A life among videogames that of Bernie Stolar, who passed away at the age of 75 over the past weekend. GamesBeat reports that the funeral was held yesterday in Los Angeles, California. Stolar had entered the video game industry in 1980, at the beginning of that magical decade that marked the market boom. Throughout his career he held the roles of President for Sega of America and founder and first executive vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment America. His work was instrumental in the launch of the first PlayStation and the SEGA Dreamcast.
Bernie Stolar’s beginnings and career
Stolar’s career in the nascent video game market began in 1980 when he co-founded the company Pacific Novelty Manufacturing, which distributed arcade cabinets. Soon after he is hired by Atari, initially still in the coin-op division, before moving on to consoles. The turning point came with the co-founding of Sony Computer Entertainment America, of which he became first executive vice president.
Stolar was best known for his posts at Sony Computer Entertainment America, of which he was a founding member and first executive vice president, and Sega of America, where he served as president and chief executive officer. During his employment at Sony helped make iconic games for the first PlayStation. Some hugely popular titles he has worked on are: Ridge Racer, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Oddworld Inhabitants.
Then move on to SEGA America, driven by the desire to help the Japanese company in the development of new hardware. His contribution will lead to the realization of the Dreamcast. In 1999 Stolar left SEGA to join Mattel Interactiveafter which he worked in several companies, including Adscape Media, GetFugu, Zoom Platform, CogniToys e Jordan Freeman Group.
In recent years he has contributed to the creation of the brand 2K Sports, making numerous sports video games for WWE and NBA. Both franchises would later be purchased by Take-Two Interactive.