Memorials/Kelly Turner
International Game Developers Association
| Kelly Turner |
|
| b. November 6, 1961
- d. September 18, 2005 |
| Mobygames page |
Game producer Kelly Turner died of multi-systemic organ failure on September 18th, 2005.
Table of contents |
[edit] Biography
Kelly Turner was a prolific and versatile game developer working in virtually every aspect of production and is best known for his work as executive producer on The 3DO Company's Army Men series. He began programming computer games in 1976 and took his first industry position with Atari Games coin-op in 1984 where he helped create Super Sprint, Championship Sprint, Vindicators, and Bad Lands, among other titles. In the early '90s, he spent a year at PF Magic and another two at Virgin Entertainment before eventually joining The 3DO Company. During this time, he also gained experience with Hollywood film production through Special FX and Rhythm & Hues. His final position was Executive Producer of external development at Eidos.
Turner had been a strong supporter of the games industry and game history, appearing as a guest speaker at California Extreme in 2003 and 2004, at the Classic Gaming Expo in 2005, the Game Developers Conference in 2005, and assisting with historical information at AtariGames.com.
Before he became a game developer, Turner had an extensive background in independent costuming and model design based on science fiction and anime, and some of his work found its way into the professional industry. Turner was part of the production crew that built the impressive “V'Ger Flyby” sets for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and the additional sets and props used in the special edition of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He also worked on the committees of costume conventions and science fiction convention masquerades such as Costume-Con and Westercon. Some of his costume credits include include The Egyptian Gods (Denvention 1981), Pyrogenesis (Chicon 1982), and Night on Bald Mountain (LAcon 1984). His costuming skills complemented his interests in music and art, including piano playing, and these broad interests provided him with the skills required to recognize good original game concepts and licenses.
Kelly Turner also played an influential role as Vice Chair of the Producers Guild of America New Media Council, the first game developer to ever sit on the Board of Governors of that association. His family and the Producers Guild of America have created the Kelly Turner Memorial Fund in his honor.
- Devin Monnens
[edit] Works
[edit] Video games
(*=unconfirmed credits)
- *25 to Life (2005)
- Army Men: Sarge's War – executive producer - (Global Star Software Inc, 2004)
- Army Men Air Combat: The Elite Missions – executive produceer (The 3DO Company, 2003)
- Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home – executive producer (Eidos, Inc., 2003)
- Disney's 101 Dalmations II: Patch's London Adventure – executive producer – (Eidos, Inc., 2003)
- *Jacked (2003)
- *The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Unreleased, would have been 2003)
- Army Men RTS – executive producer - (The 3DO Company, 2002)
- *Cubix Adventure (2002)
- *Dragon Rage (2001)
- *Godai (2001)
- WarJetz – executive producer - (The 3DO Company, 2001)
- Army Men: Air Attack 2 – executive producer – (The 3DO Company, 2000)
- Army Men: Air Combat – executive producer – (The 3DO Company, 2000) N64
- *WDL: Thunder Tanks (2000)
- BattleTanx: Global Assault – producer – (The 3DO Company, 1999)
- Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor – artist – (The 3DO Company, 1999)
- *Uprising X (1998)
- *Propaganda (1995)
- *Flix -executive producer - (1994)
- Sparkz (Atari Games, 1993)
- Arcade Classics – programmer – (Atari Games, 1992)
- *Cyberstorm (Atari Games, 1992)
- Dr. Sparkz Lab – project leader, programmer, designer – (Atari Games, 1992)
- *Batman (Atari Games, 1991)
- Off The Wall (Atari Games, 1991)
- Badlands (Atari Games, 1989)
- Vindicators Part II – designer, programmer - (Atari Games, 1989)
- Tetris – project leader, programmer – (Atari Games, 1988)
- Vindicators – designer, programmer – (Atari Games, 1988)
- Championship Sprint – programmer – (Atari Games, 1986)
- Super Sprint – designer, programmer – (Atari Games, 1986)
- *Gremlins (Atari Games, 1985)
Special Thanks
- Toonstruck (Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Inc., 1996)
- PaTaank – PF Magic Staff – (PF Magic, 1994)
[edit] Conference Lectures
- Production and Producers: Hollywood Joins the Game (Panel, GDC 2005)
