For those new to the field of games for the blind,
here is a short history of our company.
In September 1995, Carl Mickla started Personal Computer Systems with
his game, Any Night Football.
It was a DOS only game that used your DOS screen reader to describe game play
and the PC speaker to make referee whistle sounds.
In March 1996, Phil Vlasak joined PCS to create
DOS games using real sounds recorded as wave files.
In March 1996, PCS released Monopoly, our first game using real sounds.
We tried making the sounds play from within our
games but found that there were so many different DOS sound cards that it was too difficult to do.
We knew that several sound drivers were already available for DOS and we contacted their
developers and got their approval to include them in our games.
In April 1996, PCS released Tenpin Bowling, our second sound game.
In August of 1996 We found out about Audyssey,
the magazine discussing computer games accessible to the blind.
We submitted our first article to Michael Feir in Issue 2: September/October, 1996.
In April of 1997 we started working with Harry Hollingsworth in
making a real sound version of his World Series Baseball game.
In May of 1997 we collaborated with Ivan G. Roelofs in developing
his Card Club.
In March of 1999 Christ van Willegen modified his Playwave sound
player to make it easier for us to use it from within our games.
In June of 1999 David Greenwood of GMA games joined with PCS to
develop three DOS games, Lone Wolf, Star Trek, and Rainy Day
Games.
In June of 1999 we released Breakout, the first of our self voicing
games that can be played in both DOS and Windows.
These are DOS games with a Windows 98 interface that come only on CD.
In July 1999, Carl and Phil traveled to the ACB convention in Los
Angeles promoting Pacman and seven other games that are self voicing.
In June 2000, we started our web site, pcsgames.com.
In February 2001, Phil moved to Temperance Michigan.
in June of 2001, PCS Games and GMA Games agreed to collaborate in
creating games written for Windows.
In July 2001, Phil and Betty Jo went to the NFB convention in Philadelphia.
In September 2001, Carl Mickla got a job with IBM and moved to Poughkeepsie, New York.
Phil agreed to take on more responsibility for running the company.
In October of 2001, we changed the name from Personal Computer Systems to PCS Games,
and registered the company in Michigan.
On October 27, 2001, Phil married Betty Jo.
In November 2001, PCS started development of Pacman Talks using the GMA game engine and the advanced features of Direct X in playing game sounds.
In March 2002 PCS Games changed Internet hosts and its web site and
moved to PCS games.net
In June of 2002, Phil was a judge in the Digital Talking Book project,
sponsored by the Library of Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped,
and the Industrial Designers Society of America.
On October 28, 2002, PCS released Pacman Talks version 1.0, our first Windows game with help from David Greenwood.
On December 4, 2002, Harry H. Hollingsworth, 77, author, sports statistician, and
creater of World Series Baseball, died.
On December 10, 2002, Allen Maynard of Fantasy Storm.net released,
The Savage Gamut,, sold through PCS Games until February 2003.
On December 12, 2002, PCS released Pacman Talks version 1.1.
in February 2003, PCS Games agreed to collaborate with Adora Entertainment to develop Ten Pin Alley.
On April 1, 2003, Kelly Sapergia reviewed Pacman Talks on ACB Radio's Main Menu.
On December 4, 2003, GMA Games released Tank Commander with sound help from Phil Vlasak.
On December 8, 2003, PCS Games and Adora Entertainment released Ten Pin Alley.
On April 14, 2004, Kelly Sapergia
demonstrated GMA Tank Comandor
on ACB Radio's Main Menu.
On September 21 and 28, 2004,
Charles Rivard
reviewed Ten Pin Alley on ACB Radio's Main Menu.
On November 25, 2005, Draconis Entertainment, who purchased Ten Pin Alley and other games from Adora, released version 1.0.1.
On December 31, 2005,
PCS Games released a public beta of
Sarah and the Castle of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
On June 2, 2006,
PCS Games released
a free game named, SuperDog's Bone Hunt version 1.0.
On June 4, 2006,
PCS Games released
SuperDog's Bone Hunt version 1.1.
Sharpen Your Body And Mind With Body Talk books by Louis Scrivani.
web page by Louis Scrivani and Phil Vlasak,
July 4, 2006