Pacman, Mr DO, Donkey Kong are all heroes in their own rights, but what about the real heroes, the heroes who gave us our heroes. I'm talking about the godfathers of creation who took part in creating the rich and lavish pixel environment in which we play out our fantasies.

Such luminaries as Eugene Jarvis the Big Daddy of Williams, Nolan Bushnell the driving force behind Atari, Steve Russell the inventor of 'Space War' and not forgetting Ralph Baer who wrote the first TV video game 'Chase'.

Of course where there are heroes there are always villains aswell, such as Todd Frye the designer of Atari's appalling 1981 Pac-Man port, rushed out in 4 months just in time for Christmas and for which he was reputedly paid a million dollars, a paycheck which he cockily stapled to his office door.

So lets take an indepth look into the weirf and wonderful world of the Videogame Heroes and Villains.

Hero No 1. - Eugene Jarvis
Now I make no apology for setting out my stall here, Eugene Jarvis is God. He is number one Classic Gaming Hero in my book. Just look at the evidence: Defender, Robotron, Stargate, Narc, Smash TV, The Crusi'N Series etc. Now that lot would look good on anyone's CV.

Jarvis was born in 1955 in California and the first game he played was chess. Later at the University of California, (Berkeley) Jarvis cut his teeth programming on mainframes. But nestling in the basement at Berkeley was Steve Russell's 'Space War' on which Jarvis got his first taste of computer gaming.

During his last days at Berkeley he was interviewed by Atari, but crucially never heard back. Instead he was hired by Hewlett Packard but became bored quickly, and lets face it who wouldn't, and quit after 3 days into a 6 year project (the rebel coming out in him). That same fateful day Atari finally called him back. A few years were spent programming Pinball games at Atari but the division eventually failed and Jarvis got picked up by Williams in Chicago.

Jarvis bored with Pinball machines wanted to try making a new fangled Video Game. Together with Steve Ritchie a concept was hatched for 'Defender'. This was 1980 and the eventual game Defender went on to be a smash hit becoming one of the highest grossing video games of all time. At the height of his success Jarvis left Williams and created Vid Kidz with Larry DeMar in1981.

After 4 months the fruits of this partnership produced 'Stargate' or 'Defender 2' as it was sometimes known. This game was sold to Williams.

Jarvis's next game was 'Robotron 2084' believed by many myself included to be the Greatest Video Game of all time. The game was again produced by Williams. Jarvis and Williams were becoming synonymous with each other. The video game crash of 1983 hit Williams hard and Jarvis left Vid Kidz. He continued however to make games including 'Narc' (1989) and 'Smash TV' (1990) aswell as the Crusi'N Series of games.

What made Jarvis's games different to anything else out there were their fiendish difficulty level, simple but dynamic graphics, subplots to the gameplay and great sound fx's. Who can forget the Particle Explosions created by Sam Dicker or sound when a credit is dropped into the cabinet of 'Defender'

Innovative aswell as beautifully crafted many milestones in gaming came from Jarvis's ideas.

'Defender' gave the player an expansive universe with a sense of speed created by the scrolling of the screen. It was one of the first games to have activity which could be monitored happening off screen thus creating the feeling of a living happening world.

Many of Jarvis's games have the same theme running through them 'Survival'. According to Jarvis it is our strongest instinct, stronger than food, sex, or our lust for money. This taps into the raw energy and adrenaline you get when naturally excited.

Another common theme in all Jarvis's games is the sense of relentless danger. The odds are always stacked against you after wave after wave of aliens swamp you, but there is always a lifeline to be found somewhere. Robotron especially gave you a feeling of being cornered and trapped as if you are making a last stand.

Many of these traits that appeared in all Jarvis's games have been forgotten amongst the fantastical graphics and so called advanced gameplay of today's games. But the simplicity and 2D graphics were the key to why Jarvis's games will be remembered for decades to come unlike so many Playstation 2 offerings today.

To add to his accolades Jarvis recently picked up the Game Developers Choice Award for Lifetime Achievement, an honour bestowed by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) at its fifth annual ceremony held in San Francisco.

I have spent more credits on Jarvis's creations than any other form of video game.

Eugene we bow before your greatness, you truly are a gaming God!

