Game design and programming veteran Ed Logg has been named the recipient of a coveted interactive art award.
Logg is best known as a veteran of Atari's coin-op division in the golden age of gaming. He was the co-designer of both Centipede and Asteroids, as well as the lead developer on 1985's Gauntlet.
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) will present Logg with its 2012 AIAS Pioneer Award at its 15th annual Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony in Las Vegas on February 9.
"What I learned from Ed was that creating the fun of a game did not require complex algorithms as much as it required the right approach," said former Atari Games colleague Mark Cerny, who will present Logg with the award during the reception. "Which is to say that it wasn't virtuoso coding that made Ed's games a success, as much as it was putting all the proper features in the game in the correct order.
"Of course, you needed an amazing intuition as to which were the 'proper' features, that was the difficulty in replicating Ed's strategy!"
Logg will be the third recipient of the Pioneer Award in as many years: the first inductee was Activision co-founder David Crane, and the second was Raster Blaster and Pinball Construction Set creator Bill Budge.
More information on the AIAS Awards is available on its official website.
Now I know who made the game that earned the most quarters from me. I can still hum the theme song to Gauntlet, the best coin-op arcade game of all time in my personal opinion. I tip my hat to you, sir. Here, have a potion.
Yeah, the theme song was really haunting, never played the game in the arcades, only in it's home computer incarnations, but the concept was fantastic.
I remember the day, when two friends and me decided to play 128 Levels of Gauntlet 2, it took hours, but it was unforgettable.
He started Centipede (which was originally called Bug Hunt), and Dona Bailey took it over and finished it. I hope some women eventually receive Pioneer Awards too.
Gauntlet was huge for me... I spent more money on that one game in half an hour than in a good many other games combined. It was the cooperative aspect. You couldn't let yourself die, your friends needed you!
I remember the day, when two friends and me decided to play 128 Levels of Gauntlet 2, it took hours, but it was unforgettable.
Warrior Needs Food... Badly!.
Gauntlet was huge for me... I spent more money on that one game in half an hour than in a good many other games combined. It was the cooperative aspect. You couldn't let yourself die, your friends needed you!