David Perry
Encyclopedia
- This article is about David Perry, the game developer. For the David Perry who was a co-commentator on the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
video game TV showTelevision programA television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
'GamesMasterGamesMasterGamesMaster was a British television show, screened on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998, and was the first ever UK television show dedicated to computer and video games.-Origins:...
', please see Dave PerryDave PerryDave Perry was co-commentator on the UK computer and video games television shows GamesMaster and Games World.He was responsible for launching many games magazines, including Games World, Play, PowerStation, X-Gen, STATION and Mega Power...
, and for other uses, please see David Perry (disambiguation)David Perry (disambiguation)David Perry may refer to:* David Perry , the Northern Irish game developer of such games as Earthworm Jim* David Perry...
David Perry (born 1967) is an Northern Irish video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
who has created dozens of video games, the best known of which include Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim is a run and gun platform video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. Created by Doug TenNapel and designed by David Perry, the game was developed by Shiny Entertainment and Playmates Interactive Entertainment, released by Sega for the Mega...
, MDK, Messiah
Messiah (video game)
Messiah is a third person shooter video game developed by Shiny and published by Interplay.-Plot:The player controls Bob, a cherub sent by God to clean up the corruption and sin on Earth...
, Wild 9
Wild 9
Wild 9 is a video game developed by Shiny Entertainment for the Sony PlayStation, with a Sega Saturn version also planned but never released. Its gameplay is that of a 2D platformer...
and Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix
Enter the Matrix is the first video game based on The Matrix series of films. It was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Atari and WB Interactive for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube game systems, and for the PC. It was published in Japan by Bandai...
. He also founded Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of several popular titles such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Shiny was founded by David Perry in October 1993...
, where he worked from 1993 to 2006. Shiny created games for many internationally known brands and companies, including Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, 7 Up
7 Up
7 Up is a brand of a lemon-lime flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The rights to the brand are held by Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the United States, and PepsiCo in the rest of the world, including Puerto Rico, where the concentrate is manufactured at the Pepsi facility in Cidra...
, McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
, and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
In 2008 he was presented with an honorary doctorate from Queen's University Belfast for his services to computer gaming.
Biography
Perry was born in April 1967 in LisburnLisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, growing up in the towns of Templepatrick
Templepatrick
Templepatrick is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast, and halfway between the towns of Ballyclare and Antrim. It had a population of 1,556 in the 2001 Census. It is also close to Belfast International Airport and the village has several hotels...
and Donegore
Donegore
Donegore is the name of a hill, a townland, a small cluster of residences, and a civil parish in the barony of Upper Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Donegore lies approximately 5 miles east of Antrim town. The largest settlement in the parish is the village of Parkgate...
in County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
, attending Templepatrick Primary School and then Methodist College Belfast
Methodist College Belfast
Methodist College Belfast , styled locally as Methody, is a voluntary grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one of eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and is a member of the Independent Schools Council...
.
He began writing computer game programming books in 1982 at the age of 15, creating his own games for the Sinclair ZX81
Sinclair ZX81
The ZX81 was a home computer produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Scotland by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and was designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public...
. According to an interview with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Perry stated that his first game was a driving game, "a black blob avoiding other black blobs", which he wrote and sent to a magazine, which printed it. He sent them more games and they sent him a cheque for £450—a bit of a problem for a teenager who did not yet have a bank account. His work continued though, until he was offered a job making just £3,500/year.
At the age of 17, he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he developed games for publishers such as Elite Systems
Elite Systems
Elite Systems is a UK video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. They are best known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games...
, Mirrorsoft
Mirrorsoft
Mirrorsoft was a computer game software publisher in the United Kingdom, owned by Mirror Group Newspapers. It was founded as a publisher of educational software before moving into games. One offshoot of its printing roots was Fleet Street Publisher on several platforms...
, and Virgin Games, working on titles such as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (video games)
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games have been produced since 1989, largely by Japanese video game manufacturer Konami.The older TMNT games are mostly based on the 1987 TV series, with elements borrowed from the movies, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, action figures and even...
for several home computers and The Terminator
The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
for the Mega Drive/Genesis.
In 1991, he moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to work for the American division of Virgin Games, usually known as Virgin Games USA. While in there, he led the development duties for several award-winning products, including McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
Global Gladiators
Global Gladiators
Global Gladiators is a 1992 platform game by Virgin Interactive, originally programmed by David Perry for the Mega Drive/Genesis and eventually ported by other Virgin Interactive teams in Europe...
, 7-UP's Cool Spot
Cool Spot
Cool Spot was a mascot for 7 Up beginning in the late 80s. During this time, the red spot in the 7 Up logo was anthropomorphized: given arms, legs, a mouth, and sunglasses....
