Deborah Tillett joins Kalypso Media USA

Kalypso Media USA has appointed industry veteran, Deborah Tillett, as president of its newly established U.S. headquarters in Baltimore, MD. Tillett will be responsible for developing and implementing Kalypso’s strategic and creative vision for North America.

Tillett has held senior management positions at MicroProse and BreakAway Ltd. As president of BreakAway, Tillett grew the company from a handful of game developers into a staff of 100 with expertise in developing games, as well as using entertainment game technology to create virtual experiences for solving real-world problems. She has successfully established several technology start-ups including OT Sports, LLC an ABC/Walt Disney joint venture, and is an adjunct professor with Towson University teaching Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

Channeling Microprose: Wild Bill and Thriller New Media

“Wild” Bill Stealey, co-founder of Microprose (a company he helped build alongside legendary Sid Meier), wants you to know that he’s still going strong and has some lofty plans with a brand new company called Thriller New Media. The company, a division of Thriller Publishing (which was announced at GDC last year), will operate in the spirit of Microprose - before the Hunt Valley, Maryland company’s brand and identity as one of the best simulation and strategy game developers in the world was co-opted by the 1993 Spectrum Holobyte buy-out.

 The idea for the company came about while laying the groundwork for Thriller Publishing over the last year - a company that wants to bring espionage themed action games to various platforms including PC, Mac, mobile devices and consoles; Stealey and friends found that a significant opportunity existed in the online multiplayer and MMOG space that it could capitalize on in a very short space of time – hence the need for a second company.

The Austin Texas-based company’s focus is exclusively on online, first-person, military themed espionage action games based on science fiction and military stories from best-selling authors (who those authors are we do not know, but we expect to hear more about them later in the year). The other important part of the equation is a social networking platform to tie all of Thriller New Media’s content together and to provide users with a place to talk, keep score, and share stories.

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Bruce Shelley Gets AIAS Hall of Fame Nod

There are those that get awards and then there are those that actually deserve them. Ensemble Studios frontman, Bruce Shelley, is the latter. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced that Bruce Shelley will be the 12th inductee into the Academy’s Hall of Fame, joining such luminaries as Trip Hawkins (Electronic Arts), Peter Molyneux (Lionhead Studios), Yu Suzuki (Sega), Will Wright (Maxis), John Carmack (id Software), Hironobu Sakaguchi (Square Enix), Sid Meier (Firaxis Games), Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo), Richard Garriott (origin Systems), Dan/Danielle Bunten Berry (Ozark Landscape), and Michael Morhaime (Blizzard Entertainment).

Bruce Shelley is a legend in the board game and video game industry, having worked and influenced the direction of such board game companies as Iron Crown Enterprises, Simulations Publications, and the legendary board game company, Avalon Hill. In 1988 Shelley joiuned Microprose, beginning a long and successful career in PC games. After working on a variety of projects, including F-19 Stealth Fighter, Shelley worked with Sid Meier as his producer/assistant designer. Together they worked on such hits as Railroad Tycoon, Covert Action and Civilization.

Four years after Civilization, Shelley joined old friend Tony Goodman at start-up Ensemble Studios, to help create the epic franchise Age of Empires. To date, Age of Empires has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award,” Shelley said in today’s announcement. “I believe it also honors my colleagues over the years at Microprose and especially Ensemble Studios, from whom I have learned so much. I am very grateful for the opportunities that have come my way and hope that in return I have given something back to this great industry.”

The Hall of Fame Award will be presented by Tony Goodman, founder of Ensemble Studios, at the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards and will take place during the 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit on Thursday, February 18, 2009 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. Congratulations to Bruce Shelley for a well deserved honor - a reward that I personally believe is long overdue.