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Information about Roberta Williams

For the wife of gangster Carl Williams, see Roberta Kane.


Roberta Heuer Williams (born February 16, 1953) is a retired computer game designer. She is perhaps most famous for her pioneering work in graphical adventure games, particularly the popular King's Quest series.

In the eighties and nineties, Roberta and her husband, Ken Williams, were leading figures in the development of graphical adventure games. They founded the company On-Line Systems, which later became Sierra On-Line. Their contributions to gaming were partially chronicled in the book .

Roberta Williams was instrumental in writing and designing several games, including the entire King's Quest series, Mixed-Up Mother Goose, and The Colonel's Bequest. Though Sierra was sold in 1996, Williams' production credits date until 1999.

Roberta posed for the cover of the game Softporn Adventure by Chuck Benton, published by On-line Systems. She also posed much later with her children as Mother Goose for the cover photograph of Mixed-Up Mother Goose. She appeared as herself in the end sequence of .

Roberta and Ken married on November 4, 1972; she was 19, he just turned 18. They have two children, D.J. (b. 1973) and Chris (b. 1979). At present, the Williams family is living in a house they built in Mexico.

Since her retirement in 1998, she has stayed away from the public eye and rarely gives interviews to talk about her past with Sierra On-Line. However, in a 2006 interview,[1] she admitted that her favorite game she created was Phantasmagoria and not King's Quest, "If I could only pick one game, I would pick Phantasmagoria, as I enjoyed working on it immensely and it was so very challenging (and I love to be challenged!). However, in my heart, I will always love the King’s Quest series and, especially, King’s Quest I, since it was the game that really 'made' Sierra On-Line."

Williams has often stated that her games are explicitly targeted toward a more affluent and educated audience than other games, raising criticisms of elitism. In a 1999 Gamer's Depot interview, she summed up her feelings:
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In a 2006 interview,<ref name="acg" /> Williams said that designing computer games is in the past for her now and that she intends to write a historical novel.

Works

Enlarge picture
The cover of Softporn Adventure. Williams appears inside the hot tub on the right.
Enlarge picture
The cover of Mixed-Up Mother Goose with Roberta Williams (seated) as Mother Goose

See also

References

1. ^ Adventure Classic Gaming (2006). Roberta Williams Interview.

External links

Carl Anthony Williams (b. October 13, 1970) is an Australian convicted murderer, drug dealer and manufacturer from Melbourne, Victoria. He married Roberta Kane on January 14, 2001; their divorce was finalised in March 2007.
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Carl Anthony Williams (b. October 13, 1970) is an Australian convicted murderer, drug dealer and manufacturer from Melbourne, Victoria. He married Roberta Kane on January 14, 2001; their divorce was finalised in March 2007.
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February 16 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s  1930s  1940s  - 1950s -  1960s  1970s  1980s
1950 1951 1952 - 1953 - 1954 1955 1956

Year 1953 (MCMLIII
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video game is a game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device.

The word video in video game traditionally refers to a raster display device.
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A game designer is a person who designs games. The term can refer to a person who designs video games, or one who designs traditional games such as board games.

Video and computer game designer


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King's Quest is an adventure game series made by the American computer game company Sierra On-Line (currently known as Sierra Entertainment). It is widely considered a classic title of the golden era of adventure games and was the series that primarily built the
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Ken Williams (born October 1954) is an American game programmer and co-founder with his wife Roberta Williams of On-Line Systems, which later became Sierra On-Line. Roberta and Ken married at the age of 19 and have two children.
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Sierra Entertainment

Private
Founded 1979
Headquarters Los Angeles, CA, U.S.
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King's Quest is an adventure game series made by the American computer game company Sierra On-Line (currently known as Sierra Entertainment). It is widely considered a classic title of the golden era of adventure games and was the series that primarily built the
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Roberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose is a computer game first released by Sierra On-Line in 1987. It is, in essence, an edutainment title, directed specifically at young gamers, as well as an adventure game.
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The Colonel's Bequest is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1989. This graphic adventure game was the first of the short-lived 'Laura Bow Mysteries' series created by Roberta Williams and used many elements from the original Mystery House.
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Softporn Adventure was a comedic, adult-oriented text adventure game produced for the Apple II in 1981. The game was created by Chuck Benton and released by Sierra On-Line. This is the only game Sierra Entertainment has published that does not have graphics.
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Softporn Adventure was a comedic, adult-oriented text adventure game produced for the Apple II in 1981. The game was created by Chuck Benton and released by Sierra On-Line. This is the only game Sierra Entertainment has published that does not have graphics.
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Mother Goose is a well-known figure in the literature of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Mother Goose is best known in the United States; in the United Kingdom and other English speaking nations the designation "nursery rhymes" is more common.[1].
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Roberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose is a computer game first released by Sierra On-Line in 1987. It is, in essence, an edutainment title, directed specifically at young gamers, as well as an adventure game.
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November 4 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1969 1970 1971 - 1972 - 1973 1974 1975

Year 1972 (MCMLXXII
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Anthem
Himno Nacional Mexicano


Capital
(and largest city) Mexico City

Official languages Spanish (
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Phantasmagoria is a CD-ROM horror-themed computer game series created by Sierra On-line for the DOS and Windows platforms. The series is composed of two games: Phantasmagoria and Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh
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Elitism is the belief or attitude that those individuals who are considered members of the elite — a select group of people with outstanding personal abilities, intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are those whose
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A historical novel a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author. As such, the historical novel is distinguished from the alternate-history genre.
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Mystery House is a 1980 game for the Apple II by Roberta and Ken Williams. Although it had no sound, no color, and no animation, it did have one feature that would make it part of computer gaming history: graphics.
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Wizard and the Princess also known as Adventure in Serenia is a 1980 computer game by On-Line Systems for the Apple II and Apple II Plus. It is the second title released in On-Line Systems' "Hi-Res Adventure" series after Mystery House.
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The Gelfling Adventure, written 1984 by Al Lowe. This was a simplified version of Dark Crystal intended for a younger audience. It featured the same graphics and storyline as the original, but the puzzles were all menu oriented.
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Time Zone is a multi-disk graphical adventure game written and directed by Roberta Williams for the Apple II. Developed in 1981 and released in 1982 by On-Line Systems (now Sierra Entertainment), the game was shipped with six double sided floppy disks and contained 1,500
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Mickey's Space Adventure was a graphic adventure computer game for a number of computer platforms. It was created by Al Lowe and released by Sierra Entertainment in 1986. It features the Disney characters Mickey Mouse and Pluto.
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Roberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose is a computer game first released by Sierra On-Line in 1987. It is, in essence, an edutainment title, directed specifically at young gamers, as well as an adventure game.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Colonel's Bequest is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1989. This graphic adventure game was the first of the short-lived 'Laura Bow Mysteries' series created by Roberta Williams and used many elements from the original Mystery House.
..... Click the link for more information.
Roberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose is a computer game first released by Sierra On-Line in 1987. It is, in essence, an edutainment title, directed specifically at young gamers, as well as an adventure game.
..... Click the link for more information.


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