Comments on: What happened to Activision https://dfarq.homeip.net/what-happened-to-activision/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-happened-to-activision David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Sat, 03 Oct 2026 01:40:27 +0000 hourly 1 By: Dave Farquhar https://dfarq.homeip.net/what-happened-to-activision/#comment-56370 Fri, 20 Oct 2023 03:55:26 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33505#comment-56370 In reply to S.M. Oliva.

I wasn’t aware of that HyperCard angle. That’s interesting. I do remember in the late 80s, there was a widespread belief that HyperCard was the future. I seem to recall someone showing me a HyperCard stack controlling a Laserdisc player sometime around 1989.

]]> By: S.M. Oliva https://dfarq.homeip.net/what-happened-to-activision/#comment-56366 Mon, 16 Oct 2023 20:33:57 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=33505#comment-56366 I’ve written about the “Mediagenic” period of Activision under Bruce Davis. In context what he tried to do made some sense. The market for computer games was not that big when he took over in 1987. Activision’s two main competitors, Electronic Arts and Broderbund, both diversified beyond games into “home productivity” software. And more importantly, Apple released HyperCard in late 1987. The Mediagenic pivot was largely about trying to build a new software line on HyperCard stacks. It didn’t work out as Davis had hoped, but I can see why he thought it would.

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