Hero No 2. - Nolan Busnell
In the early 1970's Nolan Bushnell built one of the very first Video Games together with Ted Dabney, the game was called 'Computer Space'. Computer Space was never a great success as it was over complicated for simple pick up and play by a public unaccustomed to video games.

A year later in 1972 Nolan formed Atari with Ted Dabney. Determined to get a commercial success Nolan used his experience gained on 'Computer Space' and in collaboration with Al Alcorn he went onto create Pong.

Pong becomes a worldwide sensation. Learning from the original mistake, Bushnell wanted a game that was so simple no one could be intimidated. Hence, the brief but accurate instructions: "Avoid Missing Ball For High Score."

In 1974 Bushnell and Atari created a home version of Pong which went on to be one of the hottest gifts for Christmas. On a wave of success Bushnell and Atari went onto release the now famous Atari 2600, possibly the most famous Home Console of all time!

Basically Nolan Bushnell can be regarded as the father of the video games revolution. In 1977 he sold Atari to Time Warner. He went onto eventually form Chuck E. Cheese a famous American chain of video game fuelled restaurants.

From creator of the first coin operated game to co-founder of Atari, Bushnells credentials are unsurpassed in the annals of gaming history.

Hero No 3. - Steve Jobs
Now I use an Apple Mac, I make my living using one, and lets face it we all have an iPod. But before Jobs founded the now famous Apple Mac Brand based in Cupertino he was a pioneer of the gaming world.

In 1972 Steve Jobs became Atari employee number 40. As games came down from the development labs, Jobs task was to refine their design. Jobs sneaks his friend Steve Wozniak into Atari after hours to spend hours playing games. After becoming hooked Woz designs his own version of Pong.
In 1976 Nolan Bushnell offers the young jobs some serious money if he can put together the hardware for Breakout! another variant of Pong designed by the Atari founder. Jobs utilises Woz secretly to do the engineering and finishes the game on schedule.

The game is a success for Atari although Woz gets short changed on the reward money by Jobs the entrepreneur. Later Jobs approaches Bushnell with his idea for a computer that Atari could produce but Bushnell turns it down, disillusioned Jobs moves on to from Apple with Woz although his idea was demo'd at Al Alcorns house.

Who knows what Jobs might have gone onto create in the world of video games. Looking at his innovation at Apple we can only drool at what might have been for gamers!

Some other unsung Hero's
Jay Fenton makes Video Game History with his 1981 coin-op Gorf.

Dave Nutting & Tom McHugh responsible for the western redesign of Taito's Gunfight.

Ed Logg legendary Atari designer (Asteroids, Gauntlet).

Dona Bailey the first woman to codesign an arcade video game (Centipede).

Hero No 4. - Toru Iwatani
One game and greatness is assured. That is of course when the game is PacMan! Toru is the mad creator of the Yellow Peril. Love it or hate it you cannot avoid PacMan and all the rip-offs and sequels that have followed. Toru though thought outside of the proverbial box, when everyone else was producing one shoot-em up after another. His game went onto become the first mass market game, it appealed to girls, grannies everyone in fact who previously would not be seen dead playing a video game. Innovative and bold at the same time Toru Iwatani!

Hero No 5. - Shigeru Miyamoto
No list of heroes is complete without Mr Miyamoto. Designer of Donkey Kong the first multi -screened game with different levels. Donkey Kong is the game that also introduces Jumpman, who went onto become possibly the biggest selling Video Game character of all time...Mario! Miyamoto goes on to be the chief game designer for Nintendo of Japan creating such hits as Super Mario Kart! & Super Mario Bros! etc. His work is still innovative and the driving force behind the Japanese resurgance, and ultimately their domination of the video game markets of today!

Villains!
Villains don't deserve much space in print, so just a few lines about the bad boys of gaming...

Atari for their policy of refusing to give credit to the authors of their best selling games.

Howard Scott Warshaw for his ill fated E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Avalon Hill, CommaVid, Tigervision, Wizard Video Games and Xonox for creating crap home console games contributing to the Video game crash of 1983-84.

Mystique for releasing 'Custer's Revenge' depicting a rape scene of a native tied to a post, plus generally crap games for the 2600.

Todd Frye as previuosly mentioned for programming Atarišs appalling 1981 Pac-Man port.

Every movie license title ever (with very few exceptions).

Anyone that says video games cause aggressive behaviour...right!!!

 

 

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