Discussion with Pink Panther Cvision Developer Randy Green

[retroren]

I spoke to Randy Green. He was hired in March of 1983 by NAP's Probe 2000 division to develop a Pink Panther game for Cvision. He spent the first month disassembling a stock Cvision to learn what it was made of and how it all worked. I found it interesting that NAP did not have a team of storyline writers that gave Randy a script to follow. He said he sat around with some of his 15 or so co-workers (Bob Harris, Steve Ortner and others) and just brainstormed (he alluded to maybe consuming an adult beverage or two as they were all a bunch of young guys). He worked with a United Artist graphic artist to ensure he got the "look" of Pink just right. He also recalled teaming up with a co-worker who happened to be an amature musician to record the PP theme song. Randy said it didn't take him long to become very annoyed with the song. I asked about the non-traditional Cvision case that holds the e-prom chips. He remembers that it was not unusual for Marketing/Sales to request carts be made of games in progress to show potential customers at trade shows. He believes he created the e-proms and somebody else put them into an O2 case by mistake. He was absolutely amazed that his game had survived 30 years and in the same condition as when he created it. He said e-proms are designed to last about 10 years. He seemed to be willing to share his "gaming" past. I am sure William Cassidy will interview him. I hope the members of this forum found what I have shared to be as interesting as I have.

 

On a seperate note, he recollected that Bob Harris had an extreme fear of bees and that once they were on a road trip together and a bee got into their car. Bob was driving and freaked out and Randy thought he was going to die as Bob drove erratically on the freeway, swatting and yelling at the bee. Could this fear have played an inspirational role in the creation of his Killer Bees?

[Manoau2002]

Thanks for sharing this information. Its always interesting to learn about rare prototypes. Did he mentioned if the game is fully playable or a demo?

[phattyboombatty]

Very, very cool! Can't wait to learn more.

[Parrothead]

We are interviewing Randy this weekend and will have it on the upcoming RetroGaming Roundup podcast. We are excited to interview someone who has flown under the radar for so long. Can't wait to share it with you all.