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{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
|name = Tom Fulp
| name = Tom Fulp
|image = The Behemoth (2007) (cropped).jpg
| image = Tom Fulp (cropped).jpg
|caption = Fulp in 2007
| caption = Fulp in 2024
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1978|04|30}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1978|04|30}}
|birth_place = [[Perkasie, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| birth_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| occupation = Programmer
|death_place = July 6, 2022, Los Angeles, CA
| known_for = {{ubl|Creator of [[Newgrounds]]|Co-owner of [[The Behemoth]]}}
|occupation = Programmer, Voice actor
⚫
| alma_mater = [[Drexel University]]<!-- no grammar/primary/secondary schools -->
|known_for = {{Ubl
⚫
| spouse = {{Marriage|April Fulp|2007}}
| Creator of [[Newgrounds]]
⚫
| children = 2<!-- the number of children (e.g., 3); only list names of independently notable or particularly relevant children -->
| Co-owner of [[The Behemoth]]
}}
⚫
|alma_mater = [[Drexel University]]<!-- no grammar/primary/secondary schools -->
⚫
|spouse = {{Marriage|April Fulp|2007}}
⚫
|children = 9<!-- the number of children (e.g., 3); only list names of independently notable or particularly relevant children -->
}}
}}
'''Thomas Charles Fulp''' (born April 30, 1978) is an American programmer known for creating the website [[Newgrounds]], as well as co-founding the video game company [[The Behemoth]].<ref name="Torres2008-07-01">{{cite news |last=Torres |first=Nichole L. |title=Get in the Game |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=July 1, 2008 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/09/AR2008070902076.html |accessdate=March 25, 2009}}
'''Thomas Charles Fulp''' (born April 30, 1978) is an American programmer known for creating the website [[Newgrounds]] and co-founding the video game company [[The Behemoth]].<ref name="Torres2008-07-01">{{cite news |last=Torres |first=Nichole L. |title=Get in the Game |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=July 1, 2008 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/09/AR2008070902076.html |accessdate=March 25, 2009}}
</ref><ref name="Wolf">{{cite book |last=Wolf |first=Mark J. P. |year=2008 |title=The Video Game Explosion: A History from Pong to PlayStation and Beyond |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33868-7 |page=197}}</ref><ref name=portal>{{cite news |last1=Asarch |first1=Steven |title=20 years ago today, Newgrounds changed the internet forever with the Portal |url=https://www.newsweek.com/newgrounds-celebrates-20-years-portal-there-was-lot-energy-air-1496396 |work=Newsweek |date=April 6, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> He has been credited with "changing the landscape of the Internet forever" and kickstarting the [[browser game]] scene in the late 1990s, both with the releases of his own advanced [[Flash games]], along with the launch of the Newgrounds Portal, which made Newgrounds one of the very first sites that allowed creators to easily share their creations with a large online audience.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moss |first1=Richard C. |title=The rise and fall of Adobe Flash |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/07/the-rise-and-fall-of-adobe-flash/ |website=Ars Technica |access-date=August 7, 2021 |language=en-us |date=July 7, 2020}}</ref><ref name=trailblazer1/><ref name=trailblazer2/><ref name=portal/>
</ref><ref name="Wolf">{{cite book |last=Wolf |first=Mark J. P. |year=2008 |title=The Video Game Explosion: A History from Pong to PlayStation and Beyond |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33868-7 |page=197}}</ref><ref name=portal>{{cite magazine |last1=Asarch |first1=Steven |title=20 years ago today, Newgrounds changed the internet forever with the Portal |url=https://www.newsweek.com/newgrounds-celebrates-20-years-portal-there-was-lot-energy-air-1496396 |magazine=Newsweek |date=April 6, 2020}}</ref>


