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Small
List of games
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and Standard
References Strategic Simulations, Inc.
publisher of over 100 games from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in Large
External links
1994 (though the brand was in use until around 2002).[1] The company
Width
focused on computer wargames then later added role-playing video games.
SSI published the Panzer General series and the official video game Company type Public Standard
adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons. Industry Video games
Wide
Founded 1979; 46 years ago
Founder Joel Billings Color (beta)
History [ edit ]
Defunct 1994 Automatic
The company was founded by Joel Billings, a wargame enthusiast, who in Fate Merged into Mindscape
Light
the summer of 1979 saw the possibility of using the new home computers Headquarters Mountain View, California, US
such as the TRS-80 for wargames.[2] While unsuccessfully approaching Products Wargames
Dark

Avalon Hill and Automated Simulations to publish wargames,[3] he hired Role-playing games

programmers John Lyons, who wrote Computer Bismarck—later claimed to

have been the first "serious wargame" published for a microcomputer[2]—and Ed Williger, who wrote Computer Ambush.
Both games were written in BASIC as were many of SSI's early games.

Although Billings expected that he and Lyon would write the first version of Computer Bismarck on a North Star computer,
Apple Computer executive Trip Hawkins, who would later found Electronic Arts, persuaded Billings to switch to the Apple II
because of its graphics.[3] Computer Bismarck appeared for the Apple in January 1980 and for the TRS-80 later in the year.
Chuck Kroegel, who joined the company as an employee in 1983, was the co-author with David Landrey of many of the
early SSI wargames and led product development for over ten years.

By late 1980, SSI advertised that its games could "take you from Waterloo to the Super
Bowl. (By way of the North Atlantic.)"[4] In 1982 SSI launched their RapidFire line.
Although the name implies action titles, it was in fact simply a branding of games being
written by third party authors. The initial series consisted of Cytron Masters, The
Cosmic Balance and Galactic Gladiators. Later titles included Epidemic!, a real time
strategy title dealing with a global plague, Queen of Hearts, Cosmic Balance II,
Strategic Simulations booth at Broadsides and others. The branding effort did not last very long, and appeared to
the West Coast Computer Faire in have been ended in either 1983 or 1984. Chris Smith reviewed SSI's RapidFire Line in
1982
The Space Gamer No. 59.[5] Smith commented that " RapidFire is a game line that
deserves any award it can be nominated for. It is the best line of computer games I've
ever seen, and the programs rate high on an individual basis also."[5]

By 1985, Antic wrote "serious computer wargamers consider [SSI] a company in a class by itself". It had 60 employees and
had published 12 games in the previous year, most written in compiled BASIC. Developers such as Gary Grigsby received
royalties of up to $20,000 per game.[6] By fiscal 1987 the company had $5 million in sales, and had released 89 games in
its first eight years.[2]

SSI had expanded into role-playing games in 1984 with titles such as Wizard's Crown, Questron and the Phantasie series.
In 1987, SSI acquired the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) license from TSR and subsequently published 30 titles
in that series, starting with Pool of Radiance in 1988 and including War of the Lance in 1989 (Apple II) and 1990 (MS-DOS
& Commodore 64). The TSR products formed the core of games released using the Gold Box engine.

By 1992, Computer Gaming World stated that SSI "is no longer known as, primarily, a wargame company [but] continues to
publish its share of wargames".[7] In 1994, the company released Panzer General. Panzer General was a very
approachable and easy-to-play game that nevertheless had some gameplay depth and the sense of continuity and goals. It
was followed by three other games based on slightly modified versions of the basic engine, including Allied General and
Pacific General, the latter arguably being the most balanced. Non-historical games based on the same system were also
released, Star General and Fantasy General. These were later referred to collectively as the 5-Star General Series.

As the newer versions were released over a three-year period they increasingly became outdated in terms of improving
computer hardware. In 1997 they released a new version, Panzer General II, with hand-painted maps and icons. It was
very popular, selling well over 100,000 copies in its first release, and is still modded and played today.[citation needed]
People's General was based on the same engine. In 1999 Panzer General 3D Assault introduced a true 3D engine, but
gameplay was not particularly notable.[citation needed] A final attempt in 2000 was Panzer General III: Scorched Earth.

SSI was acquired by Mindscape in 1994, spent some time as part of Mattel, and finally became part of Ubisoft in March
2001, which retired the brand a few years later.[1]

In December 2013, Joel Billings donated several SSI video games, such as Computer Bismarck, including the source code
for preservation to the ICHEG.[8][9]

List of games [ edit ]

Main article: List of Strategic Simulations games

References [ edit ]

1. ^ a b "Strategic Simulations, Inc.'s MobyGames bio" . MobyGames. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
2. ^ a b c "Titans of the Computer Gaming World", Computer Gaming World, March 1988 , p.36.
3. ^ a b Wilson, Johnny L. (November 1991). "A History of Computer Games" . Computer Gaming World. p. 10. Retrieved
18 November 2013.
4. ^ Advertisement (November 1980). "We can take you from Waterloo to the Super Bowl. (By way of the North Atlantic.)" . BYTE.
p. 375. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
5. ^ a b Smith, Chris (January 1983). "SSI's RapidFire Line: Featured Review". The Space Gamer (59). Steve Jackson Games: 14–
15.
6. ^ Powell, Jack (July 1985). "War Games: The story of S.S.I." Antic. Vol. 4, no. 3. p. 28.
7. ^ "The Consumer Electronics Show: No Longer Behind Closed Doors" . Computer Gaming World. August 1992. pp. 23–28.
Retrieved 3 July 2014.
8. ^ Nutt, Christian (2013-12-16). "Strategic Simulations, Inc. founder donates company collection to ICHEG" . Gamasutra.
Retrieved 2013-12-22.
9. ^ Dyson, Jon-Paul C. (2013-12-16). "The Strategic Simulations, Inc. Collection" . ICHEG. Archived from the original on March
23, 2017. Retrieved 2013-12-22.

External links [ edit ]

Strategic Simulations, Inc. at MobyGames

1985 story about SSI
The History of SSI Games
GOTCHA awards for SSI

· · Dungeons & Dragons [show]

Authority control databases [show]

Categories: 1994 mergers and acquisitions Defunct video game companies of the United States
Dungeons & Dragons Strategic Simulations games Video game companies established in 1979
Video game companies disestablished in 2001 Video game development companies Video game publishers

This page was last edited on 5 September 2024, at 14:56 (UTC).

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