Robert J. Mical
| Robert J. "RJ" Mical | |
|---|---|
RJ Mical signing an Amiga 1200 for the 25th anniversary of the Amiga computer, 2011
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| Born | 26 January 1956 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Inventor |
| Website | mical |
Robert J. "RJ" Mical (born January 26, 1956) is a pioneer and an influential figure in the video game industry. He created video games at Williams Electronics, helped invent the Amiga computer, and co-invented the Atari Lynx and the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer with Dave Needle. He was the central developer of Amiga's Intuition user interface and was well known at early Amiga gatherings. Mical was the chief architect of the Fathammer mobile game engine. From 2005 to 2011 he worked as a senior manager at Sony on the PlayStation product line. Since 2011 he has been working on software games and inventions with his own company, Arjinx. In 2012 he started working on game technology for Google.
According to Mical he created his first electronic game, a tic-tac-toe player, when he was 14.
Robert J. Mical graduated in 1979 from the University of Illinois with dual degrees in Computer Science and English, plus a minor in Philosophy.
From 1983 to 1984, Mical was software engineer at Williams Electronics. He worked on different projects, creating special effects, enemy intelligence, graphics, interface logic, and documentation development. He was involved in the development of the game Sinistar and notably coordinated the Star Rider project, a racing game on LaserDisc.
From 1984 to 1986, Robert J. Mical worked for Amiga Corporation and then Commodore International on the development of the Amiga 1000 and later models. As software engineer, he created various development tools and the animation system software. He developed Intuition, the Amiga user interface system software. He also contributed to the Amiga hardware design and helped create an early milestone software program for the computer: the Amiga Boing Demo. At the peak of his responsibilities he was appointed Director of Software. After leaving the company, he became an independent contractor, serving the Amiga community by creating development and support tools and games for a number of clients. He notably contributed to the development of Defender of the Crown (1986) from Cinemaware.
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