<
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/first-us-videogame-champion-legendary-programmer-and-interplay-co-founder-rebecca-heineman-is-fundraising-to-deal-with-the-costs-of-an-aggressive-cancer-diagnosis/>
“40-year games industry veteran Rebecca Heineman has started a GoFundMe to help
deal with an aggressive cancer diagnosis, one whose costs are only partially
covered by private insurance. Heineman's career extends back to the days of
Space Invaders, with credits on at least 71 games including
The Bard's Tale
3 and early ports of
Doom and
Baldur's Gate 2.
Heineman began treatment and diagnostics following PAX West this year, and is
set to start chemotherapy for cancer in her lungs and liver. Parts of
Heineman's treatment are covered by insurance, but she is also liable for
overwhelming bills from out-of-network treatment.
"This is the fight for my life. Please help me," Heineman wrote on the GoFundMe
page. "I want to keep creating games and comics and I need your help to beat
this cancer."
In 1980, Heineman became the first formal US champion of any videogame, winning
a national championship
Space Invaders tournament in New York. She then
entered the industry as a professional, starting a long and far-reaching
career. Mobygames lists 67 games Heineman is credited on, but is also missing
at least four of the 43 games listed on Heineman's Wikipedia page, with
potentially other omissions as well.
Alongside Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Chris Wells, and Troy Worrell, Heineman
co-founded Interplay, the '80s-'90s megastudio that produced
Fallout,
Baldur's Gate,
The Bard's Tale,
Wasteland, and more. Heineman's design
credits at Interplay include
Dragon Wars and
The Bard's Tale 3, but much of
her work has been in programming, particularly ports.”
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
