1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer for 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and I love all things tech. And 5 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: you know, in the world of computer games, there are 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: few companies that have as big a claim to fame 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: as Blizzard. I think Valve might be the best comparison, 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: but these days Valve is known more for its Steam 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: platform than for making games. Blizzard would swoop in to 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: redefine the genre of massively multiplayer online role playing games, 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: taking the torch away from pioneers like ever Quest and 12 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: Ultimate Online and becoming the dominant presence with the truly 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: enormous hit of World of Warcraft. And it would also 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: court some major controversies and criticisms in twenty nineteen, would 15 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: involve politics and globalization. But where did the company come 16 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 1: from and how has it evolved over time? How has 17 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: its acquisition by Activision changed things. In the next two episodes, 18 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: we're going to explore the story of Blizzard Entertainment. Now, 19 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: I should point out that way back in the day, 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: Chris Palette and I did an episode about Blizzard that 21 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: episode published all the way back on December nineteen, two 22 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: thousand eleven. Not only has a lot happened since then, 23 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: text Stuff itself is a very different show from what 24 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: it was like back in those early years, So I 25 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: figured this one merits a full revisit. The history of 26 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: Blizzard Entertainment can be traced back to the computer lab 27 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: at the University of California, Los Angeles. Now, one day, 28 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: in this computer lab, there was an electrical engineering student 29 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: named Mike Moreheim and there was a computer science student 30 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: named Alan Adam, and they were sitting next to each other. 31 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: They didn't really know each other, they just happened to 32 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: both be sitting in the computer lab. Now, Alan Adam 33 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: sent a job to a printer. But here's the crazy thing. 34 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: The printer was on a different floor from the computer 35 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: lab they were in, so he was going to have 36 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: to leave his computer, walked to a different floor of 37 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: the building, and go retrieve his print out. So he 38 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: locks his computer terminal like a good responsible computer user, 39 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: and heads off to retrieve the print out in question. Now, 40 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: Moreheim said that after about ten minutes of him being gone, 41 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: Adam's computer unlocked automatically. So Moreheim relocked it, and to 42 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: do that he had to put in a brand new password. 43 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: He chose the word Joe j O E all lower case. 44 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: He figured it was both responsible for him to do this, 45 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,959 Speaker 1: because otherwise Adam's terminal would remain locked or unlocked while 46 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: he was gone and anyone could use it. But he 47 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: also could do this as a prank, right, he could 48 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:56,839 Speaker 1: lock this with a brand new password, a very simple one, 49 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: and when Adam would return, he would himself unable to 50 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: get back into his computer session. Ha ha ha prank. 51 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: So Adam finally returns with his print out, He sits 52 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: down at his computer and he types in his password 53 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: and he's right back into the computer session. So Moreheim 54 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: is shocked he had changed the password. So how did 55 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: Adam know what he changed the password to? Or was 56 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: it possible that Allan Adam had had some other tricks, 57 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 1: some sort of administrative level password, some uber password, a 58 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: skeleton key. So Moreheim asks Adam, how did you do that? Well, 59 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: Allan Adam e's he's confused, says, I don't know, I 60 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: don't know what you mean. So then Moreheim says, well, 61 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: what was your password? And Adam says, well, I'm not 62 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: I'm not going to tell you my password. That's I mean, 63 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: that's against the whole point of having a password. So 64 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: Moreheim says it was Joe, wasn't it. Well, I'd surprise Adam, 65 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: and Moreheim came clean with his intended prank, saying no, no, 66 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: I tried to change your password to Joe, and the 67 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: two laughed about how they both just coincidentally picked Joe 68 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: as a quick password, and then they continued to have 69 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: a conversation and it was the beginning of a close friendship. Now. 70 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: During summer breaks when he was in school, Alan Adam 71 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: had taken up temp jobs working for various video game 72 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: development studios. He provided code for different video games and 73 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 1: he loved games. He loved playing them, he loved working 74 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 1: on them. He had already set a goal for himself 75 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: to work on video games professionally after he graduated college, 76 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: and he was ambitious. He didn't want to just work 77 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 1: for some other studio and grind out code based on 78 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: their wants and needs. He wanted to make games of 79 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 1: his very own. So he graduated u c l A 80 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: about six months ahead of Moreheim, and when Moreheim graduated, 81 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: he took on a job at a company called Western Digital. Now, 82 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: his main job at the time was to build test 83 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: software for network cards, which I'm sure was just as 84 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: exciting as it sounds. But Allan Adam kept in touch 85 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: with Moreheim and invited him to help form a brand 86 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: new video game devel element company. Now, this took some convincing, 87 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: but Moreheim eventually agreed after talking to one of his cousins. 88 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: His cousin essentially said, hey, you're young. If it all 89 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 1: goes pear shaped, you can get another job. So he said, 90 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: all right, I'm on board now. Meanwhile, Alan Adam also 91 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: tapped his buddy Frank Pierce, whom he had also met 92 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: back in You See l A. So he was another 93 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: college friend of his. When it comes to the founders, 94 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: Frank Pierce tends to be the one that people talk 95 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: about the least. Uh. He just is one of those 96 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: people who tends to be kind of quiet and in 97 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: the background for a lot of these sorts of things. 