The Master of the Military Genre: Tom Clancy dead at 66

I was sitting in one of the local coffee shops in Greensboro on Tate street Wednesday morning, having just gotten done with one of my classes, and was grabbing a bite to eat before heading home to play a few games and do some homework. This has become a bit of a tradition for myself the past few weeks, and it has allowed me time to catch up on the news, as they usually have it on the television. Normally I don't much care to see what is on the news, a lot of it just tends to be political petty bickering, or shock stories that I couldn't care less about. This day had started off no differently, as they were talking about the current government shut down, though I'll admit I was mildly entertained watching both the republicans and democrats whining about how the other side wasn't willing to compromise. However, another news article came on that really caught my attention, talking about an individual who I really held in high regard. Tom Clancy, author of books such as Patriot Games, and The Hunt for Red October, had died on Tuesday, October 1^st 2013.


He was born Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. on April 12^th, 1947 in Rosedale Maryland. Over the course of his 66 years. Over the course of his career as a writer he wrote a plethora of military thrillers, and also non-fiction books about the different branches of the military, with another book slated to come out in December of this year. Many of these novels have inspired movies, television shows, and even video games. Some of the novels associated with him however, were actually penned by other authors who wanted to expand on his universe, such as the Ghost Recon series written by David Michaels and Peter Telep.


Clancy's work has been adapted into video games since 1987 with The Hunt for Red October, a submarine simulation for computers of the time, which was quite loosely based on the novel. In 1996, Clancy co-founded developer Red Storm Entertainment, which was later bought by publisher Ubisoft Entertainment. While Clancy's actual involvement with the creation and development of the games is unknown, one can't deny the great influence these games had on the industry as a whole. Having created such series as Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell, Clancy's intellectual properties helped to define what a military game should be like. I personally remember playing Rainbow Six: Vegas for hours on end back when I was still in the Navy. I also remember trying to play Splinter Cell, and failing miserably for a long time until I started to understand the stealth tactics of the game.


With all of these accomplishments, and many more that I have not mentioned here, I had to write at least a small article on this man who has had such a strong influence on military novels, and video games over the course of my life. Two games are still slated to come out later, with Tom Clancy's EndWar 2 (TBA), and Tom Clancy's The Division in 2014. Mr. Clancy is survived by his wife Alexandra, their daughter Alexis; and four children from a previous marriage; Christine Blocksidge, Kathleen Clancy Ph.D., and Thomas Clancy III. Those of us here at Pixel Loadout would like to thank Tom Clancy for his contributions to the world of literature, and the world of video games.