Eugene Jarvis
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Eugene Peyton Jarvis is an American
game design Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...
er and
video game programmer A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which fall ...
, known for producing
pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
machines for
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
and
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s for
Williams Electronics WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams ...
. Most notable among his works are the seminal
arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arca ...
s '' Defender'' and '' Robotron: 2084'' in the early 1980s, and the ''
Cruis'n ''Cruis'n'' is a series of racing video games originally developed by Eugene Jarvis for Midway Games and published by Midway and Nintendo. The series distinguishes itself from other racing games with its over-the-top presentation and fast-pace ...
'' series of driving games for
Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...
in the 1990s. He co-founded
Vid Kidz Vid Kidz was a video game developer formed in 1981 by '' Defender'' programmers Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar, following their departure from Williams Electronics WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacture ...
in the early 1980s and currently leads his own development studio,
Raw Thrills Raw Thrills, Inc. is an arcade game entertainment company based in Skokie, Illinois. It is best known for developing arcade games based on films. History Raw Thrills was founded in 2001 by Eugene Jarvis, Deepak Deo, and Andrew Eloff. The staff ...
Inc. In 2008, Eugene Jarvis was named the first Game Designer in Residence by
DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...
's Game Development program. His family owns the Jarvis Wines company in Napa, California.


Early life and education

Jarvis was born in
Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and grew up in Menlo Park. He has an older sister, Diane, and a younger sister, Helen. His first game was
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
, which he played as a young child; he was one of the best players at
Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. In 2020, Niche ...
in San Jose. Jarvis's first encounter with
computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
s came while he was in high school attending a one-day course on FORTRAN programming given by IBM. Jarvis originally intended to become a
biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
but decided on studying computers instead. At the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, Jarvis did FORTRAN programming on
mainframes A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...
. At Berkeley he got his first taste of computer gaming, playing ''
Spacewar! ''Spacewar!'' is a space combat video game developed in 1962 by Steve Russell in collaboration with Martin Graetz, Wayne Wiitanen, Bob Saunders, Steve Piner, and others. It was written for the newly installed DEC PDP-1 minicomputer at the Mas ...
'' in the basement of the physics lab. He received his
B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
in EECS in 1976 from Berkeley. In his last days before graduation, he interviewed with Atari, but did not receive a call back.


Career

Having an interest in
natural language processing Natural language processing (NLP) is an interdisciplinary subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence concerned with the interactions between computers and human language, in particular how to program computers to pro ...
, Jarvis was hired by
Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
to help create a
COBOL COBOL (; an acronym for "common business-oriented language") is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It is an imperative, procedural and, since 2002, object-oriented language. COBOL is primarily us ...
compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...
. He disliked the boring HP culture and quit after only three days into the six-year project. A few days later, three months after his interview, Atari finally called him back, interested in hiring him. He joined them and started programming some of the first pinball games that used
microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...
s. Atari's pinball development branch failed a few years later, so he moved to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
to continue programming pinball games for Williams Electronics.


