Michael "Mike" Alyn Pondsmith (born April 14, 1954) is an American roleplaying, board and video game designer. He is the founder of R. Talsorian Games and the creator of the acclaimed Cyberpunk series.
Background[]
Mike is best known for his work for the publisher R. Talsorian Games, where he developed a majority of the company's role-playing game lines since the company's founding in 1982.
Pondsmith is credited as an author of several RPG lines, including Mekton (1984), Teenagers from Outer Space (1987), Cyberpunk: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future (1988) and Castle Falkenstein (1994). He also contributed to the Forgotten Realms and Oriental Adventures lines of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. He worked in various capacities on video games, and authored or co-created several board games. Pondsmith also worked as an instructor at the DigiPen Institute of Technology.
In the 1990s, someone in the Polish RPG community approached R. Talsorian Games and asked if they could do a Polish translation. Mike remembers saying, "Well, that'll be five copies sold." Turns out that the five copies went to the founders of CD Projekt RED.[2]
Mike was a consultant for Cyberpunk 2077 and cameo as the voice of Maximum Mike the DJ of 107.3 Morro Rock Radio.
Notes[]
- Mike has played many characters in the Cyberpunk series, including Morgan Blackhand and Johnny Silverhand. But his favorite one, and the one he usually chooses to play with, is Ripperjack.[3][4][5][6]
- In Cyberpunk 2077, the Japantown upper street-level road in front of the Cherry Blossom Market is named "Pondsmith."
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- ↑ Mike Pondsmith on Reddit 1 - "Daughter. Adopted. She missed the Wikipedia cutoff."
- ↑ Mike Pondsmith on Reddit 2 - "Someone in the Polish RPG community approached us in the 90's and asked if they could do a Polish translation. I remember saying, "Well, that'll be five copies sold." (Remember that at that time, Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain.) Turns out that the five copies went to the founders of CDPR (LOL)."
- ↑ Episode 3: Mike and Cody Peek Behind the Curtain (0:56)
- ↑ J Gray on Discord 1 - "Hi all. MIke has played many characters in Cyberpunk. His go to is neither Morgan Blackhand nor Johnny. It is Ripperjack. So, no. MIke's "personal character" isn't Morgan."
- ↑ J Gray on Discord 2 - "Mike's preference is generally to play a character unique to the game he's in. But in the past, the one he considered most "his" is Ripperjack."
- ↑ J Gray on Discord 3 - "Morgan is someone Mike has played. Mike has also played Johnny. And many others. If Mike has a "main", it is, as Az stated, Ripperjack."