Bob Whitehead
Encyclopedia
Bob Whitehead is a game designer and programmer
. He is a renowned pioneer and entrepreneur of the video game industry, having been instrumental in forming two video game developer
s. One, Activision
, was the first third-party video game developer.
in the late 1970s developing games for the Atari 2600
(or VCS for Video Computer System). There he developed several games, including a VCS implementation of Chess
, a feat many other programmers considered impossible for the system. Eventually he and others felt that they were not receiving fair compensation for their work, specifically, Atari refused to include credits for the developers in their games. Whitehead and a few other colleagues (Alan Miller, David Crane
and Larry Kaplan
) left and co-founded Activision
, the first third-party video game developer
.
There, with others, he developed a custom VCS development system, that integrated a debugger
and required a minicomputer
to run. It was used for most of Activision's VCS titles. He also developed a pioneering "venetian blinds" animation technique, an algorithim that horizontally reused and vertically interlaced sprite
s several times while rendering each frame, to give the illusion that the system had more than the maximum number of sprites allowed by the hardware.
In 1984, he and other founders of Activision became disillusioned with their company. Their stock
had dwindled in value and morale was low. They also thought that diversification to the home computer
market—such as with the Commodore 64
—was the key to success. So he left Activision with Alan Miller (another co-founder of Activision) and co-founded Accolade. However, soon after the founding of Accolade, Whitehead left the video game industry for good. Ironically, Accolade was later acquired by Infogrames
, which shortly afterwards changed their name to Atari.
Whitehead left in order to "give back to God and spend time with 'the fam'". After leaving Accolade, Whitehead says he helped with "low income families, getting non-profit religious start-ups going, [and] spending time in the garden."
Of the current state of the industry, Whitehead said that it's:
He said he may return to the industry to develop games for cell phones since half that audience is female (and thus will allow him to develop games that do not feed into what he perceives as the juvenile male mentality).
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
. He is a renowned pioneer and entrepreneur of the video game industry, having been instrumental in forming two video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
s. One, Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
, was the first third-party video game developer.
Career
Whitehead worked for AtariAtari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
in the late 1970s developing games for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
(or VCS for Video Computer System). There he developed several games, including a VCS implementation of Chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, a feat many other programmers considered impossible for the system. Eventually he and others felt that they were not receiving fair compensation for their work, specifically, Atari refused to include credits for the developers in their games. Whitehead and a few other colleagues (Alan Miller, David Crane
David Crane
David Crane may refer to:* David Crane , former Chief Prosecutor for the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal for Sierra Leone* David Crane , video game designer, programmer and co-founder of Activision...
and Larry Kaplan
Larry Kaplan
Larry Kaplan is an American video game designer and programmer. He initially worked at Atari and was responsible for a lot of their sales. Due to the lack of recognition for his work, he left Atari and became one of the five co-founders of Activision....
) left and co-founded Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
, the first third-party video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
.
There, with others, he developed a custom VCS development system, that integrated a debugger
Debugger
A debugger or debugging tool is a computer program that is used to test and debug other programs . The code to be examined might alternatively be running on an instruction set simulator , a technique that allows great power in its ability to halt when specific conditions are encountered but which...
and required a minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
to run. It was used for most of Activision's VCS titles. He also developed a pioneering "venetian blinds" animation technique, an algorithim that horizontally reused and vertically interlaced sprite
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
s several times while rendering each frame, to give the illusion that the system had more than the maximum number of sprites allowed by the hardware.
In 1984, he and other founders of Activision became disillusioned with their company. Their stock
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
had dwindled in value and morale was low. They also thought that diversification to the home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
market—such as with the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
—was the key to success. So he left Activision with Alan Miller (another co-founder of Activision) and co-founded Accolade. However, soon after the founding of Accolade, Whitehead left the video game industry for good. Ironically, Accolade was later acquired by Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
, which shortly afterwards changed their name to Atari.
Whitehead left in order to "give back to God and spend time with 'the fam'". After leaving Accolade, Whitehead says he helped with "low income families, getting non-profit religious start-ups going, [and] spending time in the garden."
Of the current state of the industry, Whitehead said that it's:
He said he may return to the industry to develop games for cell phones since half that audience is female (and thus will allow him to develop games that do not feed into what he perceives as the juvenile male mentality).
VCS/2600
- Home Run (Atari)
- Football (Atari)
- Blackjack (Atari)
- CasinoCasino (video game)Casino is an Atari 2600 video game programmed by Bob Whitehead and released in 1978. Supporting up to four players, the game was controlled by the Atari Paddles.-Gameplay:...
(Atari) - Star ShipStar ShipStar Ship is a video game cartridge developed by Atari for its Video Computer System . The game was one of the nine launch titles offered when the Atari 2600 went on sale in January of 1978. It was designed and programmed by Bob Whitehead...
(Atari) - Video ChessVideo ChessVideo Chess is a video game released by Atari in 1979 for the Atari 2600, based on the rules of chess.-Development:Video Chess was developed by Larry Wagner and Bob Whitehead...
(Atari) - BoxingBoxing (video game)Boxing is an Atari 2600 video game based on the sport of boxing. The game was designed by Activision programmer Bob Whitehead.Boxing shows a top-down view of two boxers, one white and one black. When close enough, a boxer can hit his opponent with a punch . This causes his opponent to reel back...
(Activision) - StampedeStampede (video game)Stampede is a video game cartridge which was released in 1981 for the Atari 2600 video game console, and the Intellivision video game console in 1982. The game is a left-to-right side-scroller with an overhead, third-person view...
(Activision) - Chopper CommandChopper CommandChopper Command is a video game by Activision released for the Atari 2600 game console in June 1982. The game was successful due to its perceived superiority to Atari's home version of Defender; Chopper Command shares many similarities in gameplay to Defender...
(Activision) - Private Eye (Activision)
- SkiingSkiing (Atari 2600)Skiing is a video game cartridge for the Atari 2600 console. It was authored by Bob Whitehead, and released by Activision in 1980.Skiing is a single player only game, in which the player uses the joystick to control the direction and speed of a stationary skier at the top of the screen, while the...
(Activision) - Sky Jinks (Activision)
Commodore 64
- 4th & Inches4th & Inches4th & Inches is an American football computer game by Accolade. It was released for the Commodore 64 , Apple II , DOS , Amiga , Apple IIGS...
(Accolade) - HardballHardball (computer game)Hardball! is the first in a series of popular baseball computer and video games published by Accolade. It was released for a variety of platforms between 1985 and 1991.-Gameplay:Play is controlled with a joystick or arrow keys and an action button...
(Accolade)