Was Coleco's Donkey Kong Port for Atari 2600 SABOTAGED?

Was Coleco's Donkey Kong Port for Atari 2600 SABOTAGED? | Garry Kitchen Settles It!

Рет қаралды 23,889

Күн бұрын

🎧 FULL ONE-HOUR INTERVIEW: genxgrownup.com/GK
One of the coolest benefits of being a content creator is having the opportunity to actually speak with some of the key figures who laid the foundation of the video game industry, and my guest for this video is without a doubt one of those individuals. He was there in the very early days of Activision when they were forging new ground as the first third-party game developer for Atari and later others, he is the wizard behind such successful titles as Keystone Kapers, Pressure Cooker, and Coleco's Donkey Kong, and is still blazing that trail today with other Activision alumni over at Audacity Games. In this interview, Garry Kitchen sets the record straight on the urban legend that Coleco intentionally designed the Atari 2600 port of Donkey Kong to make the ColecoVision version look that much more superior.
#atari #donkeykong #genxgrownup
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Пікірлер: 340

@SylveonTrapito Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

I'm right there with ya!

@dennisdebro3148 Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

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.

@glensmith4512 Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

Same here!

@beatlefreak909 Ай бұрын

Same here. For what they were they were fun to a 6-7 year old me.

@SupremeNerd Ай бұрын

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

@tedthrasher9433 Ай бұрын

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.

@crimesforkibble6912 Ай бұрын

It looked like mr tiny vs the gingerbread man it was ass

@edwardmclaughlin719 25 күн бұрын

@@crimesforkibble6912 what?

@welding_guy7524 Ай бұрын

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

@TheWarmotor Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

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.

@demonsty Ай бұрын

i wouldnt be surprised if they use this in documentaries. your right. id be proud of this video genxgrownup!

@ridiculous_gaming Ай бұрын

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.

@patsfan4life Ай бұрын

Typical of Atari back then ……. I remember the guy who made ET said he had even less time😊

@ridiculous_gaming Ай бұрын

@@patsfan4life Yeah,weeks to make a game that cost 28 million dollars to licence.

@mtslyh Ай бұрын

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!

@JustWasted3HoursHere Ай бұрын

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.

@lorenmorgan1931 Ай бұрын

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!

@roberth1111 Ай бұрын

Mine was pitfall my worst favorite was missile command

@kins749 Ай бұрын

Absolute legend. I never bought the conspiracy theory, the VCS was simply not capable of anything more than Garry managed to achieve in that miniscule 4K.

@nickfifteen Ай бұрын

Yeah like there is a modern version of Donkey Kong which is AMAZING to see play... but it requires 64k bank switching and took a couple years to develop... both of which were not available to Garry. For three months and 4k, he did an amazing job!!

@gswanson Ай бұрын

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.

@ACL84Fla Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

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! 😁

@richchinnici6182 Ай бұрын

What a privilege to interview one of the legends of video game development.

@BGNerd1 Ай бұрын

Great interview. Nice to hear the story straight from Garry. Also, I did not realize he created Space Jockey. I still have the game.

@waynerowlinson6177 Ай бұрын

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.

@Studeb Ай бұрын

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.

@RacerX- Ай бұрын

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 KZfaq. Keep up the great work, GXG gang.

@leoc.9341 Ай бұрын

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.

@jeremiahthomas8140 Ай бұрын

It was an Absolutely amazing interview! Now time to go listen to the whole interview.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

I hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for your enthusiasm, Jeremiah!

@joshh8245 Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

I love it, too!

@OptimusNiaa Ай бұрын

I loved the 2600 version also!

@ALTDOK667 Ай бұрын

Yeah, I loved it, too. I still wished, at the time, that I had a ColecoVision, lol.

@FigureFarter Ай бұрын

@@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

@jasonbrown4239 Ай бұрын

Same here my first version I had

@marklechman2225 Ай бұрын

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!

@chrissawyer1484 Ай бұрын

I still consider Wildfire to be one of the best electronic pinball games ever made. Didn't realize Mr. Kitchen made it.

@MrDirkles Ай бұрын

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

@retro_reflections Ай бұрын

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!

@SwainyAtRetroAsylum Ай бұрын

Just hearing the sound effects of the Atari 2600 versions of Pac-Man & Donkey Kong send me right back. Top stuff!

@Jason_Quinn Ай бұрын

bip bip bip bip bip--boodle-ee-dee-doo

@bb-gc2tx Ай бұрын

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

@carymcrawford Ай бұрын

Gary Kitchen's Game Makes for the C-64 was my first foray into making my own program. Thanks Gary.