98 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: But in the end, Frank Pierce would spend twenty eight 99 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: years with the company spoiler Alert, and he was incredibly 100 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: important in the development of many of Blizzards big games. 101 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: He's a more soft spoken founder of the company than 102 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: the other two, but he would be just as important. Now. 103 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: I say this because a lot of company histories tend 104 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: to gravitate more toward Moreheim, who Sir of the sort 105 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: of the face of the company. He would lead the company, 106 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: and he was the most forward facing of all of 107 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: the three founders. Now, they formed a company that they 108 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: originally called Silicon and Synaps, and they founded it on 109 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: February eighth, n in Coasta Mesa, California. Their original office 110 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: was a thirty six hundred square foot office space, and 111 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 1: Frank Pierce would later say that Allan Adam was really 112 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,039 Speaker 1: the founder of the company. He was the one with 113 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: the drive to make games, and he was the one 114 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: with the powerful personality that would attract Pierce and Moreheim, 115 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: and they were on board largely because Alan Adam was 116 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,600 Speaker 1: just so passionate and enthusiastic about making video games. Moreheim 117 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: said he met Pierce on the first day of the 118 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: company's existence. He had not crossed paths with Frank Pierce 119 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,599 Speaker 1: when they were all in college, and while Moreheim and 120 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: Pierce were both uncertain about the prospects of the company, 121 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: Allan Adam maintained that if you just got the right 122 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: skills and talent. Together, success would surely follow. Alan Adam 123 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: would take on the job of president of the company, 124 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: Mooreheim's role was vice president, and Frank Pierce would become 125 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: the lead programmer. Now before long they hired on a 126 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: small staff of programmers to join them and some game designers, 127 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: and Pierce would later say you could fit the entire 128 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: company in two or three cars in those early days. 129 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: The first game that they developed was called RPM Racing 130 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or SNSs RBM in 131 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: this case stood for Radical Psycho Machine because the nineties 132 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: were totally radical, y'all. Silicon and Synapps landed a deal 133 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: with a video game publisher called Interplay for that title. 134 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: This was one of the companies that Adam had actually 135 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: worked for over his summer breaks while he was attending 136 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: u c l A, so he knew some of the 137 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: people over there, and he already had some previous relationships. 138 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: RPM Racing would be the very first Super Nintendo Entertainment 139 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: System title from an American video game studio, so that's 140 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: two first that the game can claim. It was the 141 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: first game from what would become Blizzard Entertainment, and the 142 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: first American S and E S video game cartridge. The 143 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: title was a racing game, obviously, in which players controlled 144 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: a vehicle from a third person perspective, looking at the 145 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: track from an isometric point of view, so isometric being 146 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: kind of above and sort of an angle to the 147 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 1: playing field, so you weren't inside the vehicle. It wasn't 148 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: a first person view, and you weren't directly behind the vehicle. 149 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: It's sort of this weird overview and uh, to me, 150 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,679 Speaker 1: that always made racing games hard. It was just kind 151 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,439 Speaker 1: of difficult to judge when you were supposed to turn. 152 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: I could never quite get the spatial relationships right in 153 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: those type of games. Now, a couple of other things 154 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: set that title apart from many of its contemporaries. For one, 155 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: it ran in a high resolution mode on the S 156 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: and E S, or at least higher resolution than the 157 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: standard sick team bit games of the time. But that 158 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: mode also limited the number of colors that could be 159 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: shown on the screen at one time, so it did 160 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: come at a price. In the game, winning a race 161 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: would net you a prize purse. You would win money 162 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: depending upon how you placed in a race. Then you 163 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: could use that money to upgrade your vehicle or pay 164 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: to enter more advanced races which had bigger purses. And finally, 165 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: the game came with a track editor, which allowed players 166 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: to create their own race courses, complete with hills, dips, 167 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:35,599 Speaker 1: and turns. Now all that being said, the general consensus 168 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: was that the game wasn't really that good and had 169 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 1: no real sense of speed. The cars just seemed to 170 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:46,439 Speaker 1: plod along, but did feature some innovative options that helped 171 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: it stand out, even if the actual gameplay was a 172 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: little lackluster. The development for RPM Racer took about five months, 173 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: with the game coming out in late nineteen. After completing 174 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: work on the title, the fled dgling company divided its 175 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: attention on two different strategies. One was to continue developing 176 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,319 Speaker 1: new games. The next original title from Silicon and Synapse 177 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: was The Lost Vikings, which I'll talk about more in 178 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: just a moment. The second strategy was to work with 179 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:20,319 Speaker 1: other studios to port existing games to different platforms. So, 180 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: in the world of video games, you've got a lot 181 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: of different challenges you have to consider, and one of 182 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: the big ones is which platform you're going to develop 183 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: for when you start making a new game. Now, you 184 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: could try and adapt the game idea you have for 185 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: all existing platforms, but that is going to dramatically increase 186 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,439 Speaker 1: the amount of time it takes to develop the game 187 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: and put it through Q and A testing to make 188 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: sure the experience is roughly the same across all the platforms, 189 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: or as close as you can make it as possible. 