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Interview With Pitfall! Creator, David Crane 201

Posted by timothy from the stupid-crocodiles dept.
Bill Kendrick writes "Good Deal Games recently interviewed David Crane, creator of 1982's Game of the Year, 'Pitfall!' (as well as many other titles for the Atari 2600 and other systems). Topics include the 1000s of fan letters Activision received every week, the firing of Bill Gates, and how tennis helped bring Activision together."
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Interview With Pitfall! Creator, David Crane More

Interview With Pitfall! Creator, David Crane

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  • Sweet! Wasn't Elevator Action also on that platform? Oh, well, it's too bad they don't still have those in stores.

    At least these should still work:
    http://www.zophar.net/unix/atari2600.html
    • I bought one, along with a C64 at value village the other day for $10 canadian (for the lot).

      best $10 I've spent in a long time
    • I think they had Klax on there too; it was a pretty good port considering the level of technology in the 2600.

      My favorite game for the platform was Adventure. Not only was it quite possibly the first graphical RPG (admittedly a simple one), it was also the first game I recall with an easter egg in it. Plus, the dragons looked like giant ducks, and there was a bat you couldn't kill that would constantly steal things, including live dragons, and fly around the 'world' with them until it found another item to pick up.

      Like Pitfall, it was a game that for all its simplicity would still find itself being played again and again. I miss those sort of games.

      • Adventure was awesome. It's still one of my #1 favorite games of all times (even though I own every other system between the 2600 and the PS2).

        That fscking bat was a pain in the ass, and it made for hilarious frustration in that game. He'd fly by, carrying a pissed off dragon, and go "oh hey! that's a nice shiney sword you've got there... *YOINK!*" And leave you with aforementioned lizard...

  • play pitfall online (Score:5, Interesting)

    by draed ( 444221 ) on Monday September 02, 2002 @10:03PM (#4186710)
    shockwave version of pitfall

    http://www.langleycreations.com/pitfall/

  • So according to the article... (Score:3, Funny)

    by thelinuxking ( 574760 ) on Monday September 02, 2002 @10:03PM (#4186711)
    If that one guy at Activision had just kept Bill Gates, Windows might never have existed?

    Wow, that's messed up!

  • It bears mention.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MortisUmbra ( 569191 ) on Monday September 02, 2002 @10:10PM (#4186749)
    To recall the greatest feat (if indeed you can associate great feats with video games :) involving this game. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/12/19/235023 4&mode=thread&tid=127
  • Although David Crane is most famous for his Pitfall! creation, I personally prefer David Crane's A Boy and His Blob [somethingawful.com], which ran on the 8-bit NES system. The story line of a the boy's blob, and his jellybean consumption is unique. I'd recommend every reader check out the review at SA...I usually don't link to them but in this case I'll make an exception.
    • I personally prefer David Crane's A Boy and His Blob [somethingawful.com]

      Oh yes, definitely the best David Crane game ever! :) Sadly though, 99% of my friends hated this game much like the Something Aweful author (who rated the game -48 out of 50.) I guess it takes all kinds.

      For those of us that loved the game, apparently there will be a version for the Gameboy Advance as this was my first google result for the title of the game: Boy and his Blob [nintendo.com]
      • Yeah, this seems to be a love it or hate it game, no inbetween.

        One thing that surprised me when I played it a couple years ago on an emulator is how short it really is. There isn't much to it once you know how to use the beans. It seemed much longer when I rented it years ago.
    • Reminded me alot of pitfall when I played it... So I'm not suprised.
  • Evidently not. He probably would have quit, however, he was an insidious genious. He knew stalling the Atari project for a year would help his future plans: World Domination of course.
  • A.) Pitfall was awesome. B.) I used to mess around with the AC input to my Atari, and when I did this when the Pitfall cart was in the console, Pitfall Harry was able to fly. Why did this happen?? C.) Was there an end to Pitfall? I heard rumors that there was, and when I was able to make Harry fly, I thought for sure I would reach the end (since a flying Harry never had to worry about alligators or scorpions)...but I never did.
    • The atari 2600 had lots of bugs like this, when you fliped the power switch over and over lots of games messed up, I remember dig dug would have the screen messed up with him being able to walk thrue walls.
      out of the 12 games I had about 8 would do something funky

  • Crane's Law (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Raetsel ( 34442 ) on Monday September 02, 2002 @10:24PM (#4186783)

    I like the last question, it has a good point!
    • MT> You been quoted as stating, "man will always use his most advanced technology to amuse himself." Care to elaborate?

