Garry Kitchen (born August 18, 1955, in Washington, D.C., United States) is a video game designer, programmer, and executive best known for developing games for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

, and

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

, as well as co-founding

Absolute Entertainment Absolute Entertainment was an American Video game publisher, video game publishing company. Through its video game developer, development house, Imagineering (company), Imagineering, Absolute Entertainment produced titles for the Amiga, Atari 260 ...

with ex-Activision developers. His port of ''

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

'' for the Atari 2600 was a major hit for Coleco, selling over copies. His other 2600 work includes '' Keystone Kapers'' and ''

Pressure Cooker Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which c ...

'' for Activision and ''Space Jockey'' for U.S. Games. He also wrote ''

Garry Kitchen's GameMaker ''Garry Kitchen's GameMaker'' is an integrated development environment for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PCs, created by Garry Kitchen and released by Activision in 1985. It is one of the earliest all-in-one game design products aimed at the ...

'' and ''The Designer's Pencil'' for the Commodore 64.

Career

Kitchen received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

in Teaneck, NJ (1980). Before his video game career, Kitchen developed electronic toys at Wickstead Design Associates, in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey. In 1979, Kitchen was an engineer on ''Wildfire'', a handheld electronic game distributed by Parker Brothers. After Wildfire, in 1982, Kitchen co-invented the handheld electronic game ''Bank Shot'', a pool simulation also distributed by Parker Brothers. Bank Shot was named one of the Ten Best Toys of 1980 by

OMNI Magazine ''Omni'' was a science and science fiction magazine published in its domestic American market as well as the UK. It contained articles on science, parapsychology, and short works of science fiction and fantasy. It was published as a print version ...

. Kitchen was awarded U.S. Patent #4,346,982 "Electronic Pool Game", for Bank Shot. Kitchen was president and CEO of

from 1986 to 1995. In 1995, Kitchen and his longtime business partner David Crane founded Skyworks Technologies, an early internet game company which created Candystand.com and pioneered the category of online

advergame An advergame is a form of advertising in video games, in which the video game is developed by or in close collaboration with a corporate entity for purposes of advertising a brand-name product. While other video games may use in-game advertising (s ...

s. Kitchen and Crane sold the controlling interest in Skyworks in 2007 and left the company in September 2009. From 2010 to 2012, Kitchen was the Vice President of Game Publishing for Viacom Media Networks, working in the Nickelodeon Kids and Family Games Group. In that role he was responsible for game content on AddictingGames.com and Shockwave.com, at the time two of the largest U.S.-based online game sites. In 2012, Kitchen and his team at Viacom launched the AddictingGames Mobile App for the Apple iPhone, which went to #1 in the Apple App store in 72 hours. The AddictingGames Mobile App was nominated for a 2012 Webby Award in the category of Games (Handheld Devices). Garry Kitchen currently (2012–present) works as an independent technical expert in legal matters concerning video game and mobile app design and development, patent infringement & invalidity, copyright infringement, general software development, video game industry history and business issues. Kitchen has performed Expert Witness consulting for clients such as Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Ubisoft. Garry Kitchen, along with his brother Dan Kitchen and David Crane, founded Audacity Games in November 2020 to develop Atari 2600 games to be played on retro consoles. They plan to release these games as both physical copies alongside digital versions that are emulator-friendly. The first title, ''Circus Convoy'', a collaboration between Kitchen and David Crane, went on sale March 13, 2021. Kitchen is on the Board of Advisors of the National Video Game Museum as well as Fairleigh Dickinson University's FDUArts Advisory Board.

Games

Atari 2600

*''

Space Jockey "Space Jockey" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein.James Gifford. 2000. ''Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion''. SacramentoNitrosyncretic Press. Part of his Future History series, it originally appeared in ...

'' (1982,

US Games U.S. Games Corporation was a video game company founded by Donald Yu, which originally produced handheld electronic sports games. It pivoted to focus exclusively on video game software in 1981, and was acquired by cereal company Quaker Oats in 19 ...

) *''

'' (1982,

Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game console ...

) arcade port *'' Keystone Kapers'' (1983,

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

) *''

'' (1983, Activision) *''Circus Convoy'' (2021, Audacity Games), with David Crane

Commodore 64

*''The Designer's Pencil'' (1984, Activision) *''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...

'' (1984, Activision), additional programming *''

Garry Kitchen's Gamemaker ''Garry Kitchen's GameMaker'' is an integrated development environment for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PCs, created by Garry Kitchen and released by Activision in 1985. It is one of the earliest all-in-one game design products aimed at the ...

'' (1985, Activision) *''

Crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...

'' (1988,

), with others, arcade port

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

*'' Stealth ATF'' (1989, Activision), with Rob Harris *'' A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia'' (1989, Absolute Entertainment), co-design and programming, with David Crane *''

Destination Earthstar ''Destination Earthstar'' is a futuristic, first-person and side-scrolling, space shooter game developed by Imagineering and published by Acclaim for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Plot Two hundred years ago, a random number of Earthlings we ...

'' (1990,

Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally formed by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki out of an Oyster Bay storefront in 1987, the company established a worldwide d ...

), with Rob Harris *'' Battletank'' (1990, Absolute Entertainment) *'' The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants'' (1991, Acclaim Entertainment), lead design and programming, with others *'' The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World'' (1991, Acclaim Entertainment), design and programming, with others

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

*''

Home Alone ''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Hear ...

'' (1991,

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initi ...

), design *'' Super Battletank'' (1992, Absolute Entertainment) *'' Super Battletank 2'' (1994, Absolute Entertainment), design and additional programming

iOS (iPhone/iPad)

*''

Arcade Hoops Basketball ''Arcade Hoops Basketball'' (also called ''Arcade Hoops'') is a basketball video game developed and published by Skyworks Interactive. It was released as a download-only title on April 17, 2009 for the iOS and on December 28, 2009 for the Ninten ...

'' (2008, Skyworks Technologies) *''Match 3 Poker'' (2009, Skyworks Technologies) *''Skyscrapers'' (2009, Skyworks Technologies) *''Iron Horse'' (2010, AppStar Games), Design *''Fling Pong - The Planets'' (2010, AppStar Games) *''Addicting Games Mobile'' (2011,

Viacom Media Networks Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...

), Executive Producer

References

External links

*
Garry Kitchen
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

Arcade Attack interview

Retro Gamer Magazine interview

Retro Video Gamer interview

Wired Magazine - Garry Kitchen, Designer of Bart vs. The Space Mutants

Pocketgamer.biz - Skyworks' Garry Kitchen talks iPhone

IGN - An Audience with David Crane and Garry Kitchen

Garry Kitchen on Quora
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchen, Garry 1955 births Activision American computer programmers American video game designers American video game programmers Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni Living people