Archer Maclean (28 January 1962 – 17 December 2022) was a British

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

. He was the author of ''

Dropzone ''Dropzone'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Archer Maclean (under the name Arena Graphics) for the Atari 8-bit family and published in 1984 by U.S. Gold. It was ported to the Commodore 64, then later released for the Nintendo ...

'' which he developed for the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

and was

ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...

to other systems. Maclean also developed the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness W ...

version of ''

International Karate ''International Karate'' is a fighting game developed and published by System 3 for the ZX Spectrum in 1985 and ported to various home computers over the following years. In the United States it was published by Epyx in 1986 as ''World Karate C ...

''The Making of: International Karate, IK+
" In: ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...

'', Issue 26, pp. 42-47. and the sequel, '' IK+'' which was developed for the Commodore 64 and

to other systems. He was also known for his series of

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

and

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

games, which commenced with '' Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker'' in 1991 (that was originally called 147). Maclean left Awesome Studios—the

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

he helped found and establish—in July 2005 and ran Awesome Play. Maclean died on 17 December 2022, at the age of 60.

Early life

Maclean showed interest in electronics from an early age, being self taught by way of dismantling electronic devices. In 1972, he dismantled a television. In 1975, he commenced working part time in a television repair shop in Brentwood, Essex. After a chance meeting with its owner in 1976, Maclean started part-time work at electronics company Ambit International. This work allowed Maclean to start spending "unfeasibly large amounts of money on computer hardware, as a school kid".

Works

Maclean's first game, ''Dropzone'', was heavily influenced by ''

Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien Einstein–Rosen ...

'' and '' Defender''. Maclean's final title for Awesome Studios was '' Archer Maclean's Mercury'' completed in 2005. The follow-up versions were '' Mercury Meltdown'' for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...

, '' Mercury Meltdown Remix'' for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

, and '' Mercury Meltdown Revolution'' for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...

. Maclean then developed a futuristic racing game, '' WheelSpin'', for the Wii. Maclean also wrote a monthly column for ''

'' magazine.

References

External links

Awesome Play
*
Archer Maclean interview
from '' Halcyon Days''
2009 interview regarding the Wii
from Wii's World 1962 births 2022 deaths British computer programmers British video game designers Golden Joystick Award winners Video game programmers {{videogame-bio-stub