, and Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's Aladdin
Disney's Aladdin (video game)
Disney's Aladdin is a series of video games based on the 1992 motion picture of the same name. Unlike most cross-platform games, the five versions are each significantly different games rather than all being ports of a single source.-Mega Drive/Genesis version:The game from Virgin based on the 1992...
for the Mega Drive/Genesis. His work within Virgin Games USA also served as a basis for the development of other games like The Terminator for the Mega-CD and RoboCop Versus The Terminator
Robocop versus The Terminator
RoboCop Versus The Terminator is a video game released for a number of platforms and is based on the RoboCop and Terminator franchises....
and Walt Disney's The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book (video game)
Walt Disney's The Jungle Book is a series of video games based on the 1967 Disney animated film The Jungle Book, primarily released in 1994. It was first released by Virgin Interactive in 1993 for the Sega Master System...
for the Mega Drive/Genesis, all of them developed after David Perry had left the studio.
On October 1, 1993, Perry formed his own company in Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach is a seaside resort city and artist community located in southern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southwest of the county seat of Santa Ana...
, Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of several popular titles such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Shiny was founded by David Perry in October 1993...
, naming the company after the song "Shiny Happy People
Shiny Happy People
"Shiny Happy People" is a song by the band R.E.M.. The song appeared on their 1991 album Out of Time and was released as a single in the same year. The song features guest backing vocals by Kate Pierson of the B-52's, who also has a prominent role in the song's music video.It peaked at #10 on the...
" by R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
. The company's first game Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim is a run and gun platform video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. Created by Doug TenNapel and designed by David Perry, the game was developed by Shiny Entertainment and Playmates Interactive Entertainment, released by Sega for the Mega...
was a hit, selling millions of copies on multiple platforms, including Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
and PC. The title character, an "average worm" who stumbled upon a space suit which turned him into a superhero, became immensely popular, and spawned a variety of other types of merchandise: action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s, comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, and a syndicated television cartoon series
Cartoon series
A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
on the Warner Kids Network, with the title character voiced on the show by Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
(also known as the voice behind Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
).
In 2002, Shiny Entertainment was acquired by Atari, Inc. in a US
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
$47M deal, with Perry signed to a long-term contract to continue on as President. Also in 2002, Perry collaborated with the Wachowski Brothers on games in coordination with their Matrix
The Matrix series
The Matrix is a science fiction action franchise created by Andy and Larry Wachowski and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The series began with the 1999 film The Matrix and later spawned two sequels; The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both released in 2003, thus forming a trilogy...
series of movies.
In 2006, he resigned from Shiny, and formed GameConsultants.com, a consultancy firm planning to offer executive level video game industry advice, followed by GameInvestors.com, a business-to-business company to help video game development teams get funded.
In February 2008, Perry re-released his Game Industry Map website, a large games database, offered for free, mapping thousands of games and game companies on a map of the world, allowing students and industry employees to look up where games are made and companies based.
Perry is on the advisory board for the Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, and has spoken at industry venues such as E3, CES
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
, Hollywood and Games, Digital Hollywood, iHollywood, SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals...
, Entertainment in the Interactive Age, What Teens Want, The Banff Summit, as well as at major universities such as USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, and MIT. In 2006, he co-hosted the annual Game Developers Choice Awards
Game Developers Choice Awards
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...
with Tommy Tallarico
Tommy Tallarico
Tommy Tallarico is an American video game music composer and musician. He is best known as the co-creator of the concert series Video Games Live...
.
In November 2008, Perry co-founded Gaikai
Gaikai
Gaikai is a cloud-based gaming service that allows users to play demos of major PC games and applications instantly from a webpage or internet-connected device.....
in the Netherlands, a company planning to release game streaming technology in late 2009.
In July 2009, Perry confirmed that he had been involved in developing a title with Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
prior to the singer's death and had spent some time with Jackson and his children.
