John De Margheriti

Infobox Person
name = John De Margheriti


image_size = 200px
birth_date = birth date and age|1962|7|12
birth_place = Rome, Italy
occupation = CEO, BigWorld Pty Limited & CEO, Micro Forté Pty Limited
nationality = Australian
footnotes = John is an Honorary Ambassador for Canberra - Australia's National Capital

INTRODUCTION

John De Margheriti [born July 1962] is the CEO of BigWorld Pty Limited and the subsidiary Micro Forté Pty Limited. He is also the Founder and Chairman of the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) and Canberra Technology Park (CTP) and Founder of the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA).

EARLY YEARS

De Margheriti experimented with CB-Radios and electronics early as a young teenager. During his senior years at Hawker College De Margheriti co-created an amateur 8mm sci-fi film after watching the first “Star Wars : Episode 4” film. During the development of his amateur film, he co-developed a robotics system that would enable him to film complex stop-motion animation footage of large scale spaceship models. His need to create scrolling film credits led him to discover computers as a tool. The film involved dozens of actors and as a result, De Margheriti gained his first taste in management working with actors and prop builders. During filming he also met Steve Wang which would later form the basis of a successful, long standing, friendship and business association. During years eleven [11] and twelve [12] , De Margheriti experimented with making computer games independently. He wrote his first computer game called “Maze” on a PDP-11 and his peer, Steve Wang developed a computer game called “Caves”, also on a PDP-11 computer.

After college, De Margheriti went on to Study Electrical Engineering at the University of New South Wales [UNSW] . His peer and good friend Steve Wang also went on to study at UNSW in the field of Computer Science. Together they devoted much of their time during University hours to developing computer games. They pooled their money to purchase a Commodore PET . During this time John also met Stephen Lewis and he joined the group, helping make games on the Commodore PET. Their most memorable game that they developed during university years was made for the Commodore 64. Whilst working part time at a computer store [Computer 1] in Randwick to put himself through University, De Margheriti met a gentleman [Gerry Gerlach] who was interested in finding a person who could develop a computer game based on the recent Australian win of the Americas Cup 12m Sailing. After an enthusiastic conversation with Gerlach, John approached his friends at the University and pulled together a team including Steve Wang, Stephen Lewis and John Reidy capable of developing the simulation game. The team spent 72 hours straight developing a demo and successfully pitched it to Armchair Entertainment and won a contract to develop the Americas Cup Sailing Simulation game for the Commodore 64 and Amstrad which was ultimately developed and then sold to Electronic Arts. They named their company Micro Forté as it was the “opposite” of Microsoft [developing games not business systems] . The “Micro” name also signified the use of micro computers and that they were a small group of friends each with a different “Forte” or strength. Soon after starting to develop their first game, Steve and Stephen tactfully told John that his true strength was not programming but managing and winning new projects for the fledgling group. This “truth” ultimately saw De Margheriti become the entrepreneur and strategic visionary for a group of profit and not for profit companies.

In addition to the Americas Cup Sailing Simulation, De Margheriti went on to program two other of games for Electronic Arts including Demon Stalkers and Fireking for the Commodore 64 and IBM PC, which was later released by Sydney based Strategic Studies Group (SSG) http://www.ssg.com.au/

LIST OF GAMES

The Official America’s Cup Sailing Simulation

Released: 1986 [http://au.gamespot.com/cpc/sports/americascupchallenge/index.html America's Cup Challenge. GameSpot.com] ] Publisher: Electronic Arts [EA] and US GoldFormats: C64/128 and Amstrad

Demon Stalkers – The Raid on Doomfane

Released: 1987 [http://au.gamespot.com/c64/action/demonstalkers/index.html Demon Stalkers. GameSpot.com] ] Publisher: EAFormat: C64/128 and IBM PC

Fire King

Released: 1989 [http://www.classic-pc-games.com/pc/arcade_action/fire_king.html FireKing. Clasic-PC-Games.com] ] Publisher: Strategic Studies Group [SSG] Formats: C64/128 and IBM PC