Video arcade games

As Jarvis worked on pinball games at Williams in the late 1970s, ''
Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...
'' was released, sparking great interest in microprocessor-based video games. Jarvis wanted to try making a video game. When thinking of design ideas with famed pinball designer Steve Ritchie, they developed the concept for ''Defender'' – a
side-scroller '' A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphic ...
with the player flying over the surface of a planet. ''Defender'' (1980) was Jarvis's first video game and turned out to be a huge hit, becoming one of the highest grossing video games from the
golden age of arcade games The golden age of arcade video games was the period of rapid growth, technological development and cultural influence of arcade video games, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The period began with the release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978, ...
. Williams expanded greatly with the success of ''Defender'', but Jarvis left to found an independent game development firm called
Vid Kidz Vid Kidz was a video game developer formed in 1981 by '' Defender'' programmers Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar, following their departure from Williams Electronics WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacture ...
with
Larry DeMar Lawrence E. "Larry" DeMar (also known as L.E.D.) is a video game and pinball designer and software programmer. He is known as co-designer, alongside Eugene Jarvis, of the classic arcade games '' Defender'' and '' Robotron: 2084''. He is the found ...
in February 1981. After four months of tag-team programming between DeMar and Jarvis, they produced Vid Kidz's first game: ''
Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...
'' (1981), an enhanced sequel to ''Defender'' that they sold to Williams. Jarvis's next hit with Vid Kidz was the high-action game ''Robotron'', which was produced by Williams in 1982. It took 6 months to develop. He then designed '' Blaster'', a sort-of ''Robotron'' sequel set in 2085 — after the robots destroyed humanity — but with different, 3D gameplay. Though a marvel to look at, ''Blaster'' was not quite as successful or remembered as his previous video games. The
video game crash of 1983 The video game crash of 1983 (known as the Atari shock in Japan) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985, primarily in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including ma ...
hit Williams hard, forcing them to cut back and reverting to much of their pre-''Defender'' business. Jarvis left Vid Kidz in 1984 to attend
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, where he gained an
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
in 1986. He continued making games, designing '' Narc'' (1989) and helping develop ''
Smash TV ''Smash TV'' is a 1990 arcade video game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams Electronics Games. It is a dual-stick shooter (one for moving and the other for firing) in the same vein as 1982's '' Robotron: 2084'' (co-created b ...
'' (1990), which drew comparisons to ''Robotron''. The next big leap for Jarvis was 3D. He had been interested in
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
since attending Berkeley in the 1970s. He and a group of others left Midway (which Williams had purchased in 1988) to experiment with VR, but disappointingly came to the realization that VR headsets were not catching on. They did find potential in multi-screen cockpit simulators though. He helped create 3D
texture mapping Texture mapping is a method for mapping a texture on a computer-generated graphic. Texture here can be high frequency detail, surface texture, or color. History The original technique was pioneered by Edwin Catmull in 1974. Texture mapping ...
hardware which ended up being used in his ''Cruis'n'' series of games. '' Next Generation'' listed Jarvis in their "75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995", both for the massive success of ''Defender'' and for ''
Cruis'n USA ''Cruis'n USA'' is an arcade game, arcade racing video game, racing game originally released in 1994. It was developed by Eugene Jarvis' company TV Games Inc., and manufactured by Midway Games. It is the first game in the ''Cruis'n'' series and ...
'', which they said is "arguably neck-and-neck with ''
Daytona USA is an arcade racing video game developed by Sega AM2 in 1993 and released by Sega in 1994. Players race stock cars on one of three courses. The first game released on the Sega Model 2 three-dimensional arcade system board, a prototype debuted ...
'' as the most popular driving game of 1994." He now works for his own studio, Raw Thrills Inc., and his more recent work has returned him to the coin-op arcade game world with '' Target: Terror'', a first-person perspective
shooting game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...
based on the "
war on terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...
", introduced in Spring of 2004. The second game from his studio, ''
The Fast and the Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a t ...
'' debuted in the Fall of 2004 at the same time as the '' Target: Terror'' update kit. Since the release of Target Terror, the company has experienced strong growth, developing or releasing titles including Nicktoons Nitro, Guitar Hero Arcade, H2Overdrive, the Big Buck series of games and Jurassic Park Arcade among others. In 2006, Raw Thrills purchased game developer Play Mechanix which is led by his friend George Petro. Together the two companies have developed arcade and video redemption games for ICE and Bandai Namco Amusements America. In 2008, Jarvis was named
DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...
's first Game Designer in Residence. His involvement a
DePaul's Game Development program
includes lectures, supervision of game projects, and input on curriculum. He was recognized as the NY-AMOA Man of the Year in 2009 and he received the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Pioneer Award in 2013 Jarvis is the only video game designer to have his work featured on a U.S.
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
two 1980's era children are depicted playing ''Defender'' on the video games stamp for the "Celebrate the Century" series. He also appeared in a cameo on the TV series ''
NewsRadio ''NewsRadio'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from March 21, 1995 to May 4, 1999, focusing on the work lives of the staff of a New York City AM news radio station. It had an ensemble cast featuring Dave Foley, Stephen ...
'' (in the 3rd season episode "Arcade") as "Delivery Man #3", a character who delivers a distracting arcade video game machine to the office. That arcade game is his own creation ''Stargate'', which within the episode is called ''Stargate Defender'' and is described as being about "saving the humanoids" while avoiding the "Yllabian Space Guppies". In 2018, ''Defender'' was included in the Chicago New Media 1973-1992 exhibition, that was curated by Jon Cates.


Games


Pinball


Atari

*''Time 2000'' *''Airborne Avenger'' *''Superman''


Williams

*''Laser Ball'' *''
Firepower Firepower is the military capability to direct force at an enemy. (It is not to be confused with the concept of rate of fire, which describes the cycling of the firing mechanism in a weapon system.) Firepower involves the whole range of potent ...
'' *''
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
'' *'' High Speed'' *''
F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...
''


Video games

*'' Defender'' *''
Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...
'' *'' Robotron: 2084'' *'' Blaster'' *'' NARC'' *''
Smash TV ''Smash TV'' is a 1990 arcade video game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams Electronics Games. It is a dual-stick shooter (one for moving and the other for firing) in the same vein as 1982's '' Robotron: 2084'' (co-created b ...
'' *''
Total Carnage ''Total Carnage'' is a multidirectional shooter arcade video game originally developed and published by Midway in North America in January 1992. Set in the fictional country of Kookistan during 1999, players assume the role of Captain Carnage a ...
'' *''
Cruis'n ''Cruis'n'' is a series of racing video games originally developed by Eugene Jarvis for Midway Games and published by Midway and Nintendo. The series distinguishes itself from other racing games with its over-the-top presentation and fast-pace ...
'' series *'' Target: Terror'' *''
The Fast and the Furious (2004 video game) ''The Fast and the Furious'' is a racing video game based on the film of the same name developed and published by Raw Thrills for arcades in July 2004 The game's lead designer was Eugene Jarvis, who had previously been the lead designer of the ...
*'' The Fast and the Furious: Drift *'' Nex Machina''


Further reading

* Bearns, Melissa H. . ''The Medill News Wire''. November 17, 1999. (Interview with Jarvis.) * Hague, James.
Eugene Jarvis
. Interview from ''Halcyon Days''. June 2002. * Williams, Wayne Robert. . '' JoyStik'' (article hosted at GameArchive.com (defunct)). September 1982.


References


External links


IGN interviewFull list of Eugene Jarvis games at Arcade-History.comInterview
at DPerry.com * *
FirepowerPinball.com: Interview with Eugene Jarvis
(PDF) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Eugene Living people American video game designers American video game programmers Pinball game designers DePaul University faculty UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni Atari people Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Pioneer Award recipients Game Developers Conference Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American engineers 21st-century American businesspeople