      DC> Quotes are a funny thing - there are as many attributed to me that I didn't say as there are things I said many times that are easily forgotten. The best line I didn't say was, "It's a jungle in there!" referring to Pitfall! But the quote you mention has been referred to as "Crane's Law", and I firmly believe it.

      (Snip the part about electric model airplanes)

    Most advanced tech used for amusement... yeah, that fits. Just off-the-cuff I can think of a bunch of examples:
    • Gamers driving the high-end PC market
    • Doom 3
    • $400 GeForce/Radeon/Parhelia graphics cards
    • Any sports car from Ferarri/Porsche/Mercedes/BMW/Audi/Acura/Lexus/your favoritebrandhere
      (For that matter, look at street racers putting Acura VTEC engines in their Honda Civics!)
    • Insanely huge home theater installations
    • Should I even point out that the porn industry was the first to release material using the advanced features of DVD? Or that they drove the adoption of videocassettes?
    I'm sure other people can come up with even more examples.
    • Hmm... Aussie's are good at this.. the first use of the 'miniature spy cameras'?

      Put them in a cricket stump - so you can give the viewers a really cool view. (Oh, you could put them in change rooms, your cheating partner's car, in your tie when travelling through 'confidential' areas? Didn't think of that - but Justic Woods did ;)

    • 3dfx ads (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Trepidity ( 597 )
      3dfx (you still remember them right?) had a series of ads along these lines a few years ago. They were patterned after those pharmaceutical company ads about how their technology is bettering the planet. Transcript from one:

      [file footage of children running through grassy fields, etc.]

      What could we do with a chip that performs a hundred billion operations per second? Why, we could bolster the world's food supply. We could use our chip to genetically engineer juicier fruits. Hardy, mineral-rich vegetables. Tastier greens. And tender, all-white-meat chickens. We could use our technology to feed the world.

      But then we thought -- hey, we could use it for games!

      [All the food disappears from people's plates, and the camera pans to screenshots of games]

      3dfx PC accelerators -- so powerful, it's kinda ricidulous.

      And from another:

      [File footage of doctors and old people and such]

      We have in our possession a chip -- a chip that could revolutionize medicine as we know it. By performing a hundred billion operations a second, this chip could help us heal across continents. We could touch more lives, help people live longer than ever, and give us all more time to cherish the journey's truest rewards.

      But then we thought -- hey, let's use it for games!

      [The life-support equipment stops working and everyone dies, pan to screenshots of games]

      3dfx PC accelerators -- so powerful, it's kinda ridiculous.

      [Doctor from the earlier file footage shots says "you know, that game's a little violent for my tastes"]
  • Pitfall was my favourite game when I was a kid. I'd say it's a tie between Pitfall! and Super Mario Bros. as to which game really invented the platform game genre.

    Pitfall! is what originally got me programming. I remember doing a simplistic platform game in GWBasic using ascii characters. That lead to learning Pascal and C and eventually my career as a Programmer/Analyst.

    Activision also deserves kudo's for keeping those programmers/designers from being forgotten. Of course, that lead to the whole rock star image conscious industry that spawned the likes of John Romero.

    Whatever happened to that guy anyway?

  • I wonder what he thinks of the recent South Park episode that features Pitfall! when the priest goes into the catacombs.

  • Pitfall Ruined my Brother's Childhood (Score:4, Funny)

    by guttentag ( 313541 ) on Monday September 02, 2002 @10:32PM (#4186804) Journal
    Pitfall ruined my brother's childhood. After watching me play Pitfall he was deathly afraid of the water (and tar pits for that matter) and never learned to swim. Of course, scaring the crap out of your little brother is every big brother's responsibility. Thank you, David Crane.

  • Music (Score:2)

    by Glytch ( 4881 )
    One thing that always inspired me to try to play a perfect game of Pitfall was the music. Nice and cheery and adventurous, until you died. Then it got depressing and never got cheery again.
    • you are obviously not talking about the original atari 2600 pitfall. cause it did not have music.

      • Re:Music (Score:2, Funny)

        by Ziviyr ( 95582 )
        you are obviously not talking about the original atari 2600 pitfall. cause it did not have music.

        Atari this Atari that.

        Commodore!

        First person who mentions the Apple ][ recieves a brick.
      • He's probably talking about Pitfall II also for the 2600, that's the one I loved.
      • No, the original 2600 Pitfall most certainly did have music. I don't know what universe you're from, buddy.

  • What a 180 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by IIRCAFAIKIANAL ( 572786 ) on Monday September 02, 2002 @10:38PM (#4186828) Journal
    He helped start a company that took work-for-hire, no-credit-getting designers and gave them the credit they deserved...

