BudgeCo
Encyclopedia
BudgeCo was a video game developer
and publisher
of the early 1980s. It was founded by Bill Budge
, the designer and programmer
of the 1980s hit Pinball Construction Set
.
BudgeCo consisted of only Budge and his sister. He started the company as a distributor for his games Pinball Construction Set and Raster Blaster
. He formed it out of necessity: he needed a way to distribute his games, and he realized he could do what the big distributors were doing: namely putting the games in packaging (in his case, Ziploc
bags) and delivering them to software stores. So Budge and his sister, who mostly handled the accounting, would assemble the game packages in one of the rooms of his house and deliver them to local software stores.
By 1983, however, the market had changed and a distributor needed an entire marketing
arm, which Budge could not afford. That year Budge met Trip Hawkins
, who was looking for titles for his new company to distribute. Soon afterward, Hawkins' Electronic Arts
(EA) took over the publishing and distribution of Pinball Construction Set which became one of EA's early, huge hits.
Shortly after this, Budge disbanded BudgeCo, which he says was something of a relief for him, since he was really just a programmer and was not interested in being an entrepreneur
.
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
and publisher
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
of the early 1980s. It was founded by Bill Budge
Bill Budge
Bill Budge is a computer game programmer and designer. His two main claims to fame are 1981's Raster Blaster and 1983's Pinball Construction Set. Both these games were released originally for the Apple II....
, the designer and programmer
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
of the 1980s hit Pinball Construction Set
Pinball Construction Set
Pinball Construction Set is a computer game by Bill Budge published by Electronic Arts. It was released for the Apple II and Atari 800 in 1983 and was later ported to other platforms, such as the Commodore 64 and DOS .-Description:...
.
BudgeCo consisted of only Budge and his sister. He started the company as a distributor for his games Pinball Construction Set and Raster Blaster
Raster Blaster
Raster Blaster is a 1981 computer pinball game for the Apple II resembling the classic Firepower table.-Summary:This video game was written and designed by Bill Budge and published by BudgeCo. It showed a fullscreen high resolution display of a pinball game table...
. He formed it out of necessity: he needed a way to distribute his games, and he realized he could do what the big distributors were doing: namely putting the games in packaging (in his case, Ziploc
Ziploc
Ziploc is a brand of reusable, re-sealable zipper storage bags and containers originally developed by Dow Chemical Company, and now produced by S. C. Johnson & Son. According to Dow's website, the bags were originally test marketed in 1968....
bags) and delivering them to software stores. So Budge and his sister, who mostly handled the accounting, would assemble the game packages in one of the rooms of his house and deliver them to local software stores.
By 1983, however, the market had changed and a distributor needed an entire marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
arm, which Budge could not afford. That year Budge met Trip Hawkins
Trip Hawkins
William M. 'Trip' Hawkins III is a Silicon Valley American entrepreneur and founder of Electronic Arts, The 3DO Company and Digital Chocolate....
, who was looking for titles for his new company to distribute. Soon afterward, Hawkins' 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...
(EA) took over the publishing and distribution of Pinball Construction Set which became one of EA's early, huge hits.
Shortly after this, Budge disbanded BudgeCo, which he says was something of a relief for him, since he was really just a programmer and was not interested in being an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
.