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Since the Apple II, Macintosh, IBM, Commodore, and Atari computers all had varying graphics capabilities and different processors, releasing a software title for each different brand of computer usually involved programming it again from scratch for each platform. Penguin
Software/Polarware began
24:
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to
Penguin Software for publication. Those that were accepted were polished and published and the authors were paid royalties on sales. These included the first two games published by Penguin Software, the animated game
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of their games on boxes and title screens; developers that were often not direct employees of
Penguin Software but rather independent designers that were paid royalties by Penguin Software for the games that sold.
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was aimed toward developers or anyone wanting to be a developer, allowing any programmer to create animations for arcade-style games and compact graphic images for adventure games and educational software.
245:, thus making it easier to back up their programs. Pelczarski sent a letter to many computer magazines to describe his position, which asked that users of their software not abuse their trust.
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In 1987, Polarware was purchased by four employees, Jeffrey (JJ) Jay, Steve Greene, Peg Smith, and Trish Glenn. This new team produced the children's software series written by Brian A. Rice,
175:. It evolved to "Co-op Software" as part of a sister company, Micro Co-op, then adopted the name "Penguin Software" in 1981 when software publishing became the primary focus. Like many other
305:
As Merit
Software moved on to newer products, rights to the old software title were bought back from the remains of Polarware, and many of those titles were subsequently released as
268:
focusing on cross-platform ideas that would allow them to release games simultaneously on different systems without the lengthy re-programming process. The compact images from
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could have decimated his company, even in the case of an eventual victory, Pelczarski phased in a new name "Polarware" in 1986, eventually ending the "Penguin
Software"
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297:, a simple electronic coloring book. In 1988, Polarware was acquired by Merit Software and the Polarware name soon disappeared.
191:, first published in 1981, was a set of drawing and 3D graphics editing programs for the Apple II by founder Mark Pelczarski.
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Penguin
Software's core products were its graphics programs that were among the industry best-sellers of the early 1980s.
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software was used in the product, which served as advertising for more sales of the
Penguin Software graphics tools.
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One of the other widely touted aspects of
Penguin Software's titles was that they deliberately stopped using
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for their products, as there was no fee for the license; the only requirement was a credit line that
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could be used across platforms, and an adventure game development and deployment language called
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written by
Antonia Antiochia. Many other publishers of software for the Apple II also licensed
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from the Scott Schram website. Schram programmed the conversion of this game to the Atari 800.
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was created to be system independent and was used for several releases. Also using
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As software sales expanded into book stores, Penguin
Software was confronted by
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reached the market a few months sooner and doomed the Penguin Software series.
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across platforms and with a portable design, the first three titles in the
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1139:"Audio Podcast: ANTIC Interview 267 - Mark Pelczarski, Penguin Software"
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Developers began submitting their own creations written in part with
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geography game series were released. However a similar idea called
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as "MP Software" with its first product, a graphics program called
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that produced graphics and application software and games for the
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Mark Pelczarski, Marsha Meuse, Elizabeth Redlich, and Brian Poff
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203:". In early 1982, Pelczarski, Lubar, and Chris Jochumson created
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Mark Pelczarski, Mark Glenn, Brian Poff, and Elizabeth Redlich
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later the same year, helped establish the company's slogan, "
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publishers at the time, Penguin Software openly credited the
118:
1091:"Software Wizard Creates Colorful Animation With Magician"
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by Eagle Berns and Michael Kosaka, and the adventure game
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from the Apple II World site (Japanese website, archived)
1328:
International Center for the History of Electronic Games
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Dallas Snell, Joel Ellis Rea, Joe Toler, and Ron Goebel
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Cover of the game "Crime Wave" from Penguin Software
1025:. Softalk magazine. December 1982. pp. 334–336
807:Mark Pelczarski, Brian Poff, and Elizabeth Redlich
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403:Mark Pelczarski, David Lubar, and Chris Jochumson
1543:Defunct video game companies of the United States
1234:Cover of the game "Pie-Man" from Penguin Software
316:of their products, an enthusiast reconstructed a
256:of their name. Fearing that the legal costs of a
1529:
746:, Muffy Berlyn, Raimund Redlich, and Brian Poff
1538:Defunct software companies of the United States
1118:. Softline magazine. March 1982. pp. 58–59
859:Bruce Hoffman, Raimund Redlich, and Brian Poff
978:"Exec Penguin Software (Graphically Freezing)"
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1177:"The Magnificent Penguin Hangs Up His Tuxedo"
907:Electric Crayon Deluxe: Dinosaurs Are Forever
487:Dallas Snell, Joe Toler, and Joel Ellis Rea
1310:. Museum of Computer Adventure Game History
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22:
1368:More Apple II games from Penguin Software
327:to port these games to modern platforms.