    And he later formed a company where he basically does games for corporations in a work-for-hire type situation. His name isn't even mentioned in the "about us" section of his company website. [skyworkstech.com]

    Not that I lose any respect for him - I'm no elitist, anti-corporate type. Just figured his name would be on the website...
    • Just figured his name would be on the website...

      It is. You have to go through the <grumble>Flash</grumble> version , select "About Us", then select "Principals". It gives little blurbs for Crane, as well as Garry Kitchen, Bill Wentworth, and Alan Miller.

    • His name isn't even mentioned in the "about us" section

      Yes it is [skyworkstech.com] and the reason why gaming companies don't promote developers anymore is really simple, you don't want to be dependent on the reputation of one developer for the sale of game, otherwise they will have all the cards come renegotiation time.

  • Pitfall! (Score:2, Funny)

    by rat7307 ( 218353 )
    Pitfall! was! the! first! game! that! caused! me! to! write! with! lots! of! exclamation! marks!

    Hooray! for! Pitfall!

  • Atari Music Video (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Myriad ( 89793 ) <myriad@the[ ]d.com ['bso' in gap]> on Monday September 02, 2002 @10:42PM (#4186845) Homepage
    Hahha, I find this very timely.. I just fired up the 'ol Atari to play Pitfall yesterday! Weird...

    Anyhow, if you've never seen it, check out this music video [newvenue.com] inspired by various Atari games (including Pitfall!).

  • Pitfall! ][ (Score:3, Interesting)

    by checkitout ( 546879 ) on Monday September 02, 2002 @10:54PM (#4186892)
    Pitfall! was defiantely a classic, howver I think it was Pitfall II for the atari 2600 that was truely groundbreaking and possibly the best game ever made for that system. It definately foreshadowed the side scrolling adventure games of the NES and Sega master system. If I'm not mistaken, it actually had a slightly different chipset than the standard 2600 game. Definately worth checking out on an emulator if you didn't catch it the first time around.
    • From the article:

      MT> As well as software, you have contributed to many hardware breakthroughs including the designs of two integrated circuits used in video games. Please tell us about the Display Processor Chip (DPC) and your innovative method of bank selecting. What was your involvement with the Atari 800 computer's operating system?

      DC> My background is in hardware design. I found hardware work to be a welcome change from thousands of hours of programming and that led to the designs you mentioned. I would have to go into a highly technical explanation to delve into those two chip designs, but their intention was to try to extend the life of the 2600 even further. The hope was that the machine's capabilities could be expanded by putting extra hardware into the cartridge. The DPC chip added more graphic capability as well as 3 channel music (plus drum), and made Pitfall II possible. Unfortunately, the 2600 business died before any other games could take advantage of that technology.

      So yea... Pitfall II actually had some rather interesting additional technology hidden away in that cartridge.

      Oh. And the answer to this question continues... including the reference to Bill Gates.
    • Heh... I agree, Pitfall 2 was really good, but it holds another record in my memory: It's the first video game that pissed me off because it was too short :)
  • the firing of Bill Gates

    I was disappointed... he was fired from an Atari project, not fired from Microsoft (Thought I missed something good over my weekend of /. withdrawl)

    • Re:Gates fired? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by NanoGator ( 522640 )
      "I was disappointed... he was fired from an Atari project, not fired from Microsoft (Thought I missed something good over my weekend of /. withdrawl)"

      Why do I have the feeling that this article wouldn't have been posted if not for the Bill Gates reference?

      "Pitfall was a revolutionary moment in gaming, but the real news here is that something bad happened to Bill Gates before he was rich."

  • Retrogaming Radio (Score:2, Informative)

    by krazykong ( 568196 )
    This month's Retrogaming Radio [retrogamingradio.com] has an interview with David Crane. As much as Shane R. Monroe tries to push Mr. Crane into complaining about the "whoring out" of Pitfall (in recent PSX versions of the game). He responds by basically saying that it's ok for other developers who now own the rights to the Pitfall name, do as they please with their investment. This month's episode also has a review of that new act labs light gun.
  • So how many of you still have your Pitfall Explorer's Club patch?
  • So, while Al is the only person I know ever to have fired Bill Gates,


    Then, the poor sod had no choice but to open his own business? One can imagine how the world would be if one single little stupid decision wasn't taken...