190 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: This also requires hiring people with a diverse set of 191 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: coding skills, since different platforms require knowledge in specific coding 192 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,439 Speaker 1: languages and structures, and some of the tools that are 193 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,800 Speaker 1: used to help port code from one platform to another 194 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: they're not perfect, so it requires a little bit of 195 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 1: hands on work to tweak things and make sure it 196 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: works properly. Another option is to identify the platform that 197 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,960 Speaker 1: you feel will net you the most sales for your title, 198 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: or the platform for which your skill set is best suited, 199 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,680 Speaker 1: and then you developed for just that platform. So you 200 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: might say, you know what, we have some code developers 201 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: who are are great at making games for the PC, 202 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 1: but they don't do so well when developing for the MAC. 203 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: So we're just going to focus on making a game 204 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: for the PC. Then after the game is finished, you 205 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 1: can either look to port it to other platforms yourself 206 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 1: or you can hire some other studio to do that 207 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: work for you. And that's where Silicon and Synapse got 208 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: a lot of its early work to act as this 209 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: studio that would take some other game developers work for 210 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: one platform and adapt for a different one. The company 211 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: landed deals to port games to various platforms, including To 212 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: Win Does, the Amiga and the Mac, and they included 213 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: games that are some of my favorites from those years, 214 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: like Battle Chess, which originally was an Amiga game, and 215 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 1: Silicon and Synapse took the Amiga game imported it to 216 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: Windows and the Commodore sixty four. The Amiga version was 217 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: superior by the way. Other games included a Lord of 218 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: the Rings game, there was a medieval warfare strategy game 219 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: called Castles, and there was a sports game in the 220 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 1: form of micro League Baseball, among others and all the 221 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: company ported eight titles to other platforms between nineteen two 222 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: and ninetee. Also in nineteen two, the company released The 223 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: Lost Vikings, aside scrolling platforming game with a truly odd storyline. 224 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,319 Speaker 1: So in the game, three Vikings are kidnapped by aliens 225 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: led by the evil Tomatour. They must find their way 226 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 1: back home and the player could control all three vikings 227 00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: one at a time. You could cycle through them through 228 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: in a level, and each Viking had his own special abilities. 229 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: Those abilities were needed to solve different puzzles throughout the levels. 230 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:09,680 Speaker 1: That really helps set the title apart. It showed off 231 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: this innovative thinking at the company. It wasn't just another 232 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: side scrolling clone of a game like Super Mario Brothers. 233 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: The game's art style and sense of humor were much 234 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: more indicative of the overall company's culture than the earlier 235 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: RBM Racing or the Ports had been. The game also 236 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: featured incidental dialogue and cut scenes that would become hallmarks 237 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: of Blizzard games in the future. It was also the 238 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: first truly original title, as RBM Racing was built on 239 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: top of older code for other racing games. Silicon and 240 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: Synapse developed the title for several different platforms, including the 241 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 1: S and E S, the Amiga, and later the Genesis. 242 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: Like RPM Racing, Interplay would serve as the publisher for 243 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: this game. Interplay would also publish the third original title 244 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: from Silicon and Synapse, which was Rock and Roll Racing. 245 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 1: Interplay published that game in This was another isometric point 246 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: of view. Racing game for the S and E s 247 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,559 Speaker 1: and for the Sega Genesis or the Mega Drive if 248 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: you're not in the United States now. Originally this was 249 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 1: supposed to be a direct sequel to RPM Racing, but 250 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: Interplay stepped in with a major tweak. The company licensed 251 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: music tracks from various rock bands to be included with 252 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: the game. The companies decided to name the video game 253 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: to reflect this big get, the fact that they were 254 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: able to land these licenses. The music consisted of many 255 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 1: orchestrated covers, so they were all instrumental versions of songs, 256 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: and they include songs like Born to Be Wild, Bad 257 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: to the Bone, and the theme from Peter Gunn, which 258 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: was also made famous in the arcade game World by 259 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: the video games Spy Hunter. Up to two players can 260 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: play simultaneously in this game, and each race has four participants, 261 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: so the non player participants would be controlled by the 262 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: games AI. The game also featured vehicle mounted weapons, and 263 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: destroying your opponents would net you cash bonuses in a race. 264 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: You would respond in a race, so you wouldn't just 265 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: get blowed up and then your games over. You would 266 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: actually be able to rejoin the race after a brief 267 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: period of being you know, evaporated. Real life race announcer 268 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: Larry Huffman recorded audio tracks to serve as commentary for 269 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: the races. Like RBM Racing, players could dedicate the cash 270 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: they want in Racist towards upgrading their vehicles or buying 271 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: new ones as an easter egg. The programmers included ohl Off, 272 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: the stout from the Lost Vikings as a possible driver, 273 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: and he has some pretty boss stats to boot. The 274 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: game got pretty good reviews. Both The Lost Vikings and 275 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: Rock and Roll Racing were hits for the Young studio, 276 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: but modest ones. It did set them up pretty nicely 277 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: for n which was the year where things would really 278 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: come together for the company. I'll explain more in a second, 279 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: but first let's take a quick break. So let's close 280 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: out before we get to the big four. That year, 281 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: