The Intellivision version was purposely bad. The woman was a blob of *one color* that was unrecognizable. (Apparently they didn’t have a famous coder on staff)
Coming from someone that reversed engineered the 2600 Donkey Kong. Garry did an AMAZING job with this cart! Not much room left in the 4K of space. The ramps themselves were amazing.
Hey there, Dennis. Thanks for stopping by to check this out. Garry is a legend. Hit me up via DM on X or email (jon@genxgrownup.com) if you'd be interested in being interviewed.
I didn’t have that reaction at all. I was thrilled when I got Donkey Kong for my 2600 and played it non stop. As a kid, I never expected the Atari version to look exactly like the arcade, but I also wouldn’t run out of quarters playing it! Loved the interview and btw, Keystone Kapers is still my all time favorite Atari game.
I played quite a bit of both on the 2600 as well, at least until we sold off our 2600 and got an 800xl+1050! Then I played the hell out of them on there! The 800xl was miles above the 2600 version, and I still tend to think that DK's best version on the 8bit Atari computers.
If it wasn’t for Activision the Atari 2600 would have bombed. They had the best games! My favorite is Pitfall! but Keystone Kapers is pretty awesome too!
I think this was the reaction of most people back then. You knew you weren't going to get an exact replica of a game designed to run on a relatively expensive, relatively specialized and relatively state-of-the-art (for it's time) arcade system to play on a relatively cheap, relatively general purpose (in that it can play various types of games) consumer console that was four years older than the arcade itself.
Damn, the story straight from the mouth of an industry legend, that's an amazing get, my friend. This will probably be referenced and credited in documentaries and books on the subject for the rest of video gaming history! You must be proud, you damn well should be.
Haha! Wouldn't that be something! 😁 It was a pleasure speaking with Garry and I'm quite happy with how the interview is being received - that's for sure. Thanks for watching and for the kind words.
Definitely one of my all time favorite 2600 games. What he was able to do with that system is frankly amazing. Thanks for the great interview! As a fellow old-timey programmer, I know what those days were like. There were so many new industries coming out that were centered around computers and programming. It wasn't just game development that suffered from the issue of not being able to find "experts" in technologies and systems that were "private" or just poorly documented. The great part of his story is that he didn't have someone there to hold is hand and tell him how to make it all work. He forged his own trail by taking the time to reverse-engineer a system on his own time. He took the initiative and it paid off!
And the tools they had available to them were extremely minimal compared to today. In the early days they were literally using graph paper, calculators (to calculate execution speed - cycles) and tons of coffee and/or soda. The tools available today, even for developing Atari 2600 games!, would make those OG programmers drool. It's a wonder that any of them could produce anything worth playing at all considering how tedious and complex it was to do, especially on the notoriously limited VCS.
Yeah as a kid I never cared that the graphics were "sub-par", all I cared about was that my 13" black and white rabbit ear TV was playing Donkey Kong. 5 year old me thought I owned an arcade in my bedroom and I was happy!
Wow! what a great part of the interview. Like you his games, including the Game Maker were a fond part of my memories from back then so what a great guy. Jon, you interview like an absolute Pro and I look forward to the full interview and future ones. Such great information. This is why GenXGrownUp is without a doubt the best games/Retro/GenX inspired channel on UA-cam. Keep up the great work, GXG gang.
I’m so relieved someone finally got this interview and put that nonsensical and insulting rumor to bed. It’s clear people who think that’s a bad port don’t understand the limitations of that system and cartridge. He did an admirable job.
Wow! What an interview and well edited, too! Seems like a great guy and very fun to talk with. I’ve been lurking in the shadows on your stuff for a bit and had to drop a few bucks of encouragement for you to continue what you’re up to!
As an 80s kid, I played the heck out of Atari 2600 Donkey Kong. For the record, I played the heck out of Atari 2600 Pac-Man too! I just took them as they were and enjoyed them.
They were my first video games on my own garbage dump rescue 13 inch black and white and I played the heck out of em...I am blessed that it never caught fire😂
Really loved Keystone Kapers and Donkey Kong as a kid. I feel like at the time you knew Atari 2600 versions of arcade games are going to not be exactly like the arcade game, but mostly I was just happy to have the chance to play these games, because I was not really allowed to go to the arcade that often. I loved the Atari 2600 Donkey Kong and spent hours playing it. In the context of the time and the system it was on, it makes sense. Seeing the names of guys like Gary Kitchen, David Crane, and Steve Cartwright on the boxes of Activision Atari games inspired me to learn to make games myself, and led to me becoming a game designer and artist in the early 2000s (made a lot of Dragon Ball Z games for the GBA and a bunch of other stuff.) And I will tell you, even by that time things hadn't changed a bit. Most of the games I worked on we usually had around 6 months, and were beholden to a Christmas deadline and there were arguments about cart sizes. I'm sure developers today are still dealing with these types of constraints.
Good point about not going to arcades; the previous thread had a reply saying the player was 5. I was allowed to play arcade games in the arcade at the mall, Putt-Putt, restaurants and 7-Eleven when I was 10-13 in 1981-1984. Sometimes I think the Atari should have had a "give it to your little brother" campaign to introduce a newer system. Even its competitor didn't do that, instead creating a mini-Atari to plug into the ColecoVision, and Mattel wanted to do the same for its Intellivision. Just think of how many ColecoVision games they didn't sell by selling that Atari plug-in! Nobody knew how to get people to "upgrade" to a next generation system, especially when Atari sold another 5 million 2600 consoles in 1982 due to Pac-Man.
That 90 day thing makes me think these shouldn't have been just one-programmer jobs. There should have been a music/sound FX guy/girl and a graphics artist to help with the screens and sprites. I think Atari outsourced the 5200 games and some 2600 games released in 1983, and the result was Moon Patrol and Jungle Hunt that looked and sounded great. The latter had some control issues, but that's my quibble. I think I read that one Atari programmer asked for graphics help from the art department that made the manuals and was ignored.
@@sandal_thong8631 Well, for graphics there was also the box art... and on the 2600 games the mock-up screen shots on the boxes often differed drastically to the actual content. They knew about what the limits were and drew up some mockery in that style, but it often looked worse than the released product! I think I read somewhere that Coleco did give the programmers some graphics art, but if it was similar to that shown on the product, it might well have just been not used.
as an 80s kid and I think we all can agree, it really never mattered how crappy the games looked at home.. to this day I love 2600 donkey Kong .. push the button to start .. such a great interview .. just imagine what could have been if he had more time and a larger memory cart
There's something magical about those who were making games before I even played them, let alone started making them myself. The stories of Atari VCS development, especially the drug fueled Atari ones before Warner bought them, but also the third party like this.
Awesome interview with one of the best 2600 game designers!! Not only did I play a lot of Garry's Donkey Kong port, Keystone Kapers was also one of my favorites.
As a kid, I bought a Coleco Gemini (Atari 2600 clone) that came with Donkey Kong and Mouse Trap. It took every penny I had, and a few dollars "borrowed" from my parents to get, so there were no games in my immediate future. I played the heck out of those two game and loved Donkey Kong. I don't recall if I even knew there was a missing fourth level. The Gemini died a fairly early death.... The games still live on, and have a place of honor in my collection.