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894:Sesame Street Crayon: Opposites Attract
855:Talisman: Challenging the Sands of Time
829:Electric Crayon: This Land Is Your Land
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137:, graphic adventure games such as the
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868:Sesame Street Crayon: Letters For You
803:The Spy's Adventures in South America
790:The Spy's Adventures in North America
287:Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
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949:Transylvania III: Vanquish the Night
129:. It produced the graphics programs
1116:"Softline Salutes Penguin Software"
881:Sesame Street Crayon: Numbers Count
167:The company was founded in 1978 by
13:
1137:Savetz, Kevin (January 10, 2017).
1023:"Softalk Presents The Bestsellers"
980:. Softalk magazine. pp. 48–54
935:Electric Crayon Deluxe: At the Zoo
723:Transylvania II: The Crimson Crown
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14:
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1141:. ANTIC: The Atari 8-bit Podcast.
1089:McIntosh, Linda (March 1, 1985).
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634:Robert Hardy and Mark Pelczarski
816:Electric Crayon: Fun on the Farm
387:The Complete Graphics System II
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976:Hunter, David (February 1983).
502:Eagle Berns and Holly Thomason
416:Eagle Berns and Michael Kosaka
195:, co-written by Pelczarski and
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1248:from the Scott Schram website.
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777:The Spy's Adventures in Europe
662:Robert Waller and Dave Albert
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1324:"Penguin Software Collection"
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362:The Complete Graphics System
1292:"Penguin Software/Polarware"
189:The Complete Graphics System
89:was a computer software and
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1348:"Polarware Company Profile"
1277:"The Softalk Apple Project"
282:Adventures Around the World
10:
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1308:"Penguin Software gallery"
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143:series, action games like
72:Acquired by Merit Software
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1179:. The Digital Antiquarian
1156:. The Digital Antiquarian
1070:. The Digital Antiquarian
1003:. The Digital Antiquarian
1001:"The Magnificent Penguin"
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1262:"Polarware Archive site"
1199:"Polarware Archive site"
1047:. Polarware Archive site
151:role-playing video games
135:Complete Graphics System
926:Michael Robert Hausman
314:end of official support
842:Electric Crayon: ABC's
1045:"The Graphics People"
921:All Dogs Go to Heaven
399:The Graphics Magician
232:The Graphics Magician
205:The Graphics Magician
123:Atari 8-bit computers
630:The Spy Strikes Back
376:Mark Pelczarski and
91:video game publisher
295:The Electric Crayon
201:the graphics people
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1492:Software utilities
1434:The Coveted Mirror
1255:General References
1221:by Ryan Mallon on
954:Antonio Antiochia
765:Home Data Manager
728:Antonio Antiochia
497:The Coveted Mirror
446:Antonio Antiochia
111:IBM PC compatibles
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526:Bouncing Kamungas
517:Willard Phillips
512:Expedition Amazon
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270:Graphics Magician
236:Graphics Magician
217:Graphics Magician
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320:variant of the
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193:Special Effects
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1355:. Retrieved
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1219:recomprehend
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1202:. Retrieved
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1154:"Comprehend"
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911:Brian Rice
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833:Brian Rice
820:Brian Rice
584:Short Cuts
378:David Lubar
318:source code
312:Also after
197:David Lubar
44:MP Software
1532:Categories
1223:github.com
964:References
643:Ring Quest
616:Damon Slye
505:1983/1986
455:Crime Wave
449:1982/1985
344:Published
322:Comprehend
274:Comprehend
181:developers
1427:The Quest
1352:MobyGames
610:Stellar 7
596:Minit Man
482:The Quest
80:Polarware
77:Successor
1455:Oo-Topos
1357:July 25,
1338:July 25,
1314:July 25,
1298:July 25,
1282:July 25,
1267:July 25,
1204:July 25,
1183:July 25,
1160:July 25,
1122:July 27,
1100:July 27,
1074:July 25,
1051:July 25,
1029:July 25,
1007:July 25,
984:July 25,
738:Oo-Topos
307:freeware
153:such as
127:Atari ST
103:Apple II
99:Illinois
35:Software
31:Industry
690:Dynamix
620:Dynamix
539:Pensate
412:Pie Man
341:Author
258:lawsuit
222:Pie Man
163:History
59:Founder
51:Founded
1510:People
1469:series
1448:Xyphus
657:Xyphus
338:Title
325:engine
301:Legacy
156:Xyphus
149:, and
125:, and
95:Geneva
1412:Games
957:1990
942:1989
929:1989
914:1988
901:1987
888:1987
875:1987
862:1987
849:1986
836:1986
823:1986
810:1986
797:1986
784:1986
771:1985
760:1985
749:1985
731:1985
716:1984
705:1984
694:1984
678:1984
665:1984
650:1984
637:1984
624:1984
603:1983
590:1983
579:1983
568:1983
557:1983
546:1983
533:1983
520:1983
490:1983
475:1983
462:1983
434:1982
419:1982
406:1982
393:1982
382:1981
368:1981
262:brand
119:Amiga
93:from
1359:2017
1340:2017
1316:2017
1300:2017
1284:2017
1269:2017
1206:2017
1185:2017
1162:2017
1124:2017
1102:2017
1076:2017
1053:2017
1031:2017
1009:2017
986:2017
133:and
69:Fate
54:1978
107:Mac
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