platform. An IBM PC port followed soon, but Mechner soon found himself frustrated by more disappointing sales and Brøderbund’s total lack of marketing for the game. It even was de-listed at EB in September 1992, four months after the DOS version had come out. Only when the game was exceptionally well received in Japan and Europe (especially France) and converted to dozens of home computers and game consoles, Prince of Persia became the success it is known as today.

July 18, 1990

Florence thinks Prince is going to be a big hit in Europe. And some rather startling news (from Doug): NEC Prince has already shipped 10,000 units in Japan. Could that be?? It’s only sold 7,000 units each on Apple and IBM in the U.S. to date.

After the originalcame out on practically every gaming platform at the time and sold 2 million copies world wide, everyone involved was pumped to make the sequel Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, which offered much more detailed graphics and locales, although the gameplay remained the same. Prince of Persia had made a huge impact, influencing as highly esteemed titles as Flashback and Tomb Raider, but the series itself went under for a long time – the disappointing Prince of Persia 3D: Arabian Nights was widely ignored – until UbiSoft revitalized the franchise with their amazing The Sands of Time, which was still in 3D, but managed to capture all of the acrobatic glory of the original games and still managed to control exceptionally well. Since then,