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{{short description|American video game designer (born 1964)}}{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}

factoids

|birth_place = New York City, United States|birth_name =''Karateka (video game)>Prince of Persia (1989 video game)>The Last Express''(Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)>(Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film))}}Video game designerscreenwriterfilmmaker}}Whitney Hills2017LAST1=MECHNERDATE=APRIL 7, 2014TWITTER>ACCESS-DATE=OCTOBER 3, 2014ARCHIVEURL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20150201204821/HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/JMECHNER/STATUS/453367119392935936WEBSITE=LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT, June 18, 2019, |children =jordanmechner.com}}}}Jordan Mechner (born June 4, 1964)WEB, Mechner, Jordan,weblink Blog 4 June 1989, Jordanmechner.com,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140519184953weblink">weblink May 19, 2014, is an American video game designer, graphic novelist, author, screenwriter, filmmaker, and former video game programmer.WEB,weblink Jordan Mechner – Biography, jordanmechner.com, February 3, 2024, A major figure in the development of cinematic video gamesWEB,weblink Jordan Mechner – CHM, computerhistory.org, February 3, 2024, and a pioneer in video game animation,WEB,weblink Creating Prince of Persia in 1989 with fluid animations before the days of motion-capture – TechSpot, techspot.com, February 3, 2024, he began his career designing and programming the 1984 martial arts game Karateka for the Apple II while a student at Yale University. The game was a bestseller. He followed it with the platform game Prince of Persia five years later; it was widely ported and became a hit. Both games used rotoscoping, where actors shot on film by Mechner were drawn over to create in-game animation. Prince of Persia has become the basis for a long-running franchise, including a (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)|2010 live-action film) released by Walt Disney Pictures and an ongoing series of video games, published by Ubisoft.Mechner is the recipient of many accolades, including the 2017 GDC Pioneer Award.WEB,weblink Pioneer Archive – Game Developers Choice Awards, gamechoiceawards.com, February 3, 2024, His works are often included in all-time lists of the game industry's best and most influential titles.WEB,weblink Top 20 MS-DOS Games That You Must Play – Gaming Shift, gamingshift.com, February 3, 2024, WEB,weblink The best adventure games – PC Gamer, pcgamer.com, February 3, 2024, In 1993, Mechner founded Smoking Car Productions to design and direct the adventure game The Last Express. While commercially unprofitable at the time of its release, the game has garnered a cult following and is recognized as an innovative work in interactive narrative.WEB,weblink Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games – Adventure Gamers, adventuregamers.com, February 3, 2024, WEB,weblink The Last Express is as mesmerising and relevant as ever, 25 years later, gameshub.com, February 3, 2024, WEB,weblink The Last Express: Revisiting an Unsung Classic, gamedeveloper.com, February 3, 2024, WEB,weblink Best Game Ever Set on a Train Across Europe, giantbomb.com, February 3, 2024, WEB,weblink The Last Express, the 90s real-time adventure game that still feels groundbreaking – AUTOMATON WEST, automaton-media.com, February 3, 2024, WEB,weblink #12: The Last Express – Adventure Gamers, adventuregamers.com, February 3, 2024, As an author, Mechner has written graphic novels in collaboration with different illustrators, including the New York Times bestseller Templar (2013), Monte Cristo (2022), and Liberty (2023).WEB,weblink jordan mechner – Search Results, worldcat.org, February 3, 2024, In 2023, Mechner made his debut as a graphic novel writer–artist, with the autobiographical Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family. Replay was awarded the 2023 Chateau de Cheverny prize for historical graphic novels.NEWS,weblink Le Prix BD des Rendez-vous de l’histoire – Château de Cheverny 2023 – ActuaBD, actuabd.com, February 3, 2024, In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.WEB,weblink IGN – 60. Jordan Mechner, IGN, November 15, 2023,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140420073616weblink">weblink April 20, 2014,

Early life

Mechner was born in New York City in 1964, into a family of European Jewish immigrants. His father is psychologist Francis Mechner,WEB,weblink The Last Express: Video Game as Art – 25fps, 25fps.cz, March 15, 2012, WEB,weblink LAist Interview: Jordan Mechner: LAist, August 25, 2015, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171020120714weblink">weblink October 20, 2017, and his mother was a programmer.INTERVIEW, Mechner, Jordan, John Romero, Episode 7 - Jordan Mechner,weblink Apple Time Warp, Libsyn, 2017, June 15, 2019, June 18, 2019, He attended Yale University in the 1980s.NEWS, Steve Fulton, What Indie Game Developers Can Learn From Jordan Mechner's Book "The Making Of Karateka", Gamasutra, September 29, 2014,weblink August 17, 2015, WEB,weblink How Prince of Persia's famous jump animation was made / Boing Boing, boingboing.net, October 30, 2014, NEWS, Charles McGrath, A Gamer's World, but a Dramatist's Sensibility, The New York Times, May 21, 2010,weblink August 17, 2015,

