Brøderbund Software
Fate	Purchased by The Learning Company
Successor	The Learning Company
Founded	1980
Defunct	1999
Location	Eugene, Oregon San Rafael, California Novato, California
Products	Computer Games
Key people	Doug Carlston Gary Carlston Cathy Carlston Brisbois Edmund Auer

Brøderbund Software was an American maker of computer games, educational software and The Print Shop productivity tools. The Learning Company (TLC is an American Educational software company founded in 1980 Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) The city of Eugene ( "yoo-JEEN") is the County seat of Lane County, Oregon, Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. PLEASE DO NOT DELETE EMPTY FIELDS UNTIL JUNE 1 2007--THIS WILL TAKE A WHILE--> San Rafael (ˌsænrəˈfɛl originally sɑn rɑfɑˈɛl California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Novato is a city located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in northern Marin County. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather Doug Carlston was CEO chairman and co-founder (with brother Gary) of Brøderbund Software, a software publishing firm that produced such hit titles as The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather See also List of educational software Educational software is Computer software, the primary purpose of which is teaching or self-learning The Print Shop is a basic Desktop publishing software package developed in the early 1980s by Brøderbund. It was best known as the original creator and publisher of the popular Carmen Sandiego games. Carmen Sandiego refers to a media franchise of educational computer & video games television programs books and other media featuring Carmen Sandiego a thieving villainess The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, but moved to San Rafael, California, and later to Novato, California. The city of Eugene ( "yoo-JEEN") is the County seat of Lane County, Oregon, PLEASE DO NOT DELETE EMPTY FIELDS UNTIL JUNE 1 2007--THIS WILL TAKE A WHILE--> San Rafael (ˌsænrəˈfɛl originally sɑn rɑfɑˈɛl Novato is a city located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in northern Marin County. Brøderbund was purchased by The Learning Company in 1998. The Learning Company (TLC is an American Educational software company founded in 1980 Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar)

Products

Brøderbund scored an early hit with the game Galactic Empire, written by Doug Carlston for the TRS-80. Galactic Empire is the first game in the Galactic Saga. It is the game that launched Brøderbund software and though little-known TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation 's desktop Microcomputer model line sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early The company went on to become a powerhouse in the educational and entertainment software markets with titles like Fantavision, Choplifter, Apple Panic, Lode Runner, Karateka, Wings of Fury, Prince of Persia, In the 1st Degree, The Last Express, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, and Myst, which stayed in the top 10 list of home computer games for years. Fantavision was an animation program written for the Apple II personal computer series in 1985 Choplifter is a 1982 Apple II game developed by Dan Gorlin and published by Brøderbund. Apple Panic is a 1981 Platform game for the Apple II programmed by Ben Serki of Brøderbund Software. Lode Runner is a 1983 Platform game, first published by Brøderbund. Karateka is a 1984 Computer game by Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia. Wings of Fury is an Action game with some minor simulation aspects, in which you are the pilot of an American F6F Hellcat plane aboard the USS Prince of Persia is an action-adventure Video game series created by Jordan Mechner. In the 1st Degree is an interactive Legal drama adventure Computer game released in 1995 by Brøderbund in which the player plays The Last Express is a Video game created by Jordan Mechner and Smoking Car Productions, published in 1997 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of several Edutainment Computer games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach Myst is a graphic adventure Video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller.

Brøderbund was easily one of the most dominant publishers in the computer market of the 1980s, having released video games for virtually all major computer systems in the U.S. This included not only the popular IBM PC-DOS personal computer, but also the leading home computers from the decade, notably the TRS-80, the Apple II (for which their first title was Tank Command, written by the third Carlston brother, Professor Donal Carlston), the Commodore 64, the Atari 8-bit and the Amiga. A video game publisher is a company that publishes Video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a Video game developer The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated A home computer was a class of Personal computer entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation 's desktop Microcomputer model line sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit Home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992 The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. The company even went on licensing some of its titles to European and Japanese companies who ported Brøderbund's games to the different home computers of these regions, such as the Amstrad CPC, the MSX and the ZX Spectrum. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit Home computers produced by Amstrad Plc during the 1980s and early 1990s MSX was the name of a standardized Home computer architecture in the 1980s The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal Home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd

