platform simtunes
EA Maxis is a subsidiary of Electronic Arts ( EA ), serving as one of its four major video game development labels . The company was founded in 1987 as Maxis Software , an American independent video game development company , and later became known as Maxis . A brush is a tool with bristles , wire or other filaments , used for cleaning , grooming hair , make up , painting , surface finishing and for many other purposes . It is one of the most ___MASK72___ and versatile tools known to mankind , and the average household may contain several dozen varieties . It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed either parallel - or perpendicular - wise , depending on the way the brush is to be gripped during use . The material of both the block and bristles or filaments is chosen to withstand hazards of its application , such as corrosive chemicals , heat or abrasion . Painting is the practice of applying paint , pigment , color or other medium to a solid surface ( support base ). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush , but other implements , such as knives , sponges , and airbrushes , can be used . SimTunes is a children ' s software toy designed by Toshio Iwai and released by Maxis in 1996 . It involves painting a picture using large pixels , where each color represents a musical note . The player places up to four different - colored Bugz , which represent musical instruments or vocal syllables , on this picture , and can change their starting directions and relative speeds . The Bugz crawl over the picture , playing notes corresponding with the colors ; and they turn , move randomly , or jump in response to function symbols that can be added to the dots . SimTunes was originally developed in the early 1990s by Iwai as a game titled Sound Fantasy for the Super NES / Super Famicom . Many of the ideas and elements in Sound Fantasy are present in SimTunes . Electroplankton for the Nintendo DS was also designed by Iwai and is considered a spiritual sequel to SimTunes . Education and early work . Iwai was born in Kira , Aichi , Japan . As a child , he spent time creating flip book - style animations in the corner of text books and making motor - driven mechanical toys , since these were the only technologies available to him . In 1981 Iwai matriculated in the Fine Arts Department at the University of Tsukuba , studying Plastic Art and Mixed Media . Influenced by the work of Norman McLaren , he began producing installation art that combined pre - cinema animation techniques ( the phenakistoscope and the zoetrope ) with modern methods of image capture and creation ( photocopiers , video cameras and computer graphics ) and of stroboscopic lighting ( video monitors , video projectors and LEDs ). His 1985 installation " Time Stratum " won the Gold prize at the High Technology Art Exhibition ' 85 , held in Shibuya Seibu , Tokyo . " Time Stratum II " was awarded the Grand Prize at the 17th Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition , Meguro Art Museum , Tokyo . In 1987 Iwai graduated from the University of Tsukuba with a master ' s degree in Plastic Art and Mixed Media . In the same year , Iwai designed his first published videogame , " Otocky ", in association with ASCII Corporation . Electronic Arts Inc . ( EA ) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City , California . Founded and incorporated on May 28 , 1982 by Trip Hawkins , the company was a pioneer of the early ___MASK33___ games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers responsible for its games . As of 2014 , Electronic Arts was the world ' s fourth - largest gaming company by revenue after Tencent , Sony and Microsoft The company sparked controversies over its advertising efforts , and acquisition of other studios . History . 1977  1990 : Founding and first projects . ASCII was founded in 1977 by Kazuhiko Nishi and Keiichiro Tsukamoto . Originally a publisher of a magazine with the same name " ASCII ", talks between Bill Gates and Nishi led to a creation of Microsoft ' s first overseas sales office , ASCII Microsoft , in 1979 . Nishi was also known for being the creator of the ___MASK77___ in 1983 , an 8 - bit standard computer well known in the former USSR and Japan . In 1984 , ASCII engaged itself in semiconductor business , followed by a further expansion into commercial online service in 1985 under the brand of ASCII - NET . As the popularity of home video game systems soared in the 1980s , ASCII became active in the development and publishing of software and peripherals for popular consoles such as the Family Computer and Mega Drive . After Microsoft ' s public stock offering in 1986 , ASCII Microsoft was dissolved . At around the same time , the company was also obliged to reform itself as a result of its aggressive diversification in the first half of the 1980s . The company went public in 1989 . LEd ( formerly LaTeX Editor ) is a TeX / LaTeX editing software working under ___MASK1___ . It is a freeware product .