Though not many people today may be aware, Danielle Bunten Berry was one of the key minds that helped to kickstart the video game industry. Bunten, who was born in St. Louise, MO, spent much of her time as a child playing games with her family. Some of her fondest childhood memories involved her and her family playing games together and found that games were a wonderful way for people to socialize with one another.
Early Career
She eventually went to college at the University of Arkansas, where she acquired a degree in industrial engineering in 1974. From there, Bunten began programming text-based video games as a side hobby. After graduation, Bunten got a job working for the National Science Foundation, where she created urban models before starting a job at a video game company.
Working for video game company Speakeasy Software, Bunten developed her very first video game titled Wheeler Dealers for the Apple II. It was one of the very first multiplayer video games and was even sold with a custom controller that allowed for multiple players. Unfortunately, the custom controller raised the game’s price to $35, in an era where the standard computer game sold for only $15. As a result, Wheeler Dealer only managed to sell 50 copies. However, Wheeler Dealer was followed up by three more titles for SSI, an early game publisher: Computer Quarterback (1978), Cartels & Cutthroats (1979), and Cytron Masters (1982).
Partnership with EA and M.U.L.E.
Bunten later founded the software company Ozark Softscape, which caught the attention of Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins; Bunten partnered with EA and developed the title M.U.L.E. for the Atari 8-bit family of consoles. The game benefitted from Atari’s four controller ports and was one of the first multiplayer games for the system. M.U.L.E. was later ported over to the Commodore 64 and developed a wide cult following. It only sold around 30,000 units, however, its popularity grew over time and became a widely pirated game.
Success after M.U.L.E.
After M.U.L.E.’s success, Bunten went on to assist in the development of 12 games in total, ten of which had multiplayer support, including games such as Robot Rascals, Heart of Africa, and Modern Wars. Many of these games were revolutionary and arguably ahead of their time, with Modern Wars being one of the first games to support two players playing online via a dial-up modem. Modern Wars sold poorly, as it was released in an era where very few people possessed modems.
Bunten intended on creating an online game that would have been similar to the later game Civilization, however Ozark Softscape didn’t wind up going with the idea, and the title became The Seven Cities of Gold, an offline strategy title that focused on resource management. The game wound up becoming incredibly popular, selling more than 150,000 copies.
Bunten eventually left EA to work for MicroProse, allegedly because EA’s CEO Trip Hawkins didn’t believe in pushing production of games onto cartridges was a good idea, whilst Bunten felt otherwise. From there, Bunten developed a computer version of the board game Axis and Allies, which became the 1990 game Command HQ, a modem-based online grand strategy wargame. In 1992, Bunten developed her second (and final) game for MicroProse, a 4-player network/modem war game entitled Global Conquest. The title was revolutionary, as it was the first video game by a major publisher that featured 4-player online gameplay.
Later Years
In 1997, Bunten shifted her focus to online multiplayer games with the creation of Warsport, a remake of Modem Wars that made its debut on the MPlayer.com gaming network. Less than a year later after Warsport’s release, Bunten was diagnosed with lung cancer and tragically passed away on July 3, 1998. Two months before her death, however, Bunten was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Computer Game Developers Association. At the time of her death, Bunten had been working on the design for an online version of M.U.L.E.
Bunten was a true pioneer for the video gaming industry and is still regarded today as one of the greatest game designers of all time. She was also the first notable trans woman in the video game industry. Bunten was especially influential to the realm of online gaming, and her success with games like M.U.L.E. and Seven Cities of Gold has even led people to believe she was the inspiration behind incredibly successful MMO titles like World of Warcraft. Bunten was one of the most influential game designers of all time, and the gaming industry would likely not be what it is today if it was not for Danielle Bunten Berry.
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(This article is credited to Ben Price. For as long as he can remember, Ben has always loved playing, discussing, and writing about video games. Since receiving his B.A. in English, he now writes about them for a living.)