Brian Eddy
{{Short description|American game designer and programmer}}
Brian R. Eddy is an American game designer and programmer, best known for designing Attack From Mars pinball for Midway and programming FunHouse and, with Larry DeMar, The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot. While at Williams Electronics / Midway Games, he also designed Medieval Madness,[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFq2s8HuCHg YouTube interview] and programmed Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure.{{Cite web |title=Brian Eddy is the Patron Saint of Pinball |url=https://www.nudgepinball.com/articles/put-some-respect-on-brian-eddys-name |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Nudge |language=en-US}} Eddy holds three patents related to game design.{{Cite web |title=Brian Eddy Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search |url=https://patents.justia.com/inventor/brian-eddy |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=patents.justia.com}}
Biography
Eddy began his career in video games in 1989 at age 21, working as a programmer for Williams.{{Cite web |last=Bücher |first=Maddes |date=2004-01-04 |title=Interview with Brian Eddy |url=https://www.maddes.net/pinball/brian_eddy_200401.htm |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Flipper / Pinball}} He worked on the notable pinball machines, Black Rose, The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot, and Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure. He then became a designer and created his best known machines, Attack from Mars and Medieval Madness, as well as The Shadow.{{Cite web |date=2018-03-18 |title=Brian Eddy Returns to Pinball |url=https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2018/03/18/brian-eddy-returns-to-pinball/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Pinball News |language=en-GB}}
After the closure of Midway's pinball division in 1999, Eddy moved to Midway's video game division, where he worked on Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, and several games in the Mortal Kombat franchise.{{Cite web |title=Brian Eddy |url=https://www.mobygames.com/person/84359/brian-eddy/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} As a programmer and designer, he also worked in slot machines and eventually became executive director and producer of Midway Home Entertainment.{{Cite book |last=Eddy |first=Brian R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2J_vCwAAQBAJ |title=Classic Video Games: The Golden Age 1971–1984 |date=2012-07-20 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78200-100-3 |language=en}}
In the 2000s and 2010s, Eddy worked in a range of electronic games, including home consoles, mobile, and online games.{{Cite web |last=Hickey Jr |first=Patrick |date=2021-06-09 |title=Exclusive: Brian Eddy Talks Stern's The Mandalorian Pinball Machine And More |url=https://www.oldschoolgamermagazine.com/old-school-gamer-magazine-exclusive-brian-eddy-talks-sterns-the-mandalorian-pinball-machine-and-more/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Old School Gamer Magazine |language=en-US}} He worked as a technology consultant with Rand McNally, and in 2012 wrote the book, Classic Video Games: The Golden Age 1971–1984.{{Cite book |last=Eddy |first=Brian R. |url=http://archive.org/details/classicvideogame0000eddy |title=Classic video games : the golden age, 1971-1984 |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford : Shire |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-7478-1042-1}} That same year, Eddy joined Spooky Cool Labs, a game design firm founded by former Williams programmer Larry DeMar as chief creative officer. In 2013, he became president and the company was acquired by Zynga.{{Cite web |last=Takahashi |first=Dean |date=2013-03-05 |title=Wizard of Oz social game hits a million players on Facebook (exclusive) |url=https://venturebeat.com/business/wizard-of-oz-social-game-hits-a-million-players-exclusive/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Cutler |first=Kim-Mai |date=2013-06-19 |title=Zynga Acquires Spooky Cool Labs To Boost Its Social Casino Push |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/19/zynga-spooky-cool/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}
In 2018, Eddy left Spooky Cool Labs and joined Stern as senior game designer.{{Cite web |last=Jacobson |first=Julie |date=2018-06-28 |title=Lutron Melds with Z-Wave in Pinball Wizard's Playful Smart Home |url=https://www.cepro.com/news/lutron_z-wave_elan_lighting_pinball_smart_home/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=CEPRO |language=en-US}} His first pinball machine for the company, released in December 2019 was Stranger Things, based on the television show. His second game, based on the show The Mandalorian, was released in 2021 and the Venom game was released in 2023.{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |last3= |last4= |first4= |date=2021-05-24 |title=Interview with The Mandalorian Pinball Designer – Brian Eddy |url=https://ausretrogamer.com/interview-with-the-mandalorian-pinball-designer-brian-eddy/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Ausretrogamer |language=en-AU}}
Games
=Pinball=
- Diner (1990) (Effects)
- Bad Cats (1990) (Effects)
- Pool Sharks (1990) (Software)
- FunHouse (1990) (effects)
- The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot (1991) (software)
- Black Rose (1992) (software)
- Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (1993) (concept, software)
- The Shadow (1994) (design, software)
- Attack From Mars (1995) (design, concept)
- Medieval Madness (1997) (design, concept)
- Stranger Things (2019) (design, concept)
- The Mandalorian (2021) (design, concept)
- Venom (2023) (design, concept)
- Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant's Eye (2025) (design, concept)
=Video games=
- Arctic Thunder (2001) (project lead)
- Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (2004) (project & design lead)
- Stranglehold (2007) (director)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.maddes.net/pinball/brian_eddy_200401.htm Maddes.net: Interview with Brian Eddy, January 2004]
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Category:Pinball game designers
Category:American computer programmers
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
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