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Video: The making of 1984's Marble Madness

Marble Madness designer Mark Cerny delivers a fascinating postmortem of his classic arcade game, with never-before-revealed details on the development process and features that were cut from the original design.

Game Developer, Staff

January 16, 2013

2 Min Read
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Courtesy of the GDC Vault is the fascinating postmortem of Atari hit Marble Madness given at the Game Developers Conference 2011. 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. 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

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent GDC events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers. Those who purchased All Access passes to events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC China already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscriptions via a GDC Vault inquiry form. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company. More information on this option is available via an online demonstration, and interested parties can find out more here. In addition, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault admins. Be sure to keep an eye on GDC Vault for even more new content, as GDC organizers will also archive videos, audio, and slides from other events like GDC China and GDC 2013. To stay abreast of all the latest updates to GDC Vault, be sure to check out the news feed on the official GDC website, or subscribe to updates via Twitter, Facebook, or RSS.

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