Photo Gallery

The vaunted Infocom softball team, in it's trademark Hawaiian shirt uniforms.
I believe that this is from the summer of 1984.

Infocom Softball Team, 1984

Steve & Betty toasting during Infocom's Fifth Anniversary Party, June 1984.
Steve and Betty at Infocom 5th Anniversary Party

Steve with Douglas Adams, in Steve's office at 55 Wheeler Street. This is an obvious
PR photo setup; we never used a Macintosh for any Hitchhiker's-related development.
That would have occurred on the VT-100 terminal which you can see in the background.
Steve and Douglas (PR Photo)

Steve speaking at the Hitchhiker's Press Conference. This was held in
the NBC Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.

Steve at Hitchhiker's Press Conference

The industry's premier bestseller list of the time, the Softsel Hot List from
Autumn 1984. As was typical of Infocom's heyday, Infocom games held
10 of the top 30 slots. Hitchhiker's, in its second week on the chart, is
at #7; it would soon rise to #1 and stay there for nearly a year.

Softsel Hot List, late 1984

Steve and Betty in Infocom's booth at Comdex, November 1984.
Steve and Betty at Comdex, 1984

In 1987, Infocom hired the Second City troupe to write skits and perform at
Infocom's annual CES party, at Chicago's Field Museum, to promote our two
newest games, Dave Lebling's The Lurking Horror and Steve's Stationfall.
Along with Steve (center rear) and Dave (far right), you'll notice troupe
members Richard Kind (far left) and Bonnie Hunt (second from left).
Second City Part at CES, 1987

The Infocom Trophy Case, circa 1987. No silver chalice or jewel-encrusted
egg, but plenty of other treasures...

Infocom Trophy Case circa 1987

Those of you who played Superhero League of Hoboken will appreciate this pizza with its
toppings of pepperoni, mushroom, penknife, letter opener, safety goggles, and plasma raygun.

Superhero League of Hoboken Pizza

When Boffo Games moved into its new headquarters in Concord, Massachusetts,
Steve painted this oversize Boffo logo at the main entrance, opposite the elevator
doors, so that it would be the first thing a visitor would see as the doors opened.

World's Largest Boffo Logo

A boffo Boffo Games staff photo, taken during the celebration of signing the
company's first contract (with MediaVision, to publish Hodj 'n' Podj).

Boffo Staff at Paparazzi Restaurant

To promote The Space Bar, Segasoft wangled me a spot as a presenter at the Universe magazine's
1986 award ceremony, and also set up a demo station for the game in the theatre's lobby. It was quite cool,
as I got to meet stars like Julie Newmar (Catwoman), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Walter Koenig (Chekhov),
Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel), and Peter Boyle. Unfortunately, I also gpt to meet Pauly Shore.

Universe Awards Photo Montage

Steve was priveleged to collaborate with Ron Cobb as conceptual artist for The Space
Bar
. Ron was an underground cartoonist in the 60's before become one of Hollywood's
most successful concept artists, working on Back to the Future, Aliens, Raiders of the
Lost Ark
, and (of special relevance to his work on The Space Bar) designing many of
the creatures from the cantina scene in Star Wars. Here are Steve and Ron (and Thud
the Salivraster) at the release party for the game, at the Mars Cafe in San Francisco.
Steve and Ron at The Space Bar Release Party

In June of 1999, a weekend-long Infocom reunion was held -- 20 years from the founding of
the company, and 10 years after it's shutdown by Activision. This group photo was taken in
the roof garden of the University Park Hotel at MIT.

Group Photo at Infocom Reunion

When the Red Sox were down 0-3 to the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, Steve vowed that if
they came back and won, he'd shave his head. A group of WorldWinnerites went to a bar and
pool hall in Cambridge called Flattop Johnny's to watch Game 7, and as the game progressed,
word spread throughout the bar about The Vow. At the successful conclusion of the game, once the
delirium had died down, the crowd began to chant, "Shave your head! Shave your head!" We went
to the courtyard outside the bar and the WorldWinnerites all took turns shaving part of Steve's head,
as the rest of the patrons stood in a circle cheering (and in some cases filming with their cell phones).

Steve With Shave Head After 2004 ALCS

In 2005, when Steve returned with the BAFTA for the 20th Anniversary release of
Hitchhiker's Guide, the folks at WorldWinner threw him a surprise party, featuring
this Photoshopped photo iced onto the cake. The writing on the cake (not pictured)
read, "Congratulations, Steve -- a legend on both sides of The Pond!"
Steve and the Prince

The Hitchhiker's movie opened a couple of days before Steve's birthday in 2005, so we had
a big group outing to see it, at the Waltham Embassy (with towels in hand, of course)...

Hitchhiker's Movie Opening

...and then we headed to a pub around the corner to fortify ourselves with beer in case the world
ended. Steve's son and daughter made birthday cakes, one decorated as the Don't Panic
button from the Hitchhiker's game package, and one decorated as the green eyeless
creature from the cover of the U.S. book editions and game box. And the BAFTA
award (for the 20th Anniversary edition of the game) came along for the ride.

BAFTA with Two Birthday Cakes

In this rare photo of Steve actually working (circa 2006), he is in his office at
WorldWinner, working on a
Diplomacy-like game that was never completed.
Steve Working, Or So He Says

Steve with SF author Vernor Vinge, at the 2006 Austin Game Conference.
Vernor was one of the converence's keynoters.

Steve and Vernor Vinge

The 2006 Game Designers Workshop opening dinner at Quark's Bar in Las Vegas.
The Gorn and the Salt Monster are not typically attendees of the Workshop.

A Gorn, a Salt Monster, and Some Game Designers

MIT Enterprise Forum on "Tomorrow's Games", November 2006. From left: Curt
Schilling (Red Sox pitcher and founder of 38 Studios), Jason Booth (Harmonix),
Mark Pover (Utix), Matthew Bellows (Floodgate), Steve, and Mark Duggan (Nephin
Games). The panel was moderated by Dan Scherlis (Etherplay) (not pictured)

MIT Enterprise Forum

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Last updated: 5-3-08. Contact
boffo@boffo.us.