Brøderbund also published the Print Shop series of desktop greeting card making programs, Family Tree Maker (a genealogy program supported by hundreds of CDs of public genealogy data) and 3D Home Architect, a program for designing and visualizing family homes. The Print Shop is a basic Desktop publishing software package developed in the early 1980s by Brøderbund. A greeting card is an illustrated folded card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment The Generations Network is an Internet company based in Provo, Utah and the largest For-profit Genealogy company in the world 3D Home Architect is a property designing program. Harneet's guide to 3D Home Architect comes in three designs for specific purposes Home and Landscape Design Suite By the end of the 1980s, games represented only a few percent of Brøderbund's annual sales, which by then were heavily focused in the productivity arena and early education and learning areas. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989.

Just before being acquired by The Learning Company, Brøderbund spun off its popular Living Books series by forming a joint venture with Random House Publishing. The Learning Company (TLC is an American Educational software company founded in 1980 The Living Books series was a series of interactive animated multimedia children's books produced by Brøderbund and distributed on CD-ROM for Apple Macintosh Random House Inc is the world's largest English-language general trade book publisher Despite the success and quality of the Living Books series the joint venture was marginally successful and was dissolved with The Learning Company deal. The Learning Company (TLC is an American Educational software company founded in 1980

For a short period of time, Brøderbund was involved in the video game console market when they published a few games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), but all of their NES games, including their own franchises Lode Runner, Spelunker and Raid on Bungeling Bay, were developed by third-party Japanese companies. The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit Video game console that was released by Lode Runner is a 1983 Platform game, first published by Brøderbund. Spelunker is a Video game for the Atari 8-bit computers and ported to the Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System and MSX Raid on Bungeling Bay was the first Video game designed by Will Wright. A third-party developer is a developer not directly tied to the primary product that a consumer is using Brøderbund also developed and marketed an ill-fated NES controller device called the U-Force, which was operated without direct physical contact between the player and the device. The U-Force was a Game controller made by Brøderbund for the Nintendo Entertainment System. They also published some titles that were produced by companies that didn't have a North American subsidiary, such as Compile's The Guardian Legend, Imagineer's The Battle of Olympus or Legacy of the Wizard, the fourth installment in Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer series. Compile was a Japanese video game company founded in 1983, originally named Programmers-3 The Battle of Olympus is a Side scrolling, Action-adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System developed by Infinity is a Fantasy -themed action-adventure Platform game released for the MSX and Famicom in Japan and for the Nintendo Entertainment System is a Japanese Computer game company The company was founded in March of 1981 by Masayuki Kato. Dragon Slayer is an Action role-playing game developed by the Nihon Falcom Corporation.

Brøderbund also briefly had a board game division, which published Don Carlston's Personal Preference, along with several board game versions of their popular computer games. Personal Preference was a board game published by Broderbund Games in 1987.

Corporate history

Brøderbund was founded by brothers Doug and Gary Carlston in 1980 for the purpose of marketing Galactic Empire, a computer game that Doug Carlston had created in 1979. Doug Carlston was CEO chairman and co-founder (with brother Gary) of Brøderbund Software, a software publishing firm that produced such hit titles as Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Galactic Empire is the first game in the Galactic Saga. It is the game that launched Brøderbund software and though little-known Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Their sister, Cathy, joined the company a year later. Before founding the company, Doug was a lawyer and Gary had held a number of jobs, including teaching Swedish at an American college. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the College ( Latin collegium) is a term most often used today to denote an Educational Institution.

In 1984, Brøderbund took over the assets of the well-regarded but financially-troubled Synapse Software. Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Synapse Software Corporation (also known as SynSoft) was an American computer game development and publishing company active during the early-1980s Although intending to keep it running as a business, they were unable to make money from Synapse's products, and closed it down after a year.

