David Crane Quotes

• I was a little hesitant at taking the job at Atari. I had never programmed for a living and I worried it might get boring (building circuits seemed more fun). But I would probably still be in the video game business.

  David Crane

  Topics in Business

• My background is in hardware design. I found hardware work to be a welcome change from thousands of hours of programming and that led to the designs you mentioned.

  David Crane

  Topics in Work

• Another little known fact about Amazing Tennis – the computer opponents are modeled after real people. In an odd turn of events, I joined a division 3 college tennis team at age 38.

  David Crane

  Topics in Computer

• The letters were universally complimentary, and we designers loved hearing that our games were being enjoyed, but if they weren’t sending us a picture of their screens most of those writers would have spent their time playing the game rather than writing letters.

  David Crane

  Topics in Love

• That’s right, fall in one pit and start over from the beginning! Well, thankfully my buddies practically tied me to my chair until I put in extra lives and I’m glad they did.

  David Crane

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Start

• One week before Pitfall! was to be released, I only gave you one life to play the whole game. I was experimenting with that concept as sort of the ultimate challenge.

  David Crane

  Topics in Challenge, Life

  Tags in Play

• We were advised that nobody could stop us from pursuing our craft simply because we had honed, or even developed that craft while working at a company.

  David Crane

  Topics in Work

• We wanted to create an environment where if a game player enjoyed the “writing style” of a particular game designer, he or she could look for the next game by that same author and not be disappointed.

  David Crane

  Topics in Environment

  Tags in Game

• Our co-founder and company president, Jim Levy, came from a record industry background and understood the marketing and promotion of artists as well as products. So the video game business went from absolutely zero designer credit to something approaching rock star promotion.

  David Crane

  Topics in Business

• Looking back, video game design seems a natural fit, although there was no such thing when I was growing up. I built a Tic-Tac-Toe playing machine in my teens which went up in smoke on the night it was scheduled to go to a science fair.

  David Crane

  Topics in Nature

  Tags in Science

• Plus, I was a math and science whiz from my first introduction to the subjects.

  David Crane

  Topics in Math

  Tags in Introduction

David Crane (11)

Birth:	1953
Nationality:	American
Profession:	Game Designer, Programmer

About

David Patrick Crane was born in Nappanee, Indiana. He is a video game designer and programmer. He originally worked in the field of hardware design for National Semiconductor. He started his programming career at Atari, making games for the Atari 2600. He also worked on the operating system for the Atari 800 computer.  Crane is currently working as an independent video game developer and video game expert witness.

Related Authors

• Aaron Allston
• Bill Williams
• Steven Spielberg
• John Romero
• Danielle Bunten Berry
• John M. Ford
• Bill Budge
• Robin D. Laws
• Sarwat Chadda
• Donald J. Bingle

Advertisement

Today's Anniversary - 22nd December

Births

• 1957 - Susan Powter
• 1938 - Lucien Bouchard
• 1823 - Thomas Wentworth Higginson
• 1962 - Mark Ruffalo
• 1949 - Robin Gibb

Deaths

• 1998 - Virginia Graham
• 1987 - Sir Henry Thomas Cotton
• 1899 - Dwight L. Moody
• 1989 - Samuel Beckett
• 1906 - Robert Rainy