Garry Kitchen

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Garry Kitchen
Garry Kitchen-cropped.jpg
Garry Kitchen in 2013
Born (1955-08-18) August 18, 1955 (age 68)
Washington, D.C., United States
Occupation Video game designer
Employer(s) Activision
Viacom Media Networks
Known forCo-founder of Absolute Entertainment and Skyworks Interactive
Notable work Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
Keystone Kapers
Garry Kitchen's GameMaker
RelativesDan Kitchen (brother)

Garry Kitchen (born August 18, 1955, in Washington, D.C., United States) is a video game designer, programmer, and executive best known for his work at Activision during the early years of the company's history. He has developed games for the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as co-founded Absolute Entertainment with ex-Activision developers. His port of Donkey Kong for the Atari 2600 was a major hit for Coleco, selling over 4 million copies. [1] [2] [3] His other 2600 work includes Keystone Kapers and Pressure Cooker for Activision and Space Jockey for U.S. Games. He also wrote Garry Kitchen's GameMaker and The Designer's Pencil for the Commodore 64.

Contents

Career

Kitchen received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey in 1980. Before his video game career, Kitchen developed electronic toys at Wickstead Design Associates, in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey. In 1979, Kitchen was an engineer on Wildfire, [4] a handheld electronic game distributed by Parker Brothers. After Wildfire, in 1982, Kitchen co-invented the handheld electronic game Bank Shot, [5] a pool simulation also distributed by Parker Brothers. Bank Shot was named one of the Ten Best Toys of 1980 by OMNI magazine. Kitchen was awarded U.S. Patent #4,346,982 "Electronic Pool Game", for Bank Shot. [6]

Kitchen was president and CEO of Absolute Entertainment from 1986 to 1995. In 1995, Kitchen and his longtime business partner David Crane founded Skyworks Technologies, an early internet game company which created Candystand.com and pioneered the category of online advergames.[ citation needed ] Kitchen and Crane sold the controlling interest in Skyworks in 2007 and left the company in September 2009.

From 2010 to 2012, Kitchen was the Vice President of Game Publishing for Viacom Media Networks, working in the Nickelodeon Kids and Family Games Group. In that role he was responsible for game content on AddictingGames.com and Shockwave.com, at the time two of the largest U.S.-based online game sites. In 2012, Kitchen and his team at Viacom launched the AddictingGames Mobile App for the Apple iPhone, which went to #1 in the Apple App store in 72 hours.[ citation needed ] The AddictingGames Mobile App was nominated for a 2012 Webby Award in the category of Games (Handheld Devices).

Garry Kitchen currently (2012–present) works as an independent technical expert in legal matters concerning video game and mobile app design and development, patent infringement & invalidity, copyright infringement, general software development, video game industry history and business issues. Kitchen has performed Expert Witness consulting for clients such as Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Ubisoft.

Garry Kitchen, along with his brother Dan Kitchen [7] and David Crane, founded Audacity Games in November 2020 to develop Atari 2600 games to be played on retro consoles. They plan to release these games as both physical copies alongside digital versions that are emulator-friendly. [8] The first title, Circus Convoy, a collaboration between Kitchen and David Crane, went on sale March 13, 2021.

Kitchen is on the Board of Advisors of the National Video Game Museum as well as Fairleigh Dickinson University's FDUArts Advisory Board.

Games

Atari 2600

Source: [9]

Commodore 64

Source: [10]

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Source: [10]

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

Source: [10]

iOS (iPhone/iPad)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 2600</span> Home video game console

The Atari 2600 is a discontinued home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System, it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge—initially Combat and later Pac-Man. Sears sold the system as the Tele-Games Video Arcade. Atari rebranded the VCS as the Atari 2600 in November 1982 alongside the release of the Atari 5200.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coleco</span> American manufacturer of consumer electronics

Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar dedicated consoles and ColecoVision. While the company ceased operations in 1988 as a result of bankruptcy, the Coleco brand was revived in 2005, and remains active to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ColecoVision</span> Second-generation home video game console

ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision.

The video game crash of 1983 was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985 in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including market saturation in the number of video game consoles and available games, many of which were of poor quality. Waning interest in console games in favor of personal computers also played a role. Home video game revenue peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983, then fell to around $100 million by 1985. The crash abruptly ended what is retrospectively considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America. To a lesser extent, the arcade video game market also weakened as the golden age of arcade video games came to an end.

<i>Pitfall!</i> 1982 video game

Pitfall! is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is populated by enemies and hazards that variously cause the player to lose lives or points.

