Cathryn Mataga

Cathryn Mataga (born William Mataga)^[1][2][3] is a game programmer and founder of independent video game company Junglevision.^[4] Under the name William, she wrote Atari 8-bit computer games for Synapse Software in the early to mid 1980s, including Shamus, a flip-screen shooter.^[5]

Cathryn Mataga
Known for	Shamus Founder of Junglevision

Career

Mataga designed the game Shamus in 1982,^[2] credited under the name William for the Atari 8-bit computers.^[1] Much of the game's appeal was said to come from Mataga's sense of humor, such as creating a "grand rendition" of the Alfred Hitchcock theme song in the game's introduction.^[6] Mataga followed it with a sequel Shamus: Case II and scrolling shooter Zeppelin.

Steve Hales of Synapse Software, in an interview for the book Halcyon Days, states that he and Mataga convinced company founder Ihor Wolosenko to get the company into interactive fiction.^[7]

Mataga developed an interactive fiction programming language known as BtZ (Better than Zork) for Broderbund, in the early 1980s.^[3] Mataga worked with Hales and poet Robert Pinsky on the interactive fiction game Mindwheel (1984).^[3]

Mataga was one of the programmers working at Stormfront Studios on the original Neverwinter Nights MMORPG.^[8] Don Daglow credits Mataga as one of the programmers who proved Daglow's assertion that he could make Neverwinter Nights a success.^[9]

Games

• Shamus (1982), Synapse Software^[10]
• Shamus: Case II (1983), Synapse Software
• Zeppelin (1983), Synapse Software
• Mindwheel (1984), Broderbund Software^[11][10][12]
• Essex (1985), Broderbund
• Brimstone (1985), Broderbund
• Breakers (1986), Broderbund
• Neverwinter Nights (1991), Strategic Simulations^[13][14]
• Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991), Strategic Simulations
• Treasures of the Savage Frontier (1992), Strategic Simulations
• Stronghold (1993), Strategic Simulations
• Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands (1996), Strategic Simulations^{[citation needed]}
• Rampage 2: Universal Tour (1999), Midway Games
• X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse (2001), Activision
• Spyro: Season of Ice (2001), Universal Interactive
• Rayman (2001), Ubi Soft^[15]
• Dragon's Lair (2001), Capcom
• Grand Theft Auto Advance (2004), Rockstar Games
• Spider-Man 2 (2004), Activision^{[citation needed]}
• Rayman: 10th Anniversary (2005), Ubisoft^{[citation needed]}

References

1. Shamus Manual (PDF). 1983.
2. "The Classic Game Shamus".
3. Bateman, Selby (June 1985). "The Prose and the Parser: How Writers See Games". Compute!'s Gazette. 3 (24).
4. "Junglevision: Company". Junglevision.
5. "Game Designers Just Wanna Be Girls: Interview with Jamie Faye Fenton". Next Generation. June 21, 1999. Then there was the designer of the great 8-bit classic, Shamus, William Mataga. He recently wrapped-up work on a Color Game Boy version of that game and is looking for a publisher. Only he now goes by Cathryn.
6. David Small, Sandy Small and George Blank, ed. (1983). "Shamus". The Creative Atari. Creative Computing Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0916688349.
7. Steve Hales. "Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers". Retrieved 2016-04-13.
8. Marks, Robert (2003-01-01). Everquest Companion: The Inside Story. McGraw-Hill Osborne. ISBN 9780072229035.
9. Wallis, Alistair (19 October 2006). "Column: 'Playing Catch Up: Stormfront Studios' Don Daglow'". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
10. "Mindwheel: An Electronic Novel". QuestBusters. 2 (3): 11. March 1985.
11. Kosek, Steven (July 21, 1985). "Poet Robert Pinsky goes hi-tech to give electronic novel a whirl", Chicago Tribune, p. 33.
12. "Pinsky, Robert (Neal)." Contemporary Poets. Gale. 2001. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-29. Retrieved 2014-05-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. van Looy, Jan (2010). Understanding computer game culture: the cultural shaping of a new medium. Lambert Academic Pub. p. 271. ISBN 9783838332130.
14. Marks, Robert (2003). Everquest Companion: The Inside Lore of a Game World. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780072229035.
15. Charla, Chris (November 2001). "Digital Eclipse's Rayman Advance", Game Developer 8 (11): 42–48.Archived

External links

• Jungle Vision
• Cathryn Mataga profile on MobyGames