Thank you Gary for doing the interview and for programming so many incredible games from my youth! Thank you Jon for conducting this interview with Gary and for settling the debate. Well done sir.
I still remember the first time I booted K. Kapers on the colecovision in 1985... my jaw dropped just listening to that intro tune, and played it to death. Also remember reading his name every time and think 'who is this guy?' but I have to admit I wondered the same about Crane on pitfall and Rolfe on Beamrider lol Thank you Garry, you entertained me for a long time.
That was an excellent interview and very informative on what was going on with that port of DK. And good to squash the rumors. And thank you for letting your guest talk. With so many "interviews" that happen elsewhere, the host doesn't shut up and (I feel) interjects too much. But you asked the right questions, kept him comfortable and he delivered on the answers! Thank you again. Good stuff!
Thank you for this interview with the brilliant Gary Kitchen - as a Gen Xers who loves retro video games this brings a lot of joy ....hello from London Eng.
Great video! When you interview these wonderful people please thank them for the many years of kids like me playing and bringing families closer. My dad and I shared so many great moments with the Atari. This is also a reason why I loved pac man despite all the hate. It was the one game my mom would play and we played together she knew patterns and would write down high scores. It is easy for people to look back at these games now and say they were not great but as a young kid growing up with this these games they will always be amazing to me.
I received Game Maker for Christmas for the Apple II back in ‘85 or ‘86 and I absolutely loved it. I still have it and the manual and even the included blank disk and mailer.👍 Thank you, Garry, great interview!
Great stuff! Thanks for bringing to us. I recently discovered Pressure Cooker and got a old cart for my 2600+ along with Keystone Kapers. Garry Kitchen was one of the best. I remember getting Donkey Kong back in 82 at 12 years old. When I saw Donkey Kong on Colecovison at Macys around Christmas, it was all over. Beginning of the end for my Atari 2600.
Great interview. Thanks Garry for helping make my childhood and for your hard work and contributions to the early video game industry - some of the best times of my life. I still play Atari 2600 Donkey Kong to this day and will always appreciate it.
Such a great interview! I’ve also grown up with this game and the ColecoVision version as well. I have many fond memories with friends and family playing on those systems and remember the rumors about the quality of 2600 DK vs CV DK. I’m so glad to hear it’s not true. It seems that the quality of several other big name titles suffered for similar time-constraint reasons. I hope you interview David Crane soon!
Great interview. Garry Kitchen is one of the legends. I hope you can get the interview with David Crane. I have all of Garry's Atari 2600 games, Pressure Cooker and Keystone Kapers are two of my favorites. I was lucky enough to get the No. 1 cart sold of Circus Convoy.
Circus Convoy is ON FIRE! 🔥 If you want to hear more about Audacity Games and Circus Convoy, that's included in the full hour-long audio version of this interview linked in the description. Thanks for watching! 😁
Great interview, always good to hear from an Activision guy. I wasn’t aware he did work for Parker Brothers. Honestly, the Atari port of DK was the only one I could get past the barrel screen on.
Awesome interview. I loved Donkey Kong for my Atari 2600 and didn't expect it to be like the arcade. I always loved his games, especially the Game Maker. Thanks to this guy, I had a great childhood.
What a very cool guy! Honestly, it is a good port given the constraints. I think a lot of people didn't understand the time crunch and the space restrictions these guys were under. David Crane was a wizard back in the day too, it'd be awesome if you were able to get him on sometime!
Great interview. Growing up, I was a 2600 Jr. owner who previously had a Vic 20 which had much more extensive versions of Pac Man and Donkey Kong. Naturally, I had more of an appreciation for the late era 2600 library while the pre-crash library seemed much more primitive. While the later games were objectively better, I have a lot more respect for the early games today, now that I know more about the limitations they had, the hoops they had to jump through, and the fact that the whole industry was basically learning on the fly. Really set the foundation for what would come later. The comparison with the flickering is a great example. 8-year old me probably just thought I needed a better converter box. Love Pressure Cooker too. Never owned it, or heard of it growing up, but once emulation became a thing, I played it out of curiosity & couldn’t put it down. That and Montezuma are probably the two very best 21st century 2600 discoveries that I made around that time.
Awesome interview Jon, really enjoyed it! I owned this cart back in the day and still have it. I played it for many many hours 😎 So great to hear it straight from Mr. Kitchen what limitations he was up against. IMO, amazing job with only 4K and 3 months.
Awesome interview, thanks! I remember the kid's house and even tv location and setup to this day when I first played the 2600 version of Donkey Kong and had the exact same reaction as you and most other kids...oh man, those were some magic and exciting times, lol. Incredible that he only had 90 days to do the entire thing by himself, unreal.
Reaction probably had to do with age and ability to play the arcade game. Little kids: it's really good. Older kids: it looks disappointing. But if you owned it, you most likely played it to death, whatever age, just as one played Atari Pac-Man for hours on end. I don't think kids and parents returned it to the store, like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Props to Mr. Kitchen, he's a legend & an industry ICON! I had DK & Space Jockey for the 2600. 2 of my favorite games on the platform. I never thought DK was a crippled port. In fact, it's on my top 10 list of all time well done ports for the system. Also as I watch this video, I'm currently using Garry's GameMaker to develop a new game for the C64. So, yeah it's true people like me are still absolutely enjoying & reaping the benefits of his work many decades later. If that doesn't cement his timeless legacy, I don't know what does. Keep on truckin Garry. We love you!!
The thought of a 90 day dev cycle with those limitations is absolutely terrifying, especially when it comes with the added pressure of a smash-hit arcade licence - Mr. Kitchen worked wonders to produce what was actually released, let alone anything more!
Imagine if you had 3-5 days to make Chase the Chuckwagon! I think I would have called in sick to give me a few more days. I don't feel sorry for all the kids who drank a lot of Kool-Aid to get proof-of-purchases to send away for Kool-Aid Man, but I do for all the kids that ate dog food to send away for Chase the Chuckwagon.
Great intertview!!! When I first played DK on the 2600 when it first came out, TBH, I really wasn't that disappointed. I was intrigued by it, actally. From all the games that came before this, it was pretty much what I expected, and was very happy with it.
What a fantastic guy. It was great to hear the real story right from Garry. This is without a doubt one of your best videos to date. I'd love to see more interviews like this.
My favorite version of Donkey Kong is the Atari 2600 version regardless of what others say about it being less than perfect. I grew up with that version and played a ton of it as a kid. I still play it today on my Atari Gamestation Pro. Haha.
Thank you so much, Jon, for this amazimg interview, with this industry legend! I, too enjoyed my 2600 version of DK, before i was able to get a ColecoVision! People argue that what's possible today, with modern techniques such as bank-switching, and using emulators to test, proves games such as this and PacMan were sabotaged, on purpose. None of these tools were available, back in the early 80's. With that fact, plus the extremely strict time constraints, and other limitations these early programmers had placed upon them, it's amazing that these games were as fun and playable as they were! Remeber, back then, it was 1, maybe 2 if you were lucky (or your wife was a programmer as well) programmer making these games, from scratch! The teams of literally hundreds of people, along with typical lead times of 2+ years are now the norm. And, 99% of the time, there is a day-one patch, for the games! Back in the 80's, you had 1 shot, and once those proms were burnt, it was done.
