News Archivists Uncover Lost Commodore 64 Game From The Co-Creator Of Centipede

Image from Time Extension

Archivists have recently made an exciting discovery in the world of retro gaming. They have uncovered a prototype of a lost Commodore 64 game called "Computer Theatre," which was developed by Dona Bailey, the co-creator of the classic arcade game Centipede.

Key details about this discovery include:

1. Development: Computer Theatre was developed in 1984 at Activision but was never released.

2. Creators: The game was a collaboration between Dona Bailey and Paul Allen Newel, who was one of the designers of Simutrek's laserdisc game Cube Quest.

3. Genre: Computer Theatre is described as a "visual novel," a genre that was emerging in Japan around the same time.

4. Gameplay: Players could choose between three characters – Cathy, Beth, and Kent – and experience an interactive, loosely autobiographical story. The game featured interactions with NPCs, dialogue options, and the ability to read newspaper clippings.

5. Discovery: The prototype was found in Paul Allen Newel's garage by Katie Biittner, an anthropologist at MacEwan University in Alberta, Canada.

6. Significance: This find is considered important in the field of video game history, as it represents an early example of the visual novel genre outside of Japan.

7. Upcoming publication: An extensive article about the discovery will be published in December in the specialized journal ROMchip. The article will feature insights from various experts, including Carl Thierren (a professor of video game history), John Aycock (a professor in computer science who helped get the prototype running), and the game's original creators.

8. Historical context: The game was initially called "Holding Things Together" and can be played using the C64 emulator Vice.

​

In the very same post, Thierren also wrote the following (as translated by Google), giving us a little more insight into why he considers the find to be so significant:

"This is a visual novel (VN) "before the letter", imagined by Dona and Paul, at a time when this genre also emerged in Japan. It's so beautiful we decided to make it a collective article with ten hands: the archaeologist, the computer scientist, the 'fake' historian, the programmer, and the designer (after all, it will be the world premiere of their work, forty years later).

"I imagine that this kind of research is particularly appealing to 'geeks' like us (level 60+), but it actually seems of interest to the world (literally: see the Le Monde newspaper article 'How archaeologists found Dona Bailey's lost game')."

You can visit the Le Monde article to see an image of an early version of the game called Holding Things Together being played in the C64 emulator Vice.

This discovery highlights the ongoing efforts in game preservation and provides a fascinating glimpse into the early days of narrative-focused game design on home computers. It also sheds light on the work of Dona Bailey, who is known for her significant contribution to the arcade classic Centipede.

Comment des archéologues ont retrouvé le jeu perdu de Dona Bailey, pionnière du jeu vidéo

Des chercheurs ont mis au jour « Computer Theatre », cosigné par la créatrice du mythique « Centipede ». Un jeu jusqu’ici inconnu, dont la dimension autobiographique témoigne des difficultés rencontrées par les développeurs d’alors.

www.lemonde.fr

Archivists Uncover Lost Commodore 64 Game From The Co-Creator Of Centipede

Computer Theatre was developed back in 1984 at Activision but was never released

www.timeextension.com