The history of video game consoles, both home and handheld, began in the 1970s. The first console that played games on a television set was the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey, first conceived by Ralph H. Baer in 1966. Handheld consoles originated from electro-mechanical games that used mechanical controls and light-emitting diodes (LED) as visual indicators. Handheld electronic games had replaced the mechanical controls with electronic and digital components, and with the introduction of Liquid-crystal display (LCD) to create video-like screens with programmable pixels, systems like the Microvision and the Game & Watch became the first handheld video game consoles.

<i>Congo Bongo</i> 1983 video game

Congo Bongo, also known as Tip Top, is a platform game released as an arcade video game by Sega in 1983. A message in the ROM indicates it was coded at least in part by the company Ikegami Tsushinki. The game is viewed in an isometric perspective, like Sega's earlier Zaxxon (1982), but does not scroll. Numerous home ports followed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Crane (programmer)</span> American video game designer and programmer

David Crane is an American video game designer and programmer. Crane grew up fascinated by technology and went to DeVry Institute of Technology. Following college, he went to Silicon Valley and got his first job at National Semiconductor. Through his friend Alan Miller he learned about potential video game design work at Atari, Inc. and began work there in 1977.

1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon, Q*bert, Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home system was the Atari 2600. Additional video game consoles added to a crowded market, notably the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. Troubles at Atari late in the year triggered the video game crash of 1983.

<i>H.E.R.O.</i> (video game) 1984 video game

H.E.R.O. is a video game designed by John Van Ryzin and published by Activision for the Atari 2600 in March 1984. The game has players control Roderick Hero who traverses a mineshaft avoiding enemies and hazards to rescue trapped miners. He travels through the mines equipped with a hoverpack that allows him to traverse the game levels as well as bombs and laser that let him destroy walls and defeat enemies respectively.

<i>Keystone Kapers</i> 1983 video game

Keystone Kapers is a platform game developed by Garry Kitchen for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. The game involves a Keystone Cops-theme, with the player controlling police officer Kelly, who traverses the many levels of a department store, dodging objects to catch the escaped thief Harry Hooligan.

<i>River Raid</i> 1982 video game

River Raid is a video game developed by Carol Shaw for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls a fighter jet over the River of No Return in a raid behind enemy lines. The goal is to navigate the flight by destroying enemy tankers, helicopters, fuel depots and bridges without running out of fuel or crashing.

<i>Crackpots</i> 1983 video game

Crackpots is an Atari 2600 game designed by Dan Kitchen and published by Activision in 1983. It was Kitchen's first game for Activision.

<i>Pressure Cooker</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Pressure Cooker is a video game for the Atari 2600 designed by Garry Kitchen and released by Activision in 1983. The player is a short-order cook at a hamburger stand who must assemble and package hamburgers to order without letting ingredients or hamburgers fall to the floor.

<i>Megamania</i> 1982 video game

Megamania is a fixed shooter video game developed by Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600. It was published by Activision in 1982. A pilot of an intergalactic space cruiser has a nightmare where his ship is being attacked by food and household objects. Using the missile launcher from their space cruiser, the pilot fends off the attackers. The game was later released for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.

<i>Enduro</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Enduro is a racing video game designed by Larry Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. The object of the game is to complete an endurance race, passing a certain number of cars each day to continue the next day. The visuals change from day to night, and there is occasional inclement weather.

<i>The Activision Decathlon</i> 1983 video game

The Activision Decathlon is a sports video game written by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, and MSX. Up to four players compete in the ten different events of a real-life decathlon, either in sequence or individually.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolute Entertainment</span> American video game publishing company

Absolute Entertainment was an American video game publishing company. Through its development house, Imagineering, Absolute Entertainment produced titles for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Game Gear, Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD, Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game consoles, as well as for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC compatibles.

References

  1. Kitchen, Garry. "Donkey Kong 2600". Garry Kitchen. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  2. Morrison, Mike (1994). The Magic of Interactive Entertainment. Sams Publishing. p. 156. ISBN   978-0-672-30456-9. Kitchen's first cartridge game (Donkey Kong, 1981), sold 4 million units, took five months to create, and used 4,000 lines of code.
  3. Kitchen, Garry E. (March 5, 2010). Expert Report of Garry E. Kitchen (PDF). United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. p. 3.
  4. "Wildfire | Garry Kitchen". www.garrykitchen.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  5. "Bank Shot | Garry Kitchen". www.garrykitchen.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  6. "US434892A - Electronic pool game". Google Patents. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  7. Dan Kitchen Games
  8. Gurwin, Gabe (March 7, 2021). "Ex-Activision Pioneers Form Audacity Games, Will Develop New Atari 2600 Titles". GameSpot . Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  9. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers" . Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 Garry Kitchen's profile at MobyGames
  11. "Apple App Store Preview - Skyscrapers". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  12. "The Iron Horse (iPhone/iPod touch) Review". Nine Over Ten 9/10. May 12, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  13. "Fling Pong - The Planets (by AppStar Games)". forums.toucharcade.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2020.