User:MillerAlan
International Game Developers Association
Alan Miller is a pioneer of the interactive entertainment industry and has been a successful game developer and publisher for over 30 years.
After receiving a BS EECS degree from UC Berkeley, he joined Atari in early 1977 as one of the original four game designers for the Atari 2600. He designed Surround, Hangman, Hunt and Score and Basketball. While at Atari, he also co-developed the operating system for the Atari 400/800 computer and the game cartridge Basketball.
In 1979, Miller co-founded the first independent video game publisher, Activision, with David Crane, Jim Levy, Bob Whitehead, and Larry Kaplan, and served as the company's original Vice President of Product Development. Miller also authored several games while at Activision for the Atari 2600, including; Checkers, Tennis, Ice Hockey, Star Master, and Robot Tank.
In 1984, Miller and Bob Whitehead left Activision and founded game publisher Accolade. At Accolade, Miller developed Law of the West for the Commodore 64 and then served as Vice President of Product Development, and ultimately as Chairman and CEO. Miller left Accolade after 10 years and the company was acquired by Atari in 1999.
In 1997, Miller and Steve Brown co-founded Click Health, a company devoted to using interactive games to educate children about self-care for health conditions such as asthma and diabetes. Children enjoyed the company’s Nintendo and PC games and the company's products were successfully shown in clinical trials to significantly improve health and compliance and reduce health care utilization and costs. Unfortunately, the health care industry was uninterested in this novel and successful method of patient education and the company was closed in 2001.
From 2001 - 2005, Miller served as Vice President of Business Development at Skyworks Technologies. The company was founded by David Crane and Garry Kitchen in 1994 and is one of the leading developers of custom advergames.
Miller currently serves as CEO at Quirky Interactive Video, a company he formed in late 2006 to explore new forms of interactive entertainment monetized through advertising.
Miller, personally, and his companies have received numerous awards over the last 30 years for their interactive entertainment products. Miller and his Activision co-founders were the recipients of IGDA’s 2003 First Penguin award for their pioneering efforts in independent game publishing.
In 2007, Miller initiated the formation of IGDA's Advertising and Games SIG to provide the development community with analysis of this important emerging opportunity and to act as advocates for the community in the establishment of industry standards and best practices. Miller also served on the Founding Executive Steering Committee of IGDA’s Casual Games SIG 2005 - 2006.