Yeah, I think the idea of 1 programmer doing all the work outlived its usefulness in 1982. They should have had a person helping multiple games with sound and music, and another doing graphic design for backgrounds, sprites, etc. I read Atari outsourced some games for 1983, including Moon Patrol and Jungle Hunt. So maybe they made them as a team to look good, sound good and play well?
This guy is a legend for those of us who grew up playing Atari 2600/videogames. Donkey Kong while not perfect on the Atari 2600 was still fun to play. A friend had Space Jockey and that was a very fun game too. Plus, Keystone Kapers is probably one of my top 10 favorites games. It looks and plays amazing on the Atari VCS. Thanks for video Jon. Great stuff.
It's funny how despite the limitations, Atari's Donkey Kong was more faithful to the arcade in terms of how many floors there were in the building. It always looked REALLY awkward on the ColecoVision to be going to the right on the top floor.
I remember thinking this is still a cool game even though it was cut down due to memory ect restraints....still very playable....great interview with Mr kitchen....he set it straight....very cool...
Great interview. Garry hammered out some of my childhood favorites back in the early 80s. Unfortunately my family never snagged a copy of DK. My first home port copy that i owned was the Atari 7800 version. I didnt get a chance to play the 2600 port til some yrs later, but i was impressed by how well it translated on the old hardware. Good stuff
Awesome interview! I played the Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 400/800, ColecoVision and then the Nintendo NES version back in the day, and to be honest, given the time and memory constraints, the 2600 version of Donkey Kong isn't bad, despite everything. In fact, the first screen of the game, and the Mario character himself, earn an award for being quite similar to the arcade version. Come on, not even Nintendo could have the original four screens in its NES version; it was only complete for the Atari 8-bit computer versions at the time. Keystone Kapers is, along with Pitfall II and Enduro, one of my favorite Atari 2600 games (I play them from time to time, thanks to the emulator I have on my phone, hehe). Congratulations on the interview; and to Garry, for giving us such fun moments! Best regards from Ecuador!
Great interview! I don't know why it took me so long to finish watching it, but it was great. I said the same thing in the comments of the Friday Plays video: They didn't have to tank the Atari version because the Coleco Vision was far superior.
This guy was wonderful, humble and a developer... Like a dog who speaks, very rare! I really enjoy learning about the systems and games I have no knowledge of. We had C64 and later Nintendo, none of the systems mentioned here. I hope you can get him on again to share more stories like this soon. Cheers from a GenX in Norway.(No verification of 'grown up' has been found so far)
Great interview. I'll be listening to this tonight. Well, after 1980snow 🤣 I absolutely love this type of history of video games from the ones who were there. He really is a treasure
What a fantastic interview, and what a truly humble designer. Kitchen has amazing skills but he still recognizes the importance of the audience. Fantastic guy!
I don't care what people say about the quality of the 2600 port; I sought out that game and it was one of the happiest days of my life when I finally got it. I played it seemingly millions of times until I got my Colecovision.
Awesome interview, loved and enjoyed every second of it. I would absolutely be on board with interviews of others, like David Crane, Garry's brother Dan, and other legends of the retro gaming days like Roberta Williams, Dave Hamptom, Richard Garriot, Jordan Mechner, and the list goes on and on. Whether other interviews happen or not, thank you for this one, it was amazing!
Thanks for watching and for the kind words! 😁 While you wait for the next one, we have recent interviews with Howard Scott Warshaw and Warren Davis in the back catalog you can check out.
In 1980 something the school bully sat next to me on the coach and said " have you got an atari ?" "Yeh" I said. He then offered me a donkey Kong cartridge and said I could have it. To this day I'm still waiting for him to call in the favour
Great video. I'd like to see more of these 'tales from the trench' with some of the greats. Paul Norman who made Forbidden Forest for the C64 is still around. I'd love to hear his thoughts on creating that classic game. Where did the dance come from?
last week, i got out my Atari 2600 for the first time since 2003. I received it as a Christmas gift from my dad back in 1981. I had missed playing with it, and will be playing some games all this weekend. First game cartridge i plugged in was Asteroids! What great memories!!! I also have an Atari 130XE, and have quite a few games on floppies, and a few cartridge games that i hope to play, if the floppies are still in good shape!
Thanks for asking Garry that question! The answer was always clear, but I have always hated that conspiracy theory, it's absolutely demeaning to the impressive work he did on the game, with just 4K and 90 days! Plus it would have been utterly foolish to intentionally hobble the Atari port. Thanks to the 2600's massive install base, it was able to sell twice as many copies as every Colecovision cartridge combined (4 million 2600 DKs vs > 2 million total CV carts). Which means that out of the 10 million 2600s sold, nearly 1 in 2 owners bought Coleco Donkey Kong
I think they had sold 10 million consoles before Pac-Man and 5 million more by the end of 1982, with a few million more after that, making 15 million+. The question is whether they produced more Pac-Man carts than the 8 million sold. I suspect they might have since they bundled some with consoles in 1983 (1 million+?), and didn't print new catalogs to include new games sold in the second half of 1982, making me think they took them out of unsold Pac-Man boxes and put in others, rather than pay to print new ones. And does the 4 million number for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial sales, result from after games were returned to stores? So if it was good, they might have sold 5-6 million? Or it doesn't include returns, so they only sold 2-3 million?
I went straight to the full audio and was not disappointed. The story about Garry spending 6 months reverse engineering, and the 72-hour install ... I'm full of gratitude, will never complain again!
Great interview! What a cool guy Gary is. I never understood some of the narrative around that game, what were people expecting on the VCS? Really good conversion, the gameplay is solid, it has the right feel.
I met Garry Kitchen (and some other Activision legends!) at Free Play Florida in 2019. Super cool and talented dude, I loved hearing his stories of the technical processes of programming the minimalist 2600. I'm glad we have him around!
Wow! Awesome interview - first of many I hope. I loved the DK port back in the day. I'd only briefly seen the arcade version so I only knew the first screen anyway (in the UK arcades were pretty much only found in seaside towns with the occasional cabinet appearing in your local fish and chip shop!). Apart from the - ahem - 'inventive' way of doing Mario's moustache I thought it looked and played great. Especially when compared to Coleco's VCS Zaxxon port...
Great interview. I never bought into the "conspiracy" at all. Even if Kitchen had 8K to work with, there would be people still complaining. He did what he was contracted to do by Coleco and get paid for it. The fact that he only had 90 days and 4K to work with is pretty astounding.
Thank you, Mr. Kitchen! Keystone Kapers is my favorite Atari game of all time and Donkey Kong was the first videogame I ever purchased (of 1000+ games). I loved the conversion even though it is limited. Many years ago I read the 2600 version was sabotaged to make the colecovision shine and took it as fact, and now don't remember where I read this (random youtube video). Thanks for sharing the story and making great games for my childhood.
