Early Days. An entrepreneur, businessman and game developer, William Murray Hawkins III was born in Pasadena, California on December 28, 1953.. Media Credits: Photo taken in Summer 1987, credit to Farther magazine.

A passion for Strategy. Trip always had a passion for thinking games which inspired him to design, product and market his first game as a teenager. Always a fan of the Strat-O-Matic football board game (apparently he has been playing it for 50 years - see link), he tried to create a similar based game, borrowing $5k from his Father. https://tinyurl.com/trip-hawkins-50-years

Game Theory. After Hawkins received his first computer, he knew that he wanted to make (and sell) games! After obtaining an MBA in Strategy and Applied Game Theory at Harvard University he moved to Silicon Valley -- just in time for the home computer boom.

Joining Apple. Trip joined Apple in 1978 - he became their 68th employee at Apple Computer. Aswell as driving the business market, he was able to influence early Apple design choices like the uni-button mouse.. Media Credits: Steve Wozniak (left) and Steve Jobs holding an Apple I circuit board, c. 1976. Courtesy of Apple Computer, Inc.

Bringing EA to life. At just 28 years old, in 1982, he left Apple and used the proceeds from his stock options to start a computer game company, Electronic Arts.

Bringing EA to life. Looking cool and edgy ... how EA advertised itself in 1983... their game developers were promoted to cult status as 'Artists'. Trip promised to make them rock stars.

Bringing EA to life. Can a computer make you cry? This was the bold exclamation of EA's daring advert. Even today, it causes people to stop and think. Artists loved it and appreciated it, and all of them became more willing to consider working with EA.

Delivering the hits. Archon: The Light and the Dark is a 1983 video game developed by Free Fall Associates and one of the first five games published by Electronic Arts.

Delivering the hits. The Bard's Tale is a fantasy role-playing video game designed and programmed by Michael Cranford for the Apple II. It was produced by Interplay Productions in 1985 and distributed by Electronic Arts.

Delivering the hits. Murder on the Zinderneuf is a 1983 video game designed by Jon Freeman and Paul Reiche III and one of the first six games published by Electronic Arts.

Delivering the hits. Hard Hat Mack is a platform game developed by Michael Abbot and Matthew Alexander for the Apple II which was published by Electronic Arts in 1983. Ports for the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64 were released simultaneously

Delivering the hits. Pinball Construction Set is a video game by Bill Budge written for the Apple II. It was originally published in 1982 through Budge's own company, BudgeCo, then was released by Electronic Arts in 1983 along with ports to the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64.

Delivering the hits. The Seven Cities of Gold is a strategy video game created by Danielle Bunten Berry and Ozark Softscape and published by Electronic Arts in 1984

Delivering the hits. John Madden Football is a football video game originally released for the Apple II, in 1988 following the success of Earl Weaver Baseball. It was later ported to MS-DOS and the Commodore 64. It was followed by the 1990 Sega Genesis video game of same name, and went on to become the yearly Madden NFL game series

Delivering the hits. Watch Trip Hawkins and Bill Budge (Pinball Constructions Set) chat with the presenters of The Computer Chronicles in 1984 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D40Jh9RlOxo

Stepping down, Starting Up. Hawkins started 3DO in 1990 and resigned as Electronic Arts CEO in 1991. Predating the Playstation One and Sega Saturn, the 3DO was pushed as a game-changer with 50x the performance and graphics power of previous consoles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzKF3h1Uc70

3DO Game Changer. The 3DO was not a console manufactured by the company itself, but a series of specifications which could be licensed to 3rd parties.

3DO Game Changer. Panasonic produced the first models in 1993, and further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by GoldStar (now LG Electronics), and in 1995 by Sanyo.

3DO Game Changer. With it's 32 bit architecture and powerful graphics system , the 3DO initially saw good traction with game developers and publishers

3DO Game Changer. Road Rash is a 1994 racing combat video game originally published by Electronic Arts (EA) for the 3DO. It included character sprites digitized from real-life actors, 25 minutes of live-action full-motion video and a licensed grunge music soundtrack. See how cutting edge it was here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKYgkr3mxs

3DO Game Changer. Way of the Warrior - a fighting game by Naughty Dog, published by Universal Interactive Studios for the 3DO. It was released in North America on August 30, 1994. It features high resolution graphics, characters with detailed storylines, and ultra-violent finishing moves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsnkWqIfaU

3DO Game Changer. The Horde - a hybrid action-strategy video game that was originally released for the 3DO. It also featured full-motion video sequences featuring a number of actors including Kirk Cameron as Chauncey and Michael Gregory as Kronus Maelor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIuWva89F_A

3DO Game Changer. Despite having good game support and a highly promoted launch - including being named Time magazine's '1993 Product of the Year', the 3DO's high price and an overhot console market (from competitors Sega and Nintendo) stopped the system from achieving success. Ultimately, it was discontinued in late 1996. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7HxZCfxy84

Digital Chocolate. In late 2003, Hawkins launched a new video game development company called Digital Chocolate focusing on developing games for mobile devices.

Trip Hawkins in 2019. After racking up numerous leaderships posts and awards, Trip continues to consult, advise and keynote. Find out more @ https://triphawkins.com/. Media Credits: Outside his Santa Barbara office, in 2019.