Video Games Magazine would name Silicon and Synaps as the 282 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: Developer of the Year, but internally, the three founders were 283 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: reconsidering the company's name. According to Moreheim, the problem was 284 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: that they were having issues pitching games because no one 285 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: knew what a synapse was, so they were having real 286 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: problems landing business deals with publishers and potential clients. They 287 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: wanted to get more traction, and they decided that rebranding 288 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: was the way to go, and originally they renamed themselves 289 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: Chaos Studios. There was just one small problem. There already 290 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: was a company with that name in New York, and 291 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: the owner of that name was not going to sell 292 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: the rights to it for less than a hundred thousand 293 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: bucks a princely some that was a bit too steep, 294 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,240 Speaker 1: And by too steep, I mean way too expensive for 295 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: these guys, because at this stage the company was struggling 296 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 1: to meet overhead, to meet payroll despite its commercial and 297 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: critical success. The three founders had resorted to maxing out 298 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,440 Speaker 1: their credit cards and asking their parents for loans so 299 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: that they could meet payroll for each pay period. Clearly 300 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: something needed to change if the company were to remain solvent. Now, 301 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: in the brief period when they were known as Chaos Studios, 302 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: they got a heck of an offer. Actually it was 303 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: two offers. One offer came from Interplay, the publisher that 304 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: had been responsible for actually publishing their games. The second 305 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: offer came from a software company called Davidson and Associates, 306 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:49,680 Speaker 1: and both offers were to acquire Chaos Studios. Now, I'm 307 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,040 Speaker 1: not sure how much the Interplay offer was for, but 308 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: the founders ultimately turned that one down. It wasn't that 309 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: the money wasn't right, but rather they were worried that 310 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: by join Interplay their company would just become one small 311 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 1: part of a larger computer game enterprise and they would 312 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: lose their creative freedom as a result, so they would 313 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: have to take orders from Interplay. Davidson and associates specialized 314 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: in educational software, not video games, so that actually seemed 315 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: like a safer bet. It was an acquisition offer that 316 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: was worth around ten million dollars or six point seven 317 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: five million dollars. It really depends upon which source you're citing. 318 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: I've seen all ranges in between those two. Either way, 319 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: it would give them the stability they needed to keep 320 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: the company going and to develop more games with a 321 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: minimum amount of interference from upper level management. Husband and 322 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: wife team Bob and Jan Davidson, had founded this educational 323 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,400 Speaker 1: software company back in the early nineteen eighties. Jan Davidson, 324 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: a teacher, felt that computers could create unique educational opportunities 325 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: because using a computer is by its very nature interactive, 326 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: so by making lessons and interactive experience, Davidson felt students 327 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: would grasp concepts and develop skills much more easily than 328 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:09,919 Speaker 1: if they were to sit in a classroom and passively 329 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: experience a lecture. Their company was generating revenues of around 330 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: forty million dollars and they wanted to expand into other 331 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: types of software. So the idea was that Chaos Studios 332 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: would become the entertainment division for the software company. They 333 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:30,439 Speaker 1: promised Adam Mooreheiman Pierce, and that, you know, they and 334 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,679 Speaker 1: their team of developers would retain autonomy they could develop 335 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: the types of games they wanted to make. So Chaos 336 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: Studios decided to take that deal, but the name was 337 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: going to have to go, so it was back to 338 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: the drawing board. They toyed with the idea of renaming 339 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,440 Speaker 1: the company Ogre Studios, but that was an early case 340 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,439 Speaker 1: where their new owners weren't that crazy about that idea. 341 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: So ultimately, after a quick scan of the dictionary, in 342 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: which the three would debate between seven different words that 343 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: were picked more or less at random, they hit upon 344 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: what would become the company name from that point forward, 345 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:10,240 Speaker 1: Blizzard Entertainment. Now, during this whole process, the company was 346 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: still creating games, so Chaos Studios slash. Blizzard Entertainment developed 347 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: a game called Blackthorn for the S and E S 348 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: and for the PC, later porting it to other platforms. 349 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: This was another side scrolling platform er with cinematics throughout 350 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: to tell the story of the game, which featured protagonist 351 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 1: Kyle Blackthorne Vlaros returning to his home planet after having 352 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:35,919 Speaker 1: been sent to Earth for safe keeping, a story pretty 353 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 1: reminiscent of the Superman story. Blackthorn has to overthrow an 354 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:44,919 Speaker 1: evil ruler named Sarlac, guessing they were Star Wars fans. 355 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: The game received positive reviews, both for its gameplay and 356 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: for its dark tone, which was kind of new to 357 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,640 Speaker 1: video games. To get the animation for Blackthorn, the team 358 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: actually shot video of Frank Pierce moving around, and then 359 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 1: they animated on top of this footage in a process 360 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: called rhodoscoping, which is frequently used in animation. The company 361 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: released the game in December. Around that same time that 362 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: they were developing Blackthorn, they were also working on the 363 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,720 Speaker 1: Death and Return of Superman for sun Soft Games, based 364 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: off a storyline in d C from back in the 365 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 1: early nineties. This was a beat him up game in 366 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: which players would at certain points in The game storyline 367 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: control Superman and the various characters who appeared after the 368 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:35,959 Speaker 1: villain Doomsday killed Superman in a comic book storyline that 369 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: