Randy Platt, who was hired on to work on SDI in 1987 was one of the first programmers to be hired at Cinemaware. He continued on within Cinemaware to work on some of the most well known titles from the company such as "Defender of the Crown", "Rocket Ranger", "TV Sports Football" and "Wings". He stayed with Cinemaware until 1991, after which he spent 7 years as a contractor for various companies on various projects for Commodore CDTV, Sega Genesis, PC and N64.

Q: Why did you become involved with game development?

I loved playing electronic games even before there were any video games. I played a lot of pinball as a teenager and when Pong first came out I was ecstatic. I started to learn how to program when I was 16 on a Univac mainframe (using a Teletype!) and was hooked!

Q: How did you arrive at Cinemaware?

Through a contract I did for them.

Q: What lessons did you learn there?

I learned how to work as a member of a team of talented professionals. I learned a lot about good game design and how to make a game that is really fun and exciting within the constraints of the hardware we had to work with.

Q: Can you give us a good story back from the Cinemaware days?

An interesting fact which most people don’t know is that Bob Jacob (the former company president and founder of Cinemaware) got his likeness into several of the Cinemaware games. I think he was trying to be like Alfred Hitchcock and appear in his own productions. Many of the other Cinemware employees (including me!) showed up as various characters in our games. So go back and look closely!

Q: What do you do today?

Still programming after all these years.

Q: How did your experience at Cinemaware influence your philosophies about game design and production?

It made me realize how different game elements can and should fit together to make a great game. It also taught me how to make a game an enjoyable experience and not just a mindless waste of time.

Q: What is your favorite game of all time? What is your favorite Cinemaware game?

If you judge favorite games by how much time I’ve spent playing them, my favorites would be "Tempest", "Galaga" and "Age of Empires/Age of Kings." My favorite Cinemaware game is "It Came From the Desert" because of all the time, effort and sweat I invested in it. Also, I think it has a tremendous story line and is very entertaining.

Q: What are your thoughts about the current state of the game industry?

I think there’s an awful lot of eye candy and most games are just remakes of other games. There’s a lot of room for creativity and innovation left in the industry and I think the new Cinemaware is on the right track.

Q: In your opinion, has the fact that games have gotten larger and more complex made them better?

Not at all. In fact, I think that complexity can seriously detract from game play and just plain fun. Not that size and complexity are bad things, but they need to be harnessed and guided in the proper directions.

Q: What developers or publishers do you respect the most?

I like what Ensemble Studios has done. They’ve concentrated on a small niche and have put out great quality work. Squaresoft and Rare have done some amazing things on the Playstation and N64 (respectively). I also like a lot of what I’ve seen from LucasArts.

Q: What advice would you give to young folks today who are considering a career in the videogame industry?

Obviously, get a good education. But even more important, think creatively. Don’t be afraid to come up with new ideas and concepts. Don’t get caught up in all the hardware/cinematic hype. Think about what made you enjoy playing games in the first place. Fun is the bottom line.

Q: What do you think about the latest news of Amino Development acquiring the rights to the Amiga from Gateway? Do you think the Amiga can be resurrected?

I think the Amiga was a great system for its time. If the Amiga is going to succeed in the future, it will need to be a lot more than it was. It will need an enhanced and faster processor, a more robust operating system and significantly better graphics and sound capabilities.

Q: How influential do you think Cinemaware was?

I think Cinemware was very influential in its time. Our products were almost always ground breaking and were usually very successful. There are a lot of products out there, even today, that have elements in them which were originally done in Cinemaware titles. Also, many of the people who worked and/or collaborated with Cinemaware have gone on to influential positions with other game developers and have brought whatever they learned at Cinemaware with them.

Q: What would you like to see from Cinemaware in the future?

Updated versions of the old classics sounds like a ton of fun to me. I’d also like to see new, innovative titles based on the old Cinemaware philosophies. There is virtually no limit to what can be done.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans of Cinemaware?