Atari, Sony, And Sega Legend Bernie Stolar Dies Aged 75

Games Atari, Sony, And Sega Legend Bernie Stolar Dies Aged 75 Matt Gardner Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. A British writer covering indie and retro gaming, esports, and more. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience.

Got it! Jun 27, 2022, 06:00am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Gaming legend Bernard “Bernie” Stolar, pictured here in 1999, has passed away at the age of 75. Next Generation Magazine, June 1999 / Ethan Johnson Bernard “Bernie” Stolar, a former top executive at Atari, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Sega of America, passed away after a long illness on June 22, at the age of 75. As an often divisive but influential and admired figure in gaming, Stolar leaves a legacy that has shaped modern gaming as we know it.

Stolar, who began his game career as a coin-op entrepreneur before landing a job as president of Atari, would go on to oversee the U. S. launch of the upstart PlayStation with Sony, as well as the monumental challenge of the American Dreamcast’s 9/9/99 launch–an iconic date he chose himself.

In the days since his passing, Steven L. Kent –author and freelance gaming journalist for Parade , USA Today , MSNBC , and the Chicago Tribune , among others–has collected memories of Stolar from industry luminaries, helping to tell the story of a man who has shaped the careers of some of the gaming world’s most influential figures. Born October 9, 1946, Stolar’s introduction to the video game business came with the 1981 release of the arcade game Shark Attack .

Created by Pacific Novelty, Shark Attack nearly never came to be; after the release of Jaws in 1975, Universal Studios considered legal action against Stolar for the IP, but he successfully negotiated permission to manufacture 1,000 Shark Attack machines without paying royalties. Stolar built 990 machines, then pulled the plug on the project. Over the following ten years, Stolar didn’t stray far from games.

He opened an arcade in San Francisco–the State Street Arcade–before taking a job with Atari’s coin-op division. He was still at Atari in 1984 when former Commodore founder Jack Tramiel purchased the company, and eventually became president of Atari from 1990 to 1993. MORE FOR YOU ‘Demon Slayer’ Season 2 Finally Has An Actual 2021 Release Date Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Not A Sure Thing, Says Director ‘Genshin Impact’ Still Refuses To Increase Anniversary Rewards, Despite Fan Outcry Stolar, during his time at Pacific Novelty.

Replay Magazine, January 1983 / Ethan Johnson However, Stolar decided to risk his career by taking a job with what was, back then, a lightweight in the video game industry: Sony Computer Entertainment. Sony and Nintendo had once announced a partnership to create a CD-ROM-based “Play Station. ” It was originally meant to be revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1991, but after reviewing an older contract, then-president of Nintendo Hiroshi Yamauchi discovered Sony had total control over anything published on the “SNES CD-ROM.

” Instead of renegotiating with Sony, Nintendo canceled everything. Sony decided to go it alone, and Stolar was at the forefront of its eventual release. During his three-year tenure as Sony Computer Entertainment America’s executive vice president, in charge of business development and third-party relations, Stolar took on a more public persona, using his past knowledge of coin-op gaming to his advantage.

As a result, he helped launch one of the most successful consoles of all time in the U. S. on September 9, 1995.

“I met Bernie in 1995,” says Rob Dyer, who now serves as the chief operating officer at Capcom. “I was the vice president of international operations at Crystal Dynamics, doing deals, selling products, and getting our products placed with distributors overseas. Bernie had just started as the head of third-party for PlayStation.

“Bernie was larger than life. At the time, PlayStation was nothing, but he came in with his larger-than-life attitude that said PlayStation was going to be something. He told us that we needed to make games for Sony.

“We had failed on 3DO. We had failed on Saturn. Then we made it on PlayStation.

I did a ton of deals with Bernie over the years… especially when I became president of Crystal. He was a mentor of mine. ” Prior to the PS1’s launch, Stolar made an early and somewhat controversial decision not to pursue role-playing games for PlayStation, choosing to focus on creating an unrivaled launch lineup to lure the biggest possible market share away from Sega and Nintendo as quickly as possible.

Stolar instead concentrated on fighting games, among other genres, and landed a major deal with Williams to secure Mortal Kombat 3 –a title that would help Sony establish an early lead in the U. S. console market.

Shuji Utsumi, the co-COO at Sega who then served as vice president of product acquisition during Stolar’s time at Sony, says: “Bernie contributed to making PlayStation a winning platform and [the] most supported by developers to this day. ” Co-COO at Sega, and former VP at Sony, Shuji Utsumi credits Stolar with the PlayStation’s ongoing . .

. [+] success. getty While the Sega Saturn took an early lead over PlayStation in Japan–in part due to the popularity of an arcade port of Virtua Fighter – Sega’s infamous show at E3 in 1995 was completely undone by Sony’s Steve Race, who took to the stand and said three words: “Two ninety-nine.

” With it, the PlayStation had undercut the Saturn by $100 in the 32-bit era’s nascent western market, adding to Sega’s development and distribution woes. Then came a surprising move. Despite apparently beating the Sega Saturn in the early days of the mid-90s console wars, Stolar became the president and CEO of Sega of America, replacing Tom Kalinske.

By the time Stolar joined Sega, Sony had dispatched the Saturn and was preparing to overwhelm Nintendo, which was still preparing to unveil the N64. Stolar’s initial victory proved pyrrhic in his new role at Sega; instead, he looked to the future, and one last opportunity for Sega to shine. When Sega pulled the plug on the Saturn in 1998 and announced new hardware, Stolar worked feverishly to create a marketing campaign that aimed to stymie Sony’s grip on American gamers.

