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FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA Inc. In 2012, a wholly owned subsidiary called FASA Games Inc. went into operation, using the name and logo with permission of the parent company. FASA Games Inc. works alongside Ral Partha Europe, also a subsidiary of FASA Inc., to bring out new editions of existing properties such as Earthdawn and Demonworld, and to develop new properties within the FASA cosmology. FASA first appeared as a ''Traveller'' licensee, producing supplements for that Game Designers' Workshop role-playing game, especially the work of the Keith Brothers. The company went on to establish itself as a major gaming company with the publication of the first licensed ''Star Trek'' RPG, then several successful original games. Noteworthy lines included ''BattleTech'' and ''Shadowrun''. Their ''Star Trek'' role-playing supplements and tactical ship game enjoyed popularity outside the wargaming community since, at the time, official descriptions of the ''Star Trek'' universe were not common, and the gaming supplements offered details fans craved. The highly successful ''BattleTech'' line led to a series of video games, some of the first virtual reality gaming suites, called Virtual World (created by a subdivision of the company known at the time of development as ESP, an acronym for "Extremely Secret Project") and a Saturday-morning animated TV series. Originally the name FASA was an acronym for "Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration", a joking allusion to the Marx Brothers film ''Duck Soup''. This tongue-in-cheek attitude was carried over in humorous self-references in its games. For example, in ''Shadowrun'', a tactical nuclear device was detonated near FASA's offices at 1026 W. Van Buren St in Chicago, Illinois. ==History== FASA Corporation was founded by Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock III in 1980 with a starting capital of $350. The two were fellow gamers at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Mort Weisman, Jordan's father, joined the company in 1985 to lead the company's operational management having sold his book publishing business, Swallow Press.〔('GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins', uk.gamespy.com (2006) ). Retrieved 29 July 2006.〕 Under the new commercial direction and with Mort's capital injection, the company diversified into books and miniature figures. After consulting their UK distributor, Chart Hobby Distributors, FASA licensed the manufacture of its ''BattleTech'' figurines to Miniature Figurines (also known as Minifigs). FASA would later acquire the U.S. figures manufacturer Ral Partha, which was the US manufacturer of Minifigs. While Mort ran the paper and metal based sides of the business, the company's founders focused on the development of computer-based games. They were particularly interested in virtual reality (particularly the BattleTech Centers / Virtual World) but also developed desktop computer games. When Microsoft acquired the FASA Interactive subsidiary, Babcock went with that company. After the sale of Virtual World, Jordan turned his attention to the founding of a new games venture called WizKids. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「FASA」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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