XOR Corporation

XOR Corporation (pronounced eks-or)[1] was a video game developer and publisher based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, founded in 1982[1] by Glenn Diamond.[2] XOR was active until 1990 and primarily released games for DOS and Macintosh, but also released the DOS business applications Blu Chip, a stock portfolio manager,[3]: 119  and Thoth, a database manager,[3]: 125 [3] and the C utility C Tools.[3]: 143 

Two games published by XOR Corporation for Macintosh, MacGolf (1986) and MacSki (1990), were inducted into the Macworld Game Hall of Fame in the "Best Sports Game" category.[4][5] MacGolf was a top-selling Macintosh game upon its release and had sold 70,000 copies by 1988; it was still the best-selling Macintosh game in September 1988.[6]

In 1985 XOR released NFL Challenge, an American football simulation game officially endorsed by the NFL,[7] for DOS and Macintosh. ESPN used NFL Challenge to simulate games for its NFL Dream Season television show, playing each game 100 times to determine the outcomes.[8] NFL Challenge was the first software officially licensed by the NFL.[9]

In the wake of NFL Challenge's success, XOR CEO Glenn Diamond approached the CIA in 1985 about an official endorsement and collaboration for an upcoming video game. The CIA rejected his proposal.[2]

In 1985, XOR corporation collaborated with Timothy Leary on an unreleased video game, book, and possible companion album by Devo with the working title The Brain Game. The game intended to use Leary's brain models to increase the player's intelligence via a symbiotic process of psychological testing and self-reflection.[1][10][11][12]

  1. ^ a b c Needle, Dave (September 19, 1983). "Leary: computer as partner in symbiotic relationship". InfoWorld. Vol. 5, no. 38. Popular Computing, Inc. p. 4.
  2. ^ a b "LETTR TO GLENN DIAMOND (SANITIZED)". CIA.gov. CIA. September 3, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Creative Computing 1984 Software Buyer's Guide. Ziff-Davis. 1984.
  4. ^ Levy, Steven (December 1986). "The Game Hall of Fame". Macworld. Vol. 3, no. 12. San Francisco, CA: PCW Communications, Inc. pp. 120–121.
  5. ^ Levy, Steven (December 1990). "The Game Hall of Fame". Macworld. Vol. 7, no. 12. San Francisco, CA: Macworld Communications, Inc. p. 213.
  6. ^ Gross, Steve (November 24, 1988). "Making sure games are fun is serious business to them". Star Tribune. p. 11B.
  7. ^ Brown, Eric (November 1985). "NFL Challenge: Play-by-Play". PC World. Vol. 3, no. 11. PC World Communications, Inc. pp. 168–177.
  8. ^ Phipers, Todd (1989-09-01). "ESPN gives fans chance to dream". The Denver Post.
  9. ^ "News Briefs: But does it simulate Howard Cosell?". InfoWorld. Vol. 6, no. 11. Popular Computing, Inc. March 12, 1984. p. 22.
  10. ^ "Tradetalk". Softalk. Vol. 2, no. 8. Softalk Publishing, Inc. January 1984. p. 61.
  11. ^ Mehrin, Elizabeth (February 17, 1994). "People in the News: Timothy Leary". PC Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 2. Ziff-Davis Publishing. p. 62.
  12. ^ Brunt, Stephen (November 26, 1983). "Tim Leary turns on to video". The Globe and Mail. p. 10.