Marc Blank: Difference between revisions
From Eli's Software Encyclopedia
Created page with "{{Infobox Person | name = Blank, Marc | image= | image_size = | caption = Marc Blank | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = }} ==Career== ==List of major works== <DynamicPageList> category = Marc Blank namespace = Main ordermethod = categorysortkey order = ascending </DynamicPageList> ==External links== Category:Software Developer Category:People" Tag: 2017 source edit |
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==Career== | ==Career== | ||
===Early Life & Education=== | |||
* Marc Blank was born in 1954. | |||
* He studied at <b>MIT</b> (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where he became involved in computing and worked with early text adventures. | |||
* He also attended <b>Albert Einstein College of Medicine</b>, and earned his MD degree in 1979. | |||
===Founding of Infocom & Work There (1979–1986)=== | |||
* After medical school, instead of pursuing a full-time medical career, Blank decided to continue his work in programming and interactive fiction. | |||
* On June 22, 1979, Blank co-founded [[Infocom]], together with others including [[Dave Lebling]]. | |||
* At Infocom, Blank took on many roles: co-author of games, developer of core technology, and leadership in product development. | |||
===Notable Titles & Contributions=== | |||
* As one of Infocom’s “Imps” (implementers), Blank co-authored several landmark titles: | |||
** <i>[[Zork I]]</i>, <i>[[Zork II]]</i>, <i>[[Zork III]]</i> | |||
** <i>Deadline</i>, [[Infocom]]'s first non-Zork mystery game. | |||
** <i>Enchanter</i> (co-authored with [[Dave Lebling]]) | |||
** And solo creations: <i>Boder Zone</i> and <i>Journey: The Quest Begins</i> | |||
* Technologically, Blank was involved in developing and maintaining the <b>Z-Machine</b> ([[Infocom]]’s virtual machine) and tools such as <b>ZIL</b> (the “Zork Implementation Language”) and associated compilers. These allowed [[Infocom]]’s games to run on many platforms. | |||
* He was Vice-President of Product Development at [[Infocom]] during its heyday. | |||
* In 1986, Blank resigned from [[Infocom]], citing dissatisfaction with the direction the company was taking, plus personal reasons. | |||
===Later Career (Post-Infocom)=== | |||
After leaving [[Infocom]], Blank continued to work in software and games, evolving with the industry. | |||
* In 1993, he co-founded <b>Blank, Berlyn and Co.</b> with former [[Infocom]] writer [[Michael Berlyn]]. This company later became <b>Eidetic</b>. | |||
* At Eidetic, he worked on productivity / non-game software as well as games. For example, <i>Notion: The Newton List Manager</i> for the Apple Newton became one of the more successful third-party applications on that platform. | |||
* Eidetic also developed several games under the PC / PlayStation lines, the most notable being <i>Syphon Filter</i> (1999) and its sequels. These became major hits for Sony. | |||
* In 2000, Sony acquired Eidetic, which later became known informally as <b>Sony Bend</b>. | |||
* Blank left Sony in 2004, after which he worked on other software projects. One is <i>ChatterEmail</i>, an email client for the Treo smartphone. | |||
* He also worked at <b>Palm, Inc.</b>, after they acquired <i>ChatterEmail</i>. | |||
* Later, he had roles at Google (contributing to Android) and at Amazon’s Lab126. | |||
===Recognition & Honors=== | |||
* In 2009, IGN named him one of the top 100 game creators of all time. | |||
* In 2013, Marc Blank and [[Dave Lebling]] were awarded the <b>Pioneer Award</b> by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, in recognition of their foundational role in interactive fiction and the development of the Zork games. | |||
==List of major works== | ==List of major works== | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Blank Wikipedia] | |||
[[Category:Software Developer]] | [[Category:Software Developer]] | ||
[[Category:People]] | [[Category:People]] | ||
Latest revision as of 02:41, September 12, 2025
Marc Blank
|
|
| Blank, Marc | |
| Born | 1954 |
| Occupation | Founder, Software Developer, Programmer |
Career
Early Life & Education
- Marc Blank was born in 1954.
- He studied at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where he became involved in computing and worked with early text adventures.
- He also attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and earned his MD degree in 1979.
Founding of Infocom & Work There (1979–1986)
- After medical school, instead of pursuing a full-time medical career, Blank decided to continue his work in programming and interactive fiction.
- On June 22, 1979, Blank co-founded Infocom, together with others including Dave Lebling.
- At Infocom, Blank took on many roles: co-author of games, developer of core technology, and leadership in product development.
Notable Titles & Contributions
- As one of Infocom’s “Imps” (implementers), Blank co-authored several landmark titles:
- Zork I, Zork II, Zork III
- Deadline, Infocom's first non-Zork mystery game.
- Enchanter (co-authored with Dave Lebling)
- And solo creations: Boder Zone and Journey: The Quest Begins
- Technologically, Blank was involved in developing and maintaining the Z-Machine (Infocom’s virtual machine) and tools such as ZIL (the “Zork Implementation Language”) and associated compilers. These allowed Infocom’s games to run on many platforms.
- He was Vice-President of Product Development at Infocom during its heyday.
- In 1986, Blank resigned from Infocom, citing dissatisfaction with the direction the company was taking, plus personal reasons.
Later Career (Post-Infocom)
After leaving Infocom, Blank continued to work in software and games, evolving with the industry.
- In 1993, he co-founded Blank, Berlyn and Co. with former Infocom writer Michael Berlyn. This company later became Eidetic.
- At Eidetic, he worked on productivity / non-game software as well as games. For example, Notion: The Newton List Manager for the Apple Newton became one of the more successful third-party applications on that platform.
- Eidetic also developed several games under the PC / PlayStation lines, the most notable being Syphon Filter (1999) and its sequels. These became major hits for Sony.
- In 2000, Sony acquired Eidetic, which later became known informally as Sony Bend.
- Blank left Sony in 2004, after which he worked on other software projects. One is ChatterEmail, an email client for the Treo smartphone.
- He also worked at Palm, Inc., after they acquired ChatterEmail.
- Later, he had roles at Google (contributing to Android) and at Amazon’s Lab126.
Recognition & Honors
- In 2009, IGN named him one of the top 100 game creators of all time.
- In 2013, Marc Blank and Dave Lebling were awarded the Pioneer Award by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, in recognition of their foundational role in interactive fiction and the development of the Zork games.
