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Eugene Jarvis to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

Posted by Zonk on from the gaming-roots dept.

Eugene Jarvis, creator of games such as Defender, NARC, and Smash T.V., is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Game Developer's Conference in March. From the article: "The IGDA's award for Lifetime Achievement is considered the game industry's most prestigious award. Recipients are selected by the Choice Awards Advisory Board, comprised of a diverse set of developers from across the globe. Past recipients of this award include: Mark Cerny, Gunpei Yokoi (posthumas), Yuji Naka and Will Wright." Mr. Jarvis' achievements have been discussed previously on Slashdot Games.

27 comments

  1. More money, more prizes, I like it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Man, I wasted many a quarter on Smash TV. It was fast paced, quite addictive, and had some great humor in it. The graphics were also quite nicely done for the time. Too bad the MAME ROM doesn't play as well as I don't have a custom two-joystick setup.

    ps: first post, fuckers!

    1. Re:More money, more prizes, I like it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The $10 I payed for a Playstation to USB adapter was the best gaming investment I've made. The PS controller is the best I have ever used, and works perfectly for emulators. In the case of Smash TV, you can use the dual analog sticks on the Playstation's controller as substitution for the dual joystick setup of the original.

  2. Smash TV's Creator Getting an Award? by game+kid · · Score: 1

    I'd buy that for far more than a dollar.

    (I played Super Smash TV once--not the same I'm sure, but while now primitive-looking, was fun and a bit scary, if only because of the "Running Man" sadistic game-show aspect of it.)

    --
    You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
    1. Re:Smash TV's Creator Getting an Award? by MilenCent · · Score: 1

      I've played a fair amount of both Smash T.V. and its sequel, Total Carnage, both in arcades, on the SNES, and on Midway Arcade Treasures (1 and 2, respectively). These are excellent games, difficult without being impossible. There are some annoying bugs there (especially with Smash T.V.), but overall these are just about as good as any action games have ever been made.

      The most interesting thing about them, besides returning the old dual-joystick, Robotron controls to the arcade, is the idea that there are extra, secret objectives to complete besides just winning (Smash T.V.: collecting keys, Total Carnage: collecting LOTS of keys, and many areas have subgoals to try to achieve). Both games also effectively have selectable difficulty, by offering alternate paths through levels and having optional rooms.

      By the way, the SNES versions of both games, while generally very good, still differ in important ways from the arcade. (The secret rooms in the SNES version leap to mind -- the only secret roomsin the arcade version was the Pleasure Dome if you got ten keys, and it was only in the last revision of the game me thinks.)

  3. Smash TV by space_jake · · Score: 0

    That game was very fun, controls were a little tough to get used to though (if I remember you never turned just a different button shot in a different direction?). Also it was one of my favorite Brood War custom maps to play as well.

    1. Re:Smash TV by DrunkenTerror · · Score: 2, Informative

      You could move in 8 directions, and shoot in 8 directions independantly, which was the first time I ever remember movement and fire-control being independant for an overhead shooter. Before Smash TV, it was Icari Warriors-style, where direction-of-movement and direction-of-fire were always bound together.

    2. Re:Smash TV by DrunkenTerror · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Obviously, I've not played Robotron, as it has the same controls. :)

    3. Re:Smash TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't remember Ikari Warriors very well, either. IW had a rotary joystick that allowed for moving in one direction and shooting in another.

    4. Re:Smash TV by DrunkenTerror · · Score: 2, Funny

      I was thinking of the Nintendo version. My appologies, I didn't have very many quarters back then. I'll just STFU now.

    5. Re:Smash TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ikari, not Icari.

    6. Re:Smash TV by filenabber · · Score: 1
      Not true. Ikari Warriors (at least the arcade version) has a joystick that you could move in 8 directions but also ROTATE. Moving the stick controlled you movement and rotating the stick controlled the firing direction. There were quite a few games that came out with this control mechanisms - my favorite was heavy Barrel.

      Semi-Daily Trivia Podcast: http://mostlytrivial.com

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  4. Robotron by Zoid · · Score: 1

    I still play Robotron a couple times a week. Simply one of the most amazing, intense video gaming experiences ever made. I've found few games that give me the same powerful feelings I get playing it.

    He pioneered some of the best action gaming ever to grace video games. Simply an outstanding choice for this award.

