Back in the early days of computers, if you wanted a program or specific function, you programmed it yourself. A couple of companies formed in the 1950s would become the first independent software companies. These companies included Computer Usage Company, Applied Data Research, and Computer Sciences Corporation. By the 1960s new companies
joined these, with Digital Equipment Corporation leading
the way with their vast array of programming languages. By the 1970s, in addition to the major software companies such as Digital Research and Microsoft, there were specialty companies. Some of these companies worked in specific area such as Edmark which produced educational games, System Simulation (SSL) which produces museum and archival information systems, and the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (later Corporation), most commonly known as MECC, which created the simulation Oregon Trail.

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Kevin Butler Kevin Butler (16 Posts)

Since he played on the first Magnanvox Odyssey in 1973, Kevin was bitten by the video game bug. It didn't matter what the games looked like, they were just fun. When Space Invaders was released in the United States in the late 1970's, he spent a ton of quarters in his local Aladdins Castle trying (unsuccessfully) to master the game. He continued to play on various console and arcade games (even learning to program the Apple II+) until he joined the navy in 1983. Joined the navy in 1983 and became a Hospital Corpsman in 1984. While in the navy, Kevin was able continue his hobby of programming PC's and playing videogames. In the early to mid 1990's, Kevin learned to program the Atari ST and worked for Majicsoft for a couple of years. Before retiring from the navy in 2004, Kevin started to write FAQ's for GameFAQ's. His forte was arcade FAQ's since that was his real passion still. His FAQ's have appeared in many places that seek to preserve the arcade game history. This is especially true for the MAME project where his guides are a part of the documentation. After retiring from the navy, Kevin has been more involved in computer repair, networking, and computer security but he still is involved in the arcade history arena. He currently lives in Neosho MO with his wife and one son who is also a video game hobbyist.