included characters like Cyborg Superman, or a more hard edged 370 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: anti hero version of Superman called the Eradicateur, and a 371 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: self made man of Steel named uh Steel. This game 372 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: is one of many largely forgotten superhero video games. It 373 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,880 Speaker 1: received mediocre reviews, which is still a lot better than 374 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: a lot of superhero games managed, at least until more 375 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: recent titles like the Arkham series. This game came out 376 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:09,119 Speaker 1: in June. One other game the company worked on around 377 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: this time was Justice League task Force, which was another 378 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: DC superheroes fighting game, sort of like techn or Mortal 379 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: Kombat d C characters. So this was not a Blizzard 380 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 1: lead project. Rather, the company Sunsoft produced the game and 381 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,199 Speaker 1: Acclaim would act as publisher. Blizzard was credited as a 382 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,120 Speaker 1: code developer on the project and worked specifically on the 383 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: S and E S version of the game. Now, there 384 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 1: was another party involved in Justice League Task Force, and 385 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: that was a company called Condor. Condor was a Bay 386 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 1: area video game company, so in the San Francisco area, 387 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: and it was responsible for this Sega Genesis version of 388 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,439 Speaker 1: the video game Condor will become an important part of 389 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: the Blizzard story later, So I thought it'd s been 390 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,400 Speaker 1: just a little time giving a bit of background on 391 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: what Condor was now. The founders of Condor Incorporated included 392 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: Max and Eric Schaeffer and David Brevic. The name came 393 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,959 Speaker 1: from a secret project and a digital clip art company 394 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: that Brevick had worked for. Now that company went belly up, 395 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: and Brevic and the Schaefer brothers decided to form a 396 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: video game development company, with the goal being to make 397 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: role playing games for computer systems. They took the name 398 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 1: Condor from that secret project. Their goal was to produce 399 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: the game called Diablo. They were naming it after Mount 400 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: Diablo in California. But they were encountering a lot of 401 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,719 Speaker 1: resistance from publishers when they were pitching their idea for 402 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: this video game. So to make ends meet, they worked 403 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: on co developing games with other studios. That's how they 404 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: got the gig of designing the Genesis version of the 405 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: Justice League Task Force. Now, the story goes that neither 406 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: the Blizzard team nor the Condor team knew about the 407 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: other company working on this video game. They found out 408 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: when both companies attended ce S, the Consumer Electronics Show. 409 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 1: Because this was before E three became a thing. So 410 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: at CES that's where video game companies would go to 411 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: show off demos of their upcoming titles, they were frequently 412 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: shoehorned way in the back of the showroom floor. Now, 413 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: according to most histories, this happened when Blizzard was still 414 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 1: technically Silicon and Synapse, so it must have been at 415 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: least a year out from the publication. Since Justice League 416 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,639 Speaker 1: Task Force would come out anyway, this would be the 417 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,120 Speaker 1: first contact between these two companies, but it would not 418 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:37,919 Speaker 1: be the last one. Blackthorne, the Superman Game, and Justice 419 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: League Task Force would all publish after the announced Davidson 420 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: and Associates acquisition, but none of those would be the 421 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:49,680 Speaker 1: first game released under the Blizzard Entertainment label. They would 422 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: follow behind a different game, one that would end up 423 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,440 Speaker 1: being an iconic starting point for Blizzards rise to true superstardom, 424 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: and the first game to come out post acquisition was 425 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:04,640 Speaker 1: one that had been inspired by a different companies games. 426 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: Now that different company was Westwood Studios. Emphasis on was 427 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: Westwood Studios because the studio no longer exists it would 428 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: get folded into a division of Electronic Arts in two 429 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:21,360 Speaker 1: thousand three. But back in this video game company developed 430 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 1: a real time strategy game called Dune two. This was 431 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: based off the film adaptation of the science fiction novel Dune. Now. 432 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 1: In this game, players would assume control of one of 433 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: three houses or factions attempting to gain dominion over a 434 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: planet called Aracus. Players would manage resources to build out structures, 435 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: they would produce military units, they would explore the map, 436 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: and they would try to defeat enemy forces. It's the 437 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: basic structure that many other RTS games would follow in 438 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: the years to come, but it was a pretty new 439 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,679 Speaker 1: idea back in. A good player learns how to balance 440 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: rees was gathering production and troop movements without over extending 441 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: themselves or putting their home base at risk. It's a 442 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:10,160 Speaker 1: skill I do not have. Dune Too received a great 443 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,920 Speaker 1: deal of praise for its innovations in gameplay, and it 444 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: should come as little surprised that other studios wanted to 445 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 1: emulate those innovations that Westwood Studios had introduced. However, by 446 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: not a single other game that was following the same 447 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: game design and mechanics of Done two had yet to emerge. 448 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: So the crew at Blizzard thought that Doune two was 449 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 1: particularly compelling and innovative. They decided they would make a 450 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: game that followed a similar approach, though with several differentiating 451 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 1: features so it wasn't like a direct copy or anything. 452 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: One of the biggest differentiating factors was that Done Too 453 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: had been a single player game. Blizzard wanted to create 454 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: a game that would allow two human players to compete 455 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: against each other if they wanted to. They could play 456 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 1: as a single player or play competitively against another human. 