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{{Short description|Online service by General Electric (1985–1999)}}
{{other uses|Genie (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox company
| name = GEnie
| logo =
| logo_caption =
| logo_upright = <!-- default: 1 -->
| logo_alt =
| type =
| industry = Online Services
| predecessor = <!-- or: predecessors = -->
| founded = {{Start date and age|1985|10|01}}
| founder = [[General Electric]]
| defunct = {{End date|1999|12|30}}
| fate = Dissolved
| successor = <!-- or: successors = -->
| hq_location_city =
| hq_location_country =
| area_served = <!-- or: areas_served = -->
| key_people =
| products =
| owner = <!-- or: owners = -->
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent = General Electric
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}
<!-- Please leave rendering as "GEnie" not "Genie" - see discussion on Talk -->
[[File:GEnie Online Service Login Screen Mac - ca. 1989.jpg|thumb|GEnie log-in Screen on an [[Apple IIGS]], using Jasmine, a late release of a graphic front end for this text-only online service]]
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GEnie had a reputation for being the home of excellent online text games, similar to the "doorway" games on [[bulletin board system]]s but often [[Massively multiplayer online game|massively multiplayer]]. Also, there were graphical games using then-state-of-the-art non-textured 3D graphics on PCs with VGA displays. Top titles included:
* [[Kesmai]]'s ''[[Air Warrior (video game)|Air Warrior]]'' (3D graphics)
* [[Simutronics]]'s ''[[GemStone II|GemStone]]'', later ''[[GemStone IV|GemStone III]]''
* [[AUSI]]'s ''[[Dragon's Gate]]''
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Other major titles included:
* [[Adventures Unlimited Software Inc|AUSI]]'s ''[[Galaxy II (video game)|Galaxy II]]''
* ''[[NTN Trivia]]''
* Kesmai's ''[[Stellar Warrior]]''—GEnie's first multiplayer online game
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* ''[[A-Maze-ing]]''
* ''[[Diplomacy Online]]''
*
== RoundTables ==
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A RoundTable on GEnie was a discussion area containing a message board ("[[Bulletin board system|BBS]]"), a [[chatroom]] ("RealTime Conference" or RTC) and a Library for permanent files. They were part of an [[online community]] culture that predated the Internet's emergence as a mass medium, which also included such separate entities as [[CompuServe]] forums, [[Usenet]] [[newsgroups]] and email [[mailing lists]].
Most RoundTables were actually operated not by GEnie employees but by [[remote work]]ing [[independent contractors
==Rise and fall==
By May 1986, GEnie claimed to have 12,000 subscribers, up from 3,000 in February.<ref
In addition, GEnie took its time developing an Internet e-mail gateway, which opened on July 1, 1993.
GE sold GEnie in 1996 to Yovelle, which was later taken over by [[IDT Corp.]] IDT attempted to transition GEnie (now branded "Genie" without the all-uppercase "GE") to an [[Internet service provider]], but ultimately failed. IDT also funded the development of a [[GUI]] for the text-based service; this client was actually released, but the service did not survive long enough for it to become popular.
Visitors to GEnie dropped with the growth of other online services and fell dramatically following a very sudden change in the fee structure in 1996. The users were notified with only 12 hours' notice that all Basic (flat-rate) services would cease to exist, while prices of the other services would rise dramatically. By the final year, insiders reported fewer than 10,000 total users.
On December 4, 1999, it was announced that GEnie would close for good on December 27 due to the [[
==Legacy==
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* [[Wil Wheaton]], current "geek author" and actor (Wesley in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''), was a frequent presence in the chat area, and often visited the Sports RoundTable.
The Science Fiction RoundTable (SFRT) became the official online forum of the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), which led a number of science fiction writers to join GEnie. Besides those already mentioned, they included [[Dafydd ab Hugh]], [[John Barnes (author)|John Barnes]], [[Keith DeCandido]], [[Steven Brust]], [[Michael A. Burstein]], [[Debra Doyle]], [[Neil Gaiman]], [[Joe Haldeman]], [[Katharine Kerr]], [[Michael Kube-McDowell]], [[Paul Levinson]], [[George R.R. Martin]], Rich Normandie, [[Raven Oak]], [[Mike Resnick]], [[Robert J. Sawyer]], [[J. Neil Schulman]], [[Josepha Sherman]], [[Susan Shwartz]], [[Martha Soukup]], [[Michael Swanwick]], [[Judith Tarr]], [[Harry Turtledove]], [[Lawrence Watt-Evans]], [[Leslie What]], and [[Jane Yolen]]. Occasional but less frequent visitors included [[K. W. Jeter]] and [[Ken Grimwood]]. Science fiction editors [[Gardner Dozois]], [[Scott Edelman]], [[Peter Heck]], [[Tappan Wright King|Tappan King]], [[Beth Meacham]], [[Patrick Nielsen Hayden]], [[Teresa Nielsen Hayden]], [[Sheila Finch]] and [[Dean Wesley Smith]] were also frequent participants.
==See also==
*[[Kelton Flinn]], co-Founder of [[Kesmai]]
*[[Mark Jacobs (game designer)|Mark Jacobs]],
==References==
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==Further reading==
* {{cite book
| last = Bartle | first = Richard |
| title = [[Designing Virtual Worlds]]
| publisher = New Riders
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==External links==
* [http://forums.delphiforums.com/ignite22/start I Dream of GEnie: forum discussion and memories of past GEnie members] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108100626/http://forums.delphiforums.com/ignite22/start |date=2013-11-08 }}
{{General Electric}}
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