    • "One can imagine how the world would be if one single little stupid decision wasn't taken... "

      Yeah, computers would only be owned by geeks as opposed to ordinary everyday people. MS did some shitty stuff, but they also made PC's the popular item they are today.
      • That is nonsense. Two things were abundantly clear to the parents of myself and my friends in the early '80s. One was that you could use computers to manage information (finances,wp,etc) and two was that they were general purpose devices that could do other things too. Related to that was the fact that there were us kids begging for them to play games and learn to program on. There was quite a bit of competition back then too - Apple, IBM, Commodore, Atari, Tandy, Kaypro, hell remember the Coleco Adam?! And they were all pretty distinct systems. So no, I totally refute the premise that computers would not have been taken up by society just as quickly without the MS domination of the last decade+. The demand was already there and growing.

        LEXX
        • So the surge in PC sales circa 1995 had nothing to do with MS? Heh. Whatever. Win95 + Internet = Huge PC explosion. Computer ownership not only skyrockted into the millions, but females were using them as well!
        • Computers were just toys back then. People bought them, played with them, and occasionally found a good use for them. At their peak, they were hobbyist toys like Ham Radio. Then Win95 came around. Suddenly the computer becomes useful. It's like turning Ham Radio into cell phones.

          I'll have to agree with Nanogater on this one.
      • Yeah, computers would only be owned by geeks as opposed to ordinary everyday people. MS did some shitty stuff, but they also made PC's the popular item they are today.

        Doubtful. You're forgetting that there were several other companies that were creating some damn innovative and easy to use GUIs at the same time MS was struggling with Windows 2 and DOS 3. Pretty much all Gates was was lucky - there were several other people just as hungry, and just as willing to create an easy to use system. Were Gates to not have come around, we'd all be using Ataris, or Amigas, or Macs, or maybe something totally different instead. Microsoft wasn't the savior, or creator, of Personal Computing, they just had the advantage of being branded with IBM, which bought a lot of the professional market. Had IBM dropped the PC, or decided to go with Digital Research instead, things would have been a lot different.

        • "Were Gates to not have come around, we'd all be using Ataris, or Amigas, or Macs, or maybe something totally different instead."

          The geeks would, the average person wouldn't. Apple didn't even have a hot product on their hands until the iMac came out. Too little, way too late. Bill Gates wasn't lucky, he was opportunistic. Windows 95 was successful because people felt like they could use it without needing fear it. It had stability issues, nobody's arguing that, but it did do a lot of fundamental things correctly.

          I know, I know, everybody hates MS and all. But they poured tons and tons of research into making sure the user experience was a good one. That's why Windows survives today even though there are technically more sophisticated OS's out there.

          If Windows 95 hadn't have happened it is almost certain that the population of PC's would be drastically lower today. Argue with me all you want, it doesn't change the fact that MS's release of 95 was extremely profitable to them. That didn't happen because MS went door to door putting a gun to people's heads to make them buy. No other OS company had a similar boom. If your theory had played out, then MS would have competition like Sony has with Nintendo.

          • Windows 95 was successful because people felt like they could use it without needing fear it


            And here I was thinking that Win95 was successful because it was backwards compatable with the large installed base of win3.1, the success of which was dependant on the large installed base of DOS, which was dependant on the marketing muscle and name-recognition of IBM.

            Had IBM not been as successful with the PC, it would've been interesting to see who would've become #1... Apple (Mac), Commodore(Amiga) or Atari (ST series), all of which were technically superior to the original PC and ran user-friendly GUI-based operating systems years before Windows shipped.
      • MS did some shitty stuff, but they also made PC's the popular item they are today.

        Silly newbie...

        Go learn about the Apple ][and its creation of the home computer market.

        Learn also about Visicalc and its legitimization of microcomputers for business use. Finally, learn about IBM, Lotus 1-2-3, WordStar and WordPerfect, and how they made PCs ubiquitous in the business world.

        In the 1970s and 1980s, Microsoft was just one of a number of purveyors of things technicals -- the OS for the PC and two applications for the Mac. That's it. It was the appearance of Windows 3.0 in 1990 and the migration of their GUI-based Mac applications to the PC market that put them in a monopoly position by the mid 1990s.

        And this is when their tactics, always on the grey side relative to their competitors, came to greatly harm the overall computer industry.
        • None of that explains why PC ownership became necessary circa 1995. Come 1997, you were STRANGE if you didn't have a computer.

          You're just arguing with me because you hate MS, not because you're paying any attention to what I'm saying. Heh.
    • One can imagine how the world would be if one single little stupid decision wasn't taken...

      Stupid?

      Sounds like bill didn't do much work in a whole year. Can't blame the company for firing him, although things might've been a lot different if he worked for some place where they don't care about performance...
    • No. People would be running Atari(tm) Windows on Motorola processors instead of on the x86 platform.

