Marble Madness designer Mark Cerny went from being a punch card programming hobbyist and master of arcade

games to an Atari employee at age 17. He thought the job would provide fame and fortune, but quickly he learned otherwise. In this postmortem, Cerny explains what really went into and came out of the business and development of the Marble Madness software and hardware.

Video: The making of 1984's Marble Madness

Courtesy of the GDC Vaultis the fascinating postmortem of Atari hit Marble Madness given at the Game Developers Conference 2011.



software and hardware. He revisits scrapped plans, such as implementing touchscreen and motorized trackball controls, and discusses how the game's length may have caused declining profits in arcades.

Session Name: Classic Game Postmortem - Marble Madness

Speaker(s): Mark Cerny

Company Name(s): Cerny Games

Track / Format: Game Design
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