Richard Hilleman
Encyclopedia
Richard Hilleman is an American
computer game and video game producer best known for his work creating the original Madden Football game for video game consoles for Electronic Arts
. Apart from Madden, Hilleman was a key figure in building the massive EA Sports
brand and has spent over 20 years working in product development at EA. He has directly or indirectly influenced a wide range of games and game designers.
Hilleman joined Electronic Arts in 1982, and was one of the first twenty employees. After several years working with producers and teams in a variety of roles (including Ray Tobey
and Stewart Bonn on the early combat flight simulator
Skyfox
), he began producing his own titles in the late 1980s. His first credited title as producer was Indianapolis 500: The Simulation
on PC in 1989.
In 1989 he hired Scott Orr
to re-design John Madden Football for the fast-growing Sega Genesis. Hilleman had inherited the title from another producer after weak initial sales of the original Apple II
version of the game.
Orr and Hilleman together developed the game that we still recognize today as Madden Football, the best-selling title in the history of games in North America. Orr focused, as he had at GameStar, on producing a great head-to-head 2-player game with an intuitive interface
, and with responsive controls. Hilleman and Orr played each other continually, honing the design. When the game shipped it was almost immediately a major hit.
Orr joined EA full-time in 1991 after the success of Madden on the Genesis, and both Hilleman and Orr were promoted to senior management roles in EA product development over the following few years. Hilleman was later named Vice President in charge of
Production for the company. An avid hockey player during his youth in Minnesota
, Hilleman was Executive Producer or Producer for other successful EA Sports titles in the 1990s as well, including NHL Hockey
, NHLPA Hockey, PGA Tour Golf and Tiger Woods Golf
.
Today Rich Hilleman continues to work for Electronic Arts as Chief Creative Officer, and currently works in the internal University at Electronic Arts on specialized education for Producers and Development Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer game and video game producer best known for his work creating the original Madden Football game for video game consoles for Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. Apart from Madden, Hilleman was a key figure in building the massive EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
brand and has spent over 20 years working in product development at EA. He has directly or indirectly influenced a wide range of games and game designers.
Hilleman joined Electronic Arts in 1982, and was one of the first twenty employees. After several years working with producers and teams in a variety of roles (including Ray Tobey
Ray Tobey
Ray Tobey is an American computer game and video game programmer best known for writing the first arcade-style combat flight simulator game, Skyfox ....
and Stewart Bonn on the early combat flight simulator
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
Skyfox
Skyfox
Skyfox is a 1984 action computer game developed by Ray Tobey and published by Electronic Arts. Ariolasoft published the game in Europe. Originally developed for the Apple II, it was ported to the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and Macintosh in 1985 and to the Amiga and Atari ST in 1986...
), he began producing his own titles in the late 1980s. His first credited title as producer was Indianapolis 500: The Simulation
Indianapolis 500: The Simulation
Indianapolis 500: The Simulation is a 1989 computer game. It was hailed as the first step of differentiating racing games from the arcade realm and into true simulations. It was developed by the Papyrus Design Group, consisting of David Kaemmer and Omar Khudari, and distributed by Electronic Arts...
on PC in 1989.
In 1989 he hired Scott Orr
Scott Orr
Scott Orr is an American computer game and video game designer best known as the original lead designer on the first video game console versions of the North American best-selling game, Madden NFL Football...
to re-design John Madden Football for the fast-growing Sega Genesis. Hilleman had inherited the title from another producer after weak initial sales of the original Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
version of the game.
Orr and Hilleman together developed the game that we still recognize today as Madden Football, the best-selling title in the history of games in North America. Orr focused, as he had at GameStar, on producing a great head-to-head 2-player game with an intuitive interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
, and with responsive controls. Hilleman and Orr played each other continually, honing the design. When the game shipped it was almost immediately a major hit.
Orr joined EA full-time in 1991 after the success of Madden on the Genesis, and both Hilleman and Orr were promoted to senior management roles in EA product development over the following few years. Hilleman was later named Vice President in charge of
Production for the company. An avid hockey player during his youth in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Hilleman was Executive Producer or Producer for other successful EA Sports titles in the 1990s as well, including NHL Hockey
NHL Hockey
NHL Hockey is an ice hockey game by EA Sports. Released in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, it is the first game in the NHL Hockey series.-Features:...
, NHLPA Hockey, PGA Tour Golf and Tiger Woods Golf
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is a series of video games developed and published by Electronic Arts featuring professional golfer Tiger Woods, among other pros on the PGA Tour....
.
Today Rich Hilleman continues to work for Electronic Arts as Chief Creative Officer, and currently works in the internal University at Electronic Arts on specialized education for Producers and Development Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
.