@WagnersTechTalk Ай бұрын

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.

@FishDS9 Ай бұрын

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.

@frankbettis4865 Ай бұрын

I'm noticing Gary's home decor, the Simpsons figures on the couch. Homer, Lisa, Bart. Cool man cool.

@MondoMiami Ай бұрын

If it were 1994.

@AIex_Kidd Ай бұрын

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.

@DeedleTech Ай бұрын

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!

@RCfromtheNYC Ай бұрын

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.

@AlligatorArms Ай бұрын

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.

@artofmana Ай бұрын

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!

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

Thanks for the kind words and your generosity. Consider me encouraged! 😁

@davidcarlson2481 Ай бұрын

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!

@mikemonk4375 Ай бұрын

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.

@JumboJosh-lv3mo Ай бұрын

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.)

@classicgamer1968 Ай бұрын

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.

@Jimmy.Williams Ай бұрын

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.

@RobsRetroGaming Ай бұрын

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.

@CP-ih6zq Ай бұрын

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.

@joeg4707 Ай бұрын

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.

@ArcadeDude44 Ай бұрын

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.

@EarmonkeyMusic Ай бұрын

Awesome. Great questions Jon. Take him up on the David Crane thing! 😂😂

@jasonmann3775 Ай бұрын

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.

@gstcomputing65 Ай бұрын

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.

@retro-randy52 Ай бұрын

Awesome interview! More of these need to be done to preserve for future generations. You are a professional, Jon. 👍

@VortexArcade Ай бұрын

I was not expecting this follow up after the DK video, what an awesome idea and great video!

@glennshoemake4200 Ай бұрын

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.

@Paul-qg3iw Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@erickent3557 Ай бұрын

Wow, 90 days?! Ouch. Yeah, without more time, a bigger cartridge is meaningless.... Great Interview, Jon!!

@WowplayerMe Ай бұрын

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!!

@jackeldogo3952 Ай бұрын

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.

@user-uu3wy1bh4z Ай бұрын

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.

@ButterSpider3 Ай бұрын

What an awesome guy! So personable. This was a great interview. You lead it so well. 👍🏻

@RandyWaage Ай бұрын

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.

@Hologhoul Ай бұрын

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.

@classicgamer1968 Ай бұрын

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.

@spacepuppy720 Ай бұрын

Wow. Never thought we'd ever get an explanation for that. Now I've gained a deeper appreciation for the 2600 port of DK.

@zerobyte802 Ай бұрын

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.

@jayme69 Ай бұрын

Great interview and fantastic insights. Thanks for making this possible and keep up the awesome work!

@creepingnet Ай бұрын

I remember when that myth about 2600 DK started. In the 1990s I recall a "Blue Sky Rangers" (INTV Dev Team) website where someone said Mattel made the M-network games deliberatley inferior. And like the whole "E.T. is the worst game ever" myth, the DK myth was perpetuated ad nauseum since then.

@Emceemur Ай бұрын

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.

@planetjacker2k525 Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

Indeed. And not the first time, either! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rdppZ5Cev7HJj3k.html

@Tinmancr1 Ай бұрын

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.

@xman7337 Ай бұрын

Great interview! I looked up to these guys growing up playing their games!

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

Thanks. You & me both! 😁 And now, speaking to them directly? Amazing experience.

@phantomharlock999 Ай бұрын

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.

@ctbinary42 Ай бұрын

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

@RockyP77 Ай бұрын

Ok, time to go listen to the podcast. I love what ive heard/seen so far!

@neugey Ай бұрын

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!

@danielespeziari5545 Ай бұрын

Yeah, that conspiracy theory doesn't make sense in the first place (a company that doesn't want to make profit from a port of a super popular game on a super popular console, just to promote a version that was already guaranteed to be superior anyway?), but it was awesome to hear the whole story from the man that was behind all that

@nickfifteen Ай бұрын

> _"a company that doesn't want to make profit from a port of a super popular game on a super popular console, just to promote a version that was already guaranteed to be superior anyway?"_ I think the part of the conspiracy theory that made the most sense (relatively speaking) was a matter of the return on investment. Like, they could spend three months and get $30 million, or six months and get $42 million... Sure, $42 million is more than $30 million, but that's a $7 mil/month return versus $10 mil/month... meaning that $42 million came at increased costs and potentially lower overall interest. Afterall, it could've sold $60 million, meaning they didn't make $42 million but LOST $18 million! So they were willing to "sabotage" the game with a smaller development timeline if it meant maximum profits... and honestly it sounds like that's what they did anyways: they rushed it out for Christmas versus afterwards, meaning they were willing to sell a lesser product because it would've (and did) make them more money.

