Difference between revisions of "Blog:RIP John Perkins"

Revision as of 15:08, 26 February 2010

CRV 15:04, 26 February 2010 (UTC) [permalink] [comments]

John D. Perkins, a Michigan native, passed away on February 2, 2010, at age 65.

Perkins was a graduate of the US Navy Electronics School. He was one of the first US Navy tactical programmers and a specialist in Electronic Warfare.

Perkins was the sole proprietor of Perkins Engineering and consulted on projects in entertainment, aerospace, and cable television. Perkins Engineering made the Blue Ram expansion system for the Astrocade system.

Perkins wrote the Astrocade BASIC program Artillery Duel, which went on to be one of the more well-known artillery games. It was printed in The Arcadian, an Astrocade newsletter, in 1979 and later reworked for a commercial cartridge release. Conversions for the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, and VIC-20 were published by K-Tel's Xonox.

Perkins at one point became an advisor to Dave Nutting Associates (DNA), the Bally subsidiary that created the Astrocade.

Perkins was also involved with Action Graphics. According to former Astrocade employee Tom Meeks, DNA software manager Bob Ogden started the company with Perkins. The July 15, 1985, issue of InfoWorld referred to Perkins as "vice president of engineering." Action Graphics was responsible for developing the original Commodore 64 version of Epyx' Winter Games, Rock 'n Bolt (C64), and numerous other titles.

Obituary

{{#ev:youtube|YbT7OrvOvhs}} Commodore 64 version of Artillery Duel (above). John Perkins or Action Graphics involvement unknown.

Comments

<startFeed /> <endFeed />

<comments hideform="false" />