American McGee
Encyclopedia
Career
McGee began his career at id SoftwareId Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
, working on level design, music production, sound effects development, and programming in such games as Doom, Doom II
Doom II
Doom II: Hell on Earth is an award winning first-person shooter video game and second title of id Software's Doom franchise. Unlike Doom which was initially only available through shareware and mail order, Doom II was a commercial release sold in stores...
, Quake, and Quake II
Quake II
Quake II, released on December 9, 1997, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Id Software and distributed by Activision. It is not a sequel to Quake; it merely uses the name of the former game due to Id's difficulties in coming up with alternative names.The soundtrack for Quake II...
. In 1998, he moved to Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, where he worked as creative director on several projects, including American McGee's Alice
American McGee's Alice
American McGee's Alice is a third-person action game released for PC on October 6, 2000. The game, developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, is set in an alternative universe of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
. After finishing Alice, McGee left EA to found his first company, The Mauretania Import Export Company
The Mauretania Import Export Company
The Mauretania Import Export Company was a video game, film, and television production company founded by former id Software employee American McGee, who is best known for his 2000 action game American McGee's Alice...
.
Partnering with Enlight Software, McGee released the games Scrapland
Scrapland
American McGee Presents: Scrapland is a game developed by Mercury Steam Entertainment, with American McGee as a producer and published by Enlight Software.-Plot:...
in 2004 and Bad Day L.A.
Bad Day L.A.
American McGee presents: Bad Day L.A. is a 2006 third-person action video game by American McGee. Players assume the role of Anthony Willams, a former Hollywood agent turned homeless man in Los Angeles. During this time LA is ravaged by both natural and man-made disasters. Anthony only wishes to...
in 2006. The planned American McGee's Oz, which was to be produced in conjunction with Ronin Games, was canceled over financial difficulties at Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
. American McGee's Grimm
American McGee's Grimm
American McGee's Grimm is a 23-part episodic video game series based upon Grimm's Fairy Tales, designed by American McGee, developed by Spicy Horse and distributed online initially by GameTap starting July 31, 2008...
, developed by his Shanghai-based game development studio Spicy Horse
Spicy Horse
Spicy Horse is a Shanghai-based independent, video game developer started by American McGee in 2007.-History:The studio was established in 2007. It was called a studio "leading the way" in episodic games. It is currently the largest independent Western developer in China.Spicy Horse employs more...
for the online service GameTap
GameTap
GameTap is an American online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System . Dubbed by TBS as a "first of its kind broadband gaming network", the service provides users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content...
, was released in twenty-three weekly episodic segments, starting in 2007.
At the 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit
D.I.C.E. Summit
D.I.C.E. Summit is an annual multi-day gathering of video game executives held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Established in 2002 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the conference is host to the annual Entertainment Software Association's Interactive Achievement Awards...
, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello
John Riccitiello
John Riccitiello is the CEO of Electronic Arts .He received his Bachelors of Science degree from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley....
announced that a sequel to American McGee's Alice is in development for PC, PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
by American McGee's Spicy Horse
Spicy Horse
Spicy Horse is a Shanghai-based independent, video game developer started by American McGee in 2007.-History:The studio was established in 2007. It was called a studio "leading the way" in episodic games. It is currently the largest independent Western developer in China.Spicy Horse employs more...
studio. In July 2010, at the EA Showcase in San Francisco, Spicy Horse and EA announced that sequel's title, Alice: Madness Returns
Alice: Madness Returns
Alice: Madness Returns is a video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 released on June 14, 2011, in North America, June 16, 2011, in Europe and June 17, 2011, in the United Kingdom. It is the sequel to the 2000 Windows and Mac video game American McGee's Alice...
, released less than one year after its announcement, on June 14th 2011.
More recently, McGee's Spicy Horse expanded to include another brand, Spicy Pony, to produce digital mobile media games for the iPhone platform. Their first title, DexIQ, was released in early December 2009, and its follow-up, Crooked House, was released in March 2010 (both had iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
versions released in June 2010).