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    /// Zoid.
    1. Re:Robotron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OMG, why isn't Robotron 2084 in the description? That game ROCKED! And still does 'til this day!!!

    2. Re:Robotron by snuf23 · · Score: 1

      You know what, I do to! I have it emulated on my Xbox and it plays great with dual analog controllers.
      It is an amazingly intense game. I have to admit the highest score I've ever had so far is around 130,000 points at level 8.
      One of my all time favorite arcade games of all time!

      --
      Sometimes my arms bend back.
  5. Eugene Jarvis did not create Smash TV by grahamwest · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Mark Turmell created Smash TV as his first game at Williams as an homage to Robotron (Robotron and Defender were Vid Kidz games, created by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar). To this day Mark and Eugene are two of the best Robotron players I've ever met.

    --
    Graham
    1. Re:Eugene Jarvis did not create Smash TV by MilenCent · · Score: 1

      Hmmm, interesting. Come to think of it, I think the developer interview on Midway Arcade Treasures 1 confirms this.

      Ah well, is still good.

  6. Awarding the NARC guy?? by PedanticSpellingTrol · · Score: 1

    You've got to be kidding, the final boss is absolutely unpossible! There's no way to outstrategize him, he just makes a straight line for you while moving faster than you can run away!

    1. Re:Awarding the NARC guy?? by unkokue · · Score: 1

      Me and my pal beat the last boss of NARC when we were like, 8 years old. Of course I'm not going to tell you how because you're a dumb nerd.

    2. Re:Awarding the NARC guy?? by PedanticSpellingTrol · · Score: 1

      It's true, I should be spanked with moon rocks.

    3. Re:Awarding the NARC guy?? by Jakeypants · · Score: 1

      I absolutely agree. I find all of these games intensely frustrating now. They weren't challenging, they were hard. You really have to look at his game design as a means to get you to spend as many quarters as possible.

      OT, but when is Warren Spector going to get his? If he already has, sorry, going to google.com requires far too much effort.

  7. Smash TV so much rocked.... er, still does by 88NoSoup4U88 · · Score: 1
    Still have the SNES cartridge lying around somewhere here ; Damn, that game was frantic two-player action.

    Hordes of enemies, and trying to squint yourself just in between them to grab the destruct-all-icon ... BINGO ! ;)

    1. Re:Smash TV so much rocked.... er, still does by MBCook · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I REALLY wish they would remake that game.

      First of all, you could up the graphics. With the number of polygons that the next-gen consoles (PS3, XBox2, Revololution) should be able to support, it could look BEATIFUL. Second, you could put in four player support, which would really be great. And best of all with the dual analog sticks on most controllers you could controll the characters perfectly (shoot/move in 360 directions, not 8).

      BIG money. BIG prizes. I LOVE IT!

      --
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    2. Re:Smash TV so much rocked.... er, still does by 88NoSoup4U88 · · Score: 1
      I even went as far as starting up a (private) mod project of it for the D3 engine : But shelved it in favour of an Elevator Action remake I am currently working on for the HL2 engine.

      I still have the concept maps (just a bunch of maps with random mass-waves of spawns, and switching/teleporting to the next area) somewhere on my HD here.

      What you say though ; Smash TV is defenitely worth porting.

    3. Re:Smash TV so much rocked.... er, still does by slumpy · · Score: 1

      they are remaking it...or making a sequel.

      --
      http://www.commaecho.com
  8. Way to go. by DingerX · · Score: 1

    Excellent. Always happy to see those contributions get recognized. Heck, Defender was the game that set the standard for obsessive 48-hour "high score" binges. I don't think any other game had that effect (i.e., both the ability and the challenge to play it for 2 days straight for no good reason than an honorable mention in Newsweek).

    Now, as for "posthumous" being "posthumas", well, I'd make a comment, but first I have to wait for this WILE {}; loop to end.

  9. Lifetime awards by xgamer04 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You know, they're going to need a lot of years to give out these Lifetime Achievement awards... (Miyamoto, Molyneaux, Kojima, Meier...)

    --
    When you look at the state of the world, how can you not become a radical, liberal anarchist?
  10. Much better than... by shoptroll · · Score: 1

    Much better choice than the other Lifetime Achievement Award thats being given out this year.

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