Archive: 7 posts

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Seeing as it’s the international Ada Lovelace day today I’d like to take a minute to celebrate one of my heroines, a person who is largely unknown to the public but can be said to have something of a cult status within the world of video games. <img src="http://www.mediamolecule.com/images/uploads/Mule_box_thumb.jpeg" alt="M.U.L.E." width="240" height="240" class="floatright" /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dani_Bunten" title="Danielle Bunten Berry">Danielle Bunten Berry</a> was one of the great innovators of multiplayer gaming and transformed the gaming space with the funky <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.U.L.E." title="M.U.L.E.">M.U.L.E.</a> from 1983. In the game, four colonists struggle for a new planet’s resources using customisable cyborg mules. But the game is not about a violent struggle, it is about business, and just as in ordinary business you can either compete or co-operate. The game was one of the early titles published by Electronic Arts, a newly founded company dedicated to treating their developer talent as artists and stars, and Danielle certainly was one. However, Danielle Bunten Berry wasn’t officially a heroine until 1992. He was a hero. Daniel was a male to female transsexual, and in 1992 performed a sex change to finally be the gender she wanted to be.  She later regretted the decision, quoting lost relationships, a disconnection from her old life and a lack of understanding from the people around her. In 1998 Danielle was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Computer Game Developers Association. Two months later, she died from cancer, never finishing the Internet version she was working on of her 1983 hit M.U.L.E. <img src="http://www.mediamolecule.com/images/uploads/bunten_thumb.jpeg" alt="Oooooh!" width="120" height="141" class="floatleft"/>Even with her success and career in the relatively open-minded business of game development, Danielle struggled, just like many people living outside of the norm still do. Once, that norm was just being male, and for a big part it still is. For me, recognising heroines and heroes that bring something good to the world while daring to show who they are is a big step in overcoming prejudices. That is why I want to celebrate Danielle Bunten Berry. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?a=abR-GInEpas:3CiegQzIn_I:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?a=abR-GInEpas:3CiegQzIn_I:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?a=abR-GInEpas:3CiegQzIn_I:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?i=abR-GInEpas:3CiegQzIn_I:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?a=abR-GInEpas:3CiegQzIn_I:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?i=abR-GInEpas:3CiegQzIn_I:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?a=abR-GInEpas:3CiegQzIn_I:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/MediaMoleculeBlog?i=abR-GInEpas:3CiegQzIn_I:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></a>

2010-03-24 12:40:00 Author: Spaff_Molecule Posts: 421

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M.U.L.E. = One of the greatest video game achievements of all time. My brother and I used to play it for HOURS at a time when we were kids, and even now we get together periodically and play it using an Atari Emulator. Years later, I still find myself humming the opening tune... Awesome talent!

2010-03-24 13:06:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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I have to admit I had never heard of Daniel/Danielle or the game M.U.L.E but thanks for sharing this Spaff. It's good to learn something you didn't know and it's a fitting tribute to someone who was obviously a big influence in the growth of videogaming. It's a moving story and a nice reminder that the people who fuel our appetitie for games are not just robots sitting at a desk inputting code but are actually real people with real emotions.

2010-03-24 13:42:00 Author: mistervista Posts: 2210

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Can you play the game online now? Could be fun to try.

2010-03-24 13:43:00 Author: BasketSnake Posts: 2391

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I don't think you can, however you can probably find it online if you can get an Atari 800, Apple II, or Commodore 64 emulator. It's actually an INCREDIBLY fun 1-4 player strategy game that had one of the most unique real-time buy/sell commodity systems I've ever seen. So, here's how the game worked: Each person represented a colony who would land on a desolate alien planet. A square would move across the entire planet, and each player would hit a button in real time to choose a parcel of land to aquire. Based on the planet landscape, the land could favor producing energy, mining, or food. Then, each player would take a turn with their mechanical mule and head out to install production systems onto their land parcels. You only had about 30 seconds to put the hardware on your mule, run him to a parcel of land to drop off the hardware, and return. After each player had a turn, your land parcels would produce goods. You would then go into an auction where you could buy/sell the goods to the other players. If a player needed food, they would "buy". If you had food to sell, you would "sell". The auctions were real time where the "buyers" would move up the screen, and the "sellers" would move down the screen to a point of purchase. The interesting thing about "MULE" is that the economic system it produced was incredibly deep... but yet somehow the design made it "feel" like a fun, colorful video game that every age group could enjoy. So, the kids AND the parents could enjoy playing it together. Another interesting fact is that this game was released back in the early 80's by "Electronic Arts". At the time, they were fairly small and put a lot of energy into promoting the programmers/designers. So, at the time "Dan Bunton" (as he was known then) was a video game superstar. Definately one of the early influential video game achievements.

2010-03-24 14:45:00 Author: CCubbage Posts: 4430

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Wow... thanks for sharing Spaff and thanks CCubbage for explaining it all. Sounds a bit like Command and Conquor, Kings Quest and Sim City wrapped into a nifty little game. At least if I understand it correctly. Wish I had a chance to have played this!! I agree with Mistervista that it is really cool to get a peek at the folks behind the scenes and to know the humans/stars that really were true heroes in advancing video games. Thanks again!!

2010-03-24 14:55:00 Author: jwwphotos Posts: 11383

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Can you play the game online now? Could be fun to try. There's either an emulated version (http://www.atarimule.com/) which supports playing locally or over the internet, or a PC remake (http://www.planetmule.com/) available.

2010-03-24 17:19:00 Author: Aya042 Posts: 2870

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