Want to know more about the people behind the games?  So do we!  That's why each month we track down legends and icons from video gaming's rich past for a virtual fireside chat about life, the universe, and everything.  Learn about what went into making some of your favorite games, the folks responsible for them, and what they're doing now.

· Latest interviews!

 

PERSON

YEAR

DESCRIPTION

Actor, Lee 2007 An accomplished game programmer-turned-composer and conductor, Lee Actor cut his musical chops on the Atari 800.
Baker, Steven A. 2001 The man behind the awesome Atari 8-bit Defender, as well as Atari 2600 Summer Games, Winter Games, California Games, and many more.
Bass, Daniel   Sean Kelly talks with Intellivision programmer Daniel Bass, who designed Loco-Motion and Ad. D&D: Tower of Doom.
Bluth, Don 8/2002 Come on, you know him. He's the animation wizard responsible for scores of Disney movies and was the designer of the characters in the Cinematronics' classic laserdisc games Dragon's Lair and Space Ace.
Brown, Harry 2006 Former Atari games tester- turned programmer- turned ... pro golf caddy?  Yep, it's all right here.
Burnham, Van 9/2001 Read about Van's fab book, Supercade, and share some time with the gifted author in this exclusive interview.
Case, Michael 2007 Although he got his start on the 'blue' side of gaming, Mike more than made up for it later on with his work on a pair of Oddworld sequels, among others.
Champeau, John 2006 Before MAME, some of the best arcade ports for the PC in the early 90s were those from CHAMProgramming.  The founder now puts his talents towards the Atari 2600.
Cheezem, Robert 2000 Dave Giarusso chats with the Odyssey2 programmer behind Type & Tell and Smithereens.
Davie, Andrew 2001 The veteran who most recently designed QB for Atari 2600 but many more for C64, NES, SNES "in the day".
Decuir, Joe 2005 One of the co-creators of the Atari VCS and the Amiga computer.  Find out how Stella originally got her groove.
· de Graaf, Bruce 2008 Digital Press peers behind the curtain and busts the myth of Mythicon with programmer Bruce de Graaf.
DeFrisco, Steve 2007 Best known for his Atari 2600 games with Axlon, his career started with Imagic's Tropical Trouble for the Intellivision.
Domurat, Jerome 2002 You may not realize just how many Atari 2600 games Jerome Dorumat had a hand in, but you'll soon learn that some of those memorable images are thanks to him.
Emry, Don 2004 One of the original Odyssey game designers.
Finney, Hal 2006 Programmed several 2600 and Intellivision games for Mattel.
Fulop, Rob 1993 - 2000 Fulop's done it all, from Atari's Night Driver to Sega CD's Night Trap. We caught up with the master to reminisce about the days of yore.
Gielens, Jaro   Roloff de Jeu gets to chat with the author of the fabulous book, Electronic Plastic.
Gelberg, Larry 2001 The Parker Bros designer of Atari 2600 Frogger II and the unreleased Ewok Adventure.
Hahn, Mark 2002 Mark Hahn designed an independent Atari 2600 game Elk Attack. He's also the man behind Pengo and Dukes of Hazzard for Atari.
Haslacher, Bill 2006 A technical manual writer for Atari, and a true Atari fan.
Heineman, Rebecca 2006 Rebecca estimates she worked on over 250 games throughout her career!  Chances are you've played at least one.
Herman, Leonard 2001 THE consummate gaming historian spoke with us for a few moments about his latest update to Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Video Games.
Horton, Kevin 3/1997 From across a smoky room...
Hubbard, Matthew 2001 Atari-turned Activision guy who brought us Submarine Commander, Double Dunk, Zenji, and others.
Huether, Jim 2007 Best known for his classic RealSports Football for the 5200, Jim also created the early VCS hit Sky Diver, among other titles.  He later became a producer for Sega on hits like Joe Montana Football.
Jost, Patrick   Our own beloved Sean Kelly corners former Intellivision speech developer Patrick Jost and gets his side of the Mattel story.
Kaestner, Ray 1993 Find out a little more about what went on behind the scenes in the heyday of the Intellivision from one of its original Blue Sky Rangers
Kaplan, Larry 2006 One of the original Atari 2600 designers at Atari, who went on to do something even more original - helped found Activision.
Kranish, Steve 2007 Former Parker Brothers designer who did Atari 8-bit Frogger and the never-completed version of Risk.  He also worked on a secret Atari 260o project...
Lamkins, David 2004 Some of the memorable sound effects you hear on your Parker Bros Atari 2600 games are courtesy of Mr. Lamkins, who was also one of the "Gang of Five" that defected to Activision.
Lesser, Mark 2007 Mark started designing some of Mattel's best-known handheld games and eventually started his own company, making games for EA.
Levine, Rick 1999 The man that brought us Intellivision's Microsurgeon and Truckin' speaks out.
Lubar, David 2003 He's done everything from Atari 2600 to SNES game design, and his "softwareology" is thick enough to stun an ox! A relatively large ox, in fact!
Miller, Alan 2003 Al Backiel talks in depth with the co-founder of Activision and Accolade on his 25+ year career in the video game business.
Nikolich, Laura 2006 Read about the house that Spider-Man built with Parker Brothers programmer Laura Nikolich.
Patchell, James 2006 Scott Stilphen talks with James Patchell about the Atari 1050 Duplicator, hardware design, synthesizers, and alternate forms of payment.
Pigeon, Corky 2007 We reminisce with the former Silver Spoons actor and star of Imagic's Cosmic Ark commercial.
Polaro, Bob 1999 Al Backiel dines with former Atari programmer Bob Polaro while he dishes out the details behind some of his most popular games.
Rideout, Michael S. 3/1998-2005 John Hardie chats with SwordQuest FireWorld winner Michael Rideout. A jewel-encrusted chalice?  What about the others?
Rogers, Todd 2005 Gamer extraordinaire Todd Rogers tells all!  Well, except all his video gaming secrets.
Rolfe, David 2004 One of classic gaming's most diverse talents, Rolfe is responsible for development on a gamut of systems. He's also the guy behind the arcade games Star Fire and Fire One and the handheld system Football II.
Ross, Stuart 2004 His game, Wings, was announced, promoted, and even hyped a bit but never released, until DP released it on New Year's Day 2005. Read up on the game designers' notes and recollections from his days at CBS.
Salvo, Ed