457 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 1: Now keep in mind this was in ninete before most 458 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,439 Speaker 1: people didn't even know much about the Internet, yet a 459 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,399 Speaker 1: lot of us were still calling it the Information super Highway, 460 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: or we were thinking about like it was a series 461 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,119 Speaker 1: of tubes. If you wanted to play against another human, 462 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: you really had two options open to you. One was 463 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: to create a direct connection between computers in a local 464 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: area network or land. This wasn't super hard to do, 465 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: but it was beyond tech novices, and it did mean 466 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: that you and your opponent had to be pretty much 467 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 1: in the same room as each other, so it puts 468 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:36,919 Speaker 1: some restrictions on gameplay. The other option was to use 469 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 1: a modem to connect directly to another player's computer also 470 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: connected to a modem. But that would mean you would 471 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: need to know the specific I P address for your 472 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: opponent so that you can make that connection happen. Again, 473 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: for computer geeks, that wasn't at all order, But for 474 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,480 Speaker 1: people just learning about the Internet, you know, keep in mind, 475 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: the World Wide Web itself had just become a thing, 476 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: this was asking a lot. Still, the fact that Blizzard 477 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: was able to take a brand new game type and 478 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,880 Speaker 1: expand it into a multiplayer format was a big deal. 479 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: They also decided to embrace a different aesthetic, so instead 480 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: of using a science fiction setting like Dune two, they 481 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: decided to embrace the fantasy genre. The Finnish game was 482 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: called Warcraft ORCS Versus Humans, and Blizzard released it in November, 483 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: just in time for the holiday season. Now, when we 484 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: come back, I'll talk more about how Warcraft shaped blizzards future, 485 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,119 Speaker 1: as well as how it's sequel managed to cement that future. 486 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: But first let's take another quick break. So before we 487 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:47,959 Speaker 1: went to the break, you know, I talked about all 488 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 1: these different games that Blizzard was working on, and the 489 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: reason I mentioned those other games ahead of Warcraft, even 490 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: though technically Warcraft published first, was that while they were 491 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: important in the early history of Blizzard, Warcraft would play 492 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: a much more pivotal role in the future of the 493 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: company overall. It was also the first game that Blizzard 494 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: Entertainment would publish itself. The company didn't have to depend 495 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: upon an established video game publisher like Interplay. Instead, it 496 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: leaned on the reach of its parent company, Davidson and Associates, 497 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: which over a decade had managed to build up a 498 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: pretty impressive distribution arm of its own. In Warcraft, players 499 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,800 Speaker 1: take control of one of two factions, humans or orcs. 500 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: In either case, the player is tasked with building out 501 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 1: a base and different buildings, assigning tasks to workers who 502 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,880 Speaker 1: gather resources, or to military units who can scout and 503 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 1: engage with enemy forces. The user interface allowed players to 504 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:48,479 Speaker 1: select groups of units, issuing orders to multiple entities at 505 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: the same time, rather than having to set each one individually, 506 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:53,960 Speaker 1: but it also meant that the UI was getting a 507 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,440 Speaker 1: bit too complicated for the typical video game controller. So 508 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 1: for that reason, Lizard made the decision to develop Warcraft 509 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: as a PC only game when it first started out, 510 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: with the intended players would rely on the mouse and 511 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 1: keyboard commands to control their factions. In that first game, 512 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: there wasn't that much that differentiated the Orcs from the humans, 513 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:19,360 Speaker 1: apart from some appearance differences between the units. Both factions 514 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 1: had units that did pretty much the same thing with 515 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 1: the same sort of impact on the game world and 516 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 1: on enemy units. So a basic infantry unit for the 517 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 1: humans and a basic infantry unit for the Orcs were, 518 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: for any meaningful definition, identical. They look different, but they 519 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: had the exact same abilities and stats. That first Warcraft 520 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 1: game did pretty well among both critics and the general 521 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,479 Speaker 1: game buying public. It didn't break any records or anything, 522 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: but the sales were encouraging, and it was enough for 523 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: Blizzard to convince Davidson and associates to allow the team 524 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 1: to create a sequel. I'll get back to that in 525 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 1: just a second. Well, things were picking up for the 526 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 1: company and so they decided they would pick themselves up 527 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: and they moved. They moved from their original office location 528 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: in Costa Mesa to a much larger one of fourteen 529 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: thousand square foot office in Irvine, California. Now these cities 530 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: are in southern California, by the way. In the fall 531 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: of nine, Blizzard launched its website, Blizzard dot com. Sadly, 532 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: the earliest version of the site I could get a 533 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 1: look at was from December of nineteen nine six, so 534 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: a year after it had launched. I highly recommend you 535 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: use archive dot org to check out old versions of websites. 536 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: You can really appreciate how far the web has come 537 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,400 Speaker 1: when you take a look at what passed for a 538 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 1: cutting edge site back in nineteen five or ninety six. 539 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: The Blizzard site looked pretty darn primitive back then. It 540 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 1: also mentioned stuff that I haven't really gotten to yet, 541 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 1: namely the release of Diablo and the launch of Battle Neet. 542 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:55,240 Speaker 1: I'll talk about those more in our next episode. So 543 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 1: Warcraft have been a success, though not a breakout hit 544 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: for Blizzard, and it was enough for them to get 545 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 1: the go ahead from their parent company, Davidson and Associates, 546 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,760 Speaker 1: which would subsequently get acquired by another company called c 547 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,640 Speaker 1: UC International, which would subsequently change its name to Sendent. 