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 Dona Bailey was the only female software engineer at Atari in 1980 when she created Centipede. Centipede was the first coin-operated arcade game to be programmed by a woman and it was the first to have a significant female player base. The game was co-developed by Ed Logg. In the early '80s, the video gaming industry was in its infancy. The ratio of male to female engineers was 30 to 1 at Atari when Dona took the software engineering position. She was under incredible pressure to perform well just because she was a woman. Even after Centipede was released she felt pressure because some believed it was just a fluke.
In today's video gaming world, Centipede would be considered just a casual game. Dona believes it was never a casual game; it was an action game with a story. Centipede was one of the first video games to use artificial intelligence (AI). In the Centipede game the player shoots lasers at a centipede that winds itself through a field of mushrooms. When the centipede is hit, the segment becomes a mushroom and the insect splits in half continuing its way even faster through the mushroom maze. Other insects also join the game. Spiders and fleas are worth points and fleas leave behind mushrooms. The player 'dies' when hit by a centipede fragment or other insect.
Dona Bailey got her start in programming by learning assembly language at General Motors (GM). She now teaches courses in game design at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Recently she was the keynote speaker at the Women in Games International conference. Dona was excited to speak to an audience that would be celebrating women in the gaming industry. There are two things important to Dona: power and art. She believes that young women need to become empowered. She says they don't teach this in school, but it's really necessary in a professional setting. Dona also believes that video games are moving in the art direction and she would like to see them treated more like fine art projects.
Resources:
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1659/the_original_gaming_bug_centipede_.php?page=2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dona_Bailey
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Re: Dona Bailey: Centipede Creator
