infocom/articles/globe.890522

   
   COMPUTER-GAMES FIRM MOVING TO CALIFORNIA
   BOSTON GLOBE (BG) - MONDAY May 22, 1989
   By: Ronald Rosenberg, Globe Staff
   Edition: THIRD  Section: BUSINESS  Page: 8
   Word Count: 400
   
   TEXT:
   *Infocom*   Inc.,   which   pioneered   the   personal   computer  software
   text-adventure  genre  with  such  fantasy  games  as Zork, Wishbringer and
   Leather  Goddess of Phobos, is closing its doors in Cambridge and moving to
   Menlo Park, Calif., next month.
   
      That's  headquarters  for  Mediagenic,  formerly  Activision Inc., which
   puchased  *Infocom* three years ago for close to $9 million. The relocation
   is  a  cost-saving  measure,  since *Infocom* has been losing an average of
   $200,000  per  fiscal quarter for the past two years, according to Laura L.
   Stagnitto, Mediagenic's director of corporate communications.
   
      She  said 11 of the remaining 26 Infocom employees were offered a chance
   to  move  to  California,  but  only  five  have accepted, including Joseph
   Ybarra,   president.   He   will  become  vice  president  of  Mediagenic's
   entertainment  division.  Robert  Sears will continue as general manager of
   Infocom in Menlo Park.
   
      Infocom is best known as the developer of the thinking person's computer
   games -- a niche that reached its peak in 1985 when Infocom had revenues of
   $11.5 million and employed 110 people.
   
       But  a combination of internal problems, including an expensive failure
   to  diversify  into  the  business  market  with  a database product called
   Cornerstone,  plus  new  consumer  preference  for  games with graphics and
   sound, severely hurt Infocom.
   
       Moreover, fast-paced action games for Nintendo video-game machines that
   continue  to  appeal  to  a  young audience have affected personal computer
   entertainment  software  sales. Stagnitto of Mediagenic said that while its
   total  sales  rose  largely  from  video-game  software  sold  to owners of
   Nintendo  and Sega game systems, personal computer game sales for the Apple
   and IBM machines have declined.
   
      Another  factor  for  Infocom's  declining  fortunes  is  the  aging  of
   Infocom's  traditional audience, composed of early computer users who spent
   evenings  and  weekends  hunched  over a terminal drawing maps in text-only
   games that took 20 to 50 hours to solve.
   
      "Computers  are a mass-merchandising market and we found it difficult to
   interest  consumers  in  products  that  did  not  capture  their attention
   immediately  through  superficial characteristics, such as fancy graphics,"
   said  Joel  Berez,  Infocom's  founder and former president. Berez resigned
   last  summer  to  return to his family's 70-year-old housewares business in
   Pittsburgh.
   
      Mediagenic  said  it  will continue to publish some of Infocom's titles,
   notably  the  Zork series, which has sold more than 1 million copies, along
   with newer software that uses computer graphics.
   
      "It's been sad for me," acknowledged Berez.
   
   -EOT-