Trip Hawkins, born 1953, is an entrepreneur and founder of Electronic Arts, The 3DO Company,
and most recently, Digital Chocolate that publishes mobile video games. Hawkins was originally Director of Strategy and
Marketing at Apple Computer before he left to found Electronic Arts in 1982. Though he is no longer with EA, the
company is now the largest video game publisher in the world.
After leaving EA, Hawkins founded 3DO in 1991. Wikipedia writes: "Upon its release in 1993, the 3DO was the most
powerful video game console at the time. Unfortunately, it was also the most expensive, costing a hefty US$700,
compared to the low $100's of other systems. Sales were poor and the system's hopes were totally smashed in 1994 with
the arrival of the Sony PlayStation, which beat the 3DO in power and price."
Regardless of your opinion on the the man, he has easily made his mark on the modern day video game industry. Mr.
Hawkins holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard University with an MBA from Stanford and currently works as founder and
president of Digital Chocolate.
Joystiq presents Volume 1 of who's-who in the video game industry.
Reader Comments (8)
Posted: Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM (Unverified) said
This piece reads like his obituary... For a second there I actually thought the lying rat had died. :D
For all intents and purposes it might actually be his gaming obit. I don't know of anyone who actually takes Trip seriously anymore, he's the kind of person who'll say, or claim *anything* if he thinks it'll improve his chances of selling whatever s### he's currently pushing.
Reply
For all intents and purposes it might actually be his gaming obit. I don't know of anyone who actually takes Trip seriously anymore, he's the kind of person who'll say, or claim *anything* if he thinks it'll improve his chances of selling whatever s### he's currently pushing.
Posted: Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM (Unverified) said
I wouldn't be so hard on ol' Trip. EA in the early days was a completely aweomse company and it didn't turn into the swelled insane beast that it is until long after Hawkins left.
Reply
Posted: Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM (Unverified) said
I remember seeing the $700 3DO and staring awed in front of it. I always thought the biggest initial hindrence of the 3DO was its crap controller -- five buttons wasn't enough in 1994, especially when SFII-type games were still pretty big. In fact, I hear the SSF2X for 3DO was pretty good, but I don't know how anyone could have adequately played it.
I always thought that the 3DO had a lot of good games, the original 3D Madden, PO'ed, Gex, You Don't Know Jack, Road Rash, and more. Plus, the CD player/graphics generator was pretty fun. The licensing of the hardware to different manufacturers seemed like a really good idea at the time too...but would you buy anything that's not a toaster made by Goldstar?
Oh well. If I ever came across a working 3DO for $20, I'd buy it, if only to remember what might have been.
Reply
I always thought that the 3DO had a lot of good games, the original 3D Madden, PO'ed, Gex, You Don't Know Jack, Road Rash, and more. Plus, the CD player/graphics generator was pretty fun. The licensing of the hardware to different manufacturers seemed like a really good idea at the time too...but would you buy anything that's not a toaster made by Goldstar?
Oh well. If I ever came across a working 3DO for $20, I'd buy it, if only to remember what might have been.
Posted: Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM (Unverified) said
Way to go joystiq!
- Who's Who
- Xbox 360 Launch: By the numbers
- head to head sales for 2005
- Aggregated Review scores
- steady stream of insider info
You guys do a great job!
Now, what you guys can do is:
- investigate xbox 360 eBay sellers (how many are store owners or non-gamers "just trying to earn a buck")
- warn gamers of review sites that get compensated from industry sources
- when new games are announced there should be reports on the various companies involved in the new game: what they have worked on prior, how large of a company they currently are, and who the game designer is
- Reviews on game designers (ultimately they are the last stop for ideas within games)
- behind the scenes looks at game development (from the data entry level to the high level concept design)
Thats all ;)
Reply
- Who's Who
- Xbox 360 Launch: By the numbers
- head to head sales for 2005
- Aggregated Review scores
- steady stream of insider info
You guys do a great job!
Now, what you guys can do is:
- investigate xbox 360 eBay sellers (how many are store owners or non-gamers "just trying to earn a buck")
- warn gamers of review sites that get compensated from industry sources
- when new games are announced there should be reports on the various companies involved in the new game: what they have worked on prior, how large of a company they currently are, and who the game designer is
- Reviews on game designers (ultimately they are the last stop for ideas within games)
- behind the scenes looks at game development (from the data entry level to the high level concept design)
Thats all ;)
Posted: Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM (Unverified) said
#9, I had the goldstar 3do because it was the only one the store I went to carried.
I loved the 3DO. Despite it's demise it had some awesome games. Remember any of these?:
Killing Time
Return Fire
Zhadnost: The people's party (don't laugh)
Demolition Man
The first need for speed
D
Space Hulk
Road Rash
Captain Quazar
Wing commander 3
quarantine
I can't seem to find the title of the one game where you flew around with a propeller controlled backpack. Know the title?
Reply
I loved the 3DO. Despite it's demise it had some awesome games. Remember any of these?:
Killing Time
Return Fire
Zhadnost: The people's party (don't laugh)
Demolition Man
The first need for speed
D
Space Hulk
Road Rash
Captain Quazar
Wing commander 3
quarantine
I can't seem to find the title of the one game where you flew around with a propeller controlled backpack. Know the title?
Posted: Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM (Unverified) said
Trip was a good man until he got greedy! I had the 1st Panasonic 3DO and I loved it. I was working at Microplay at the time and we were getting in 3-5 new games a week! Our store was considered the 3DO store because we sold more than any other store in the franchise. Then things slowed down; I later read that 3DO raised the costs for a publisher to make a 3DO game by almost double! This was around the time that Jaguar came out. Saturn and PS1 came out, next thing you know, we became the used 3DO store lol! All and all, I think he did a lot of good for the industry and wasn't affraid to put out a system that was well ahead of its time (kinda like SNK releasing NeoGeo back in the early 16-bit days but not as dramatic). The followup to the 3DO was then canceled and the Jaguar finally got the Jag CD just in time for its own death. Man that was a fun job and that was a cool time for the industry! Anyways, back to the point; I have much respect for Trip, it would be nice for him to stand out again like he did in the past.
Reply
Posted: Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM (Unverified) said
I had completely forgotten about the original Need for Speed on 3DO. Wow...the first time I played that game I couldn't believe how realistic the cars and everything else looked. Real highway overpasses, merging lanes and everything.
I ended up with a Saturn from that generation, and two of my favorite games were 3DO ports: The Horde and the VERY underrated Off-World Interceptor.
Reply
I ended up with a Saturn from that generation, and two of my favorite games were 3DO ports: The Horde and the VERY underrated Off-World Interceptor.
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