John Rowe
Moby ID: 122934
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John Rowe is a long-time veteran of the video game business, with more than 20 years experience working with pioneers of the interactive entertainment industry and current leaders such as Sony, Sega, Microsoft and Nintendo.
John comes to Sammy Studios from Midway Home Entertainment, a company he joined when the Williams/Bally/Midway parent company, WMS, acquired Tradewest in 1994. John served as Midway's vice chairman and head of product development, where he spearheaded the company's entry into the consumer video game market and helped increase the consumer division's annual revenues from $80 million to over $300 million. Under his leadership, the division released such blockbuster games as Doom, NBA Hang Time, Cruisin' USA, Rampage, NFL Blitz, and titles from the Mortal Kombat series.
Previously, John co-founded Tradewest, a groundbreaking publisher responsible for licensing and delivering a number of video games' most memorable titles to the U.S. After introducing the popular arcade game Ikari Warriors, Tradewest released a number of classic titles including Double Dragon and Ironman Stewart's Super Off Road, as well as John Elway Quarterback, the first sports game to feature an all-star athlete.
John was instrumental in establishing the consumer division of Tradewest, where he helped to secure the Double Dragon license for Nintendo's home system. During this time he worked closely with U.K. developer Rare Ltd. to create the hit game series Battletoads. John was also a key component in Tradewest's acquisition of Cinematronics, the famed video game developer that created Dragon's Lair and Space Ace series.
Prior to co-founding Tradewest, John began his career in video games with SNK Corporation where he served as Executive Vice President. At SNK John helped establish the company's first U.S. office focusing on sales, marketing, distribution and quality assurance for coin-op games in North America.
John studied management at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He lives with his wife and 2 children in San Diego, California.
Credited on 17 games
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Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy (2008, PlayStation 3) | Very Special Thanks |
Iron Phoenix (2005, Xbox) | President |
Darkwatch (2005, PlayStation 2) | A Production of |
Guilty Gear Isuka (2004, PlayStation 2) | Special Thanks |
Seven Samurai 20XX (2004, PlayStation 2) | President |
Spy Fiction (2003, PlayStation 2) | President |
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 (2000, PlayStation 2) | Special Thanks To |
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing (1999, Nintendo 64) | Special Thanks To |
Cruis'n World (1997, Nintendo 64) | Special Thanks to |
Privateer 2: The Darkening (1996, DOS) | Starring |
NHL Open Ice: 2 On 2 Challenge (1996, PlayStation) | Special Thanks |
Mortal Kombat 3 (1995, PlayStation) | Executive Producers |
Brute Force (1991, Arcade) | Directed by |
Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat (1991, Arcade) | Concept |
Pig Out (1990, Arcade) | Direction |
Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road (1989, Arcade) | Direction |
Quarterback (1987, Arcade) | Direction |
[ full credits ]
Frequent Collaborators
People- 7 games with Emmanuel Valdez
- 6 games with Sam Powell
- 6 games with Chuck Yager
- 6 games with Junko Takasawa
- 6 games with Meelad Sadat
- 6 games with Rick Olafsson
- 6 games with Eric Henderson
- 6 games with Medo Moreno
- 5 games with Steve Fowler
- 5 games with Kenneth Reyna
Companies
- 5 games with Leland Interactive Media
- 4 games with Midway Games, Inc.
- 4 games with Midway Home Entertainment, Inc.
- 3 games with High Moon Studios, Inc.
- 3 games with Sammy Corporation
- 2 games with Point of View, Inc.
- 2 games with SEGA of America, Inc.
- 2 games with Sammy USA Corporation
- 1 game with Prologue
- 1 game with Havok
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