DICE Feature: 'Garriott Vs. Garriott: From Origin To NCSoft' 2

Today's first in-depth DICE feature deals with the joint address by current NCSoft senior executives and former Origin co-founders Richard and Robert Garriott to the attendees of the 2006 DICE Summit in Las Vegas. According to writer N. Evan Van Zelfden, the lecture began with a short parody film, which set the stage for both the struggle of light and dark which the brothers engage in. It also continued with some fascinating material on the history of the Garriotts: "In 1977, the Apple II came out. Richard began to make games for the new platform, and his first self-published titled sold well. They moved on to what Robert likes to call “The Easy Money Stage.” That time, between 1979 and 1983 when companies would just build the products in their garage, like Richard literally did. “The companies were run by developers themselves, and there wasn’t really professional management at the time.” Robert said. “But it really was easy money,” Richard said, “In terms of: people weren’t working hard. And they were making lots of return on their minimal investment. One company made so much the first year, that they shut down the entire company for the month of December, and took everybody to Hawaii for a vacation. Subsequently, they went out of business the next year. Which was a common story back then, for an easy money company.” You can read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject, which has plenty of other great information on the past of the brothers Garriott (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).