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for game programmers. Budge said "I wasn't that interested in playing or designing games. My real love was in writing fast graphics code. It occurred to me that creating tools for others to make games was a way for me to indulge my interest in programming without having to make games." and "The way I
296:, a more general tool which allows users to create arbitrary pinball tables, including how the components are wired together. The project required him to write a mini-paint program, a mini sound editor and save/load systems. Some of the components he already had, which he developed for
345:, Budge attempted to create a "construction set construction set," but abandoned the idea after determining that it was too complex a concept. Royalties meant that he did not have to work, and EA eventually gave up asking Budge for another project.
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game while working for Apple in 1981. There was a pinball craze among the engineers there and it occurred to him that a pinball game would be a fun programming challenge. At that point he wrote
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Shortly after this, Budge disbanded BudgeCo, which he says was something of a relief for him, since he was really just a programmer and was not interested in being an entrepreneur.
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drive salesman who traveled from store to store; he and the salesman agreed to split profits of selling his games 50/50. Budge was shocked when he got his first check for
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got started was by not trying to do anything original at all. I wanted to learn how to write videogames. I ... just went to arcades and copied the games that I saw."
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and its software. He found that MousePaint was easier to use and more efficient, and predicted that the mouse would receive more software support than the pad.
145:. He purchased an Apple II and began writing games. He enjoyed it so much that he dropped out of school and became a game programmer. Budge's first game was a
543:
Bill Budge is nonetheless an important person in the computer industry and its history, and I'm glad he's still around to celebrate his 57th birthday.
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227:, a program allowing rudimentary creation of wireframe images on the Apple II for use in games or other applications. It was published in 1981 by
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432:. He remained with the company for nine years until its demise in 2003. Budge returned to EA but stayed for less than two years. He joined
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eventually sold 300,000 copies over all platforms. EA marketed Budge and other early EA developers with publicity photographs by
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clone, that "Consistently excellent graphics are a trademark of Bill Budge's games". Budge marketed his games commercially with a
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By 1983, however, the computer game publishing arena had become too complex for Budge, who did not really want to be an
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Budge does not enjoy playing video games, and described having to play pinball for months while developing
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272:. He realized he could do what the big distributors were doing: putting the games in packaging—
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811:"ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ARTS & SCIENCES NAMES BILL BUDGE AS ITS SECOND PIONEER AWARD RECIPIENT"
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315:(whom he had met when they both worked at Apple) to publish his games, he discussed the idea with
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bags—and delivering them to software stores. Budge and his sister, who also handled the
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Yesterday was my last day at Google. Instead of working from home, now retired at home.
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On
February 10, 2011, Budge was the second recipient of the Pioneer Award from the
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s reviewer stated in
December 1984 that he made far fewer errors when using an
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for the Apple II. Apple
Computer released the mouse and software in May 1984.
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Budge wrote MousePaint, which was a program for the Apple II similar to the
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for "User
Generated Content/Game Modification". Budge accepted the award.
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412:. Ten tables can be saved, but they cannot be shared with other players.
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in 2004 as Lead Tools
Programmer. Budge left Sony after six years for
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published a collection of four of Budge's Apple II games in 1980 as
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Academy of
Interactive Arts & Sciences Pioneer Award recipients
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with
Hawkins, and author tours to computer and department stores.
147:
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Budge says he became interested in computers while obtaining a
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Excerpts from a Nov 1998 interview, with link to complete text
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and collision detection were difficult on the Apple II's 1
755:"Bill Budge - LinkedIn profile [self-published]"
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in 2010. Budge retired from Google in
January 2022.
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Budge formed his own company, BudgeCo to distribute
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775:"@BillB post on Twitter [self-published]"
212:as "sheer torture." He more enjoyed writing fast
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603:
601:
599:
539:Happy birthday to Steve Wozniak and Bill Budge
105:(born August 11, 1954) is a retired American
8:
820:. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
733:"DICE 2011: Bill Budge Pioneer Award Panel"
541:, by Ken Gagne, 2011-08-11, Apple II Bits,
452:and have two children, Natalie and Andrew.