548 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,600 Speaker 1: And don't worry, we'll go through all this again in 549 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: the next episode, and we won't be sticking with them 550 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: for very long. Turns out Blizzard has had a lot 551 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: of different corporate bosses anyway. Blizzards Warcraft two would end 552 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,480 Speaker 1: up being an enormous improvement over its predecessor in many ways. 553 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: The official title for the game would be Warcraft two 554 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,280 Speaker 1: Tides of Darkness. Much of what the game offered were 555 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 1: refinements to the systems of the first game, but there 556 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,280 Speaker 1: were some big additions as well, such as air and 557 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,240 Speaker 1: sea units in addition to the land units that you 558 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:49,160 Speaker 1: could command. There was also a persistent fog of war 559 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: feature which might require a little bit of explanation. So 560 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 1: fog of war describes the area of a map that 561 00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 1: a player is able to see before you exp laura map, 562 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:02,960 Speaker 1: most of that map is going to get blacked out. 563 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: The only part you can really see is the part 564 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 1: immediately surrounding your base and your units, and that means 565 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 1: you haven't sent any units out to reveal what else 566 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 1: is out there. Now, as you move units around, you 567 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: uncover more of the map and it becomes visible to you. 568 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: Warcraft two took this this step further with persistent fog 569 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,600 Speaker 1: of war, which meant that while a revealed portion of 570 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: the map would remain visible to the player, you know 571 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: once you explored it, you didn't have to explore it 572 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 1: again to know what was there. Geographically, you wouldn't be 573 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: able to see what was currently happening in any given 574 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:41,720 Speaker 1: section of the map unless you had units in that area. 575 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,160 Speaker 1: So let's say you move a scout through one part 576 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: of the map and you see it's a very hilly 577 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: section of the map, and then the scout gradually moves 578 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: out of that section into a different section. Meanwhile, once 579 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:57,600 Speaker 1: your scout has moved away from a certain distance from 580 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:02,040 Speaker 1: the explored territory, it fade slightly. That indicates that you 581 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: no longer have line of sight in that part of 582 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: the map, and that means anything could be happening in 583 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,840 Speaker 1: that area, like an enemy could move into that area 584 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,880 Speaker 1: and you wouldn't see it because you're not currently there. 585 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,920 Speaker 1: So if you were to move a scout back and 586 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:20,440 Speaker 1: an enemies moving through, then you would see the enemy 587 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 1: and it would become revealed to you. But if you 588 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 1: didn't have a unit there, you didn't have a line 589 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: of sight, you had no way of knowing what was happening. 590 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:30,799 Speaker 1: So it may not just exploration important, but also maintaining 591 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: positions throughout the map. So that added another element of 592 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: strategy that you needed to keep in mind. Whether you 593 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: were playing against AI or another human. This feature would 594 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:46,799 Speaker 1: become a pretty standard option for RTS games following Warcraft two. 595 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 1: It would become one of those hallmarks of the genre. 596 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 1: The game included more of Blizzards rather ridiculous sense of humor, 597 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: which I mostly remember manifesting as the responses that units 598 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:01,719 Speaker 1: would have when you selected them. Like if you were 599 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: playing on the human side and you're selecting some human units, 600 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 1: you might get a response like what do you want 601 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: when you clicked on them. Then you might send them 602 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,280 Speaker 1: someplace and you might hear one of them say something 603 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 1: like okay. The works were usually a bit more rude 604 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:23,319 Speaker 1: about things. The game did support multiplayer, and again you 605 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,239 Speaker 1: could play by connecting to computers directly together in a 606 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: local area network or via direct connection with modems, just 607 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,120 Speaker 1: like with the first Warcraft. But Blizzard noticed something else 608 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 1: that was intriguing to them. There were some enterprising programmers 609 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,360 Speaker 1: who had created a service that they called Collie k 610 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,800 Speaker 1: a l I. This tool that you could download. Collie 611 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,160 Speaker 1: was a bit of a work around, so it would 612 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,640 Speaker 1: allow players to connect over the Internet to play various 613 00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 1: multiplayer games by essentially tricking computers emulating a local area 614 00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:59,120 Speaker 1: network over the Internet. So to the computers. It would 615 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:01,680 Speaker 1: seem like all these different machines are in the same 616 00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:04,919 Speaker 1: general vicinity and are directly connected to one another through 617 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: a land but in reality, they'd be connecting over the Internet. 618 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,400 Speaker 1: So again, it was a workaround to facilitate multiplayer sessions. 619 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,399 Speaker 1: Blizzard really liked that approach, and they worked to make 620 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:18,839 Speaker 1: Warcraft Too compatible with it, which would mean that up 621 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:23,160 Speaker 1: to eight players could participate in different types of multiplayer games, 622 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:27,800 Speaker 1: ranging from team based competitions to free fur alls. Collie 623 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:32,080 Speaker 1: itself was an ip X network emulator. I p X 624 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: stands for Internetwork Packet Exchange, but the important thing to 625 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:38,759 Speaker 1: note is it was this sort of jerry rigged way 626 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,840 Speaker 1: for people to play against each other online. Uh. The 627 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:45,440 Speaker 1: technical explanation for ip X goes well beyond a discussion 628 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,360 Speaker 1: about Blizzard. Blizzard Entertainment loved the idea of a system 629 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:51,360 Speaker 1: that would allow for this kind of connectivity as a 630 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,960 Speaker 1: native feature without the need to trick a computer system 631 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,480 Speaker 1: into believing it was part of a local area network. 632 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,680 Speaker 1: So this would become the genesis for battle Neet. That's 633 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,080 Speaker 1: a service that allows players to connect with each other 634 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:07,560 Speaker 1: and play with or against one another in various games. 