Bombs Away

Genre: Children's Game [http://www.microforte.com/capabilities/games_baway.php. Bombs Away, Micro Forté Website] ] Released: 1997Publisher: Emu MultimediaFormats: Windows 95/98

Nordice

Genre: Children's Game [http://www.microforte.com/capabilities/games_nordice.php. Nordice, Micro Forté Website] ] Released 1997Publisher: Emu MultimediaFormats: Windows 95/98

Roy Morgan’s Ultimate Survey

Genre: Family Board Game [http://www.roymorgan.com/roymorgan/index.cfm?0A3269BD-50BA-1DC3-655A-74CDF1F30EE4 Roy Morgan's Ultimate Survey Roy Morgan International Website] ] Released: 1997Publisher: Emu MultimediaFormat: Board Game

Enemy Infestation

Released: 1998 [http://www.answers.com/topic/enemy-infestation?cat=entertainment Game:Enemy Infestation, Answers.com Entertainment] ] Publisher: Ripcord GamesFormats: Windows 95/NT

Fallout Tactics - Brotherhood of Steel

Released: 2001 [http://au.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/fallouttacticsbos/index.html Fallout Tactics, GameSpot.com] ] Publisher: InterplayFormats: Windows 95/98

Hot Wheels Bash Arena

Released: 2002 [USA] , 2003 [Australia] Publisher: THQ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_May_10/ai_85667582 THQ Announces Hot Wheels Bash Arena for PC. Press Release, Bnet website] ] Formats: PC/CD ROM

KWARI

Released: 2007Publisher: KWARI LimitedFormat: Multiplayer Online Kwari

MICRO FORTE PTY LIMITED

Between 1985 and 1988, De Margheriti turned his focus towards business negotiations and contract development. He co-founded a games development company called Micro Forté Pty Limited; and times were very difficult for the company as the worked tirelessly making games for Electronic Arts, having very little free time.

Then in 1995 De Margheriti came up with the concept of developing a software solution that would somehow group bulletin board services (BBS) together so that many people could play games together. He called this concept Game Net. Game Net was really a precursor to what would later become known as BigWorld Technology. De Margheriti’s idea was to allow large scale Multi User Dungeons [MUDs] to be developed where hundreds of people could be playing together in a multiplayer game. He was greatly influenced by an EA friend Danielle/ Dan Bunten who had designed M.U.L.E, Modem Wars as well as a famous game called Command HQ which he often played with Stephen Lewis.

Those seminal games influenced De Margheriti greatly in terms of coming up with the concept of building what is now commonly known as Massively Multiplayer Online Games [MMOGs] . While developing the idea of Game Net, De Margheriti became increasingly more aware of the advent of the Internet particularly after playing Ultima Online and Meridian 59, two of the first Massively Multiplayer Online Games [MMOGs] . He realised that these two games were an extension of the multiplayer games he loved and that in the future many developers would want to create massively multiplayer games, and that an entire industry would be born. De Margheriti decided to switch his focus away from BBS, and instead he made the decision to build a middleware engine that would help developers deal with the complexities of creating these online games. In 1996 Stephen Lewis and John lodged Patents for a Communication System and Method and in 1999 he lodged an application for funding through AusIndustry’s R&D Start program and received a multimillion dollar grant. This was subsequently matched by venture capital from Allen & Buckeridge, a leading Australian Venture capital firm. The name of “Large Scale Multi Player Universe” (LSMPU) was originally used to describe the server, client and tools middleware system that De Margheriti had in mind.

THE ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT

In 1996, during Micro Forté’s expansion years, there was a need for the hiring of 3D animators and artists. At that time there was a clear lack of knowledge in that area and little or no available talent. De Margheriti decided to establish the Academy of Interactive Entertainment [AIE] as a business unit of Micro Forté to work towards solving this problem. The Academy was to focus on developing 3D animation skills, and a course taught by De Margheriti, Steve Wang and other 3D experts was created for a small group of 10 students.