242:Budge first became interested in writing a
16:American video game programmer and designer
473:Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
29:
18:
936:University of California, Berkeley alumni
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554:
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879:Budge on a show on video games from 1984
706:"Artistic Tools for the Apple II Family"
466:Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards
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503:
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319:and signed on. With EA's distribution,
179:By 1981, his reputation was such that
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415:Shortly afterward, Budge worked for
363:. MousePaint was bundled with an
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608:Darling, Sharon (February 1985).
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926:American video game programmers
464:was honored at the 59th Annual
448:Budge and his wife live in the
185:wrote in its review of Budge's
704:Eldred, Eric (December 1984).
1:
921:American video game designers
307:. When he was approached by
386:with MousePaint than with a
329:, an appearance by Budge on
113:. He is best known for the
638:Maher, Jimmy (2013-02-01).
511:"Interview with Budge from
434:Sony Computer Entertainment
962:
610:"Birth of a Computer Game"
576:Moore, Robin (May 1981).
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479:Pinball Construction Set
462:Pinball Construction Set
400:Pinball Construction Set
343:Pinball Construction Set
322:Pinball Construction Set
294:Pinball Construction Set
284:Pinball Construction Set
209:Pinball Construction Set
173:Bill Budge's Space Album
126:Pinball Construction Set
93:Pinball Construction Set
644:The Digital Antiquarian
561:An interview with Budge
931:Pinball game designers
798:2008 Tech Emmy Winners
450:San Francisco Bay Area
898:at Wikimedia Commons
665:"Apple II Mouse Card"
107:video game programmer
71:video game programmer
640:"The Pinball Wizard"
743:on 13 January 2013.
683:"Peripherals, cont"
332:Computer Chronicles
847:2006-03-16 at the
578:"Tranquility Base"
481:is an inductee in
229:California Pacific
168:California Pacific
894:Media related to
687:Apple2History.org
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911:Google employees
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818:January 21, 2011
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739:. Archived from
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517:. Archived from
513:The Tower of Pin
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488:s Hall of Fame.
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187:Tranquility Base
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731:Kelly, Kevin.
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693:on 2009-02-07.
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369:interface card
365:Apple Mouse II
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298:Raster Blaster
290:Raster Blaster
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270:Raster Blaster
254:. Things like
248:Raster Blaster
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236:Raster Blaster
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157:Apple Computer
151:clone, called
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120:Raster Blaster
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86:Raster Blaster
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81:Known for
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584:. p. 112
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521:on 2009-02-23
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53:(age 70)
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35:Budge in 2012
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27:
20:
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842:Hall of Fame
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834:
822:. Retrieved
817:
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779:. Retrieved
777:. 2022-01-08
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758:. Retrieved
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741:the original
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714:. Retrieved
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691:the original
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669:Folklore.org
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618:. Retrieved
616:. p. 48
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565:Halcyon Days
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523:. Retrieved
519:the original
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327:Norman Seeff
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313:Trip Hawkins
305:entrepreneur
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288:He followed
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192:Lunar Lander
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153:Penny Arcade
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946:1954 births
429:Blade Force
384:Apple Mouse
265:processor.
238:and BudgeCo
197:floppy disk
143:UC Berkeley
133:Early games
123:(1981) and
59:Nationality
905:Categories
896:Bill Budge
870:Bill Budge
824:29 January
781:2022-12-23
760:2022-12-23
716:23 October
588:18 October
525:2009-02-23
492:References
350:MousePaint
278:accounting
161:Centronics
103:Bill Budge
47:1954-08-11
23:Bill Budge
874:MobyGames
620:6 October
460:In 2008,
357:Macintosh
217:libraries
203:$ 7,000.
845:Archived
737:G4tv.com
614:Compute!
394:After EA
388:KoalaPad
361:MacPaint
359:program
252:Apple II
250:for the
214:graphics
129:(1983).
115:Apple II
111:designer
75:designer
62:American
854:GameSpy
840:GameSpy
649:10 July
484:GameSpy
402:to the
256:physics
244:pinball
164:printer
96:(1983).
456:Awards
438:Google
424:engine
341:After
274:Ziploc
159:for a
117:games
89:(1981)
851:from
814:(PDF)
563:from
380:'
292:with
826:2011
718:2013
710:BYTE
651:2014
622:2013
590:2013
582:BYTE
426:for
376:BYTE
367:and
263:6502
189:, a
182:BYTE
148:Pong
109:and
41:Born
872:at
417:3DO
260:MHz
201:USD
141:at
139:PhD
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816:.
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