@thereallantesh Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching! 😁

@LotoTheHero Ай бұрын

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!

@razorfett147 Ай бұрын

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

@jameshakola3603 Ай бұрын

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

@johnshen3582 Ай бұрын

I had the greatest opportunity to work with Garry on NES titles like the Simpsons. Great memories!

@rbus Ай бұрын

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.

@machineofadream Ай бұрын

Is this really the first time anyone managed to get this story out of Garry Kitchen? Well it's about time, if so! The main contribution Garry made to my childhood is the underrated Destination Earthstar on the NES. I just didn't have a 2600 or Commodore 64.

@urbanknish Ай бұрын

This was great! Thank you both for doing the interview.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

Our pleasure!

@ValensBellator Ай бұрын

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.

@PCKid32 Ай бұрын

Wow. Almost held my breath the whole time. Kudos to you for getting him on. It always amazes me how unassuming these early programmers are. Reverse engineering a complete system from scratch and then the binary code in the roms. Please get Crane on as well.

@joeboo8626 Ай бұрын

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.

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

Mine too!

@animatsuri Ай бұрын

So it was mostly a time limit that gave us 2600 version of Donkey Kong that came out. Didn't know that Activision was the 3rd video game company he worked for in career.

@pcachu Ай бұрын

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.

@jettp3810 Ай бұрын

Hey GenX, nice interview. Have you interviewed David Crane? His game, Pitfall, is my favorite Atari 2600 game.

@aceenterprise Ай бұрын

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!

@GenXGrownUp Ай бұрын

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.

@aceenterprise Ай бұрын

@@GenXGrownUp Thanks, will check those out.

@zephyrsonzephyrson8618 Ай бұрын

Excellent interview.. I love this stuff. 👍😉

@RealGidspor Ай бұрын

Fantastic interview! :-) Nice work.

@MarquisDeSang Ай бұрын

I have that game rom inside my Harmony cart for my 2600+ (I can only put 1 rom at a time and this one has been on the cart for 3 monts), never get tired of this game.

@dereketnyre7156 Ай бұрын

I played lots of Donkey Kong on the 2600 back in the day on a console black and white TV. Few years later I obtained Donkey Kong cartridge for my Vic-20 - that was also a great version.

@TheKurtsPlaceChannel Ай бұрын

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

@tonysimek Ай бұрын

Kudo's to Garry for the work he did. We played the heck out of this game, and it made a few days better back then.

@jumping438 Ай бұрын

Wow what a fantastic interview! Thank you!

@lydiakossow Ай бұрын

🎉 Awesome interview! Thnx Jon and Gary!!! 😃

@zap2002 Ай бұрын

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?

@Brazbit Ай бұрын

There are two games I have to play every-time I turn on a 2600, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. They instantly put me in the correct mindset for the system and never fail to put a smile on my face. There may be "better" ports, or at least more accurate ports and official versions of the arcade ROMSs are available on modern systems, but these are unique gems that capture the moment in time better than all of the other options and are unique unto themselves. This was a time when no port was perfect and almost every system had its own shortcomings on conversions making a myriad of unique takes on the arcade games we loved. We got a variety of ways of experiencing each game, what is not to like about that?

@sutorippuwebmaster8783 Ай бұрын

Garry Kitchen's Game Maker. Holy moly, what a throwback.

@anthonym5395 Ай бұрын

This sounds VERY familiar to the production on E.T. Howard Scott Warshaw I believe only had five weeks to develop the game, by himself. The expectations of game developers back then was unrealistic.

@GarrettCRW Ай бұрын

It’s the 90 day deadline on the 2600 version of Donkey Kong that shows just how miraculous the port was. I’m sure that this time factor was similar on the Intellivision port, which is where I first heard the accusation about Coleco’s business practices (via the old Blue Sky Rangers website).

@markaes Ай бұрын

Yeah 2600 Donkey Kong was one of my favorites as a kid. The missing stages was weird, but the gameplay isn't bad at all. I later got the colecovision (84?) and that felt pretty amazing...

@IamPowerdriven Ай бұрын

What an amazing interview. Great stuff.

@miked4377 Ай бұрын

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...