Fulp is also notable for his browser game preservation work.<ref name="wapo">{{cite news |last1=Elker |first1=Jhaan |title=Newgrounds founder Tom Fulp on Flash and the challenges of preserving two decades of content |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/sports/launcher/newgrounds-founder-tom-fulp-on-flash-and-the-challenges-of-preserving-two-decades-of-content/2021/04/08/fdd3a2cf-b4bd-43ff-bcaf-f364f0cba306_video.html |access-date=July 21, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 8, 2021}}</ref>
Fulp has been credited with "changing the landscape of the Internet forever" by kickstarting the [[browser game]] scene in the late 1990s, both with the releases of his own advanced Flash games and the launch of the [[Newgrounds]] Portal, one of the first sites that allowed creators to easily share their creations with a large online audience.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moss |first1=Richard C. |title=The rise and fall of Adobe Flash |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/07/the-rise-and-fall-of-adobe-flash/ |website=Ars Technica |access-date=August 7, 2021 |date=July 7, 2020 |author1-link=Moss }}</ref><ref name=trailblazer1/><ref name=trailblazer2/><ref name=portal/> Fulp is also known for his browser game preservation work.<ref name="wapo">{{cite news |last1=Elker |first1=Jhaan |title=Newgrounds founder Tom Fulp on Flash and the challenges of preserving two decades of content |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/sports/launcher/newgrounds-founder-tom-fulp-on-flash-and-the-challenges-of-preserving-two-decades-of-content/2021/04/08/fdd3a2cf-b4bd-43ff-bcaf-f364f0cba306_video.html |access-date=July 21, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 8, 2021}}</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==
[[File:The Behemoth (2007).jpg|left|thumb|Fulp (left) with the Behemoth in 2007]]
Fulp was born and raised in [[Perkasie, Pennsylvania|Perkasie]], [[Pennsylvania]], on April 30, 1978. In 1991, Fulp launched a [[Neo Geo]] [[fanzine]] called ''New Ground'' and sent issues to approximately 100 members of a club originating on the online service [[Prodigy (online service)|Prodigy]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/about-newgrounds/history#wiki_toc_1 |title=1991: The Zine |website=Newgrounds|access-date=April 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331062514/https://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/about-newgrounds/history|archive-date=March 31, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
Using a hosting service, he launched a website called New Ground Remix in 1995, which increased in popularity during the summer of 1996 after Fulp created the [[Bulletin board system|BBS]] games ''Club a Seal'' and ''Assassin'', after graduating from [[Pennridge School District|Pennridge High School]]. Eventually, this site turned into Newgrounds.com.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://gimletmedia.com/episode/episode105-how-we-first-met/ |title=#105 At World's End - Reply All by Gimlet Media |website=gimletmedia.com|access-date=September 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929015606/https://gimletmedia.com/episode/episode105-how-we-first-met/|archive-date=September 29, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ngbio">{{cite news |last=Fulp |first=Tom |title=NEWGROUNDS WIKI: TomFulp |work=[[Newgrounds]] |date= |url=http://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/about-newgrounds/history/bio/tomfulp |accessdate=April 30, 2011}}</ref>
Fulp was born and raised in [[Perkasie, Pennsylvania|Perkasie]], [[Pennsylvania]], on April 30, 1978. In 1991, Fulp launched a [[Neo Geo]] [[fanzine]] called ''New Ground'' and sent issues to approximately 100 members of a club originating on the online service [[Prodigy (online service)|Prodigy]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/about-newgrounds/history#wiki_toc_1 |title=1991: The Zine |publisher=Newgrounds|access-date=April 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331062514/https://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/about-newgrounds/history|archive-date=March 31, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
Using a hosting service, he launched a website called ''New Ground Remix'' in 1995, which increased in popularity during the summer of 1996 after Fulp created the [[Bulletin board system|BBS]] games ''Club a Seal'' and ''Assassin'', after graduating from [[Pennridge School District|Pennridge High School]]. Eventually, this site turned into Newgrounds.com.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://gimletmedia.com/episode/episode105-how-we-first-met/ |title=#105 At World's End - Reply All by Gimlet Media |publisher=[[Gimlet Media]]|access-date=September 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929015606/https://gimletmedia.com/episode/episode105-how-we-first-met/|archive-date=September 29, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ngbio">{{cite news |last=Fulp |first=Tom |title=NEWGROUNDS WIKI: TomFulp |publisher=[[Newgrounds]] |date= |url=http://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/about-newgrounds/history/bio/tomfulp |accessdate=April 30, 2011}}</ref>


In 1999, Fulp created the game ''[[Pico's School]]'' in Shockwave Flash 3, before the launch of the scripting language [[ActionScript]] that subsequent Flash game developers would use. The game "exhibited a complexity of design and polish in presentation that was virtually unseen in amateur Flash game development" until then and has been credited both with helping kickstarting the Flash games scene and launching Newgrounds as a "public force".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Andrew |title=History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction |date=2017 |quote=The objective of Pico's school was to survive a school shooting perpetuated by ninjas and aliens disguised as Goth teenagers. Despite the game's theme, which pushed the limits of black humor and political correctness (like much of the content on Newgroudns), it exhibited a complexity of design and polish in presentation that was virtually unseen in amateur Flash game development.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff |first1=Ars |title=The rise and fall of Adobe Flash |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/07/the-rise-and-fall-of-adobe-flash/ |website=Ars Technica |access-date=August 7, 2021 |language=en-us |date=July 7, 2020}}</ref>
In 1999, Fulp created the game ''[[Pico's School]]'' in Macromedia Flash 3, before the launch of the scripting language [[ActionScript]] that subsequent Flash game developers would use. The game "exhibited a complexity of design and polish in presentation that was virtually unseen in amateur Flash game development" until then and has been credited both with helping kickstarting the Flash games scene and launching Newgrounds as a "public force".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Andrew |title=History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction |date=2017 |quote=The objective of Pico's school was to survive a school shooting perpetuated by ninjas and aliens disguised as Goth teenagers. Despite the game's theme, which pushed the limits of black humor and political correctness (like much of the content on Newgrounds), it exhibited a complexity of design and polish in presentation that was virtually unseen in amateur Flash game development.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The rise and fall of Adobe Flash |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/07/the-rise-and-fall-of-adobe-flash/ |website=Ars Technica |access-date=August 7, 2021 |date=July 7, 2020}}</ref>