Selected works
| Description | Year | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| National ZX80/ZX81 Users Club Magazine | 1982 | Interface Publications |
| Tim Hartnell's Giant Book of Spectrum Games | 1983 | Interface Publications |
| 49 Explosive Games for the ZX Spectrum | 1983 | Interface Publications |
| Astounding Arcade Games for your Spectrum + & Spectrum | 1984 | Interface Publications |
| Sord M5 Graphics Demos [Written in BASIC] | 1982 | Sord |
| Drakmaze (Original IP) | Mikro-Gen Software Ltd. | |
| Pot-Holing Pete (Original IP) | Mikro-Gen Software Ltd. | |
| Three Weeks in Paradise Three Weeks in Paradise Three Weeks in Paradise is a computer game released in 1985 by Mikro-Gen for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC platforms. It is the last action-adventure platform game from the Wally Week series.-Gameplay:... (Original IP) |
Mikro-Gen Software Ltd. | |
| Stainless Steel Stainless steel In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass.... (Original IP) |
Mikro-Gen Software Ltd. | |
| Savage Savage (video game) Savage is an action video game developed by Probe Software and published by Firebird Software in 1988 for ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and DOS. In 1989 Firebird published a version for the Amiga.-Gameplay:... (Original IP) |
via Probe Software -> Go / US Gold Ltd. | |
| Tintin on the moon (Comic Book License) | via Probe Software -> Infogrames | |
| Paperboy - II Paperboy (video game) Paperboy is a 1984 arcade game by Atari Games. The players take the role of a paperboy who delivers newspapers along a suburban street on his bicycle. This game was innovative for its theme and novel controls.-Gameplay:... (Arcade Game Conversion) |
Mindscape International Ltd. | |
| Captain Planet Captain Planet and the Planeteers Captain Planet is the title character of the series. In the beginning of the series, Gaia assembles a modern-day team of "Planeteers" from several nations... (TV Show License) |
Mindscape International Ltd. | |
| Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists... (TV Show License) |
via Probe Software -> Mirrorsoft Ltd. / Konami | |
| Smash T.V. Smash TV Smash TV is a 1990 arcade game created by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell for Williams. Home versions were developed for various platforms and most were published by Acclaim Entertainment.-Description:... (Arcade Game Conversion) |
via Probe Software -> Ocean Software Ltd. | |
| 1990 | via Probe Software -> Virgin Games Ltd. | |
| 1992 | via Probe Software -> Virgin Games Ltd. | |
| McDonald's Global Gladiators (Based on McD Characters) | Virgin Games Ltd. | |
| 7-UP's Cool Spot Cool Spot Cool Spot was a mascot for 7 Up beginning in the late 80s. During this time, the red spot in the 7 Up logo was anthropomorphized: given arms, legs, a mouth, and sunglasses.... (AdvertGame) |
1993 | Virgin Games Ltd. |
| Disney's "Aladdin" (Movie License) | 1993 | Virgin Games Ltd. |
| Earthworm Jim Earthworm Jim Earthworm Jim is a run and gun platform video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. Created by Doug TenNapel and designed by David Perry, the game was developed by Shiny Entertainment and Playmates Interactive Entertainment, released by Sega for the Mega... |
1994 | Playmates Interactive Entertainment |
| Earthworm Jim 2 Earthworm Jim 2 Earthworm Jim 2 is a platform video game originally developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1995 in Europe, and 1996 in the US, it is a sequel to the 1994 original Earthworm Jim. Again, the game was created by Doug TenNapel with design from David Perry and music from Tommy Tallarico... |
1995 | Playmates Interactive Entertainment |
| MDK MDK (video game) MDK is a third-person shooter game developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in North America and Interplay Entertainment in Europe for the PC, Macintosh, and subsequently PlayStation. It was one of the first PC games to require a Pentium or... |
1997 | Playmates Interactive / Interplay Entertainment. |
| Wild 9 Wild 9 Wild 9 is a video game developed by Shiny Entertainment for the Sony PlayStation, with a Sega Saturn version also planned but never released. Its gameplay is that of a 2D platformer... |
1998 | Interplay Entertainment, Inc. |
| Messiah Messiah (video game) Messiah is a third person shooter video game developed by Shiny and published by Interplay.-Plot:The player controls Bob, a cherub sent by God to clean up the corruption and sin on Earth... |
2000 | Interplay Entertainment, Inc. |
| Sacrifice | 2000 | Interplay Entertainment, Inc. |
| Enter the Matrix Enter the Matrix Enter the Matrix is the first video game based on The Matrix series of films. It was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Atari and WB Interactive for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube game systems, and for the PC. It was published in Japan by Bandai... |
2003 | Atari Inc. |
| The Matrix: Path of Neo The Matrix: Path of Neo The Matrix: Path of Neo is the third video game based on the Matrix series and the second developed by Shiny Entertainment. Players control the character Neo, participating in scenes from the films. It was released on October 4, 2005 in North America.... |
2005 | Atari Inc. |
| The Darkness The Darkness (video game) The Darkness is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Starbreeze Studios and published by 2K Games for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It was released on June 25, 2007 in North America and on June 20, 2007 in Europe. The video game is based on the comic book of the same title... |
2007 | 2K Games |
| Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is a fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by a Norwegian computer video game developer company, Funcom, and is published by Eidos Interactive for the PC platform... |
2008 | Eidos Interactive |
Books
- 49 explosive games for the ZX Spectrum. By Tim Hartnell with David Perry. London : Interface, 1983.
- David Perry on Game Design. Delmar, 2009.