The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers

Last Updated November 24, 1997

Please send new information and corrections
to James Hague, jhague@dadgum.com

This is a Who's Who of classic game programmers, where "classic" generally refers to "8-bit" (Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 800, Commodore 64, etc). I have stuck to "one person, one vision" games, as that is what is most interesting to me, but I eventually decided to include some ports as well. An Atari 800 port of a C64 game is not significant in my opinion, so it is not mentioned (I'm starting to ease up on this harsh view, though). Conversion of a coin-op to the 2600 is more interesting and is included. When a game was released for multiple, similar platforms, I only listed the version the programmer originally developed. Games for modern platforms are mentioned only when the programmer has written at least one classic title. There are a lot more gray areas as well and, I tried to deal with them as best I can.

Please don't hesitate to send comments, corrections, and new information.

Format:

The list is arranged alphabetically by last name. Games written are listed chronologically in the following format:

   Title, co-authors (year of release, system, publisher)

Question marks indicate things that I am not 100% sure of. I used them liberally, so as not to propagate incorrect information. Bracketed entries contain biographical notes.

System codes:

AP2 - Apple II/II+/IIe/IIc GS - Apple IIgs 2600 - Atari 2600 800 - Atari 8-bit computers 5200 - Atari 5200 7800 - Atari 7800 LNX - Atari Lynx ST - Atari ST JAG - Atari Jaguar PET - Commodore PET VIC - Commodore Vic 20 C64 - Commodore 64 AMI - Commodore Amiga C16 - Commodore C16/Plus 4 INT - Intellivision COL - ColecoVision FCF - Fairchild Channel F O2 - Odyssey 2 VEC - Vectrex ASTR - Bally Astrocade TRS - TRS-80 COCO - Tandy Color Computer SPEC - Sinclair Spectrum ZX81 - Sinclair ZX81 TS1 - Timex Sinclair 1000 (variation of the ZX81 for the US market) TI99 - Texas Instruments 99/4A OSI - Ohio Scientific C1P COIN - coin-op arcade game HAND - handheld game PIN - coin-op pinball BBCB - Acorn BBC B BBCE - BBC Electron NES - Nintendo Entertainment System GBOY - Nintendo Game Boy SNES - Super NES VBOY - Virtual Boy N64 - Nintendo 64 MSX - MSX computer MAC - Macintosh TG16 - TurboGrafx-16 PC - IBM PC & compatibles PCJR - IBM PC Jr. SMS - Sega Master System GEN - Sega Genesis SCD - Sega CD SAT - Sega Saturn ARC - Archimedes CPC - Amstrad CPC PSX - Sony PlayStation NEWT - Apple Newton GEAR - Sega Game Gear MZ80 - Sharp MZ-80K MBEE - Microbee (Australian)

Publisher codes (to save space):

EA  - Electronic Arts
AI  - Adventure International (also AI UK)
ACT - Activision
APX - Atari Program Exchange (run by Atari Inc)

Games may be preceded by the following special codes:

*   Four-star game, using a rather conservative TV Guide style rating
    system (a judgement call, I realize; I may stop doing this).
[P] Programmer only.  Used for games ported from other formats or when
    a game was designed by someone else--implies a lack of creative control.
[D] Designer only.
[B] Game written in BASIC.  Might be interesting, as there is usually a
    quality gap between BASIC games and those written in other languages.
[G] Group effort; the person mentioned had some sort of involvement.
[L] Leader of a group effort; implies more than management.
[T] Type-in program from a magazine.
[N] Non-game software.
[U] Unreleased product.

List Begins Here

Aaron, Robert
   [G] The Lion's Share (1983, AP2, Davka)
   The Philistine Ploy, with Alan Rosenbaum (1983, AP2, Davka)

Abbott, Mike
   Teleport, with Jim Nitchals (1982, AP2, Cavalier Computer)
   Hard Hat Mack, with Matt Alexander (1983, AP2, EA)

Adams, Bill
   TRON, with John Marcus and Tom Leon (1982, COIN, Bally/Midway)

Adams, Douglas
   Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with Steve Meretzky (1984, many, Infocom)
   [G] Bureaucracy (1987, many, Infocom)