2006

Best known for his Atari 2600 work at Games By Apollo, he's also responsible for one of the more infamous titles - Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Schweitzer, James 2005 Scott hunts down, interviews, and kills the long-lost Atari SwordQuest EarthWorld finalist. OK he doesn't really kill him, that was just dramatics. James also has some very cool contest photos to share with us.
Scolari, David 2000 Don Evanoff speaks to the man in charge at Codemasters.
Southerland, Mike 2004 Who's Mike Southerland?  Why, he was the Atari Quadrun champion, of course, and he's got the paperwork to prove it.
Springer, David 2007 A former Western Tech programmer who worked on games for the never-released Androman peripheral for the 2600.
Stewart, Brad 2001 The Atari-turned Imagic guy who brought us Breakout, Asteroids, Fire Fighter, and Sky Patrol.
Surine, James 2000 Meet the person who ported MAME and MESS to Digital OS-based digital cameras!
Swartz, Bill 2003 Greg Wilcox interviews the President of Mastiff Games on localizing La Pucelle tactics.
Tavares, Gregg 2006 Creator of Locoroco for the PSP.  Also wrote or collaborated with about 3 dozen titles ranging from the Atari 400/800 up to current systems!  Prolific indeed. 
Warshaw, Howard Scott 1997 You kNOW you wanna hear about the guy who wrote Atari 2600 Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. and Yar's Revenge!
Weber, Anthony 2004 He founded STEDEK software and worked at Roklan back in the day. We caught up with him to see what we may have missed in his past and what he's up to today.
Whitehead, Bob 2005 Designed early VCS games such as Home Run, Football, Blackjack and Star Ship while at Atari, Chopper Command, Sky Jinks and Boxing at Activision, and Hardball and 4th and Inches at Accolade.
Woita, Steve 2001 The man behind Atari 2600 Taz, Quadrun, and Garfield.
Zedeck, Steve 2006 Programmed Tutankham for the TI-99/4a, along with some IBM PC Jr. and Apple II games.

 

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Last updated: Thursday, June 05, 2008 08:16 AM