I didn't believe it, especially when I got sales figures for the Atari 2600 console (10 million beginning 1982, 15 million at end of 1982), 2 million ColecoVisions, and 4 million Donkey Kong 2600 carts, making it the 3rd best-selling game for Atari 2600.
It wasn't a bad port especially compared to other 2600 games at the time. We spent a lot of time playing it, I think my brothers and I spent the whole weekend (with sleeping between turns) playing that game when we first got it. The only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of the elevator and conveyer levels. Even just the elevator level would have been nice.
And to be fair, most versions are missing the conveyor level(NES, Colecovision, and Atari 7800 versions). Intellivision version went with the same 2 levels as the 2600.
I always heard the rumor that the Atari port of Donkey Kong was sabotaged, but I am actually really happy to hear that was nothing more than a rumor. To hear the time contraint and the ROM limitation I am now really impressed that the port ended up as good as it was. So hats off to Mr. Kitchen who proved he was a master class programmer that deserves to be in the same class as Howard Scott Warshaw.
Honestly, sometimes I perfer the home ports over the arcade. This is because arcades were designed to gobble your quarters faster than pac-man gobbles dots, but the home had more balanced difficulty, more modes to mess around with, along with some quirks. (Like how the scorpion never turns the mushrooms into poison ones, or removing the annoying planes in missile command.)
I've always felt that way too. The home video ports were just more playable and enjoyable. The graphics and sound quality of the home ports were always inferior to the arcade games but I appreciated the fact that most of the home ports had selectable skill level options and I could play the game for a good period of time and not lose all of my lives after a few minutes of play time.
There definitely was a different market and outlook for arcade games that wanted you to fail after a certain time, but still like it enough to come back and play some more. Home games needed to be good enough so you wouldn't return it (like E.T.). So ideally, having a longer play experience was better. I wondered whether some kids were buying games at Zaires, playing them and then returning them for another because there were a lot of 3rd-party Atari games in the bargain bin that had been opened and resealed with tape. I got Arcade Classics for Playstation, and though I think there were multiple-lives settings for some games that weren't at the arcade, some games were really hard to play well! After destroying Sinistar, for instance, the second round was impossible.
Wow...to have a legend on this channel is something apecial! In regards to the game, Mr. Kitchen did the best he could with the tech available at the time.
Great interview! To this day I get a kick out of those Coleco boxes with the arcade cabinets that say "plays like the real arcade game". Coleco did a brilliant job at marketing. In the pre internet 1982 era walking in a Toys R Us and seeing those boxes, what would a 10 year old kid think?
Great interview, Gary Kitchen has brought some great games to the world, strange they often have more than their share of controversy. Not gonna lie I always loved Space Jockey I have a cart the Vid Tek version.
These Atari 2600 developers are true rocket scientists and Donkey Kong just looks to me like an abnormally complicated game to program to fit in an extremely RAM limited machine without a frame buffer, particularly that backdrop with the sloping platforms. In a strange way, coding Atari 2600 games today is loads of fun with modern IDEs like VS Code having an extension that includes a built in emulator/debugger for testing Atari 2600 while you code.
Back when I was a kid, I had less than no concept of the phenomenal code gymnastics that had to be performed to make the 2600 do anything whatsoever. The likes of Kitchen, Crane, Cartwright and the rest made the impossible happen and made it look easy. The mere existence of something even vaguely resembling Donkey Kong on the platform is nothing short of astounding.
The video game market is big, but it's not "multi-trillion" -- it's about $242 billion as of last year. It's expected to get to $500 billion by 2030. Still, a huge number. Awesome interview! I never believed the silly rumor (it makes no sense - they wanted to capitalize on the popularity of Donkey Kong as much as they could) but it's nice to have it finally confirmed as not true.
I’ve always wondered if Mr. Kitchen had just ran of time or hit the wall of what a 2600 could do. So glad to hear he wanted to do the other levels. Wish Nintendo would ask him to “finish” it but they hate the emulator market. GREAT interview!!!
Game Maker was fantastic for me. At a time when my stack of copied floppies measured a foot thick, my copy of Game Maker was legitimately purchased. I had the drawbridge portion of Dragonfire working, with the archer. I just never could figure out how to do all of those treasures on-screen at once.
I was not disappointed with the graphics nor the game play at the time. My immature mind realized there were limitations to be had between the arcade and a home edition running off your television. I do share the feeling of "crestfallen" because of its 2 screens making it feel it was a demo or otherwise incomplete. The word at school was "It didn't have the pie level!" Still, before I understood that there would be a "next generation" console, bringing home an arcade game was special.
It´s an honor to see an interview with Garry Kitchen. His work was an important part of my obsession with videogames since I was 8.
I'm right there with ya!
His "GAME MAKER" for the C64 and Atari is a hidden gem!!
The Intellivision version was purposely bad. The woman was a blob of *one color* that was unrecognizable. (Apparently they didn’t have a famous coder on staff)
Coming from someone that reversed engineered the 2600 Donkey Kong. Garry did an AMAZING job with this cart! Not much room left in the 4K of space. The ramps themselves were amazing.
Hey there, Dennis. Thanks for stopping by to check this out. Garry is a legend.
Hit me up via DM on X or email (jon@genxgrownup.com) if you'd be interested in being interviewed.
I didn’t have that reaction at all. I was thrilled when I got Donkey Kong for my 2600 and played it non stop. As a kid, I never expected the Atari version to look exactly like the arcade, but I also wouldn’t run out of quarters playing it!
Loved the interview and btw, Keystone Kapers is still my all time favorite Atari game.
It looked like mr tiny vs the gingerbread man it was ass
@@crimesforkibble6912 what?
I played quite a bit of both on the 2600 as well, at least until we sold off our 2600 and got an 800xl+1050! Then I played the hell out of them on there! The 800xl was miles above the 2600 version, and I still tend to think that DK's best version on the 8bit Atari computers.
If it wasn’t for Activision the Atari 2600 would have bombed. They had the best games! My favorite is Pitfall! but Keystone Kapers is pretty awesome too!
I think this was the reaction of most people back then. You knew you weren't going to get an exact replica of a game designed to run on a relatively expensive, relatively specialized and relatively state-of-the-art (for it's time) arcade system to play on a relatively cheap, relatively general purpose (in that it can play various types of games) consumer console that was four years older than the arcade itself.
Damn, the story straight from the mouth of an industry legend, that's an amazing get, my friend. This will probably be referenced and credited in documentaries and books on the subject for the rest of video gaming history! You must be proud, you damn well should be.
Haha! Wouldn't that be something! 😁 It was a pleasure speaking with Garry and I'm quite happy with how the interview is being received - that's for sure. Thanks for watching and for the kind words.
i wouldnt be surprised if they use this in documentaries. your right. id be proud of this video genxgrownup!
What a privilege to interview one of the legends of video game development.