Career

While at Yale, Mechner wrote several Apple II games that he submitted for publication, but which were rejected. Asteroid Blaster, an Asteroids clone, was submitted to Hayden Software and abstract arcade game Deathbounce to Broderbund. Mechner then spent two years at Yale writing his first published game, Karateka (1984), which went to number one on the Billboard software chart.His second game, Prince of Persia, was released in 1989 after more than three years of work. He wrote both games in the 6502 assembly language for the Apple II, though that system was in decline through the late 1980s, and little new software was released by 1989. Initially, Prince of Persia sold poorly, but as it was ported to other systems, sales increased. Eventually, it was adapted for about thirty computer and console platforms.WEB,weblink Prince of Persia, Derboo, Sam, May 18, 2008, Hardcore Gaming 101, July 6, 2023, Following the completion of Prince of Persia, Mechner attended film school, traveled to Cuba to produce and direct a short documentary film, and lived in Paris for a year.MAGAZINE, An Interview with Jordan Mechner, Next Generation (magazine), Next Generation, 25, Imagine Media, January 1997, 108, During this period, he designed and directed the sequel, (Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame), released in 1993.He founded the independent developer Smoking Car Productions in 1993, where he led the production of the CD-ROM adventure game The Last Express. Smoking Car grew to sixty people, a huge team for the mid-1990s, and the game took longer to finish than anticipated. When finally released in 1997, it was positively reviewed but did not recoup its budget. It has since become a fan favorite with adventure gamers and critics alike.WEB,weblink The Last Express – Metacritic, metacritic.com, February 4, 2024, WEB,weblink The Last Express (1997) – MobyGames, mobygames.com, February 4, 2024, WEB,weblink The Last Express Reviews – GameSpot, gamespot.com, February 4, 2024, The Last Express was re-released in 2012 by French publisher DotEmu for mobile and other platforms.NEWS, Marchiafava, Jeff, The Last Express Arrives on iOS Soon – Game Informer,weblink February 4, 2024, September 24, 2012, NEWS, Jay, Matthew, HonestGamers – The Last Express (PC) News,weblink February 4, 2024, September 25, 2012, WEB, Review: The Last Express (iOS) – Destructoid,weblink February 4, 2024, In 2003, Mechner directed the award-winning documentary Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story.WEB,weblink Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story – Documentary – Independent Lens – PBS, pbs.org, February 3, 2024, He released the recovered source code to the original Prince of Persia game in 2012 and published his 1980s journals, detailing the development process that went into making Karateka and Prince of Persia.NEWS,weblink The Geeks Who Saved Prince of Persia's Source Code from Digital Death – WIRED, wired.com, February 3, 2024, NEWS,weblink Original Prince of Persia source code discovered, released for free – GamesRadar+, gamesradar.com, February 3, 2024, In 2017, he won the Honorific Award at the Fun & Serious Game Festival.WEB, Kaplan, de escritor fracasado a estrella de videojuego tras jugar 272 días, December 9, 2017,weblink July 8, 2019,

Prince of Persia revival

In 2001, Mechner worked with Ubisoft to reboot Prince of Persia. Developed at Ubisoft Montreal with Mechner as game designer, writer, and creative consultant, (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) was released in 2003. It received twelve nominations and eight awards at the Interactive Achievement Awards.Prince of Persia award page {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510074532weblink |date=May 10, 2012 }} from Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences website Ubisoft has since published four more Prince of Persia sequels and several spinoffs, including the Assassin's Creed franchise, which was initially conceived as a sequel to Sands of Time.NEWS, Jessey, Ben, Was Assassin's Creed Supposed to Be a Prince of Persia Game?,weblink January 28, 2024, In 2024, Ubisoft released (Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown), a new relaunch of the franchise, developed at its Montpellier studio.Mechner became one of the few video game creators to adapt his own creation as a feature film, with Disney's (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)|Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, directed by Mike Newell, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, and Alfred Molina. The film was released on May 28, 2010. Mechner wrote the first drafts of the screenplay and acted as executive producer.

