Don't underestimate the importance of toys and games in shaping the values and aspirations of children once they reach adulthood:
Bernard Stolar (October 9, 1946 – June 22, 2022)[1] was an American businessman and a prominent figure in the video game industry for many years. Among several roles in the industry, he was a founding member of Sony Computer Entertainment America, and president of Sega of America, where he helped lead the development of the Sega Dreamcast home console.
Early life and education[edit]
Stolar graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.[2]
Stolar started by co-founding Pacific Novelty Manufacturing Inc., a coin-op machine company in 1980, before he was hired by Atari into their own arcade game business. Later, Stolar was moved into Atari's home console division, where he led development of the Atari Lynx handheld console in the early 1990's.[3]
Stolar was the first executive vice president and founding member of Sony Computer Entertainment America, where he was integral in both the launch and building of the original PlayStation's game catalog. At Sony, Stolar signed many game franchises including Crash Bandicoot, Ridge Racer, Oddworld Inhabitants, Spyro The Dragon and Battle Arena Toshinden. After leaving Sony, he accepted an offer to become president and chief operating officer at Sega of America, where he led the development and launch of the Dreamcast. One of Stolar's top moves was to acquire Visual Concepts for Sega of America and create 2K Sports.[4]
In December 1999, Stolar joined Mattel as president and helped spawn a multi-million unit selling Barbie video game series.[5] In late 2005, Stolar became an advisor and director at Adscape Media. Stolar would later sell Adscape Media to Google for $23 million USD.[6] Afterwards, Google would hire Stolar as their Games Evangelist.[7] In 2009, Stolar became the chief executive officer of GetFugu.[8] By 2010, Stolar had resigned.[9] In 2014, Stolar became the chairman of ZOOM Platform and the Jordan Freeman Group.[10]
Stolar died in June 2022 in California at the age of 75.[11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Stolar
Bernard Stolar (October 9, 1946 – June 22, 2022)[1] was an American businessman and a prominent figure in the video game industry for many years. Among several roles in the industry, he was a founding member of Sony Computer Entertainment America, and president of Sega of America, where he helped lead the development of the Sega Dreamcast home console.
Early life and education[edit]
Stolar graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.[2]
Stolar started by co-founding Pacific Novelty Manufacturing Inc., a coin-op machine company in 1980, before he was hired by Atari into their own arcade game business. Later, Stolar was moved into Atari's home console division, where he led development of the Atari Lynx handheld console in the early 1990's.[3]
Stolar was the first executive vice president and founding member of Sony Computer Entertainment America, where he was integral in both the launch and building of the original PlayStation's game catalog. At Sony, Stolar signed many game franchises including Crash Bandicoot, Ridge Racer, Oddworld Inhabitants, Spyro The Dragon and Battle Arena Toshinden. After leaving Sony, he accepted an offer to become president and chief operating officer at Sega of America, where he led the development and launch of the Dreamcast. One of Stolar's top moves was to acquire Visual Concepts for Sega of America and create 2K Sports.[4]
In December 1999, Stolar joined Mattel as president and helped spawn a multi-million unit selling Barbie video game series.[5] In late 2005, Stolar became an advisor and director at Adscape Media. Stolar would later sell Adscape Media to Google for $23 million USD.[6] Afterwards, Google would hire Stolar as their Games Evangelist.[7] In 2009, Stolar became the chief executive officer of GetFugu.[8] By 2010, Stolar had resigned.[9] In 2014, Stolar became the chairman of ZOOM Platform and the Jordan Freeman Group.[10]
Stolar died in June 2022 in California at the age of 75.[11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Stolar
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.