Jordan Weisman is an American game designer and serial entrepreneur who has founded four major game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry. A game designer is a person who designs games. ... Game design is the process of designing the content and rules of a game. ...

Biography

Jordan Weisman signs a copy of Cathy's Book in October 2006.

Weisman graduated from Francis W. Parker High School, in Chicago, Illinois.He went to the Merchant Marin Acadamey and briefly attended University of Illinois at Chicago, before leaving school to pursue his business interests. Image File history File links Jordan-weisman-cathysbook. ... Image File history File links Jordan-weisman-cathysbook. ... Francis W. Parker School is an independent day school serving students from junior kindergarten through grade twelve of high school. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (140,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... This article is about the University of Illinois at Chicago. ...

In 1980 he founded role playing game publisher FASA (short for the Freedonia Aeronautics & Space Administration, named after the Marx brother's fictional country in Duck Soup) with partner L. Ross Babcock. After starting out producing supplements for the RPG Traveller, FASA produced several successful franchises including Battletech and Shadowrun. Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the role-playing game company. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... Traveller is a series of related science fiction role-playing games, first published in 1977 by Game Designers Workshop. ... BattleTech is a wargaming and science fiction franchise, launched by FASA Corporation and currently owned by WizKids. ... Shadowrun is a cyberpunk-urban fantasy cross-genre role-playing game, set 63 years in the future,[1]following a great cataclysm that has brought use of magic back to the world, just as it begins to embrace the marvels (and dangers) of technologies such as cyberspace, omnipresent computer networks...

In 1988, using funding from FASA and from a Japanese investor, Jordan founded Environmental Simulations Project (later re-named Virtual Worlds Entertainment - a company that produced the BattleTech Centers. Working with Incredible Technologies, VWE created the world's first immersive networked location-based virtual reality gaming centers. VWE was a critical but not commercial success. BattleTech Centers were commercial virtual entertainment venues that featured multiplayer virtual combat in the fictional BattleTech universe of fighting robots. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ...

In 1995, Weisman founded FASA Interactive to personally take over the development and production of the hit MechWarrior PC games. The franchise is one of the top-selling PC games of all time, with sales of over 9 million units worldwide. In 1999, Microsoft acquired FASA Interactive and moved the 40-person development team to Redmond, Washington. As part of the deal Weisman became Creative Director for Microsoft's entertainment division. FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and boardgames from 1981 till 2001. ... ... This article is about the year. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... Location of Redmond within King County, and King County within Washington. ...

In 2000, he founded WizKids, which produces the games Mage Knight, Heroclix, and Pirates of the Spanish Main. WizKids grew rapidly and went from start-up to over $30M in annual sales in just 2 years. The company focuses on miniatures games that use a combat dial (also invented by Weisman) and are easy to learn for younger players. WizKids was sold to Topps in 2004. Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... WizKids, Inc. ... Mage Knight is a miniatures wargame using collectible figures, created by WizKids, Inc. ... HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game produced by WizKids, Inc. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 15mm British Camel Corps and Heliograph Team from Peter Pig A miniature figure -- also known as a miniature or just a mini -- is a small figurine commonly used in role playing games (RPGs) such as Dungeons & Dragons. ... WizKids, Inc. ... The Topps Company, Inc. ...

In 2003 he founded 42 Entertainment, a design company in the new field of the alternate reality games (ARGs). 42 has created multiple ARGs, including "The Beast", to promote the Steven Spielberg film A.I., I Love Bees to promote the Xbox game Halo 2, and Year Zero, to promote the Nine Inch Nails album Year Zero. Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 42 Entertainment (originally 4orty 2wo Entertainment) is a Seattle-based creator of alternate reality games (ARGs) founded by Jordan Weisman. ... Alternate Reality, see Alternate Reality (computer game). ... The Beast is the name given by fans to the alternate reality game created to promote the release of the movie A.I.. The game concerned itself primarily with the discovery of the reasons behind the murder of Evan Chan, one of its characters. ... Steven Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ... A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (actual on-screen title: Artificial Intelligence: A.I.) (2001) was the last project that filmmaker Stanley Kubrick worked on. ... I Love Bees (also known as ilovebees or ILB for short) was an alternate reality game (ARG) that served as a real-world experience of, and a viral marketing campaign for, the Halo 2 video game. ... The Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. ... This article is about the video game. ... Year Zero is an alternate reality game based on the Nine Inch Nails concept album of the same name, its expected follow-up, and a possible accompanying movie project. ... “NIN” redirects here. ... Year Zero (also known as Halo 24) is the sixth Nine Inch Nails studio album, released on April 16, 2007 in Europe, April 17 in the United States, and April 25, 2007 in Japan. ...

In 2006, Cathy's book, an interactive novel written by Sean Stewart, Cathy Brigg and Jordan Weisman was published by Running Press. Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cathys Book is an Alternate Reality Game book written by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman published September 12, 2006. ... Sean Stewart (b. ... A member of the Perseus Book Group, the imprint is the publisher of fiction, non-fiction, cooking, humor, and kit books. ...

Jordan is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Interactive Media Division at the USC School of Cinema-Television. The University of Southern Californias School of Cinematic Artss Interactive Media Division first accepted students in 2002. ... The University of Southern Californias School of Cinema-Television is the oldest film school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ...

Design credits

Weisman's design credits in paper RPG game design include:

• Aerotech 2, Revised Ed. (BattleTech) (2004)
• MechWarrior: Dark Age (2002)
• Earthdawn (1993)
• Shadowrun (1989)
• MechWarrior: The Battletech Role Playing Game (1986)
• Star Trek III: Starship Combat Game Box Set (1984)

He also served as production manager and/or graphic designer on a long series of titles, and is co-author with Sean Stewart of Cathy's Book, a young-adult novel with ARG components. AeroTech is a FASA wargame set in the BattleTech universe. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Earthdawn is a fantasy role-playing game, originally produced by FASA. It has since been licensed to Living Room Games, which is producing the Second Edition line, and RedBrick Limited, a company that is producing the Classic line (which is essentially an alternate second edition; see History below for more... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Shadowrun is a cyberpunk-urban fantasy cross-genre role-playing game, set 63 years in the future,[1]following a great cataclysm that has brought use of magic back to the world, just as it begins to embrace the marvels (and dangers) of technologies such as cyberspace, omnipresent computer networks... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... MechWarrior is the title of a number of games set in the fictional universe created for the tabletop wargame BattleTech. ... BattleTech is a wargaming and science fiction franchise, launched by FASA Corporation and currently owned by WizKids. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Paramount Pictures, 1984; see also 1984 in film) is the third feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. ... This article is about the year. ... Sean Stewart (b. ...

References

• Weisman's rap sheet at MobyGames
• Escapist Magazine's biography/article on Weisman