Reality programming: After a couple fitful starts, Ariella Lehrer is on a roll with her life-based computer simulation games, including licensing rights to a major TV show. (Small Business).LIKE a character in "Emergency Room," Ariella Lehrer's life in computer games has been revived. After forgoing a career in academia -- she has a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology cognitive psychology, school of psychology that examines internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language. It had its foundations in the Gestalt psychology of Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka, and in the work of Jean from Claremont Graduate University Claremont Graduate University (formerly The Claremont Graduate School) was founded in 1925 in the city of Claremont, California. It is one of two graduate institutions in the prestigious Claremont Colleges consortium, the other being the Keck Graduate Institute. -- Lehrer made the move to educational software. She consulted with IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) Corp., Learning Co. and Walt Disney Noun 1. Walt Disney - United States film maker who pioneered animated cartoons and created such characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; founded Disneyland (1901-1966) Disney, Walter Elias Disney Co. before realizing it left her unfulfilled. "I got the bug most people in consulting do," said Lehrer, in her offices along Hollywood Boulevard For uses other than the original street, see Hollywood Boulevard (disambiguation). Hollywood Boulevard is a boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States, beginning at Sunset Boulevard in the east and running northwest to Vermont Avenue, where it straightens out . "I wanted to create." The result, after one ill-fated attempt, is four-year-old Legacy Interactive Inc., a game maker trying to crack a market dominated by Electronic Arts and locally based THQ THQ Toy Headquarters THQ Territorial Headquarters THQ Tehsil Headquarters (Pakistan) THQ The Holy Quran THQ Theater Headquarters Inc. and Activision Inc. She and two programmers with whom she had worked while consulting recorded quick successes with titles that included "Emergency Room" and "Mickey's Crossword Puzzle crossword puzzle, word game in which words corresponding to numbered clues are put into a grid of horizontal and vertical squares to form intersecting words. The puzzle is solved when a player supplies all of the words correctly. Machine" for Disney. In 1996, Legacy Software scored a contract to develop four games for IBM. On the strength of that, the company went public, raising $4.5 million. But IBM threw cold water on the company's expansion plans when, in 1997, it abandoned consumer entertainment software and terminated Legacy's contract. A Florida startup called Videocall International Corp. acquired Legacy Software in a reverse public offering. Lehrer walked away with $2 million and the rights to the name Legacy and her pride and joy, the real-life simulation game A simulation game, or sim game, (also known as a game of status or mixed game) is a game that contains a mixture of skill, chance, and strategy to simulate an aspect of reality, such as a stock exchange. "Emergency Room." "I knew that product had legs and we could sell sequels and make money," Lehrer said. In 1998, she launched Legacy Interactive Corp. and a few months later the company shipped "Emergency Room 2." There are now seven games in the series, which lets the player treat patients in virtual emergency situations. Subsequent real-life simulation products followed, including "Vet Emergency" (the animal world version of the popular title) and "Moon Tycoon Moon Tycoon is a simulation computer game released in 2001 by Anarchy Enterprises and Unique Entertainment. It is based on the creation of a lunar colony or city. Anarchy Enterprises described it as the "first 3-D Sim game ever", and noted that it has similarities to SimCity ." This fall, "Combat Medic A combat medic is a trained soldier who is responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. Also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and non battle injury. " and the company's first licensed product, "Law & Order," will hit the market. "It's so business development 101: you start in a niche you can own and push that niche as far as you can and then try to expand the niche -- evolve as a company," Lehrer said. The license for "Law & Order," which was negotiated over 18 months with producer Studios USA, was a big deal in an industry that's becoming more license-driven. She wouldn't divulge the price she paid for the rights to the title. "I negotiated for the (television show) 'CSI' license," she said by way of comparison. "We didn't get that license, but I can tell you it was over $500,000." Not afraid to ask questions Lehrer pins a lot of the company's success on a willingness to talk to other software companies and ask developers and designers for opinions. By bypassing more expensive market research, Lehrer is able to keep costs lower. "In lieu of having the sophisticated (development) model we take our ideas out there and show them to as many people as possible," she said. Lehrer said she could take nascent nascent /nas·cent/ (nas´ent) (na´sent) 1. being born; just coming into existence. 2. just liberated from a chemical combination, and hence more reactive because uncombined. products to the competition without fear of losing intellectual property because Legacy's product line flies under the radar This article is about the magazine. For other uses, see Under the Radar (disambiguation). Under the Radar is an American magazine that bills itself as "The solution to music pollution." It features interviews with accompanying photo-shoots. of bigger software companies. "Partly, we're in a category that I think has been overlooked by the big companies," she said. "They're in the first-person, 'shooter' business. That's what's going to sell a million units. We can sell a couple hundred thousand units because our costs are less." The company lost less than $100,000 in 2001, though Lehrer said she expected to be in the black this year. Billy Pidgeon, an analyst at Jupiter Media Metrix, said Legacy's focus on real-life games provides a niche, though he adds that the audience is limited. "As long as they stay small they should continue to do well," Pidgeon said. Lehrer thinks "Law & Order" is a significant step toward a jump in revenues. To increase the chances, she's initiating a marketing campaign that will include television ads. Legacy Interactive also is looking to cross over from the PC platform to creating console games
A console game is a form of interactive multimedia used for entertainment. for the Microsoft Corp. Xbox, Sony Corp.'s Playstation 2 and Nintendo of America Inc.'s GameCube. Legacy Interactive also is working to adapt its simulation engine for corporate training. The first application, which already is in development with American Honda Motor Co. Inc., would simulate a dealer showroom for salesmen to practice and hone their technique. RELATED ARTICLE: PROFILE Legacy Interactive Inc. Year Founded: 1998 Core Business: Development of reality-based PC games. Revenues in 1999: $2.6 million Revenues in 2001: $4.5 million Employees in 1999: 2 Employees in 2001: 18 Goal: To reach profitability in 2002, expanding to console gaming platforms and sign more licenses. Driving Force: A fascination with computer games. |
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