Films
McGee has written a script for his interpretation of L. Frank Baum'sL. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
for Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
and Disney (seemingly displaced amid pre-production of "Oz: The Great and Powerful", written by Mitchell Kapner and being directed by Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
.)
The film rights to Alice
American McGee's Alice
American McGee's Alice is a third-person action game released for PC on October 6, 2000. The game, developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, is set in an alternative universe of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
were sold to Miramax and Dimension
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
in 2004, before being passed onto 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and then to Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
the following year. McGee maintains credit as creator and producer of the film project.
Personal life
McGee has stated his mission is "to create a unified production method for story telling across the interactive and film industries" and of himself, he says, "I want to be the next Walt DisneyWalt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, only a little more wicked."
Upon inquiry about his unusual name: "My mom was a hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
. I'm not sure how else to put that... She claims a woman she knew in college, who named her daughter 'America', inspired the name. She also tells me that she was thinking of naming me 'Obnard'. She was and always has been a very eccentric and creative person."
In 2005, McGee left the United States and resided first in the city of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, then on Lamma Island
Lamma Island
Lamma Island , also known as Pok Liu Chau or simply Pok Liu , is the third largest island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Islands District.-Name:...
, and currently settling in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. Once in China, he created Spicy Horse
Spicy Horse
Spicy Horse is a Shanghai-based independent, video game developer started by American McGee in 2007.-History:The studio was established in 2007. It was called a studio "leading the way" in episodic games. It is currently the largest independent Western developer in China.Spicy Horse employs more...
, now the largest independent game development house in the nation, and helped found Blade (formerly Vykarian), a game outsourcing
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
company. They produced American McGee's Grimm
American McGee's Grimm
American McGee's Grimm is a 23-part episodic video game series based upon Grimm's Fairy Tales, designed by American McGee, developed by Spicy Horse and distributed online initially by GameTap starting July 31, 2008...
for GameTap (now owned by Metaboli
Metaboli
Metaboli is an online video game service with headquarters in France. Users pay a monthly fee so that they can access the company's library of games. Depending on their subscription, subscribers can access from over 150 to over 600 games.- History :...
) and worked on the sequel to his original Alice game, Alice: Madness Returns
Alice: Madness Returns
Alice: Madness Returns is a video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 released on June 14, 2011, in North America, June 16, 2011, in Europe and June 17, 2011, in the United Kingdom. It is the sequel to the 2000 Windows and Mac video game American McGee's Alice...
.
Works
- 1994 - Wolfenstein 3DWolfenstein 3DWolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...
, Tester (Atari CorporationAtari CorporationAtari Corporation was a manufacturer of computers and video game consoles from 1984 to 1996. Atari Corp. was founded in July of 1984 when Warner Communications sold the home computing and game console divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel. Its chief products were the Atari ST, Atari XE, Atari 7800,...
) - 1994 - Doom II: Hell on Earth, Level Designer (id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
) - 1994 - Doom, Level Designer (SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
) - 1995 - The Ultimate Doom, Level Designer (GT Interactive SoftwareGT Interactive SoftwareGT Interactive Software Corporation was an American video game publisher and distributor, which later developed both video games and PC games....
) - 1995 - Doom, Tester (WMS Industries)
- 1996 - Quake, Level Designer, Sound Designer, Tools Programmer (id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
) - 1996 - H!Zone, Co-Producer (WizardWorks SoftwareWizardWorks SoftwareWizardWorks Software was a video game developer and publisher located in Minneapolis, MN. Focused on casual consumer games sold through mass-merchants like Target and Wal-Mart, WizardWorks was best known for publishing the Deer Hunter series of video games developed by Sunstorm Interactive but also...
) - 1996 - Hexen: Beyond Heretic, Co-Producer (GT Interactive SoftwareGT Interactive SoftwareGT Interactive Software Corporation was an American video game publisher and distributor, which later developed both video games and PC games....
