Happy New Year, readers! On today’s entry in This Day in Gaming History, we celebrate the birthday of Game Developer Ron Gilbert.
Ron was born on January 1, 1964 and began his journey in the gaming industry in 1983. After creating a program called Graphics BASIC with friend Tom McFarlane, they sold it to HESware, who then hired Ron and tasked him with creating games for Commodore 64. Although none were released and the company closed, Ron soon joined LucasArts and co-developed Maniac Mansion. Thus began a long and illustrious career in the industry.
Fun fact: Ron Gilbert coined the term “cutscene,” which is a term still used to this day. Maniac Mansion was the first game to feature such segments.
Ron went on to create The Secret of Monkey Island series as well as other great titles.
In 1996, Gilbert was named by GameSpot as the 15th most influential in computer gaming of all time.
So here’s to a legend in the industry, one who has stayed in it throughout the years and continues to make games today having created Return to Monkey Island in 2022 and most recently, the RPG Death by Scrolling.
Happy 62nd Birthday, Ron!
