XOR Corporation

XOR Corporation (pronounced {{respell|eks|-|or}}){{cite magazine

|title=Leary: computer as partner in symbiotic relationship

|magazine=InfoWorld

|last=Needle

|first=Dave

|volume=5

|number=38

|date=September 19, 1983

|page=4

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1y8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4

|publisher=Popular Computing, Inc.

}} was a video game developer and publisher based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, founded in 1982 by Glenn Diamond. 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,{{cite book

|title=Creative Computing 1984 Software Buyer's Guide

|date=1984

|publisher=Ziff-Davis

}}{{rp|119}} and Thoth, a database manager,{{r|computing|p=125}} and the C utility C Tools.{{r|computing|p=143}}

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.{{cite magazine

| last = Levy

| first = Steven

| date = December 1986

| title = The Game Hall of Fame

| url = https://archive.org/details/MacWorld_8612_December_1986/page/n121/mode/2up

| magazine = Macworld

| location = San Francisco, CA

| volume = 3

| number = 12

| pages = 120–121

| publisher = PCW Communications, Inc

}}{{cite magazine

| last = Levy

| first = Steven

| date = December 1990

| title = The Game Hall of Fame

| url = https://archive.org/details/MacWorld_9012_December_1990/page/n227/mode/2up

| magazine = Macworld

| location = San Francisco, CA

| volume = 7

| number = 12

| pages = 213

| publisher = Macworld Communications, Inc

}} 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.{{cite news

|title=Making sure games are fun is serious business to them

|last=Gross

|first=Steve

|work= Star Tribune

|date= November 24, 1988

|page=11B

}}

In 1985 XOR released NFL Challenge, an American football simulation game officially endorsed by the NFL,{{cite magazine

|title=NFL Challenge: Play-by-Play

|last=Brown

|first=Eric

|date=November 1985

|pages=168–177

|magazine=PC World

|volume=3

|number=11

|publisher=PC World Communications, Inc.

}} 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.{{cite news

|title=ESPN gives fans chance to dream

|last=Phipers

|first=Todd

|work=The Denver Post

|date=1989-09-01

}} NFL Challenge was the first software officially licensed by the NFL.{{cite magazine

|date=March 12, 1984

|title=News Briefs: But does it simulate Howard Cosell?

|magazine=InfoWorld

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=li4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22

|page=22

|volume=6

|number=11

|publisher=Popular Computing, Inc.

}}

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.{{cite web

|url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp87m00539r002403920001-8

|title=LETTR TO GLENN DIAMOND (SANITIZED)

|date=September 3, 2009

|website=CIA.gov

|publisher=CIA

}}

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.{{cite magazine

|title=Tradetalk

|magazine=Softalk

|date=January 1984

|page=61

|publisher=Softalk Publishing, Inc

|volume=2

|number=8

}}{{cite magazine

|title=People in the News: Timothy Leary

|last=Mehrin

|first=Elizabeth

|date=February 17, 1994