A different person also named David Rolfe is a music record producer.

David Rolfe is a computer programmer who was instrumental in the development of many "golden age" arcade and home video games. He received his BS in Engineering from Caltech in 1977.

Arcade games

As a developer for Exidy

Exidy

Exidy was one of the largest creators of arcade video games during the early period of video games, from 1974 until at least 1986 . The company was founded by H.R."Pete" Kauffman...

, Rolfe helped design and implement the games Fire One!, Kreepy Krawlers, and most notably Star Fire

Star Fire

"Star fire" redirects here. For the process by which stars shine see nuclear fusion.Star Fire, released 1979, is considered to be a groundbreaking shoot 'em up arcade game by Exidy that brought a number of new innovations to the market; including being of the first to use a sit-down...

.

Home games

Rolfe joined APh Technological Consulting

APh Technological Consulting

APh Technological Consulting is a software company, located in Pasadena, California, USA. In 1976 they helped Mattel to develop the Intellivision video game console and also wrote most of the early games for it...

, a company that designed game hardware and software for Mattel to release under their own name. Rolfe worked on Football II, one of the early LED-based handheld electronic game

Handheld electronic game

----Handheld electronic games are very small, portable devices for playing interactive electronic games, often miniaturized versions of video games. The controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit. Rather than a general-purpose screen made up of a grid of small pixels, they...

s, as well as an unreleased pinball handheld. When Mattel, inspired by the success of Atari

Atari

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...

 and their VCS, decided to enter the home console market they chose APh to develop their console, the Intellivision

Intellivision

The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...

. Rolfe programmed the "exec" software — effectively, the operating system — for the Intellivision, as well as the "PicSe" system software for the barely released (and mythically rare) Intellivision Keyboard Component.

Rolfe developed some of the earliest Intellivision games, including Las Vegas Blackjack & Poker (which was the pack-in game that came with the system, Major League Baseball, and Checkers. He also programmed two of the M-Network Mattel games for the Atari VCS, namely Super Challenge Baseball and Frogs and Flies

Frogs and Flies

Frogs and Flies is a 1982 video game by Mattel for the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64 platforms. In this game, the player or players control a frog sitting on a lily pad. One frog is green and the other frog is red. The game can be played either by one or two players. The object of the game is to eat...

.

Later, Rolfe helped form a new company, Cheshire Engineering, to develop games for 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...

 for the Atari, Intellvision, and ColecoVision

ColecoVision

The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware...

 consoles. Among his Cheshire-era games are Beamrider

Beamrider

Beamrider is a scrolling shooter designed for the Intellivision by Activision programmer David Rolfe. The game was then ported to the Atari 2600 , Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum as well as the MSX platform.-Summary:Beamrider takes place above Earth's atmosphere,...

and the unreleased ColecoVision title Steamroller.

External links

• An Interview with David Rolfe