Definitely one of my all time favorite 2600 games. What he was able to do with that system is frankly amazing. Thanks for the great interview! As a fellow old-timey programmer, I know what those days were like. There were so many new industries coming out that were centered around computers and programming. It wasn't just game development that suffered from the issue of not being able to find "experts" in technologies and systems that were "private" or just poorly documented. The great part of his story is that he didn't have someone there to hold is hand and tell him how to make it all work. He forged his own trail by taking the time to reverse-engineer a system on his own time. He took the initiative and it paid off!
And the tools they had available to them were extremely minimal compared to today. In the early days they were literally using graph paper, calculators (to calculate execution speed - cycles) and tons of coffee and/or soda. The tools available today, even for developing Atari 2600 games!, would make those OG programmers drool. It's a wonder that any of them could produce anything worth playing at all considering how tedious and complex it was to do, especially on the notoriously limited VCS.
Yeah as a kid I never cared that the graphics were "sub-par", all I cared about was that my 13" black and white rabbit ear TV was playing Donkey Kong. 5 year old me thought I owned an arcade in my bedroom and I was happy!
Mine was pitfall my worst favorite was missile command
Wow! what a great part of the interview. Like you his games, including the Game Maker were a fond part of my memories from back then so what a great guy. Jon, you interview like an absolute Pro and I look forward to the full interview and future ones. Such great information. This is why GenXGrownUp is without a doubt the best games/Retro/GenX inspired channel on UA-cam. Keep up the great work, GXG gang.
I’m so relieved someone finally got this interview and put that nonsensical and insulting rumor to bed. It’s clear people who think that’s a bad port don’t understand the limitations of that system and cartridge. He did an admirable job.
Wow! What an interview and well edited, too! Seems like a great guy and very fun to talk with. I’ve been lurking in the shadows on your stuff for a bit and had to drop a few bucks of encouragement for you to continue what you’re up to!
Thanks for the kind words and your generosity. Consider me encouraged! 😁
As an 80s kid, I played the heck out of Atari 2600 Donkey Kong. For the record, I played the heck out of Atari 2600 Pac-Man too! I just took them as they were and enjoyed them.
Same here!
Same here. For what they were they were fun to a 6-7 year old me.
Same here. I was just happy about the fact that i no longer have to wait on somebody to finish at the game room before i got a chance to play
No matter how bad some 2600 games were, it can never erase the simple fact that we had video games........at HOME!
They were my first video games on my own garbage dump rescue 13 inch black and white and I played the heck out of em...I am blessed that it never caught fire😂
Really loved Keystone Kapers and Donkey Kong as a kid. I feel like at the time you knew Atari 2600 versions of arcade games are going to not be exactly like the arcade game, but mostly I was just happy to have the chance to play these games, because I was not really allowed to go to the arcade that often. I loved the Atari 2600 Donkey Kong and spent hours playing it. In the context of the time and the system it was on, it makes sense.
Seeing the names of guys like Gary Kitchen, David Crane, and Steve Cartwright on the boxes of Activision Atari games inspired me to learn to make games myself, and led to me becoming a game designer and artist in the early 2000s (made a lot of Dragon Ball Z games for the GBA and a bunch of other stuff.) And I will tell you, even by that time things hadn't changed a bit. Most of the games I worked on we usually had around 6 months, and were beholden to a Christmas deadline and there were arguments about cart sizes. I'm sure developers today are still dealing with these types of constraints.
Good point about not going to arcades; the previous thread had a reply saying the player was 5. I was allowed to play arcade games in the arcade at the mall, Putt-Putt, restaurants and 7-Eleven when I was 10-13 in 1981-1984. Sometimes I think the Atari should have had a "give it to your little brother" campaign to introduce a newer system. Even its competitor didn't do that, instead creating a mini-Atari to plug into the ColecoVision, and Mattel wanted to do the same for its Intellivision. Just think of how many ColecoVision games they didn't sell by selling that Atari plug-in! Nobody knew how to get people to "upgrade" to a next generation system, especially when Atari sold another 5 million 2600 consoles in 1982 due to Pac-Man.
I assumed that the measley 4k was a massive limitation of the 2600 DK, but until now, I did not know that he had only 90 days to make the whole thing.
Typical of Atari back then ……. I remember the guy who made ET said he had even less time😊
@@patsfan4life Yeah,weeks to make a game that cost 28 million dollars to licence.
That 90 day thing makes me think these shouldn't have been just one-programmer jobs. There should have been a music/sound FX guy/girl and a graphics artist to help with the screens and sprites.
I think Atari outsourced the 5200 games and some 2600 games released in 1983, and the result was Moon Patrol and Jungle Hunt that looked and sounded great. The latter had some control issues, but that's my quibble. I think I read that one Atari programmer asked for graphics help from the art department that made the manuals and was ignored.
@@sandal_thong8631 agreed, it was crazy that a game they expected to sell millions of copies of was given to one programmer with a 3-month time limit
@@sandal_thong8631 Well, for graphics there was also the box art... and on the 2600 games the mock-up screen shots on the boxes often differed drastically to the actual content. They knew about what the limits were and drew up some mockery in that style, but it often looked worse than the released product! I think I read somewhere that Coleco did give the programmers some graphics art, but if it was similar to that shown on the product, it might well have just been not used.
Gary Kitchen's Game Makes for the C-64 was my first foray into making my own program. Thanks Gary.
as an 80s kid and I think we all can agree, it really never mattered how crappy the games looked at home.. to this day I love 2600 donkey Kong .. push the button to start .. such a great interview .. just imagine what could have been if he had more time and a larger memory cart
Great interview. Nice to hear the story straight from Garry. Also, I did not realize he created Space Jockey. I still have the game.
There's something magical about those who were making games before I even played them, let alone started making them myself. The stories of Atari VCS development, especially the drug fueled Atari ones before Warner bought them, but also the third party like this.
Awesome interview with one of the best 2600 game designers!! Not only did I play a lot of Garry's Donkey Kong port, Keystone Kapers was also one of my favorites.
As a kid, I bought a Coleco Gemini (Atari 2600 clone) that came with Donkey Kong and Mouse Trap. It took every penny I had, and a few dollars "borrowed" from my parents to get, so there were no games in my immediate future. I played the heck out of those two game and loved Donkey Kong. I don't recall if I even knew there was a missing fourth level.
The Gemini died a fairly early death.... The games still live on, and have a place of honor in my collection.
Thank you Gary for doing the interview and for programming so many incredible games from my youth!
Thank you Jon for conducting this interview with Gary and for settling the debate. Well done sir.
I still remember the first time I booted K. Kapers on the colecovision in 1985... my jaw dropped just listening to that intro tune, and played it to death. Also remember reading his name every time and think 'who is this guy?' but I have to admit I wondered the same about Crane on pitfall and Rolfe on Beamrider lol
Thank you Garry, you entertained me for a long time.
That was an excellent interview and very informative on what was going on with that port of DK. And good to squash the rumors. And thank you for letting your guest talk. With so many "interviews" that happen elsewhere, the host doesn't shut up and (I feel) interjects too much. But you asked the right questions, kept him comfortable and he delivered on the answers! Thank you again. Good stuff!
