Joe Ybarra
Joseph Ybarra(born ~1954)[citation needed]is an American producer and designer ofvideo games.He leftApple Computerin 1982 to work at the newElectronic Artsthat was founded by his fellow ex-employeeTrip Hawkins.He was the originalproducerof the firstMadden NFL.
As one of the original game producers at EA, Ybarra worked on acclaimed games such as M.U.L.E., Seven Cities of Gold, Starflight, and the first version of Madden NFL. Ybarra later served as the president of Infocom and produced MMORPGs for Sierra Online and Monolith Productions. He also held a position at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, which eventually filed for bankruptcy. In 2013, Ybarra launched a Kickstarter for a simulation game called Shackleton Crater, which ultimately did not meet its funding goals.
Professional biography
[edit]Joe Ybarra worked atApple Computerbefore leaving in 1982 to work atElectronic Arts,astartup companyfounded by his fellow ex-Apple employee,Trip Hawkins.[1][2]There he became one of the originalgame producersandgame designersatElectronic Arts[3]in 1982 (along with Stewart Bonn,Dave Evans (Apple),Susan Lee-MerrowandPat Marriott), where the concept of a game producer was created byTrip Hawkins.During this time he produced several highly acclaimedcomputer games,includingM.U.L.E.[3]byDani BuntenandOzark Softscape,Seven Cities of Gold(also by Bunten),Starflight[3]andDr. J. and Larry Bird Go One on OnebyEric Hammond.Ybarra was also the original producer on the first version ofMadden NFL.[4]
He later became president of game publisherInfocom[5][6]and producedMMORPGsforSierra OnlineandMonolith Productions.[7]
He had been working with Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment and its subsidiary FireSky on theStargate WorldsMMO as Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations.[3][8]However, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment filed for bankruptcy on February 12, 2010[9]and no longer sells or operatesStargate: Resistance.[10]
On March 11, 2013 Joe Ybarra announced a Kickstarter project for a simulation game called Shackleton Crater, billed as "the lunar colonization strategy game based on today's science and tomorrow's dream." However, it was closed down before achieving its funding goals.[11]
- Alien Legacy
- Earth Orbit Stations
- M.U.L.E.
- John Madden Football
- Dr. J. and Larry Bird Go One on One
- Shadowbane[12]
- Spellcraft: Aspects of Valor
- Starflight
- Stargate Worlds
- The Bard's Tale
- The Matrix Online[7][13]
- Seven Cities of Gold
- The Shadow of Yserbius
References
[edit]- ^Pham, Alex (April 17, 2009)."Popular Madden NFL game will continue".Los Angeles Times.Los Angeles, CA, USA.RetrievedApril 12,2012.
- ^Pitts, Russ (March 6, 2007)."EA is a Startup".The Escapist.Durham, NC, USA: Themis Media. Archived fromthe originalon October 29, 2013.RetrievedApril 12,2012.
- ^abcd"Speaker Details - Joseph Ybarra".2007 Online Game Developers Conference.Issaquah, WA: Evergreen Events. 2007. Archived fromthe originalon September 2, 2011.RetrievedFebruary 26,2011.
- ^Hruby, Patrick."The Franchise: The inside story of howMadden NFLbecame a video game dynasty ".ESPN.RetrievedApril 12,2012.
- ^Briceno, Hector; Chao, Wesley; Glenn, Andrew; Hu, Stanley; Krishnamurthy, Ashwin; Tsuchida, Bruce (December 15, 2000)."Down From the Top of Its Game - The Story of Infocom, Inc"(PDF).p. 3.RetrievedApril 16,2012.
- ^Doherty, Paul David (June 22, 2007)."Infocom Fact Sheet".Paul David Doherty.RetrievedSeptember 24,2014.
- ^abBoyle, Alan(March 18, 2005)."Gamers live out the Matrix's next chapter - Technology & science - Games".NBC News.New York, NY, USA.RetrievedApril 16,2012.
- ^"Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, Inc.: Private Company Information".Businessweek.New York, NY, USA:Bloomberg L.P.Archived fromthe originalon January 18, 2013.RetrievedApril 16,2012.
- ^Ross, Jamie (August 26, 2010)."Funny Business Alleged in Video Game".Pasadena, CA:Courthouse News Service.Archived fromthe originalon January 4, 2011.RetrievedFebruary 26,2011.
- ^"News:: CME Update".Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. January 17, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon October 29, 2013.RetrievedFebruary 26,2011.
As we indicated in our previous announcement, as of January 16, 2011, we are unfortunately no longer able to sell or operate Stargate Resistance. We are actively evaluating options for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, Inc. and its products, and will update you as soon as additional information is available. Thank you for your continued support.
- ^"Shackleton Crater Kickstarter Campaign Closes".Polygon.27 March 2013.RetrievedMarch 27,2013.
- ^Sheffield, Brandon (March 24, 2008)."Y Control: Joe Ybarra On Cheyenne Mountain's Massive Plans".Gamasutra.San Francisco, CA, USA:UBM TechWeb.RetrievedApril 14,2012.
- ^"Three Days of The Matrix Online".IGN.San Francisco, CA, USA:IGN,a Division ofNews Corporation.December 21, 2004. Archived fromthe originalon December 23, 2004.RetrievedApril 14,2012.
External links
[edit]- Koh, Carolyn (May 20, 2008)."Stargate Worlds: An ION Chat with Joe Ybarra - Stargate Worlds for PC at MMORPG.COM".MMORPG.Cyber Creations Inc.RetrievedFebruary 26,2011.
- Stewart, Maxfield (May 8, 2008)."Ybarra - Let's Go to Hollywood".Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. pp. 1–16. Archived fromthe original(PPT)on March 25, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 26,2011.
