industry microprose
___MASK23___ fiction ( often shortened to SF , sci - fi or scifi ) is a genre of speculative fiction , typically dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic ___MASK23___ and technology , space travel , time travel , faster than light travel , parallel universes , and extraterrestrial life . ___MASK23___ fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations , and has been called a " literature of ideas ." It usually avoids the supernatural , and unlike the related genre of fantasy , historically ___MASK23___ fiction stories were intended to have a grounding in ___MASK23___ - based fact or theory at the time the story was created , but this connection is now limited to hard ___MASK23___ fiction . MicroProse was an American ___MASK12___ publisher and developer founded by `` Wild '' Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as MicroProse ___MASK97___ Inc . It developed and published numerous games , many of which are regarded as `` groundbreaking '' , classics and cult titles , including starting the Civilization and X - COM series . Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games . In 1993 , the company lost most of their UK - based personnel and became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte . Subsequent cuts and corporate policies led Sid Meier , Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds leaving and forming Firaxis Games in 1996 , as MicroProse closed its ex - Simtex development studio in Austin , Texas . In 1998 , following an unsuccessful buyout attempt by GT Interactive ___MASK97___ , the struggling MicroProse ( Spectrum HoloByte ) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive and its development studios in Alameda , California and Chapel Hill , North Carolina were closed the following year . In 2001 , MicroProse ceased to exist as an entity and Hasbro Interactive sold the MicroProse intellectual properties to Infogrames Entertainment , SA . The MicroProse UK ' s former main office in Chipping Sodbury was closed in 2002 , followed by the company ' s former headquarters in Hunt Valley , Maryland in 2003 . The brand was revived in 2007 when Interactive Game Group acquired it from Atari Interactive , formerly Infogrames . The MicroProse brand was licensed to the Legacy Engineering Group for consumer electronics . As of 2010 , the MicroProse brand is currently owned by Cybergun Group . Sidney K . " Sid " Meier ( born February 24 , 1954 ) is a programmer , designer , and producer of several popular strategy video games and simulation video games , most notably the " Civilization " series . Meier co - founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bill Stealey and is the Director of Creative Development of Firaxis Games , which he co - founded with Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds in 1996 . He has won several prestigious accolades for his contributions to the ___MASK38___ . Dr . Jeffery L . Briggs ( born March 10 , 1957 , in Florence , Alabama ) is founder and former President and CEO of Firaxis Games , a ___MASK12___ developer based in Hunt Valley , Maryland , United States . He was previously a game designer at MicroProse but left that company in 1996 along with Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds to form Firaxis Games . The alien invasion is a usual part of ___MASK23___ fiction stories and film , in which extraterrestrials invade Earth either to exterminate and supplant ___MASK14___ life , enslave it under a colonial system , to harvest humans for ___MASK57___ , steal the planet ' s resources , or destroy the planet altogether . A simulation ___MASK12___ describes a diverse super - category of video games , generally designed to closely simulate aspects of a real or fictional reality . Strategy video games are a ___MASK12___ genre that focuses on skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory . It emphasizes strategic , tactical , and sometimes logistical challenges . Many games also offer economic challenges and exploration . They are generally categorized into four sub - types , depending on whether the game is turn - based or real - time , and whether the game focuses on strategy or tactics . Mythos Games was a British ___MASK12___ developer company founded by Julian Gollop in 1988 as Target Games and best known for its acclaimed 1994 strategy game "". Following the bankruptcy of Mythos Games in 2001 , Gollop founded Codo Technologies . ___MASK19___ is an audio or visual form of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored , nonpersonal message to promote or sell a product , ___MASK11___ or idea . Sponsors of advertising are often businesses who wish to promote their products or services . ___MASK19___ is differentiated from ___MASK22___ in that an advertiser usually pays for and has control over the message . It is differentiated from personal selling in that the message is nonpersonal , i . e ., not directed to a particular individual . ___MASK19___ is communicated through various mass media , including old media such as newspapers , magazines , Television , ___MASK87___ , outdoor advertising or direct ___MASK89___ ; or new media such as search results , blogs , websites