Fulp co-created the Flash game ''[[Alien Hominid]]'', which he later developed for [[console game|consoles]] under The Behemoth, and the console game ''[[Castle Crashers]]''.<ref name="Remo2007-07-30">{{cite news |last=Remo |first=Chris |title=Comic-Con 07: Castle Crashers Preview and Interview with The Behemoth's Tom Fulp |work=[[Shacknews]] |date=July 30, 2007 |url=http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=487 |accessdate=March 25, 2009}}</ref><ref name="gamasutrainterview">{{cite web |last1=Remo |first1=Chris |last2=Sheffield |first2=Brandon |title=Taunting The Behemoth: Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin Cry Out |url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132272/taunting_the_behemoth_tom_fulp_.php |website=Gamasutra |date=December 12, 2008 |access-date=July 21, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
Fulp co-created the Flash game ''[[Alien Hominid]]'', which he later developed for [[console game|consoles]] under The Behemoth, and the console game ''[[Castle Crashers]]''.<ref name="Remo2007-07-30">{{cite news |last=Remo |first=Chris |title=Comic-Con 07: Castle Crashers Preview and Interview with The Behemoth's Tom Fulp |work=[[Shacknews]] |date=July 30, 2007 |url=http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=487 |accessdate=March 25, 2009}}</ref><ref name="gamasutrainterview">{{cite web |last1=Remo |first1=Chris |last2=Sheffield |first2=Brandon |date=December 12, 2008 |title=Taunting The Behemoth: Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin Cry Out |url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132272/taunting_the_behemoth_tom_fulp_.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823172648/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132272/taunting_the_behemoth_tom_fulp_.php |archive-date=August 23, 2021 |access-date=July 21, 2021 |website=[[Game Developer (website)|Game Developer]]}}</ref>


Fulp received the Pioneer award at the 2021 [[Game Developers Choice Awards]] for the creation of Newgrounds and for being a trailblazer of the Macromedia Flash games that helped define a generation of indie developers.<ref name=trailblazer1>{{cite web |title=Tom Fulp and Laralyn McWilliams to be honored at 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards |url=https://gdconf.com/news/tom-fulp-and-laralyn-mcwilliams-be-honored-2021-game-developers-choice-awards |website=Game Developers Conference |date=July 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name=trailblazer2>{{cite web |last1=Partis |first1=Danielle |title=Hades and Ghost of Tsushima triumph at GDC Awards 2021 |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-07-22-hades-and-ghost-of-tsushima-triumph-at-gdc-awards-2021 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |date=July 22, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
Fulp received the Pioneer award at the 2021 [[Game Developers Choice Awards]] for the creation of Newgrounds and for being a trailblazer of the Macromedia Flash games that helped define a generation of indie developers.<ref name=trailblazer1>{{cite web |title=Tom Fulp and Laralyn McWilliams to be honored at 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards |url=https://gdconf.com/news/tom-fulp-and-laralyn-mcwilliams-be-honored-2021-game-developers-choice-awards |website=Game Developers Conference |date=July 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name=trailblazer2>{{cite web |last1=Partis |first1=Danielle |title=Hades and Ghost of Tsushima triumph at GDC Awards 2021 |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-07-22-hades-and-ghost-of-tsushima-triumph-at-gdc-awards-2021 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |date=July 22, 2021}}</ref>


==Games==
==Games==
{|class="wikitable"
* ''Nene Interactive Suicide'' (1999)
! Year !! Title
* ''[[Pico's School]]'' (1999)
|-
* ''[[Alien Hominid]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Castle Crashers]]'' (2008)
| 1999 || ''[[Pico's School]]''
|-
⚫
* ''[[The Room Tribute]]'' (2010)
* ''[[BattleBlock Theater]]'' (2013)
| 2002 || ''[[Alien Hominid]]''
|-
⚫
* ''[[Pit People]]'' (2018)
| 2008 || ''[[Castle Crashers]]''
|-
⚫
| 2010 || ''[[The Room Tribute]]''
|-
| 2013 || ''[[BattleBlock Theater]]''
|-
⚫
| 2018 || ''[[Pit People]]''
|}