      *groan*

    • Re-read the article. Bill was screwing Atari over anyways. He didn't hold his deadlines because he was working on MS-DOS for IBM at the same time. The only thing Atari did was save a little money. (On the other hand, though, it is typical of Microsofts business strategy: futz on a project for somebody else and secretly work for their competitors.

      I have a feeling that Bill wasn't planning on delivering the goods. You need to remember that he's less of a programmer than a crack Monopoly player. He knows how to sweet-talk the others into giving him Boardwalk and Park Place for free.
  • Hey I wonder what he thinks of the South Park episode in which the priest has to go to the vatican and go through the catacombs which look like Pitfall to get to the sacred document!
    • That was frickin' awesome. :)
      (The other day I bought the new Hitchicker Guide to the Galaxy DVD and was amused by the 'asteroids'-style effects in one of the scenes... I had forgotten about that!)
      • (The other day I bought the new Hitchicker Guide to the Galaxy DVD and was amused by the 'asteroids'-style effects in one of the scenes... I had forgotten about that!)

        Yeah. All hand drawn and cel-by-cel animated too.
  • Kaboom! was one of those games that you could always play again.
    A friend of mine had bought Pitfall and Megamania when they came out. I remember getting to 114,000 on Pitfall after weeks of effort, taking a picture of the screen and sending it in to Activision to get some kind of badge. Naively I was hoping to get at least something special, but I just got the normal badge, no special mention or anything like that. Hey, I even made my mother find two of my friends in the street, so they could see that I really did it.
    I think the memory of reaching 114,000 and playing Megamania until the game froze at a score of all 9's are some of my best memories of the Atari 2600. Thanks David Crane and Activision!

  • MT: Whatever happened to the personalized Pitfall license plate?

    DC: I still use it. And the most common response is, "Funny plate... what do you mean it's a video game?"


    What was the text of the plate then? The obvious "PITFALL", or something else? And yes, I've done the obligitory searched with Google, and no reference appears to spell it out, so to speak.

    Not a huge deal - but an opportunity for the Karma-hungry.

    Ryan Fenton
  • I never owned an Atari. My experience with Pitfall was on the Intellevision. Lord, that game confused the heck out of me. But still, as a young kid, it drove my imagination wild. I'd have dreams that I was Pitfall Harry, swinging over gators and leaping scorpions in search of treasure.

    I remember the TV I would use had the absolute worst red settings. When you'ld play and made Harry run left, it looked as if he had long, red hair that flew in the breeze behind him. Of course, turning around to the right would slap the "hair" into his face. My friends and I would amuse ourselves with that little TV glitch for hours on end.

    After the demise of my InTV, Pitfall faded from my scene. Then Super Pitfall came along, and it just had to have the original game hidden in there. Nothing but good memories of a great game came flooding right back. And they say games rot your brain. Horse Hockey! Glad I was alive when this game rolled out. Kids today are too spoiled with their Quake 3 engines and their MMORPGs. Of course, they wouldn't even give it the time of day, given it's outdated graphics and all.

    Those kids gotta learn that you can never know where you (or your games) are going if you don't know where you (or your games) came from. Big thanks to David Crane for giving a young me such a fun memory.
  • Never really got into Pitfall, for me it was all about Jumpman on the 64.
  • I was hoping they would mention Super Pitfall, the abomination that forever ruined the Pitfall experience in my mind. For those who aren't familiar with the title, Seanbaby [seanbaby.com] sums up the experience pretty accurately.

    Anyway, I wonder if David had any involvement in Super Pitfall. I highly doubt it.. but even if he did, who would fess up to that?
  • It makes me wonder why music industry is the only industry where the product creators are made celebrities. I mean I bet Quake has sold more copies than Madonna's latest album but I don't see John Carmack's face in the news papers or not even in the Quake retail box.
  • What were his royalties for having Pitfall! spoofed on South Park (the molesting priests episode)

    ?

  • Help me out here...

    I vaguely recall playing Pitfall for hours in an attempt to achieve a certain score, in order to join the Pitfall! club or something.

    There was information on the box, or in the packaging, and when you achieved a certain score (assuming you took a photo of your TV) -you could join the elite club. I think it was like 10,000 or 20,000.

    I've not played this game in ages, but perhaps someone can help me out with this vague memory.

    --

    Um..

  • Inspiration! (Score:2, Funny)

    by acoustiq ( 543261 )
    Pitfall! must! have! been! the! inspiration! for! Yahoo!

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