Simulations Publications Inc.
| Industry | Gaming |
|---|---|
| Fate | Loan foreclosure by TSR resulting in assets seizure |
| Successor | TSR |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Defunct | 1982 |
| Headquarters | 44 East 23rd Street, New York City; later moved to 257 Park Avenue South |
|
Key people
|
James F. Dunnigan (Founder), Redmond A. Simonsen (Art director), Howie Barasch (marketing manager) |
| Products | Strategy & Tactics magazine, Ares magazine, board games, wargames |
Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) was an American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s. It produced an enormous number of games and introduced innovative practices, changing the course of the wargaming hobby in its bid to take control of the hobby away from then-dominant Avalon Hill. SPI ran out of cash in early 1982 when TSR called in a loan secured by SPI's assets. TSR began selling SPI's inventory in 1982, but later acquired the company's trademarks and copyrights in 1983 and continued a form of the operation until 1987.
The company was founded in 1969 by James F. Dunnigan to take over publishing Strategy & Tactics, which had been in financial trouble. However, SPI quickly proved that it was primarily a game publisher; not only did it produce many regular wargame designs, but starting with SPI's takeover, each issue of S&T included a complete wargame, comprising a map, rulebook and a sheet of die-cut counters.
In SPI's first two or three years, it embarked upon an expensive advertising campaign, including—but not limited to—full page advertisements in Scientific American magazine. New subscribers received free copies of its most successful game, Napoleon At Waterloo—an "easy to play" pocket-sized game with a foldout map and 78 pieces punched from cardstock. This advertising campaign led to a much larger subscriber base and SPI came to be seen as a serious competitor to Avalon Hill, the company that had founded the board wargaming hobby.
While S&T had started as a wargaming 'fanzine', under SPI it became more of a military history magazine that included a wargame. So in 1972, SPI started Moves as a house organ that talked about current and future SPI games, including a fair amount of information on SPI's game design process.
Like many new wargame companies in the early '70s, early SPI games left a lot to be desired physically. A typical early game came in an envelope with a one-color map and one large folded sheet for the rules. However, SPI quickly set about improving the physical quality of the components with better printing and boxes under the guidance of Art Director Redmond A. Simonsen. In 1973, they introduced a flat plastic box that was molded to be a counter storage tray with a clear cover. The actual cover of the game was a printed sheet that backed the clear plastic. This allowed SPI to produce the boxes in bulk, as they were identical for each game, the printed sheet provided the cover and could be printed with all the other components of the game. This system became the hallmark of SPI games, and was later emulated by Simulations Canada, whose early games utilized a smaller storage tray, with the cover of the rules booklet doubling as the cover sheet.
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Wikipedia