Under his leadership, Sega developed and teased the Dreamcast, arranged an unprecedented 18-game launch line up, and hired Reebok’s senior vice president of sports marketing, Peter Moore. “I thank Bernie for my start in this industry, a career that has lasted 20-plus years,” says Moore, who went on to top positions with Microsoft, EA, and Liverpool Football Club. “None of that would have happened without Bernie believing in some shoe guy who could take skills for marketing sneakers and use them to market video games.

“He was feisty, combative for all the right reasons, and wanted to do the right thing all the time for the customer. ” The Olympian, August 8, 1999 / Associated Press / Ethan Johnson Utsumi, who joined Stolar at Sega in product development, adds: “At Sega, [Stolar] acquired Visual Concepts to re-boost Sega Sports, establish the 2K Sports brand, and launch Dreamcast. I had been with him during those days and had a wonderful time with him, [seeing] the industry’s next evolution.

” In August 1999–with the Dreamcast launch just one month away–Stolar left Sega after a number of disagreements with the Japanese head office over the launch date and modem inclusion, which he successfully fought to include, as well as the console’s initial price. Moore replaced him, but Stolar’s plans stayed in place. The September 9, 1999 U.

S. launch of the Sega Dreamcast still proved to be an incredible success, even though the console itself was doomed. Despite his abrupt exit, stories of Stolar’s Sega tenure continue to show the mark of a man well-loved by his colleagues.

Former colleague Scott Hawkins, who now works in software licensing and partner relations at Nintendo, remembers his tenacity in the face of competition. “Bernie loved battling against our competitors,” he says. “One great example is when he was president of Sega of America and he learned about an upcoming Sony-hosted golf tournament for third-party partners.

Obviously, Sega was not invited. Bernie had people replace Sony golf balls with Sega golf balls, [and] extra Sega golf balls were strategically placed in the holes on the golf course. “He gave the green light to have someone hired to drive a golf cart around the course dressed up as Sonic the Hedgehog, and he even had a plane hired to fly over the golf tournament with banners flying behind the plane.

Despite this being a Sony event, it was clear that Sega would be [. . .

] front and center for all of the third-party partners. “Bernie was bold, unapologetic, and a force of nature. We will miss his passion, his competitive spirit, and his friendship.

” Stolar left Sony for Sega, where he attempted to reverse the tide for the company’s ailing hardware . . .

[+] offering. Next Generation Magazine, October 1999 / Ethan Johnson After leaving front-line console gaming, Stolar remained a game industry icon. He was President of Mattel Interactive for three years, worked as an advisor for Cisco and Golden Gate Capital, and was the Chairman and CEO of Adscape Media which was bought by Google, after which Stolar became the company’s games evangelist.

Stolar remained active in games right up to his death. In 2014, he was named the executive chairman of ZOOM Platform, becoming a personal mentor for Jordan Freeman, the company’s young founder . “I shouldn’t have been able to reach a person like Bernie,” says Freeman, “but he took my call, was willing to meet with me, and asked to look at my business proposal.

He gave everyone a chance. Over time, I learned I wasn’t the first one nor the last who experienced this. ” Sherry McKenna, the CEO of Oddworld Inhabitants, describes Stolar as honest and unfalteringly loyal.

Having first met him in the 1970s, McKenna lost touch with Stolar until she left a career in the movie business to co-found the famed studio behind Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee . “[Oddworld co-founder] Lorne Lanning and I were just starting out at Oddworld Inhabitants and had just moved to new offices in California, when I get this message across my desk that says ‘vice president of Sony, Bernie Stolar. ’” Like Freeman, McKenna phoned Stolar not expecting him to take her call.

Instead, he picked up and mentored her, enabling her and Lanning to sign a deal with SCE America. She adds: “When Bernie believed in you, he absolutely believed in you. There weren’t any questions, he just helped you succeed.

” In a recent interview with Authority Magazine , interactive technology pioneer Thomas Kidrin named Stolar as the one person who got him where he was today, characterizing him as someone who never forgot where he started. “Bernie was always gracious in inviting me to high-level private dinners, introducing me to industry players from the U. S.

and Japan, and always offering advice and analysis on technical game design and marketing strategies,” he said. “As Bernie moved up the corporate ladder to the C suite, I always would remind him that, at heart, he has always been an electronics salesman, albeit one of the best. ” Mark Subotnick, the senior director of the Desktop Enthusiast Business for Intel–who worked with Stolar alongside Utsumi as VP of product acquisition at Sega, continues: “Bernie was my boss, my friend, my mentor, and an incredible leader.

He was always true to himself and gave you the brutal truth. He kept a true open-door policy and believed in the tyranny of the idea. “I would not be where I am today without Bernie.

His impact on our industry will be felt for years. He is greatly missed. ” Rod Cousens, the former CEO at Acclaim, Codemasters, and Jagex, who was made a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the computer games industry in 2010 , says of his friend: “Bernie had presence and it reached far and wide.

He was able to navigate global cultures, be listened to, and command respect. No mean feat. “There are many who owe their career in video games to him, as he was able to identify talent and break out their careers as they went on to do great things.

He left his mark in the video games business and touched many around him. My family and I felt that friendship always and I shall be forever grateful for that. ” Last but certainly not least, Ken Kutaragi–the so-called “Father of the PlayStation” who oversaw the creation of PlayStations 1, 2, and 3, as well as the PSP–was incredibly close to Stolar, and gave perhaps the most emotional tribute to his best friend in tribute to his storied career.

“Bernie was the man who devoted his life and passion to the video game industry,” says Kutaragi. “He was also one of my best friends and we spent many moments together, even when he was away from work. “His friendly smile and playful gestures are still burning on my eyelids.

Thank you for all your hard work, time and dedication. Please rest in peace in heaven. ” Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn .

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