Vladimir Pokhilko
Vladimir Pokhilko | |
|---|---|
Владимир Похилько | |
| Born | Vladimir Ivanovich Pokhilko 8 April 1954 |
| Died | 21 September 1998 Palo Alto, California, US |
| Nationality | Soviet Russian, American |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, game designer, psychologist |
| Years active | 1982–1998 |
Vladimir Ivanovich Pokhilko (Russian: Владимир Иванович Похилько;[1] 8 April 1954 – 21 September 1998)[2] was a Soviet Russian psychologist, entrepreneur, and video game designer. He was an academic who specialized in human–computer interaction.[3]
Early life
Vladimir Ivanovich Pokhilko was born on 8 April 1954, in Moscow.[2] He graduated from the faculty of psychology at Moscow State University in 1982. He received a PhD in 1985 from the Russian Academy of Science.[2]
He was a junior researcher at the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University.
Psychological experiments using Tetris
A friend of Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov, he was the first clinical psychologist to conduct experiments using the game.[4] He played an important role in the subsequent development and marketing of the game, and a 1999 article in the Forbes magazine credited him for "co-inventing the seminal videogame Tetris".[5] He later collaborated with Pajitnov on the Zombie Studios game Ice & Fire.
Technology company AnimaTek
In 1989, he and Pajitnov founded the 3D software technology company AnimaTek in Moscow.[6] While attempting to create software for INTEC (a company they started) that would be made for "people's souls", they developed the idea for El-Fish, a video game.[7]
Murder-suicide
After experiencing financial difficulties at his software company, AnimaTek, Pokhilko murdered his wife, Elena Fedotova (38) and their son, Peter (12), by bludgeoning and stabbing them both to death in their home in Palo Alto, California.[8] He then killed himself.[9][10]
The Pokhilko case was investigated by the FBI in 1998,[11] and was the subject of the three part documentary, The Tetris Murders (2022).[12]
References
- ^ "Трагедия в Пало-Альто".
- ^ a b c "Vladimir Pokhilko Obituary". Oakland Tribune. 30 September 1998. p. 14. Retrieved 23 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Beer, Matt; Fries, Jacob (24 September 1998). "Pushed past the brink". SFGate.
- ^ Mark J. P. Wolf (31 August 2012). Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming. ABC-Clio. p. 642. ISBN 978-0-313-37936-9. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ When startups become blowups by Jon Swartz. Forbes, 10 June 1999.
- ^ Marc Saltzman, ed. (1 May 2002). Game Programming 5.0 Starter Kit. Pearson Education. p. 431. ISBN 978-1-57595-555-1. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ "Vladimir Pokhilko's Net Worth At The Time Of His Death". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
- ^ Stein, Loren (27 January 1999). "Police: Detail of Russian entrepreneur's note reveals a tormented man". Palo Alto Weekly. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ Beer, Matt; Fries, Jacob (24 September 1998). "Pushed past the brink". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 23 March 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ Report names father as killer P.A. Police show revealing note. The Mercury News – 22 January 1999 – 1B Local.
- ^ "Russia clues sought in Bay deaths". San Francisco Examiner. 30 September 1998. p. 5. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
- ^ "'The Tetris Murders' Explores the Sinister Theories Behind the Video Game Co-Developer's Grisly Death". The Daily Beast. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
External links
- Vladimir Pokhilko, seminar abstract and bio on the Stanford University Human-Computer Interaction website
- The Tetris Murders, documentary suggesting Vladimir Pokhilko did not commit the murder-suicide