It was an Absolutely amazing interview! Now time to go listen to the whole interview.
I hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for your enthusiasm, Jeremiah!
Thank you for this interview with the brilliant Gary Kitchen - as a Gen Xers who loves retro video games this brings a lot of joy ....hello from London Eng.
Glad you enjoyed it!
so true what garry said about donkey kong being out for xmas in 1982.i got it for xmas and every kid on my block who had atari got it as well
Great video! When you interview these wonderful people please thank them for the many years of kids like me playing and bringing families closer. My dad and I shared so many great moments with the Atari. This is also a reason why I loved pac man despite all the hate. It was the one game my mom would play and we played together she knew patterns and would write down high scores. It is easy for people to look back at these games now and say they were not great but as a young kid growing up with this these games they will always be amazing to me.
I received Game Maker for Christmas for the Apple II back in ‘85 or ‘86 and I absolutely loved it. I still have it and the manual and even the included blank disk and mailer.👍 Thank you, Garry, great interview!
Great stuff! Thanks for bringing to us. I recently discovered Pressure Cooker and got a old cart for my 2600+ along with Keystone Kapers. Garry Kitchen was one of the best. I remember getting Donkey Kong back in 82 at 12 years old. When I saw Donkey Kong on Colecovison at Macys around Christmas, it was all over. Beginning of the end for my Atari 2600.
Great interview.
Thanks Garry for helping make my childhood and for your hard work and contributions to the early video game industry - some of the best times of my life.
I still play Atari 2600 Donkey Kong to this day and will always appreciate it.
Such a great interview! I’ve also grown up with this game and the ColecoVision version as well. I have many fond memories with friends and family playing on those systems and remember the rumors about the quality of 2600 DK vs CV DK. I’m so glad to hear it’s not true. It seems that the quality of several other big name titles suffered for similar time-constraint reasons.
I hope you interview David Crane soon!
Great interview. Garry Kitchen is one of the legends. I hope you can get the interview with David Crane. I have all of Garry's Atari 2600 games, Pressure Cooker and Keystone Kapers are two of my favorites. I was lucky enough to get the No. 1 cart sold of Circus Convoy.
Still have my Wildfire pinball. I spent so much time playing it in the back seat on family car trips. Wonderful to see it pop up in your video.
Indeed. And not the first time, either! ua-cam.com/video/wt94-mZKe_E/v-deo.html
Keystone Kapers is my 12 year old sons favorite Atari game. We just bought Circus Convoy as well and can't wait to try it out. Great interview.
Circus Convoy is ON FIRE! 🔥 If you want to hear more about Audacity Games and Circus Convoy, that's included in the full hour-long audio version of this interview linked in the description. Thanks for watching! 😁
Great interview, always good to hear from an Activision guy. I wasn’t aware he did work for Parker Brothers. Honestly, the Atari port of DK was the only one I could get past the barrel screen on.
Awesome interview. I loved Donkey Kong for my Atari 2600 and didn't expect it to be like the arcade. I always loved his games, especially the Game Maker. Thanks to this guy, I had a great childhood.
Glad you enjoyed it!
What a very cool guy! Honestly, it is a good port given the constraints. I think a lot of people didn't understand the time crunch and the space restrictions these guys were under. David Crane was a wizard back in the day too, it'd be awesome if you were able to get him on sometime!
Great interview. Growing up, I was a 2600 Jr. owner who previously had a Vic 20 which had much more extensive versions of Pac Man and Donkey Kong. Naturally, I had more of an appreciation for the late era 2600 library while the pre-crash library seemed much more primitive. While the later games were objectively better, I have a lot more respect for the early games today, now that I know more about the limitations they had, the hoops they had to jump through, and the fact that the whole industry was basically learning on the fly. Really set the foundation for what would come later. The comparison with the flickering is a great example. 8-year old me probably just thought I needed a better converter box.
Love Pressure Cooker too. Never owned it, or heard of it growing up, but once emulation became a thing, I played it out of curiosity & couldn’t put it down. That and Montezuma are probably the two very best 21st century 2600 discoveries that I made around that time.
Awesome interview Jon, really enjoyed it! I owned this cart back in the day and still have it. I played it for many many hours 😎 So great to hear it straight from Mr. Kitchen what limitations he was up against. IMO, amazing job with only 4K and 3 months.
Awesome interview, thanks!
I remember the kid's house and even tv location and setup to this day when I first played the 2600 version of Donkey Kong and had the exact same reaction as you and most other kids...oh man, those were some magic and exciting times, lol. Incredible that he only had 90 days to do the entire thing by himself, unreal.
Reaction probably had to do with age and ability to play the arcade game. Little kids: it's really good. Older kids: it looks disappointing. But if you owned it, you most likely played it to death, whatever age, just as one played Atari Pac-Man for hours on end. I don't think kids and parents returned it to the store, like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
My parents bought this for me when it first came out and I was a happy kid playing Donkey Kong at home despite the limitations.
Props to Mr. Kitchen, he's a legend & an industry ICON! I had DK & Space Jockey for the 2600. 2 of my favorite games on the platform. I never thought DK was a crippled port. In fact, it's on my top 10 list of all time well done ports for the system. Also as I watch this video, I'm currently using Garry's GameMaker to develop a new game for the C64. So, yeah it's true people like me are still absolutely enjoying & reaping the benefits of his work many decades later. If that doesn't cement his timeless legacy, I don't know what does. Keep on truckin Garry. We love you!!
The thought of a 90 day dev cycle with those limitations is absolutely terrifying, especially when it comes with the added pressure of a smash-hit arcade licence - Mr. Kitchen worked wonders to produce what was actually released, let alone anything more!
Imagine if you had 3-5 days to make Chase the Chuckwagon! I think I would have called in sick to give me a few more days.
I don't feel sorry for all the kids who drank a lot of Kool-Aid to get proof-of-purchases to send away for Kool-Aid Man, but I do for all the kids that ate dog food to send away for Chase the Chuckwagon.
Great intertview!!! When I first played DK on the 2600 when it first came out, TBH, I really wasn't that disappointed. I was intrigued by it, actally. From all the games that came before this, it was pretty much what I expected, and was very happy with it.
What a fantastic guy. It was great to hear the real story right from Garry. This is without a doubt one of your best videos to date. I'd love to see more interviews like this.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching! 😁
What an awesome guy! So personable. This was a great interview. You lead it so well. 👍🏻
I was not expecting this follow up after the DK video, what an awesome idea and great video!
My favorite version of Donkey Kong is the Atari 2600 version regardless of what others say about it being less than perfect. I grew up with that version and played a ton of it as a kid. I still play it today on my Atari Gamestation Pro. Haha.
I love it, too!
I loved the 2600 version also!
Yeah, I loved it, too. I still wished, at the time, that I had a ColecoVision, lol.