635 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,759 Speaker 1: If not for Colie, it might have taken another year 636 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,080 Speaker 1: or two for Blizzard to jump on developing that project. 637 00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:17,920 Speaker 1: And this wasn't just because Blizzard wanted to give players 638 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:20,560 Speaker 1: more options, so that was definitely a big part of it. 639 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:24,319 Speaker 1: One of the side effects of the adoption of Kali 640 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,719 Speaker 1: is that Warcraft two started to outperform the sales of 641 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:31,960 Speaker 1: its predecessor. It was a legit, blockbuster hit, helped in 642 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:36,200 Speaker 1: no small part by this third party tool developed by enthusiasts, 643 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:39,520 Speaker 1: which sent a clear message there was a real market 644 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:42,239 Speaker 1: to support online play if you could just figure out 645 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:45,440 Speaker 1: a way to do it that wouldn't overtax your infrastructure. 646 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:50,640 Speaker 1: Another thing that fueled Warcraft Too success was a rivalry 647 00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:54,160 Speaker 1: with Westwood Studios. That's the company that had made Doune Too. 648 00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:57,600 Speaker 1: Westwood developed an awesome RTS game of its own called 649 00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:02,120 Speaker 1: Command and Conquer Westwood, and there didn't really fire that 650 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,920 Speaker 1: many shots at each other directly while competing in the 651 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,520 Speaker 1: RTS space, but they didn't have to because their respective 652 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,400 Speaker 1: fans took care of all that for them. That's one 653 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:14,719 Speaker 1: of those early flame wars where you either loved one 654 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:19,040 Speaker 1: or the other, but you couldn't love both of them. 655 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:23,040 Speaker 1: The resulting Brewjaha raised the visibility of both titles, which 656 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:26,520 Speaker 1: led to great sales. Warcraft two would eventually cross the 657 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:31,319 Speaker 1: threshold of one million copies sold. Now today, that's not 658 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:35,480 Speaker 1: necessarily a chartbuster, as popular games can count sales and 659 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:38,760 Speaker 1: need tens or maybe even more than a hundred million 660 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:42,720 Speaker 1: copies sold. That isn't always a fair fight either, because 661 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,360 Speaker 1: some of the most popular games land on that list 662 00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 1: not because the game was must have, but because it 663 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,000 Speaker 1: had been bundled with a console or a game system 664 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:57,640 Speaker 1: that was insanely popular. But a million units sold was 665 00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:01,880 Speaker 1: a huge landmark. This was big enough for Blizzard to 666 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:05,719 Speaker 1: recognize the opportunity to deliver even more Warcraft goodness two 667 00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:08,759 Speaker 1: players now. At the same time, they had plans to 668 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:13,080 Speaker 1: develop other titles, so they're just weren't enough resources inside 669 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:17,200 Speaker 1: the company to create more Warcraft to content using Blizzard 670 00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:21,560 Speaker 1: resources by itself, or so they thought, so they tapped 671 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:25,719 Speaker 1: a development studio called Cyberlore Studios to lead the development 672 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:29,680 Speaker 1: on an expansion pack for Warcraft too. Blizzard began to 673 00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,400 Speaker 1: focus on another project that I'll talk more about in 674 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:36,279 Speaker 1: the next episode. But to their dismay. They found the 675 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:40,640 Speaker 1: cyber Lore team's work to be below blizzards own standards. 676 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,840 Speaker 1: The company made the tough decision to cancel the contract 677 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:48,040 Speaker 1: with Cyberlore and take over development of the expansion set themselves. 678 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:52,000 Speaker 1: This also taught Blizzards founders that in house development might 679 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:53,960 Speaker 1: be the best way to go in order to preserve 680 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:58,120 Speaker 1: the company's reputation among gamers. The resulting product had the 681 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:01,799 Speaker 1: name Warcraft Too Beyond on the Dark Portal, so if 682 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,640 Speaker 1: you wanted to run this game, you had to first 683 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:07,840 Speaker 1: own the base Warcraft two game. If you didn't have, 684 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:11,040 Speaker 1: Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal would not work. 685 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,920 Speaker 1: But it would extend the storyline that had been started 686 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:18,560 Speaker 1: by Warcraft Too, and it introduced new campaigns and new 687 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:22,040 Speaker 1: heroes for both sides of the conflict. Not at the time, 688 00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 1: I wasn't really aware that these games even had storylines. 689 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:29,400 Speaker 1: To me, they were just real time strategy games that 690 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:35,239 Speaker 1: consisted of matches that had you know, individual objectives, but 691 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,719 Speaker 1: there was no real overarching narrative. This is because I 692 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:41,920 Speaker 1: was not paying attention. This would also set me way 693 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,080 Speaker 1: back for future Blizzard properties, and to this day I 694 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:48,520 Speaker 1: can't really tell you what the story was for these games. 695 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:51,400 Speaker 1: I know that the two sides were designated as the 696 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: Alliance for the human side and the Horde for the Orcs, 697 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:57,360 Speaker 1: and that was something that would carry over and be 698 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,919 Speaker 1: expanded upon in future Blizzard titles. But we'll chat more 699 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:05,480 Speaker 1: about that in the next episode. In the meantime, if 700 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,520 Speaker 1: you guys have any suggestions for future episodes for tech Stuff, 701 00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:11,359 Speaker 1: send me an email the addresses tech stuff at how 702 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,080 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com, or drop me a line on 703 00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:16,200 Speaker 1: Facebook or Twitter. The handle for both of those is 704 00:41:16,239 --> 00:41:19,680 Speaker 1: text Stuff h s W. Don't forget. You can visit 705 00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: our website that's tech Stuff podcast dot com. You'll find 706 00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:26,880 Speaker 1: a link to an archive of every episode we've ever published, 707 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:30,560 Speaker 1: including the original Blizzard episode. You also find a link 708 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:32,879 Speaker 1: to our online store, where every purchase you make goes 709 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,600 Speaker 1: to help the show and we greatly appreciate it, and 710 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:43,439 Speaker 1: I'll taught to you again about Blizzard really soon. Text 711 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:46,120 Speaker 1: Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. 712 00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:49,120 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i 713 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:52,440 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 714 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:53,440 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.