==References==
==References==
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{{Newgrounds}}
{{Newgrounds}}
{{TheBehemoth}}
{{TheBehemoth}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulp, Tom}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulp, Tom}}

Latest revision as of 01:38, 22 October 2024

Tom Fulp
Fulp in 2024
Born (1978-04-30) April 30, 1978 (age 46)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materDrexel University
OccupationProgrammer
Known for
Spouse
April Fulp
​
(m. 2007)​
Children2

Thomas Charles Fulp (born April 30, 1978) is an American programmer known for creating the website Newgrounds and co-founding the video game company The Behemoth.[1][2][3]

Fulp has been credited with "changing the landscape of the Internet forever" by kickstarting the browser game scene in the late 1990s, both with the releases of his own advanced Flash games and the launch of the Newgrounds Portal, one of the first sites that allowed creators to easily share their creations with a large online audience.[4][5][6][3] Fulp is also known for his browser game preservation work.[7]

Biography

[edit]
Fulp (left) with the Behemoth in 2007

Fulp was born and raised in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, on April 30, 1978. In 1991, Fulp launched a Neo Geo fanzine called New Ground and sent issues to approximately 100 members of a club originating on the online service Prodigy.[8] Using a hosting service, he launched a website called New Ground Remix in 1995, which increased in popularity during the summer of 1996 after Fulp created the BBS games Club a Seal and Assassin, after graduating from Pennridge High School. Eventually, this site turned into Newgrounds.com.[9][10]

In 1999, Fulp created the game Pico's School in Macromedia Flash 3, before the launch of the scripting language ActionScript that subsequent Flash game developers would use. The game "exhibited a complexity of design and polish in presentation that was virtually unseen in amateur Flash game development" until then and has been credited both with helping kickstarting the Flash games scene and launching Newgrounds as a "public force".[11][12]

Fulp co-created the Flash game Alien Hominid, which he later developed for consoles under The Behemoth, and the console game Castle Crashers.[13][14]

Fulp received the Pioneer award at the 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards for the creation of Newgrounds and for being a trailblazer of the Macromedia Flash games that helped define a generation of indie developers.[5][6]

Games

[edit]
Year Title
1999 Pico's School
2002 Alien Hominid
2008 Castle Crashers
2010 The Room Tribute
2013 BattleBlock Theater
2018 Pit People

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Torres, Nichole L. (July 1, 2008). "Get in the Game". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  2. ^ Wolf, Mark J. P. (2008). The Video Game Explosion: A History from Pong to PlayStation and Beyond. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-313-33868-7.
  3. ^ a b Asarch, Steven (April 6, 2020). "20 years ago today, Newgrounds changed the internet forever with the Portal". Newsweek.
  4. ^ Moss, Richard C. (July 7, 2020). "The rise and fall of Adobe Flash". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Tom Fulp and Laralyn McWilliams to be honored at 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Conference. July 1, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Partis, Danielle (July 22, 2021). "Hades and Ghost of Tsushima triumph at GDC Awards 2021". GamesIndustry.biz.
  7. ^ Elker, Jhaan (April 8, 2021). "Newgrounds founder Tom Fulp on Flash and the challenges of preserving two decades of content". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  8. ^ "1991: The Zine". Newgrounds. Archived from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  9. ^ "#105 At World's End - Reply All by Gimlet Media". Gimlet Media. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  10. ^ Fulp, Tom. "NEWGROUNDS WIKI: TomFulp". Newgrounds. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  11. ^ Williams, Andrew (2017). History of Digital Games: Developments in Art, Design and Interaction. The objective of Pico's school was to survive a school shooting perpetuated by ninjas and aliens disguised as Goth teenagers. Despite the game's theme, which pushed the limits of black humor and political correctness (like much of the content on Newgrounds), it exhibited a complexity of design and polish in presentation that was virtually unseen in amateur Flash game development.
  12. ^ "The rise and fall of Adobe Flash". Ars Technica. July 7, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  13. ^ Remo, Chris (July 30, 2007). "Comic-Con 07: Castle Crashers Preview and Interview with The Behemoth's Tom Fulp". Shacknews. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  14. ^ Remo, Chris; Sheffield, Brandon (December 12, 2008). "Taunting The Behemoth: Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin Cry Out". Game Developer. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
[edit]
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