Later on in 1997 it was spun out as a separate non profit organisation called the Academy of Interactive Entertainment Limited [AIE] to assist the greater industry. De Margheriti had realised that Micro Forté’s shortages were not just his shortages; other industry related companies like Beam Software were also suffering a similar fate. The AIE has since grown from a small division of Micro Forté with 10 students, to an independent, nationally accredited, small registered training organisation (RTO) that specialises in education for computer game development and the 3D Digital Content Industry.

THE AUSTRALIAN GAME DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE [AGDC]

In 1999 De Margheriti realised that to really help the Australian games industry grow, not only for Micro Forté’s needs, but to solve the problem that the Nation had, a wider support infrastructure was needed for the Australian industry. He established and launched the inaugural Australian Game Developer’s Conference [AGDC] to foster the growth and collective presence of the Australian Games Industry.

THE GAME DEVELOPERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA [GDAA]

It was at the inaugural AGDC that De Margheriti played a pivotal role in also creating an industry representative body called the Game Developers Association of Australia [GDAA] to increase the profile of the Australian games industry both domestically and internationally. The Australian games industry gradually began to receive recognition, and De Margheriti became widely accepted as the “Father of the Australian Industry”. De Margheriti acted as one of the GDAA’s main financial backers and Treasurer until late 2005 when he resigned from the Board to focus his energies on expanding BigWorld Pty Limited. In December 2005, De Margheriti also announced the closing of AGDC, Australia’s most successful and well known Game Developers Conference to provide the GDAA an opportunity to run an industry conference.

ASSOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN ENTERTAINMENT

De Margheriti is also a founding member of the Association of Christian Entertainment.

CANBERRA TECHNOLOGY PARK [CTP]

De Margheriti is passionate about encouraging entrepreneurial activity in his local community and to this end, he established Canberra Technology Park (CTP) in 1997, a dedicated business park to facilitate the growth of the computer game development, 3D animation and other information technology [IT] related industries within Canberra.

HONORARY AMBASSADOR FOR CANBERRA

In November 2000, Mr Gary Humphries the current MLA, Chief Minister at the time, appointed De Margheriti Honorary Ambassador for Canberra - Australia’s National Capital, in recognition of his personal contribution in assisting Canberra to develop a significant business base.

De Margheriti continues to foster business growth for start ups, mentor industry rookies and support industry development. He has participated as a guest presenter at many industry conferences; is pro active in seeking government support and assistance for the Australian industry, and features often in industry related media.

CANBERRA BUSINESS PARKS [CBP]

More recently [2005] De Margheriti took over the site management of the Capital Region Enterprise and Employment Development Association [CREEDA] Business Centres [Downer, Narrabundah and Erindale] that had gone into liquidation, with an obvious view to negotiate a long term lease on the sites. De Margheriti's main motivation in taking over the defunct sites was to restore an important business incubator function in Australia’s capital city, Canberra. The sites were successfully re-branded as Canberra Business Parks (CBP) and in May 2008, De Margheriti largely donated the CBP name [and associated brands] and business, which were now a formidable profitable business [almost operating at full capacity] to the ACT Government and the local business community.

BIGWORLD PTY LIMITED

After being heavily involved in the computer game development industry through his own games studios, not for profit organizations and associations for over 20 years, De Margheriti saw an opportunity within the online game market for a definitive MMOG middleware solution. His studios shifted their focus into developing the multi award winning BigWorld Technology which he later [2002] spun out into a middleware company - BigWorld Pty Limited. De Margheriti continues to expand BigWorld’s sales and support presence globally.

References

External links

BigWorld site:
* http://www.bigworldtech.com/company/team.php
* http://www.bigworldtech.com/index/index.php

AIE Site:
* http://www.aie.edu.au/about/aie_people.php
* http://www.aie.edu.au/

Micro Forte Site:
* http://www.microforte.com.au/

Australian Game Developers conference:
* http://www.agdc.com.au/

Game Developers Association of Australia:
* http://www.gdaa.com.au/

Christian Game Developers Conference:
* http://cgdc.org/

Canberra Technology Park:
* http://www.canberratechpark.com/