Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc., known commonly as Origin or OSI, was an American video game developer and publisher from 1983-2004. The most popular game series developed by Origin are Ultima and Wing Commander. Origin was also the creator of one of the first hugely popular MMORPGs, Ultima Online, whose success was partially the company's downfall. Since Origin was owned by Electronic Arts (who bought them in 1992), they had the authority to convert them into an online-only company. This huge shift, and the poor sales of Ultima IX: Ascension, caused EA to cancel all of Origins games except for Ultima Online, and a large portion of the staff quit. EA kept Origin around simply as a means of supporting Ultima Online before shutting them down entirely in 2004.
The company motto was "We create worlds," which was pretty accurate as many of their games had game worlds that were far more detailed than other games at the time. Origin also included trinkets and cloth maps which added a lot of quality to their games. Manuals and hint books created for their games were designed as though they existed as actual books in the game world, which was really impressive.
Contents
Personal
My earliest experience with Origin was the NES port of Ultima: Exodus, and then, shortly after, Ultima VII: The Black Gate for DOS. From there, I got really interested in the Ultima series and then the Wing Commander series from my middle school friend Kevin. I've since played a fair amount of games from the Origin catalog, however, excluding the Ultima and Wing Commander series, I've found most other titles lacking.
Video Games
These are the games Origin Systems worked on that are important to me. For all Origin Systems games, see the categories for games developed or published.
- Autoduel
- Ultima VII, Part 2: Serpent Isle
- Ultima VIII: Pagan
- Wing Commander
- Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi
- Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger
Staff
These are people who were employed by Origin whose work I appreciate.
- Chris Roberts
- Dana Glover
- Denis Loubet
- Herman Miller
- Jeff Dee
- John Romero
- Ken Arnold
- Ken Demarest
- Martin Galway
- Richard Garriott
- Warren Spector
Media
Documentation
1987 catalog.
1989 catalog.
1989-1990 fall update catalog.
1990 catalog.
1990-1991 catalog.
1991-1992 catalog.
1992 catalog.
1993 associated products catalog.
1993 new releases catalog.
1994 new releases catalog.
Photos
1990 graphics team: Keith Burdak, Denis Loubet, Daniel Bourbonnais, and Glen Johnson.
Logos
Origin's logo slowly evolved over time.
This logo was first used in 1983 in Ultima III: Exodus. It focuses on the origin point of a Cartesian plane and was used until 1988. This is my least favorite logo of theirs. The graphic is a bit dull, the typeface uses the same weight throughout each letter, and I think it's slanted a bit too much to be easily read.
In 1988, Origin switched to this new bolder logo and dropped "Systems, Inc." The graphic is more interesting, the typeface is easier to read, and the slant is cleaner. This was a major improvement.
The logo switched from white to blue in 1990, though Ultima Underworld and some of the Strike Commander games colored it gold.
In 1992, the logo was given a mirror finish which became popular in the late 1980s. This is the logo I'm most familiar with, and my favorite.
The logo was completely revamped in 1996. This was the last logo used by OSI before they were closed in 2004. I like the design, but I'm not mad about the typeface, and I don't quite get the blue cloud in the background. Is it supposed to be an accretion disc?
Download
This archive contains save game files for dozens of Origin games.
Links
