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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, an 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. In 2011 the Micro Forte company acquired all the shares from the venture capital company.
256:. During the development of his amateur film, he co-developed a robotics system entitled 3DIM that would enable him to film complex stop-motion animation footage of large scale spaceship models. De Margheriti's 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 met Steve Wang which would later form the basis of a longstanding business association. He wrote his first computer game called “Maze” on a
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at the university and pulled together a team including Wang, Stephen Lewis and John Reidy capable of developing the simulation game. The team spent 72 hours straight developing a demo, 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
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to put himself through university, De
Margheriti met 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 12 metres (39 ft) sailing. After a conversation with Gerlach, De Margheriti approached his friends
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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. De
Margheriti decided to switch his focus away from BBS, and made the decision to build a middleware engine that would help
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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 a precursor to what would later become known as
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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. The AIE now has campuses in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Online, Adelaide, Seattle, and
267:(UNSW), and holds an MBA from Sydney University. 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
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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 wrote games for a new company called Electronic Arts.
368:(AIE) as a business unit of Micro Forté, to focus on developing 3D animation skills. A course was initially taught by De Margheriti, Steve Wang and other 3D experts was created for a group of 10 students.
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Soon after starting to develop their first game, Wang and Lewis tactfully told De
Margheriti that his true strength was not programming but managing and winning new projects for the fledgling group.
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He is the founder and former CEO of BigWorld Pty
Limited and the founder of parent company Micro Forté Pty Limited. De Margheriti is also the Executive Chairman of the
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and electronics early as a young teenager. When he was sixteen De
Margheriti experimented with making computer games independently. During his senior years at
344:(MMOGs). While developing the idea of Game Net, De Margheriti became increasingly more aware of the advent of the internet particularly after playing
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to be developed where hundreds of people could be playing together in a multiplayer game. He was greatly influenced by an EA friend Danielle/
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In addition to the Americas Cup Sailing Simulation, De Margheriti went on to program two other of games for Electronic Arts including
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Those seminal games influenced De Margheriti in terms of coming up with the concept of building what is now commonly known as
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and Fireking for the Commodore 64 and IBM PC, which was later released by Sydney-based Strategic Studies Group.
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and his peer, Steve Wang developed a computer game called “Caves”, also on a PDP-11 computer.
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The most memorable game that they developed during university years was made for the
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and Australia's most experienced interactive entertainment business executive.
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De Margheriti graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the
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THQ Announces Hot Wheels Bash Arena for PC. Press Release, Bnet website
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Roy Morgan's Ultimate Survey Roy Morgan International Website
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200:. De Margheriti is widely seen as a founding 'father' of
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317:. De Margheriti's idea was to allow large scale
107:Interactive video gaming development in Australia
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408:The Official America's Cup Sailing Simulation
632:"Interview: Microforte's John De Margheriti"
130:Founder and former CEO, BigWorld Pty Limited
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32:De Margheriti pictured in July 2008
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182:(born July 1962) is an
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529:Hot Wheels Bash Arena
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118:Executive Chairman,
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424:C64/128 and Amstrad
319:Multi User Dungeons
315:BigWorld Technology
190:electrical engineer
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90:Electrical engineer
888:DEMS Entertainment
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211:, the Chairman of
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895:Games Plus
573:References
532:2002 (USA)
517:Board Game
471:Bombs Away
335:Command HQ
331:Modem Wars
323:Dan Bunten
187:Australian
124:Chairman,
60:Australian
902:Film Plus
542:PC/CD ROM
451:Fire King
418:(EA) and
396:Format(s)
393:Publisher
374:Lafayette
244:CB radios
66:Education
830:Archived
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678:Archived
660:Archived
280:Randwick
234:Born in
221:Canberra
157:Canberra
642:15 June
604:16 June
489:Nordice
420:US Gold
327:M.U.L.E
402:Notes
258:PDP-11
149:Awards
141:Spouse
551:KWARI
399:Genre
387:Title
240:Italy
169:Notes
112:Title
49:Italy
644:2017
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554:2007
511:1997
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454:1989
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348:and
236:Rome
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538:THQ
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
