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W. Eric Martin
United States
Apex
North Carolina
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• To follow-up on the news from May 26 that Hasbro is creating a "Center of Excellence for Games" – which entails firing half the workforce in East Longmeadow, Mass. prior to moving the remaining employees to Rhode Island – Fantasy Flight Games is hiring an Associate Game Producer. Head to this news post on the FFG website for details on what an Associate Game Producer does and how to apply. Hasbro's loss could be FFG's gain, right?
• Lucas Blair has posted part 3 of his "How to Design Effective Achievements" article series on Gamasutra. This series focuses on video games, but is worth a look for anyone including solo rules with a design.
• Shannon Appelcline details what's going on behind the scenes with the various AIs in his iOS adaption of Knizia's Modern Art: The Card Game.
• Michael Schacht and German site Die Pöppelkiste have organized a game giveaway for three Schacht titles. To enter the contest, you need to complete a Mondo Solo puzzle on Schacht's website, specifically the puzzle titled "Poeppelkiste". To find this puzzle, sign up for an account or log in, then click "Join Game".
• Old news of sorts: The New York Times ran an obituary for Ned Strongin on April 18, 2011, noting that in addition to creating Weebles, he was "co-inventor of Connect Four".
Now, the designer of Connect Four according to BGG (as of May 26, 2011) is Howard Wexler, and if you search for "Howard Wexler", every article or profile of him describes Wexler as the inventor of Connect Four, not the co-inventor. The only mention of Strongin in connection with Connect Four that I can find is from obituaries about the man, as in this (somewhat botched) transcription of an article from the May 13, 2011 Newport Beach Independent. An excerpt, with corrections:
Quote: When Connect 4 was developed he worked with Howard Wexler at their shared business, Strongin and Wexler Corp., [his son] Mike Strongin said. They bought the game as a horizontal board game and made some modifications, like rotating it to become a vertical game, one of the aspects which make it unique.
"Since then, Connect Four has generated a considerable amount of money," Mike Strongin said.
Time for a designer correction, it seems. And here's more about the man from a press release I received:
Quote: Phil Orbanes, currently President of Winning Moves Games who had a long relationship with Strongin and worked with him to license Giggle Wiggle to Hasbro Games said, "Ned was regarded in the toy and game industry as one of the three post-World War II 'fathers' of external toy and game inventions, along with Marvin Glass and Eddy Goldfarb." "Ned's NYC studio on Broadway was always a go-to stop in search of new game ideas. You could count on strong concepts from his creative design staff presented by Ned himself. He had a real love for the toy and game industry," said Ron Weingartner, partner of toy consulting firm Weingartner Associates. Weingartner formerly worked in game development and inventor relations for Hasbro Games, Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley (the latter, during the time in 1973 when the company first licensed Connect 4).
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