News

Donkey Kong legend talks iPhone gaming

Garry Kitchen on going from Atari 2600 to Arcade Hoops

Donkey Kong legend talks iPhone gaming

It's not every day you get to talk to the man who coded Donkey Kong for the Atari 2600 console back in 1982. But that's just what PocketGamer.biz has done.

Garry Kitchen is that man. These days, he's in charge of a casual games developer called Skyworks Interactive, with co-founder David Crane (another game industry veteran).

The company just released its first iPhone title, basketball game Arcade Hoops. "I got curious, so I downloaded the SDK and got to work," says Kitchen.

"It took about six weeks to write the game, pretty much in my spare time, and when it was 70 per cent done I brought it in to show a few people."

However, Skyworks is now looking to launch more iPhone games, some of which will use the handset's key features.

"With GPS, the ability to access the camera, play remote wireless head to head, and connect back to a server, there's a big opportunity to do much more engaging entertainment than a simple casual game," he says.

For more on his views on iPhone, and what Skyworks is planning, read the full Garry Kitchen interview on PocketGamer.biz.

Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)