Adams, Scott [founder of Adventure International; NOT the Dilbert guy]
   The Scott Adams Adventure series: (engine originally in BASIC for TRS)
     #1 Adventureland (1978)
     #2 Pirate's Adventure, with Alexis Adams
     #3 Mission Impossible (1979)
     #5 The Count (1981)
     #6 Strange Odyssey
     #7 Mystery Fun House
     #8 Pyramid of Doom
     #9 Ghost Town
     #10 Savage Island, part 1
     #11 Savage Island, part 2, with Russ Wetmore
     #13 Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle (1984)
     #14 Return to Pirate's Island
   [N] S.A.G.E. - Scott Adams' Graphic Editor (1983?, 800, AI)
   The Hulk (1984, many, AI/Questprobe)
   Spiderman (1984, many, AI/Questprobe)
   Fantastic Four (1985, many, AI/Questprobe)
   Return to Pirate's Island (many, AI)
   [1996: working on Windows 95 games]

Adams, Alexis [wife of Scott Adams]
   Scott Adams Adventure #4: Voodoo Castle (many, AI)

Albaugh, Mike
   Drag Race (1978?, COIN, Atari Inc)

Alcorn, Al
   *Pong, with Nolan Bushnell (1972, COIN, Atari Inc)
   Space Race (1973, COIN, Atari Inc)
   Got'cha (1974, COIN, Atari Inc)

Albert, Dave
   Xyphus, with Skip Walker (1984, AP2?, Penguin)

Alexander, Matt
   Hard Hat Mack, with Mike Abbot (1983, AP2, EA)

Anderson, Dave
   Hollywood Hijinx, with Liz Cyr-Jones (1986?, many, Infocom)

Anderson, Bob
   [B] Derelict, with Rodger Olsen (many, Aardvark)

Anderson, Glyn
   ? several INT games
   [P] Mutant League Hockey, with Paul Taylor & Lee Powell (1994, GEN, EA)

Anderson, John
   Eliminator (AP2, AI)
   Rally Speedway (1983, 800, AI)
   AREX (1983, 800, AI)

Angelo, Python [artist]
   [D] Bubbles (1983?, COIN, Williams)

Ansell, Doug
   Pyromania (AP2)

Antiochia, Antonio
   Transylvania, with Steve Meuse (1981, AP2, Penguin) reissued in 1986
     by PolarWare
   The Crimson Crown (1982, AP2, Penguin) reissued in 1986

Archer, Michael
   Geoff Capes Strong Man (BBCB, Martech)
   W.A.R. (BBCB, Martech)
   [D] Tarzan (BBCB/C64, Martech)
   Shoot Out (C64, Martech)
   Nemesis The Warlock (C64, ACT)
   [P] Rampage (C64, Activision) port from COIN
   Slaine The Barbarian (C64, Martech)
   [P] Altered Beast (C64, ACT) port from COIN
   [P] Atomic Robokid (C64, ACT)
   [P] Tennis (C64, ACT)
   [P] Alien 3 (C64, Acclaim)
   [LP] Road Riot 4WD (LNX, Atari) port from COIN
   [LP] Alien vs. Predator (LNX, Atari)
   [also did technical support for several dozen games]

Arneson, Dave
   Malta Strike (1980, AP2/TRS, Discovery)

Arlton, Paul
   Gato, with Ed Dawson (1983, AP2?, Spectrum HoloByte)

Artwick, Bruce
   *A2-FS1 Flight Simulator (I, 1981?, AP2, Sublogic)
   Night Mission Pinball (1982?, AP2, Sublogic)
   *Flight Simulator 2 (I, 1983?, AP2, Sublogic)
   UFO, with Hugo Feugen (1989, PC, Sublogic)

Aspromonte, Bill
   Crash Dive (1983, 2600, Fox)
   Bank Heist (2600, Fox)
   [P] Stargate (1984, 2600, Atari) aka Defender II
   [G] Pigs In Space (2600, Atari) "Pastaroids" segment only

Austin, Mike & Nick & Pete
   Colossal Adventure (1983, many, Level 9)
   Adventure Quest (1983, many, Level 9)
   Dungeon Adventure (1984, many, Level 9)
   Snowball (1984, many, Level 9)
   Return to Eden (1984, many, Level 9)
   The Worm in Paradise (many, Level 9)

Austin, Pete (see also "Austin, Mike & Nick & Pete")
   Gnome Ranger II: Ingrid's Back, with Peter McBride & Godfrey Dawson
     (1988, C64/AMI, Level 9)