Writing and directing

File:Jordan Mechner at WonderCon 2010 3.JPG|thumb|right|Jordan Mechner at WonderConWonderConIn 2003, Mechner wrote and directed the documentary film Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story. It won the 2003 IDA award for Best Short Documentary,WEB,weblink 2003 IDA Documentary Awards Winners, Documentary.org, International Documentary Association, July 6, 2023, was {{Clarify|date=July 2023|text=short-listed}} for an Academy Award nomination,WEB,weblink Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story, EMRO, Pennsylvania State University, July 6, 2023, {{Better source needed|date=July 2023}} and received its broadcast premiere on PBS Independent Lens in 2005.WEB,weblink Independent Lens . CHAVEZ RAVINE – PBS, www.pbs.org, Mechner collaborated with a team on the 2008 Prince of Persia graphic novel. The author's graphic novel Templar was published in July 2013.WEB,weblink Templar: historical caper graphic novel from Prince of Persia creator / Boing Boing, boingboing.net, July 10, 2013, WEB,weblink From Games to Comics: First Second's Prince of Persia OGN, August 4, 2023, Templar became a New York Times best-selling book and was nominated for an Eisner Award.WEB,weblink Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees 2014 | Comic-Con International: San Diego, April 21, 2014, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141006082737weblink">weblink October 6, 2014, Mechner also wrote the graphic novel Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm, to tie in with the release of the film in 2010.Mechner has written a screenplay for a film adaptation of Michael Turner's Fathom for Fox Studios."Megan Fox to star in 'Fathom'" from VarietyHe has published two volumes of his game development journals from the 1980s, one describing the making of Karateka and the other focusing on Prince of Persia. He was able to recover the source code of the original Prince of Persia game he programmed from 23-year-old 3.5" Apple ProDOS floppy disks, found in April 2012, and posted it online.WEB,weblink Prince-of-Persia-Apple-II: A running-jumping-swordfighting game I made on the Apple II from 1985-89, Jordan, Mechner, November 7, 2017, GitHub, In 2017, Mechner moved to Montpellier, France. He has collaborated with European illustrators on graphic novels, including Monte Cristo (2023) and Liberty (2022).WEB,weblink Jordan Mechner, le créateur de Prince of Persia vit à Montpellier – En Commun, encommun.montpellier.fr, February 4, 2024, WEB,weblink 'Prince of Persia' creator 'never imagined' game would be his magic carpet, techxplore.com, February 4, 2024, In 2023, he released an autobiographical graphic novel, Replay: Memoires d'une famille. He continues to write new graphic novels.WEB, Prince of Persia creator never imagined game would be his magic carpet – The Peninsula Qatar,weblink thepeninsulaqatar.com, February 4, 2024, WEB,weblink The father-and-son of Karateka: how family anchored a classic game's innovations, gamedeveloper.com, February 4, 2024,

Works

Games{| class"wikitable"

! Title !! Year !! Platform !! PublisherKarateka (video game)>Karateka 1984 Apple II series >| BroderbundPrince of Persia (1989 video game)>Prince of Persia 1989 Apple II series >| Broderbund(Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame) >MS-DOS >| BroderbundThe Last Express >Microsoft Windows>Windows, MS-DOS, Classic Mac OS Broderbund(Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) >Microsoft Windows>Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox (console) >| UbisoftKarateka (video game)#2012 remake>Karateka 2012 Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360>| D3 PublisherKarateka (video game)#The Making of Karateka>The Making of Karateka 2023 Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch >| Digital Eclipse">

Bibliography{| class"wikitable"

! Title !! Year !! Publisher !! Collaborators !! ref(Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel) >First Second Books >|The Making of Prince of Persia: Journals 1985–1993 >Amazon Publishing>Amazon Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm >Disney Publishing Worldwide>Disney Todd McFarlane, Bernard Chang, Cameron Stewart, et al. (illus.) Solomon's Thieves (Templar: Book One) >|The Making of Karateka: Journals 1982–1985 >|Templar >LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland (illus.) >|The Making of Prince of Persia >|Samak the Ayyar(English-language rendering of the Samak-e Ayyar tales) >Columbia University Press >LAST=BLANKINSHIPDATE=JANUARY 9, 2022LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS>ACCESS-DATE=FEBRUARY 11, 2023, HTTPS://FARHANG.ORG/FARHANG-CONNECT/SAMAK-THE-AYYAR-A-TALE-OF-ANCIENT-PERSIA>TITLE=SAMAK THE AYYAR: A TALE OF ANCIENT PERSIAWEBSITE=FARHANG FOUNDATION, February 11, 2023, Monte Cristo >Glénat Editions >|Liberty >Delcourt (publisher)>Delcourt Editions Étienne Le Roux (illus.), Loïc Chevallier (illus.) & Elvire De Cock (col.) Replay: Mémoires d'une famille >|Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family >|

Filmography

• Waiting for Dark (1993)
• Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story (2003)
• (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)|Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) (2010) (screenwriter)

Personal life

Mechner married Whitney Hills in 2014. The couple divorced in 2017.WEB,weblink Jordan Mechner vs Whitney Hills {{!, Court Records|website=UniCourt|access-date=June 18, 2019}}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

• {{official|jordanmechner.com}}
• Jordan Mechner at Open Library
• {{moby developer|id=295}}
• {{IMDb name|0575338}}
• Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story at PBS

{{Prince of Persia series}}{{Authority control}}