Habitat was an early and technologically influentual online role-playing game developed by Lucasfilm Games and made available as a beta test in 1987 by Quantum Link, an online service for the Commodore 64 computer and the corporate progenitor to America Online. A sized-down incarnation but with vastly improved graphics (avatars became equipped with facial expressions, for example) was launched for general release as Club Caribe on Quantum Link in January 1988. A massively (or massive) multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG is a multiplayer computer role-playing game that enables thousands of players to play in an evolving virtual world at the same time over the Internet. ... Official LucasArts logo LucasArts Entertainment Company (sometimes shortened to LEC), is a video game developer and publisher. ... Quantum Link main menu Quantum Link (or Q-Link) was an American online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1994. ... Commodore 64 (1982) The Commodore 64 (C64, CBM 64, C=64) is a home computer with 64 kilobytes of RAM that was popular in the 1980s. ... America Online, or AOL for short, is a U.S.-based online service provider and Internet service provider that is owned by Time Warner. ... Quantum Link main menu Quantum Link (or Q-Link) was an American online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1994. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

LucasFilm licensed the technology underlying Habitat and Club Caribe to Fujitsu in 1989, and an elaborated and evolved version launched in Japan as Fujitsu Habitat in 1990. Fujitsu later bought the technology outright, and an even more sophisticated system was relaunched on CompuServe in 1995 as WorldsAway. Lucasfilm Logo Lucasfilm Ltd. ... Fujitsu is a Japanese company specializing in semiconductors, computers (supercomputers, personal computers, servers), telecommunications, and services, and is headquartered in Tokyo. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... CompuServe, (CompuServe Information Services, or CIS for short), was the first major commercial online service in the US, dominating the field during the 1980s and remaining a major player through the mid-1990s when it was sidelined by the rise of GUI-based services such as America Online (AOL). ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

As CompuServe morphed into AOL's "value brand," Worldsaway was cancelled but has survived independently as Vzones.com. CompuServe, (CompuServe Information Services, or CIS for short), was the first major commercial online service in the US, dominating the field during the 1980s and remaining a major player through the mid-1990s when it was sidelined by the rise of GUI-based services such as America Online (AOL). ... America Online, or AOL for short, is a U.S.-based online service provider and Internet service provider that is owned by Time Warner. ...

Habitat was initially created in 1985 by Randy Farmer and Chip Morningstar, who were given a "First Penguin Award" at the 2001 Game Developers Choice Awards for this innovative work. 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Game Developers Conference has annually hosted the Game Developers Choice Awards presented by the International Game Developers Association for outstanding developers of video game entertainment since 2001. ...

External links

• Habitat Chronicles
• Club Caribe fan page
• Current incarnation as "Vzones"
• History and screen shots of the original Habitat