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Countdown to CGE 2010 ~ July 31st & August 1st, 2010 ~ 31 JUL 2010 |
Classic Gaming Expo Distinguished Guest:
DAVE WARHOL
Dave Warhol designed and
programmed Mind Strike for the Intellivision Entertainment
Computer System, programmed the Intellivision game Thunder Castle,
supervised the Intellivision version of Bump 'N' Jump, and, as
founder and president of Realtime Associates, produced all of the
original Intellivision releases for INTV Corporation. On top of all that,
he contributed sound effects and music to over two dozen Intellivision
games.
Dave was a music composition major at Pomona College. He was earning
extra money working in the campus computer lab when a job notice came in
from Mattel Electronics looking for video game programmers. Dave's job was
to post the notice. Instead, he took the job himself.
"My music has helped me with my work," he later told an
interviewer. "I do all of my design work in sonata allegra
form."
His first project was putting Mind Strike, an original game he had
created before coming to Mattel Electronics, onto the Intellivision. While
it started out as a two-player game, it was reworked before release for
the Entertainment Computer System, using the system's extra memory to
provide a one-player mode. Dave moved into management, supervising the development of
Bump 'N'
Jump, which was done outside Mattel Electronics.
He also provided the programming and music for a number of Marketing
demos, such as for Garfield, Peanuts and McDonald's
when Mattel Electronics was attempting to obtain those licenses.
He then joined Connie Goldman on her project, Thunder Castle.
After Mattel, Dave did the music for several LucasArts computer games.
He founded his own company to do game music, but he quickly expanded into
game design and programming.
He was contracted by INTV Corporation to complete many of the games
left unfinished at Mattel Electronics and to create new ones. Dave, in
turn, hired many of the former Mattel Electronics staff to do the
programming and graphics.
His company, Realtime Associates, expanded to work on all video game
platforms. Today, it is one of the largest independent video game
producers. The Seattle division of Realtime is run by former Mattel Electronics
Group Leader Steve Ettinger.