General Information and History

The Syncopated Software Development Corporation is a Texas corporation with principal offices in Austin, Texas, doing business as Syncopated Systems.

What Syncopated Does

Syncopated Systems provides expert information technology consulting and comprehensive outsourced engineering services, developing high-quality computer hardware, software, databases and documentation for proprietary and consumer products. Based in Austin, Texas, Syncopated has contributed to the success of many notable projects including the World Congress on Information Technology and Sony PlayStation 3.

History

Syncopated was founded by John R. Carlsen in 2004, following that year's closures of Austin's two largest game developers, Origin Systems and Acclaim Studios Austin (formerly Iguana Entertainment, which Mr. Carlsen served as its engineer).

In 2006, Syncopated combined and continued the operations of two of Mr. Carlsen's prior ventures, adopting the name Syncopated Systems. Carlsen Electronic Research was established in 1988 in Sunnyvale, California, where it became a licensed developer for the Atari Portfolio and I.B.M. RS/6000 computer platforms and created networked multimedia touch screen kiosks and analyzed and created interfaces to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, enabling developers of games for that platform. Carlsen Communications was established in 1999 in Santa Clara, California, where it provided broadcast-quality video and on-line communication services and related products.

Key Associates

John R. Carlsen

Syncopated founder John R. Carlsen has nearly 30 years experience analyzing circuits of computer systems ranging in size from video games to the world's first supercomputer.

Early in his career, Mr. Carlsen aided notable video game industry pioneers including Atari, the first successful video game company and former fastest-growing company in the history of American business, and Activision, the first third-party video game software developer. Separately and now nearly 20 years ago, Mr. Carlsen served as an engineering contractor to Atari's co-founder and prolific Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell, contributing to the design of the Aapps MicroTV computer video capture card and its recognition as the top product at the 1989 Boston MacWorld Expo.

Next, Mr. Carlsen simultaneously contributed to the development of Media Vision's first products – including its Pro AudioSpectrum family of c.d.-quality computer sound cards – and created Iguana Entertainment's proprietary interoperable video game cross-development interfaces and software tools. In 1993, after participating in the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley area revitalization project, Mr. Carlsen helped relocate Iguana Entertainment to Austin, Texas, where it became the area's second-largest computer entertainment software developer before its 1995 merger with Acclaim Entertainment, then one of the world's largest video game publishers.

In the late 1990s, Mr. Carlsen applied his expertise in the electromechanical design of printed circuit boards toward the design and design automation of sub-micron integrated circuits for Altera, a leading global supplier of programmable logic devices and one of Silicon Valley's first fabless semiconductor companies. Afterward, Mr. Carlsen designed the world's smallest M.P.3 portable audio players for SigmaTel, which later enabled the smallest Apple iPod audio players.

Mr. Carlsen has completed more than 11 years of college education, having earned degrees in computer science and business management from Saint Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and five degrees and many certificates from De Anza College in Cupertino, California.

Biographies of Mr. Carlsen also appear in many major printed "who's who" publications and on the Web via MobyGames. This site includes Mr. Carlsen's résumé.

Related Reading

See also Terms of Service and Use for Syncopated's Web Site, Syncopated's Privacy Policy and Syncopated's Intellectual Property Policies.