@@ALTDOK667My dad had the ColecoVision. The only story i know from him so far is that he doesn't like the phone-shaped controller nowadays
Same here my first version I had
Thank you so much, Jon, for this amazimg interview, with this industry legend! I, too enjoyed my 2600 version of DK, before i was able to get a ColecoVision! People argue that what's possible today, with modern techniques such as bank-switching, and using emulators to test, proves games such as this and PacMan were sabotaged, on purpose. None of these tools were available, back in the early 80's. With that fact, plus the extremely strict time constraints, and other limitations these early programmers had placed upon them, it's amazing that these games were as fun and playable as they were! Remeber, back then, it was 1, maybe 2 if you were lucky (or your wife was a programmer as well) programmer making these games, from scratch! The teams of literally hundreds of people, along with typical lead times of 2+ years are now the norm. And, 99% of the time, there is a day-one patch, for the games! Back in the 80's, you had 1 shot, and once those proms were burnt, it was done.
Yeah, I think the idea of 1 programmer doing all the work outlived its usefulness in 1982. They should have had a person helping multiple games with sound and music, and another doing graphic design for backgrounds, sprites, etc. I read Atari outsourced some games for 1983, including Moon Patrol and Jungle Hunt. So maybe they made them as a team to look good, sound good and play well?
This guy is a legend for those of us who grew up playing Atari 2600/videogames. Donkey Kong while not perfect on the Atari 2600 was still fun to play. A friend had Space Jockey and that was a very fun game too. Plus, Keystone Kapers is probably one of my top 10 favorites games. It looks and plays amazing on the Atari VCS. Thanks for video Jon. Great stuff.
It's funny how despite the limitations, Atari's Donkey Kong was more faithful to the arcade in terms of how many floors there were in the building. It always looked REALLY awkward on the ColecoVision to be going to the right on the top floor.
I remember thinking this is still a cool game even though it was cut down due to memory ect restraints....still very playable....great interview with Mr kitchen....he set it straight....very cool...
This was good work. I always remembered Garry from Battletank because his name was on it. But I'll admit I didn't know what all else he worked on.
Great interview. Garry hammered out some of my childhood favorites back in the early 80s. Unfortunately my family never snagged a copy of DK. My first home port copy that i owned was the Atari 7800 version. I didnt get a chance to play the 2600 port til some yrs later, but i was impressed by how well it translated on the old hardware.
Good stuff
Awesome interview! I played the Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 400/800, ColecoVision and then the Nintendo NES version back in the day, and to be honest, given the time and memory constraints, the 2600 version of Donkey Kong isn't bad, despite everything. In fact, the first screen of the game, and the Mario character himself, earn an award for being quite similar to the arcade version. Come on, not even Nintendo could have the original four screens in its NES version; it was only complete for the Atari 8-bit computer versions at the time. Keystone Kapers is, along with Pitfall II and Enduro, one of my favorite Atari 2600 games (I play them from time to time, thanks to the emulator I have on my phone, hehe). Congratulations on the interview; and to Garry, for giving us such fun moments! Best regards from Ecuador!
Great interview! I don't know why it took me so long to finish watching it, but it was great. I said the same thing in the comments of the Friday Plays video: They didn't have to tank the Atari version because the Coleco Vision was far superior.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This guy was wonderful, humble and a developer... Like a dog who speaks, very rare!
I really enjoy learning about the systems and games I have no knowledge of.
We had C64 and later Nintendo, none of the systems mentioned here.
I hope you can get him on again to share more stories like this soon.
Cheers from a GenX in Norway.(No verification of 'grown up' has been found so far)
Great interview. I'll be listening to this tonight. Well, after 1980snow 🤣 I absolutely love this type of history of video games from the ones who were there. He really is a treasure
This was great! Thank you both for doing the interview.
Our pleasure!
Great interview. Get more of these developers on !!!!!
Great interview! I looked up to these guys growing up playing their games!
Thanks. You & me both! 😁 And now, speaking to them directly? Amazing experience.
I still consider Wildfire to be one of the best electronic pinball games ever made. Didn't realize Mr. Kitchen made it.
What a fantastic interview, and what a truly humble designer. Kitchen has amazing skills but he still recognizes the importance of the audience. Fantastic guy!
I don't care what people say about the quality of the 2600 port; I sought out that game and it was one of the happiest days of my life when I finally got it. I played it seemingly millions of times until I got my Colecovision.
Awesome interview, loved and enjoyed every second of it. I would absolutely be on board with interviews of others, like David Crane, Garry's brother Dan, and other legends of the retro gaming days like Roberta Williams, Dave Hamptom, Richard Garriot, Jordan Mechner, and the list goes on and on.
Whether other interviews happen or not, thank you for this one, it was amazing!
Thanks for watching and for the kind words! 😁 While you wait for the next one, we have recent interviews with Howard Scott Warshaw and Warren Davis in the back catalog you can check out.
@@GenXGrownUp Thanks, will check those out.
In 1980 something the school bully sat next to me on the coach and said " have you got an atari ?" "Yeh" I said. He then offered me a donkey Kong cartridge and said I could have it. To this day I'm still waiting for him to call in the favour
Great video. I'd like to see more of these 'tales from the trench' with some of the greats. Paul Norman who made Forbidden Forest for the C64 is still around. I'd love to hear his thoughts on creating that classic game. Where did the dance come from?
last week, i got out my Atari 2600 for the first time since 2003. I received it as a Christmas gift from my dad back in 1981. I had missed playing with it, and will be playing some games all this weekend. First game cartridge i plugged in was Asteroids! What great memories!!! I also have an Atari 130XE, and have quite a few games on floppies, and a few cartridge games that i hope to play, if the floppies are still in good shape!
Garry Kitchen, thank you very much. I played Donkey Kong on my 2600 at least a year and I loved it. Never been to arcades, so for me D.K. was perfect!
Thanks for asking Garry that question! The answer was always clear, but I have always hated that conspiracy theory, it's absolutely demeaning to the impressive work he did on the game, with just 4K and 90 days! Plus it would have been utterly foolish to intentionally hobble the Atari port. Thanks to the 2600's massive install base, it was able to sell twice as many copies as every Colecovision cartridge combined (4 million 2600 DKs vs > 2 million total CV carts). Which means that out of the 10 million 2600s sold, nearly 1 in 2 owners bought Coleco Donkey Kong
I think they had sold 10 million consoles before Pac-Man and 5 million more by the end of 1982, with a few million more after that, making 15 million+. The question is whether they produced more Pac-Man carts than the 8 million sold. I suspect they might have since they bundled some with consoles in 1983 (1 million+?), and didn't print new catalogs to include new games sold in the second half of 1982, making me think they took them out of unsold Pac-Man boxes and put in others, rather than pay to print new ones.
And does the 4 million number for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial sales, result from after games were returned to stores? So if it was good, they might have sold 5-6 million? Or it doesn't include returns, so they only sold 2-3 million?
Not only did Coleco sell through all those DK 2600 carts but Atari later bought the port and rereleased it in the late 80s and they sold a bunch more.
Great interview and fantastic insights. Thanks for making this possible and keep up the awesome work!
Wow what a fantastic interview! Thank you!
What a legend! Thanks for this interview. Wish the whole thing could've been on UA-cam
Great interview and video, well done.