) - 1996 - Final DoomFinal DoomFinal Doom is a first-person shooter video game that uses the game engine, items and characters from Doom II. It consists of two 32-level megawads , The Plutonia Experiment by the Casali brothers, and TNT: Evilution by TeamTNT. Final Doom was released in 1996 and distributed as an official id...
, Level Designer (id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
and Atari, Inc.) - 1997 - Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon, Level Designer (id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
) - 1997 - Quake Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity, Level Designer (id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
) - 1997 - Quake IIQuake IIQuake II, released on December 9, 1997, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Id Software and distributed by Activision. It is not a sequel to Quake; it merely uses the name of the former game due to Id's difficulties in coming up with alternative names.The soundtrack for Quake II...
, Level Designer, Sound Designer, Tools Programmer (ActivisionActivisionActivision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
) - 1997 - Doom 64, Level Designer (Midway GamesMidway GamesMidway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
) - 1998 - Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 is a real-time strategy game developed by Ion Storm and 7th Level for Microsoft Windows. The game was published by Eidos Interactive in June 1998 on two CD-ROMs and boasted both single and multiplayer game modes...
, Sound Designer (Eidos InteractiveEidos InteractiveEidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
) - 2000 - Timeline, Co-Designer, Co-Writer (Eidos InteractiveEidos InteractiveEidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
) - 2000 - American McGee's AliceAmerican McGee's AliceAmerican McGee's Alice is a third-person action game released for PC on October 6, 2000. The game, developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, is set in an alternative universe of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
, Creative Director, Co-Writer, Designer (Electronic ArtsElectronic ArtsElectronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
) - 2004 - American McGee Presents: ScraplandScraplandAmerican McGee Presents: Scrapland is a game developed by Mercury Steam Entertainment, with American McGee as a producer and published by Enlight Software.-Plot:...
, Producer (Enlight Software) - 2006 - American McGee Presents: Bad Day L.A.Bad Day L.A.American McGee presents: Bad Day L.A. is a 2006 third-person action video game by American McGee. Players assume the role of Anthony Willams, a former Hollywood agent turned homeless man in Los Angeles. During this time LA is ravaged by both natural and man-made disasters. Anthony only wishes to...
, Creative Director, Writer, Co-Designer (Enlight Software) - 2008 - American McGee's GrimmAmerican McGee's GrimmAmerican McGee's Grimm is a 23-part episodic video game series based upon Grimm's Fairy Tales, designed by American McGee, developed by Spicy Horse and distributed online initially by GameTap starting July 31, 2008...
, Project Leader, Creative Director, Co-Writer, Co-Designer (Turner Broadcasting SystemTurner Broadcasting SystemTurner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...
) - 2009 - DexIQ, Project Leader, Creative Director (Spicy HorseSpicy HorseSpicy Horse is a Shanghai-based independent, video game developer started by American McGee in 2007.-History:The studio was established in 2007. It was called a studio "leading the way" in episodic games. It is currently the largest independent Western developer in China.Spicy Horse employs more...
) - 2011 - Alice: Madness ReturnsAlice: Madness ReturnsAlice: Madness Returns is a video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 released on June 14, 2011, in North America, June 16, 2011, in Europe and June 17, 2011, in the United Kingdom. It is the sequel to the 2000 Windows and Mac video game American McGee's Alice...
, Creative Director, Co-Writer, Designer (Spicy HorseSpicy HorseSpicy Horse is a Shanghai-based independent, video game developer started by American McGee in 2007.-History:The studio was established in 2007. It was called a studio "leading the way" in episodic games. It is currently the largest independent Western developer in China.Spicy Horse employs more...
) (Electronic ArtsElectronic ArtsElectronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
)
See also
- Alice, game-derived film
- dredgDredgDredg is an American rock group formed in 1993 in Los Gatos, California. The band consists of vocalist Gavin Hayes, guitarist Mark Engles, bassist Drew Roulette and drummer Dino Campanella....
, "Same Ol' Road" music video directed by McGee