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Editorials 
Mark Cerny: The Marble Madness Guy!
- By Dan
Doll
At this year’s Electronics Entertainment Expo, we chatted with one of the fathers of modern gaming - even more so for us puzzle fans. Currently heading his own company with Cerny Games, you’ll always know him as the Marble Madness guy.
Indeed, we had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with the creator of Marble Madness, and we learned a few things in the process. For your reading enjoyment, please welcome Mark Cerny.
NPuzzles: I guess it’s only fair to start off with a little history of what you used to do. We know you went to the University of…
Mark Cerny: I went to the University of California, Berkeley. I started taking classes there when I was 13. Studying math and physics. When I was 17 I joined Atari (January of ’82), and I’ve been doing games since then.
NP: Tell us about that workshop that you had today.
MC: Today, I introduced Mr. Hideo Kojima [Ed's note: Creator, Metal Gear Solid], at his interview, which was terrifying. How do you introduce someone who needs no introduction? Yesterday, my workshop was on the rules of “the game.” How do you make a rule set by which you can make games, and what is that rule set? I don’t really know about reducing making games to a science, its much more of an art or a craft.
NP: We read that you were working on games like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, is that true?
MC: Yes, I was president of Universal Interactive Studios. During that time, I was Executive Producer of the Crash and Spyro series. After I left, I formed Cerny Games, where really the mission of Cerny Games is a little atypical. We try to work with other people and make their games more successful. We’re a support role.
NP: Which games have you helped with?
MC: Spyro 2, Spyro 3, Crash Bash, Jak and Daxter, and this year, Ratchet and Clank.
NP: So you’re more of a consultant?
MC: We’re consultants. That’s right. It’s myself and Michael John, who is the producer of the Spyro series.
NP: So how do you help a guy with, say, Jak and Daxter?
MC: We just do whatever we can. I did a couple years of work on their engine, and did a little bit of work on the design side.
NP: Along with names like Crash and Spyro, the big game that everybody knows is Marble Madness. Now, you were only 17 when you designed that, right?
MC: Actually, the books have that wrong. No, I was 18 when I designed it. I put away the design for a year and worked on Major Havoc. I then came back at age 19.
NP: So was there really even a contest you won? [Ed’s note: The story says Mark’s idea won a contest at Atari, giving him a job, the resources, and the publisher to make his idea real.]
MC: No, there was no contest. That’s again wrong.
NP: Wow, that whole bit of gaming history is false?
MC: Yes, it’s all wrong. There was even this ad we did that said, “I designed a game that I wanted to play, so I know that you will want to play it,” but nope, that’s wrong. Nor is the philosophy very good either, because unless you have every man’s tastes, you don’t want to make a game that you want to play; you want to make a game that the world will play.
NP: Check it out.
MC: That is indeed it.
NP: That’s not you is it?
MC: I got a haircut since then.
[laughter]
 NP: In researching a Marble Madness sequel, we read something about a Marble Man.
MC: Marble Man, Bob Flanagan spearheaded that project. I had left Atari by then. It never came to be.
NP: So you were 19 when you made Marble Madness, but you said you worked with Atari since 17. What did you do during those two years?
MC: My first game that I did was a game called Qwak!, which you can see on MAME (poorly emulated, but it’s there). It’s like one of those puzzles where there’s one blank spot and you’re pushing around tiles, except the whole things moving while you do it.
NP: Ok, I have to ask about Monkey Ball. When that came out, everyone compared it to Marble Madness.
MC: Well, it’s true. I’ll be the only person who can do a ball rolling around and not have it be a derivative product. It’s nice, and actually I know [Sega’s] Mr. Nagoshi. I used to work for Sega in Japan, so I got to know him. Known him about 15 years.
NP: So you’ve worked with him?
MC: Never worked with him, I’ve worked in the same building as him. It’s very funny. When I played the game for the first time last year, I was playing it at the Sega booth, and I said some comment about “Wow, this is Marble Madness!” Some people overheard me, thought I was upset, and told Nagoshi, who apologized through channels. Very funny.
NP: Wow.
MC: Yeah. It’s great; it’s great.
NP: So now the idea is, since Monkey Ball has been so successful, has that led to any thoughts on another Marble Madness?
MC: Oh, I’d love to do something with Marble Madness, but the rights [to it] have ended up in so many places: Atari, Hasbro… I think, I’m not sure, that Infogrames in France now has the rights.
NP: We have a copy of the NES game, and we saw it said Milton Bradley. We couldn’t find your name anywhere.
MC: Atari’s stance on Marble Madness was that it was a corporate product of Atari so they stripped my credits as soon as I left the company. God bless them.
NP: Have you worked with Atari since then?
MC: No. Well, Atari is now gone. It was purchased by Midway. Actually, that office is completely gone.
 NP: How about the future, anything you’re looking forward to?
MC: Well, just working with these companies trying to do what I can on their projects. This year, I’m very excited to have contributed to Ratchet and Clank. I know it’s PlayStation 2 only, but you should check it out, it’s great.
NP: Are you working on anything for Nintendo at this point?
MC: No, [but] the Gamecube looks great, as does the Xbox.
NP: Have you had the chance to try developing on the GCN? It’s supposedly easy to work with.
MC: Well, we’ll see. There’s so much coming out for the Gamecube [right now], I wouldn’t want to get caught in the middle of that.
NP: You’d get washed out, right?
MC: Well look at this year, you’ve got Mario, Wario, Starfox, and…
NP: Zelda.
MC: Yes, Zelda. That’s a lot.
NP: Do you prefer one system over the other, or have you not had enough experience to say?
MC: I really haven’t looked too much at the GameCube or the Xbox hardware. It would be nice to check that out. The most fun is to make games that people enjoy and to get a lot of them out there. So, I’m pretty hardware agnostic, I just like to see the games sell well.
 
NP: So you’re content working on other people’s games, or do you ever get another great idea and want to make it your own?
MC: It’s not really about the ideas, it’s about the execution. We’re all using the same ideas, really: “Hey, let’s have the character jump twice this time.” So my big successes have been in the last ten years helping other people with their games, and that’s worked out very well.
NP: Indeed it has. Well, Mark, we won’t keep you any longer, thanks again for talking with us.
MC: You’re welcome.
NP: Mark Cerny, everybody.
Agree with what I'm saying? Disagree? Let us know your thoughts on this issue in our mail bag. The views of Dan Doll are not necessarily the views of NGenres.com or its affiliates.
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| "When I played [Super Monkey Ball] for the first time last year, I was playing it at the Sega booth, and I said some comment about 'Wow, this is Marble Madness!'" |
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