He Traced His Brother for Prince of Persia. It Flopped.
Prince of Persia got rave reviews but flopped, as Jordan Mechner tells it: "And it was a flop."
It was saved by ports he never programmed, after he had packed up and left Brøderbund for New York.
Sources
8- Article4
- Interview3
- Book1
The sources the story leans on most, primary sources first. Read dates are when the page was consulted; the live page may have changed since.
Image & music credits
24- License unknown14
- CC BY-SA 4.03
- CC BY-SA 2.02
- CC BY-SA 3.01
- CC BY 2.01
21 photos, from the hosts linked below. Each file name links to the file's page, which carries the full license terms.
| # | Use | File | Author | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Photo | Prince of Persia Original Box Art.jpg | Robzak | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| 2 | Photo | https://archive.org/details/Computer Gaming World Issue 66/page/n47 | archive.org | License unknown |
| 3 | Photo | Diners Club Regular Japan 2016.jpg | Hitomi | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| 4 | Photo | ITT early 1980s VCR disassembled.jpg | Oisacc | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| 5 | Photo | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Prince of Persia 1 - David Mechner rotoscopy.jpg | Prince of Persia 1 - David Mechner rotoscopy.jpg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 as stated | License unknown |
| 6 | Photo | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Apple IIe.jpg | Apple IIe.jpg, Bilby, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 | License unknown |
| 7 | Photo | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Apple IIc with monitor.jpg | Apple IIc with monitor.jpg, Bilby, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 | License unknown |
| 8 | Photo | Fujica AX-1 35mm film SLR.jpg | Uberprutser | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| 9 | Photo | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Prince of Persia Original Box Art.jpg | Prince of Persia Original Box Art.jpg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 as stated | License unknown |
| 10 | Photo | Metro-North Railroad train.jpg | Cliffy from Pelham, USA | CC BY 2.0 |
| 11 | Photo | NEC PC-9801VM Front.jpg | htomari | CC BY-SA 2.0 |
| 12 | Photo | https://www.jordanmechner.com/images/news/artworks/large/jm-at-desk.jpg | Jordan Mechner at his desk in 1989, the retouched photo strips on the wall (jordanmechner.com, 'Run Jump') | License unknown |
| 13 | Photo | https://archive.org/details/Computer Gaming World Issue 77/page/n114 | archive.org | License unknown |
| 14 | Photo | https://archive.org/details/Tilt085/page/n9 | archive.org | License unknown |
| 15 | Photo | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Jordan Mechner at WonderCon 2010 3.JPG | Jordan Mechner at WonderCon 2010 3.JPG, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 | License unknown |
| 16 | Photo | https://web.archive.org/web/2013id /http://jordanmechner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/threefive.jpg | Jordan Mechner, jordanmechner.com, April 2012 | License unknown |
| 17 | Photo | tony diaz april 2012 crop.jpg | Tony Diaz at Jordan Mechner's house, April 2012 (cropped from Mechner's photograph, jordanmechner.com) | License unknown |
| 18 | Photo | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Jason Scott (2017 Portrait).jpg | Jason Scott (2017 Portrait).jpg, Dennis van Zuijlekom, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 | License unknown |
| 19 | Photo | https://web.archive.org/web/2013id /http://jordanmechner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/popsource.jpg | Jordan Mechner, jordanmechner.com, April 2012 | License unknown |
| 20 | Photo | Strong national museum of play sculpture (25751934112).jpg | Sean X Liu | CC BY-SA 2.0 |
| 21 | Photo | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Jordan Mechner GDCA 2017.jpg | Jordan Mechner GDCA 2017.jpg, Official GDC, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 | License unknown |
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Sound: PrinceOfPersia-SoundBlaster1.5-CMS.mp3 — https://archive.org/download/PrinceOfPersia-SoundBlaster1.5-CMS/PrinceOfPersia-SoundBlaster1.5-CMS.mp3
Sound: pop_pc98_ost.flac
Music: Prince of Persia (NEC PC-9801, Arsys Software, Brøderbund Japan, 1990), music by Toshiya Yamanaka; VGM pack by Dario011 (vgmrips.net), played through MAME 0.289's YM2203 — https://vgmrips.net/packs/chip/ym2203-pc-9801-26k
Corrections
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