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American video game designer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonathan Ackley is an American interactive theme park attraction and computer game designer, writer, and programmer. He is best known for being the Creative Director and Producer on Walt Disney World's Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and co-project leader, with Larry Ahern, for LucasArts Games The Curse of Monkey Island.[1]
Jonathan Ackley | |
---|---|
Born | United States |
Occupation(s) | Game designer, writer, programmer |
He is an inventor who holds or co-holds more than 35 patents, including for novel game interfaces, theme park systems, rides and attractions, interactive merchandise, RFID, bar codes, consumer media platforms, mobile-powered reservation systems, and parental controls for cellular phones.[2]
Jonathan Ackley began his career as a programmer at LucasArts on Day of the Tentacle in 1993.[3]
He was co-project leader on The Curse of Monkey Island in 1997, an animated pirate adventure that received critical acclaim.[4] The Curse of Monkey Island was nominated for or won many industry awards, including "best adventure game of 1997" by Computer Games Strategy Plus,[5] Computer Gaming World,[6] and PC Gamer US,[7] and GameSpot, which said "The Curse of Monkey Island has all the makings of a classic."[8]
He worked as an associate game designer for Rocket Science Games on Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm in 1994. While there, he was an Associate Game Designer and also a voice actor for the game Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine, playing the role of "Scorpion."
For Mindstorms, the LEGO company's flagship toy robotics line, Ackley crafted the interfaces for Mindstorms' "Robotics Invention System 2.0" and "Mindstorms Vision Command."
Starting in 2001, Mr. Ackley joined Walt Disney Imagineering creating interactive entertainment for their amusement parks. In this function, he co-designed Walt Disney World's Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom with his former Curse of Monkey Island co-lead, Larry Ahern, in 2012.[9] "Insidethemagic.net" called him the "Sorcerer behind 'Sorcerers'" in a 2012 interview with Ackley.[10]
As a Disney Imagineer, Ackley played a major design role in a number of innovative attractions. These included:
The New York Film Academy Game Design hosted Ackley for a 2019 in conversation as part of its "Masters of Game Design" series.
At the beginning of 2021, Ackley left the Walt Disney Company after nearly two decades of work. Most recently he has joined the mixed reality studio Animal Repair Shop as its Vice President of Product Innovation.[20]
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