Infocom co-founders of Zork fame recognized as trailblazers of interactive fiction.
Lebling went on to write Spellbreaker, Starcross, Suspect, The Lurking Horror, and James Clavell's Shogun. Since the closure of Infocom he has worked on graphic story editing and newsroom computer systems for Avid, home-based multi-media web services for Ucentric, and a voice- and touch-driven medical advice system for Gensym. He is currently a Principal Investigator and Senior Principal Engineer at BAE Systems, where he is building web-based tactical planning tools for the U.S. Air Force.
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Blank left Infocom in 1982, but he kept active at developing the Z-Machine further and made use of the advancements in the interactive fiction games Border Zone and Journey. After the closure of Infocom he teamed up with former Infocom writer Michael Berlyn to found Blank, Berlyn and Co. (later changed to Eidetic) where they published productivity software for the Apple Newton. Blank returned to text adventures in 1997 when Activision hired Blank and Berlyn to create a small prequel game to promote the release of Activision's Zork: Grand Inquisitor. Blank went on to develop email applications for smartphones, and most recently worked on Android applications at Google from 2009 to 2012. He is now at Lab126 where he is the Principal Software Engineer.
“Great storytelling with a healthy dose of wit is the foundation of everything we create in the interactive entertainment industry,” said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “At the 16th D.I.C.E. Awards, Dave and Marc will be recognized for their pioneering career in front of game makers they have greatly influenced, colleagues who have admired their work, and new audiences who will get their first glimpse into this important piece of gaming history. The Academy is very much looking forward to honoring these individuals for their seminal work and achievements.”
The Pioneer Award’s first honoree was David Crane, co-founder of Activision and creator of games such as Pitfalland A Boy and his Blob in 2010; followed in 2011 was Bill Budge, creator of Raster Blaster and Pinball Construction Set; and most recently Ed Logg, famed programmer of the arcade era with Asteroids, Centipede, andGauntlet in 2012. The 12th Annual D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit and 16th D.I.C.E. Awards will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas, Feb. 5 – 8, 2013. For more information please visit www.dicesummit.org.