I went straight to the full audio and was not disappointed. The story about Garry spending 6 months reverse engineering, and the 72-hour install ... I'm full of gratitude, will never complain again!
Great interview! What a cool guy Gary is. I never understood some of the narrative around that game, what were people expecting on the VCS? Really good conversion, the gameplay is solid, it has the right feel.
Awesome interview! More of these need to be done to preserve for future generations. You are a professional, Jon. 👍
I met Garry Kitchen (and some other Activision legends!) at Free Play Florida in 2019. Super cool and talented dude, I loved hearing his stories of the technical processes of programming the minimalist 2600. I'm glad we have him around!
Ok, time to go listen to the podcast. I love what ive heard/seen so far!
Wow! Awesome interview - first of many I hope.
I loved the DK port back in the day. I'd only briefly seen the arcade version so I only knew the first screen anyway (in the UK arcades were pretty much only found in seaside towns with the occasional cabinet appearing in your local fish and chip shop!). Apart from the - ahem - 'inventive' way of doing Mario's moustache I thought it looked and played great. Especially when compared to Coleco's VCS Zaxxon port...
Thanks! Not the first, though. Check back in our catalog for interviews with Howard Scott Warshaw, Warren Davis, Gil Gerard, and MORE!
Great interview. I never bought into the "conspiracy" at all. Even if Kitchen had 8K to work with, there would be people still complaining. He did what he was contracted to do by Coleco and get paid for it. The fact that he only had 90 days and 4K to work with is pretty astounding.
Thank you, Mr. Kitchen! Keystone Kapers is my favorite Atari game of all time and Donkey Kong was the first videogame I ever purchased (of 1000+ games). I loved the conversion even though it is limited. Many years ago I read the 2600 version was sabotaged to make the colecovision shine and took it as fact, and now don't remember where I read this (random youtube video). Thanks for sharing the story and making great games for my childhood.
Mine too!
I didn't believe it, especially when I got sales figures for the Atari 2600 console (10 million beginning 1982, 15 million at end of 1982), 2 million ColecoVisions, and 4 million Donkey Kong 2600 carts, making it the 3rd best-selling game for Atari 2600.
It wasn't a bad port especially compared to other 2600 games at the time. We spent a lot of time playing it, I think my brothers and I spent the whole weekend (with sleeping between turns) playing that game when we first got it. The only thing I was disappointed about was the lack of the elevator and conveyer levels. Even just the elevator level would have been nice.
And to be fair, most versions are missing the conveyor level(NES, Colecovision, and Atari 7800 versions). Intellivision version went with the same 2 levels as the 2600.
Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.
I always heard the rumor that the Atari port of Donkey Kong was sabotaged, but I am actually really happy to hear that was nothing more than a rumor. To hear the time contraint and the ROM limitation I am now really impressed that the port ended up as good as it was. So hats off to Mr. Kitchen who proved he was a master class programmer that deserves to be in the same class as Howard Scott Warshaw.
Honestly, sometimes I perfer the home ports over the arcade. This is because arcades were designed to gobble your quarters faster than pac-man gobbles dots, but the home had more balanced difficulty, more modes to mess around with, along with some quirks. (Like how the scorpion never turns the mushrooms into poison ones, or removing the annoying planes in missile command.)
I've always felt that way too.
The home video ports were just more playable and enjoyable.
The graphics and sound quality of the home ports were always inferior to the arcade games but I appreciated the fact that most of the home ports had selectable skill level options and I could play the game for a good period of time and not lose all of my lives after a few minutes of play time.
There definitely was a different market and outlook for arcade games that wanted you to fail after a certain time, but still like it enough to come back and play some more. Home games needed to be good enough so you wouldn't return it (like E.T.). So ideally, having a longer play experience was better. I wondered whether some kids were buying games at Zaires, playing them and then returning them for another because there were a lot of 3rd-party Atari games in the bargain bin that had been opened and resealed with tape.
I got Arcade Classics for Playstation, and though I think there were multiple-lives settings for some games that weren't at the arcade, some games were really hard to play well! After destroying Sinistar, for instance, the second round was impossible.
This was one incredible interview! Thank you soo much!
Thank you for watching! 😁
Wow...to have a legend on this channel is something apecial! In regards to the game, Mr. Kitchen did the best he could with the tech available at the time.
Wow. Never thought we'd ever get an explanation for that. Now I've gained a deeper appreciation for the 2600 port of DK.
Great interview! To this day I get a kick out of those Coleco boxes with the arcade cabinets that say "plays like the real arcade game". Coleco did a brilliant job at marketing. In the pre internet 1982 era walking in a Toys R Us and seeing those boxes, what would a 10 year old kid think?
But other than Donkey Kong, I don't think any sold over 1 million copies. Activision, Imagic and Parker Bros. had more top sellers.
Fantastic interview! :-) Nice work.
What an amazing interview. Great stuff.
Great interview, Gary Kitchen has brought some great games to the world, strange they often have more than their share of controversy. Not gonna lie I always loved Space Jockey I have a cart the Vid Tek version.
These Atari 2600 developers are true rocket scientists and Donkey Kong just looks to me like an abnormally complicated game to program to fit in an extremely RAM limited machine without a frame buffer, particularly that backdrop with the sloping platforms. In a strange way, coding Atari 2600 games today is loads of fun with modern IDEs like VS Code having an extension that includes a built in emulator/debugger for testing Atari 2600 while you code.
🎉 Awesome interview! Thnx Jon and Gary!!! 😃
Back when I was a kid, I had less than no concept of the phenomenal code gymnastics that had to be performed to make the 2600 do anything whatsoever. The likes of Kitchen, Crane, Cartwright and the rest made the impossible happen and made it look easy. The mere existence of something even vaguely resembling Donkey Kong on the platform is nothing short of astounding.
The video game market is big, but it's not "multi-trillion" -- it's about $242 billion as of last year. It's expected to get to $500 billion by 2030. Still, a huge number. Awesome interview! I never believed the silly rumor (it makes no sense - they wanted to capitalize on the popularity of Donkey Kong as much as they could) but it's nice to have it finally confirmed as not true.
Thanks for the correction. It was a bit of hyperbole on my part.
I’ve always wondered if Mr. Kitchen had just ran of time or hit the wall of what a 2600 could do. So glad to hear he wanted to do the other levels. Wish Nintendo would ask him to “finish” it but they hate the emulator market. GREAT interview!!!
Thanks for watching, Jeremy! 😁
Game Maker was fantastic for me. At a time when my stack of copied floppies measured a foot thick, my copy of Game Maker was legitimately purchased. I had the drawbridge portion of Dragonfire working, with the archer. I just never could figure out how to do all of those treasures on-screen at once.
Great interview! I always thought the controversy was more around the Intellivision version.
Thank you for watching! 😁
I was not disappointed with the graphics nor the game play at the time. My immature mind realized there were limitations to be had between the arcade and a home edition running off your television. I do share the feeling of "crestfallen" because of its 2 screens making it feel it was a demo or otherwise incomplete. The word at school was "It didn't have the pie level!" Still, before I understood that there would be a "next generation" console, bringing home an arcade game was special.