David Crane (programmer)


David Patrick Crane is a video game designer and programmer.
Crane originally worked in the field of hardware design for National Semiconductor. He went to college at DeVry Institute of Technology in Phoenix, Arizona and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology degree in 1975. Crane started his programming career at Atari, making games for the Atari 2600. He also worked on the operating system for the Atari 800 computer. After meeting co-worker Alan Miller in a tennis game, Miller told Crane about a plan he had to leave Atari and found a company that would give game designers more recognition. From this meeting, Crane left Atari in 1979 and co-founded Activision, along with Miller, Jim Levy, Bob Whitehead, and Larry Kaplan. His games won many awards while he was at Activision. At Activision, he was best known as the designer of Pitfall!. Pitfall! was a huge hit, and maintained the top slot on the Billboard charts for 64 weeks and was named video game of the year in 1982. Over four million copies of the game were sold in the 1980s. It was the second best-selling game for the Atari 2600 after Pac-Man.
Crane maintained that the Atari policy of relying on mangled adaptations of arcade games would result in a glut of cheap, unappealing games, which became one of the contributing factors to the Video Game Crash of 1983. He believed instead that tailoring new games to the strengths and weaknesses of the 2600 machine would have yielded positive results. The reasoning was that while the new games would have lacked the instant-promotion of an already-known name, word of mouth among video gamers, being a young and highly-social group, would have gradually made up for it if the game was good.
In 1986, Crane left Activision to co-found Absolute Entertainment with Garry Kitchen. Crane said that he left because the newly appointed CEO of Activision, Bruce Davis, offered a pay cut with the promise of a vaguely worded incentive program. Although Absolute was based in New Jersey, Crane did all of his programming at his home in California. With Absolute, he was known for David Crane's Amazing Tennis and , a successful NES title following the adventures of the protagonist and his companion, a shape-shifting blob creature. In 1995, Absolute Entertainment was dissolved.
In 1995, Crane co-founded Skyworks Technologies as the organization's Chief Technical Officer.
In 2012, Crane launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a game called Jungle Adventure. The goal was not reached.

Gameography

YearTitleCreditsPublisherSystem
1978Boggle ProgrammerAtari, Inc.Atari 2600
1978OutlawProgrammerAtari, Inc.Atari 2600
1979Canyon BomberProgrammerAtari, Inc.Atari 2600
1979Slot MachineProgrammerAtari, Inc.Atari 2600
1980DragsterDesignerActivisionAtari 2600
1980Fishing DerbyDesignerActivisionAtari 2600
1981Laser BlastDesignerActivisionAtari 2600
1981FreewayDesignerActivisionAtari 2600
1981Grand PrixDesignerActivisionAtari 2600
1981Kaboom!GraphicsActivisionAtari 2600
1982Pitfall!Designer, programmerActivisionAtari 2600
1983The Activision DecathlonDesigner, programmerActivisionAtari 2600
1983The Activision DecathlonDesignerActivisionAtari 5200
1984'Designer, programmer, audioActivisionAtari 2600
1984Pitfall!DesignerActivisionAtari 5200
1984'DesignerActivisionAtari 5200
1984GhostbustersDesigner, programmerActivisionCommodore 64
1985Little Computer PeopleDesigner, programmerActivision
1986'DesignerActivisionCommodore 64
1987Skate BoardinDesigner, programmerActivisionAtari 2600
1988Super Skate BoardinDesigner, programmerActivisionAtari 7800
1989'Designer, programmerAbsolute EntertainmentNES
1990The Rescue of Princess BlobetteDesigner, programmerAbsolute EntertainmentGame Boy
1991'ProgrammerAbsolute Entertainment
1991'DesignerAbsolute Entertainment
1991Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp DeadlyProgrammerAbsolute EntertainmentGame Boy
1992David Crane's Amazing TennisDesigner, programmerAbsolute Entertainment
1993ToysDesigner, producerAbsolute EntertainmentSNES
1994'DesignerAbsolute EntertainmentSNES
1994Night TrapProgrammerDigital PicturesSega CD
1996'AdviceGT InteractiveWindows
1997KlondikeDesignerSegaSega Channel