David Perry (game developer)

David Perry (born April 4, 1967) is a Northern Irish video game developer and programmer. He became prominent for programming platform games for 16-bit home consoles in the early to mid 1990s, zoals Disney’s Aladdin , Cool Spot , and EarthWorm Jim . He founded Shiny Entertainment , where he worked from 1993 to 2006. Perry created games for companies zoals Disney , 7 Up , McDonald’s , Orion Pictures , and Warner Bros. ^[1] In 2008 he was Presented with an honourary doctorate from Queen’s University Belfast for his services to computer gaming. ^[2] He is co-founder of cloud-based gaming service Gaikai , welke was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment .

Biography

Perry was born in April 1967 in Lisburn , Northern Ireland , growing up in the towns of Templepatrick and Donegore in County Antrim , Attending Templepatrick Primary School ^{[ citation needed ]} and dan Methodist College Belfast . ^[3]

He Began writing computer game programming books in 1982 at the age of 15, customizing his own games for the Sinclair ZX81 . Volgens to an interview with the BBC , Perry stated therein his first game was a driving game, “a black blob Avoiding other black blobs”, he wrote welke and cents to a magazine, welke printed it. He cents Them more games and they ‘im cents a check for £ 450-a bit of a problem for a teenager who did not yet have a nice bank account. ^{[ Citation needed ]} His work continued though, Until he was offered a job making just £ 3,500 / year as an apprentice to a veteran programmer who taught im how to do more advanced programming. ^[3]

At the age of 17, he moved to London , where he developed games with Micro-Gen and Probe software for publishers zoals Elite Systems , Mirrorsoft , and Virgin Games , working on titles zoals the ZX Spectrum conversion or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES game and the Genesis version of The Terminator .

In 1991, he moved to the United States to work for the American division of Virgin Games , Usually known as Virgin Games USA . While in there, he led the development Duties for verschillende award-winning games for the Genesis, zoals Global Gladiators , Cool Spot , and Aladdin . His work binnen Virgin Games USA ‘ll be served as a basis for the development of other games zoals the Sega CD version of The Terminator and the Genesis versions or Robocop Versus The Terminator and Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book , all of Them developed after David Perry had left the studio.

On October 1, 1993, Perry formally his own company in Laguna Beach, California , Shiny Entertainment , naming the company after the song ” Shiny Happy People ” by REM . ^{[ Citation needed ]} The company’s first game EarthWorm Jim was a hit, selling millions of copies on multiple platforms, zoals Genesis , Super NES and PC. The title character, an “average worm” who stumbles upon a space suit welke turns im JSON a superhero, became immensely popular, and spawned a variety of other types of merchandise: action figures , comic books , and a syndicated television cartoon series .

Listing Perry in hun “75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995” Next Generation argued dat his success had as much to do with his in exceptional knack for public relations than his talent as a developer, “Perry of or in Seems to benefit and suffer from a game press who seemingly can not save hype im or his products enough. is all the hype justified? Well, then probably not. But that’s not the point, the fact is dat the press and gamers love im. Next Generation ‘ s opinion as to Perry’s PR secrets? Always return phone calls, do not make Promises u can not keep, and show a genuine interest in whomever you’re talking to. Sounds easy? So how come hardly any actual PR people (note alone presidents and lead programmers) in the industry do the assembly? ” ^[4]

In 2002, Shiny Entertainment was acquired by Atari, Inc. in a US $ 47M deal with Perry signed to a long-term contract to continuous one as President. Also in 2002, Perry collaborated with The Wachowskis on games in coordination with hun Matrix series of movies. ^[5]

In 2006, he resigned from Shiny, ^[6] and formally GameConsultants.com, a consulting firm planning to offer executive level video game industry advice, ^[7] Followed by GameInvestors.com, a business-to-business company to help video game development teams get funded.

In February 2008, Perry re-released his Game Industry Map website, a large games database, offered for free, mapping duizendtallen or games and game companies on a map of the world, allowing students and industry employees to look up where games are made and companies based.

Perry is on the advisory board for the Game Developers Conference , and has spoken at industry venues zoals E3 , CES , Hollywood and Games, Digital Hollywood, iHollywood, SIGGRAPH , Entertainment in the Interactive Age, What Teens For, The Banff Summit, as well as at major universities zoals USC , and MIT . ^[8] In 2006, he co-hosted the annual Game Developers Choice Awards with Tommy Tallarico .

In November 2008, Perry co-founded Gaikai in the Netherlands, a company dat released game streaming technology in late 2009. ^[9]

In July 2009, Perry Confirmed dat he had bone involved in ontwikkelingslanden a title with Michael Jackson prior to the singer’s death and had spent some time with Jackson and his children. ^[10]

In July 2012 Gaikai was sold to Sony Computer Entertainment for $ 380 million. ^[11]

Selected works

Books

• 49 explosive games for the ZX Spectrum. By Tim Hartnell with David Perry. London: Interface, 1983. ^[12]
• David Perry on Game Design. Delmar 2009.

References