or text messages . The actual presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement or " ad ". Firaxis Games , Inc . is an American ___MASK12___ developer founded in 1996 by Sid Meier , Jeff Briggs , and Brian Reynolds upon leaving MicroProse . Now a wholly owned subsidiary of Take - Two Interactive , the company is best known for its " Civilization " series of games , though it has had notable success with other titles as well . Firaxis is based in Sparks , Maryland ; Sid Meier continues to lead creative efforts there . ___MASK70___ is the study and ___MASK72___ of exchange relationships . The American ___MASK70___ Association has defined marketing as " the activity , set of institutions , and processes for creating , communicating , delivering , and exchanging offerings that have value for customers , clients , partners , and society at large ." A remake is a film or ___MASK76___ series that is based on an earlier work and tells the same story . The United States Air Force ( USAF ) is the aerial warfare ___MASK11___ branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services . Initially part of the United States Army , the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947 . It is the most recent branch of the U . S . military to be formed , and is the largest and one of the world ' s most technologically advanced air forces . The USAF articulates its core functions as Nuclear Deterrence Operations , Special Operations , Air Superiority , Global Integrated ISR , Space Superiority , Command and Control , Cyberspace Superiority , Personnel Recovery , Global Precision Attack , Building Partnerships , Rapid Global Mobility and Agile Combat Support . John Wilbur " Wild Bill " Stealey Sr . ( born 1947 ) is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel and the current CEO of iEntertainment Network . DVD ( an abbreviation of " digital versatile disc " or " digital video disc ") is a digital optical disc ___MASK84___ format invented and developed by Philips , Sony , Toshiba , and Panasonic in 1995 . The medium can store any kind of digital data and is widely used for ___MASK97___ and other computer files as well as video programs watched using DVD players . DVDs offer higher ___MASK84___ capacity than compact discs while having the same dimensions . X - COM ( sometimes stylized as " X - Com ") is a ___MASK23___ fiction ___MASK12___ franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth . The series began with the strategy ___MASK12___ "" created by Mythos Games and MicroProse in 1994 . The original line up by MicroProse included six published and at least two cancelled games , as well as two novels . The " X - COM " series , in particular its original entry , achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games ; including the creation of a number of clones , spiritual successors , and unofficial remakes . The ___MASK38___ ( sometimes referred to as the interactive entertainment industry ) is the economic sector involved with the development , marketing and sales of video games . It encompasses dozens of job disciplines and employs thousands of people worldwide . ___MASK41___ is any organized effort to gather information about target markets or customers . It is a very important component of business strategy . The term is commonly interchanged with marketing research ; however , expert practitioners may wish to draw a distinction , in that " marketing " research is concerned specifically about marketing processes , while " market " research is concerned specifically with markets . A ___MASK12___ is an electronic game that involves human or animal interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or ___MASK83___ monitor . The word " video " in " ___MASK12___ " traditionally referred to a raster display device , but as of the 2000s , it implies any type of display device that can produce two - or three - dimensional images . Some theorists categorize video games as an art form , but this designation is controversial . A ___MASK12___ developer is a ___MASK97___ developer that specializes in ___MASK12___ development  the process and related disciplines of creating video games . A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with ___MASK32___ responsibilities split between individual disciplines , such as programming , design , art , testing , etc . Most game development companies have ___MASK12___ publisher financial and usually marketing support . Self - funded developers are known as independent or indie developers and usually make indie games . iEntertainment Network ( formerly known as Interactive Magic ) is an American online gaming company , founded by JW " Wild Bill " Stealey , the co - founder and former CEO of MicroProse ___MASK97___ with Sid Meier , a game developer . IENT currently operates " WarBirds ", " M4TankBrigade ", " BowHunter2015 ", " Outdoors Unlimited ", and the " IamGame . com ". A ___MASK12___ publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a ___MASK12___ developer . As with book publishers or publishers of DVD movies , ___MASK12___ publishers are responsible for their product ' s ___MASK73___ and marketing , including ___MASK41___ and all aspects of advertising .