Brøderbund became a public company in 1991 (their NASDAQ symbol, no longer operative, was BROD). Initial public offering (IPO, also referred to simply as a "public offering" is when a company issues Common stock or shares to the public for the first Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Their stock price and market capitalization climbed steadily to a maximum of nearly USD$80/share in late 1995, and then fell steadily in the face of continued losses for a number of years. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995

Brøderbund was purchased by The Learning Company in 1998 for about USD$420 million in stock. The Learning Company (TLC is an American Educational software company founded in 1980 Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Ironically, Brøderbund had initially attempted to purchase the original The Learning Company in 1995, but was outbid by Softkey, who purchased The Learning Company for $606 million in cash and then adopted its name. In a move to rationalize costs, The Learning Company promptly terminated 500 employees at Brøderbund the same year, representing 42% of the company's workforce. Then in 1999 the combined company was bought by Mattel for $3. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Mattel Inc ( is the world's largest Toy importing company based on revenue 6 billion. Mattel reeled from the financial impact of this transaction, and Jill Barad, the CEO, ended up being forced out in a climate of investor outrage. Mattel then actually gave away The Learning Company in September 2000 to Gores Technology Group, a private acquisitions firm, for a share of whatever Gores could obtain by selling the company. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. In 2001, Gores sold The Learning Company's entertainment holdings to Ubisoft, and most of the other holdings, including the Brøderbund name, to Irish company Riverdeep. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) ( is a French computer and Video game publisher and developer with headquarters in Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Riverdeep Interactive Learning originally started as a publishing house for educational online and CD-ROM products based in San Francisco and Dublin Ireland Currently, all of Brøderbund's games, such as the Myst series, are published by Ubisoft. Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) ( is a French computer and Video game publisher and developer with headquarters in

Broderbund, with an o instead of the 'ø' character, is now the brand name for Riverdeep's graphic design, productivity, and edutainment titles, such as The Print Shop, Carmen Sandiego, Mavis Beacon, the Living Books series, and Reader Rabbit titles, and also publishes software for other companies, notably Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm. The " Ø " ( minuscule: " ø " is a Vowel and a letter used in the Danish, Faroese and Norwegian Edutainment (also educational entertainment or entertainment-education) is a form of Entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse The Print Shop is a basic Desktop publishing software package developed in the early 1980s by Brøderbund. Carmen Sandiego refers to a media franchise of educational computer & video games television programs books and other media featuring Carmen Sandiego a thieving villainess Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is a Software program for teaching Touch typing. The Living Books series was a series of interactive animated multimedia children's books produced by Brøderbund and distributed on CD-ROM for Apple Macintosh Reader Rabbit is an Edutainment Software franchise created in 1989 by The Learning Company. Zone Labs is a security software company founded by Gregor Freund, an early partner of Philippe Kahn at Borland. ZoneAlarm is a software firewall originally developed by Zone Labs, which was acquired in 2003 by Check Point.

Etymology & pronunciation

The word "brøderbund" is not an actual word in any language, but is a somewhat loose translation of "band of brothers" into a mixture of Swedish, Danish and German. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. The Danish ø was used simply because it looks like the programmer's 0 (Ø – the slashed zero). The " Ø " ( minuscule: " ø " is a Vowel and a letter used in the Danish, Faroese and Norwegian The slashed zero looks just like a regular letter ' O ' or number ' 0 ' (zero but it has a slash through it

Internally during the 1980s the company's name was pronounced BRU-der-bund by employees instead of the publicly used BRO-der-bund, echoing its semi-Nordic roots.

See also

• Creative Wonders
• Lauren Elliott Co-Creator of Carmen Sandiego

External links

• Archive of Broderbund website
• History of Brøderbund at Classicgaming. Creative Wonders was an Educational software corporation from 1994 to 1999. Lauren Elliott is a pioneering Game designer in the Video game industry. Carmen Sandiego refers to a media franchise of educational computer & video games television programs books and other media featuring Carmen Sandiego a thieving villainess com
• Profile at MobyGames
• Brøderbund profile at Home of the Underdogs