of an independent company more viable. According to Meretzky, the final impetus for the project came when Dornbrook read an article about Media Vision's new game division, founded in mid-1993 under record label executive Stan Cornyn.{{cite magazine | author=McGowan, Chris | title=HomeVideo; CD-ROM Unit in Field of Media Vision | date=June 12, 1993 | magazine=Billboard | pages=59, 60 | volume=105 | number=24 }} As Cornyn was an acquaintance of Dornbrook's,{{cite conference | author=Dornbrook, Mike | date=May 1998 | location=Long Beach, California | conference=Computer Game Developers Conference | title=Look Before You Leap: The Rise and Fall of Boffo Games | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014135015/http://gdcvault.com/play/1013993/Look-Before-You-Leap-The | url=http://gdcvault.com/play/1013993/Look-Before-You-Leap-The | archivedate=October 14, 2016 | url-status=live }} Dornbrook was able to secure a New York meeting with the executive's second-in-command, Linda Rich.
List of games made by Boffo
- Hodj 'n' Podj
- Reverse Alien (cancelled){{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513001455/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131887/building_character_an_analysis_of_.php?page=1 | url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/building-character-an-analysis-of-character-creation | title=Building Character: An Analysis of Character Creation | website=Gamasutra | archive-date=May 13, 2012 | date=November 19, 2001 | author=Meretzky, Steve | url-status=live | authorlink=Steve Meretzky }}
- The Space Bar
References
External links
- [http://www.boffo.us/ Boffo Games, Inc.]
- {{MobyGames company|company=boffo-games-inc}}
{{Boffo Games}}
Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States
Category:Video game companies established in 1994