DENNIS HARPER
INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS
FUN & GAMES
FOUNDER OF GAME STUDIO - PACIFIC COAST POWER & LIGHT
After leaving the coin-op market, Dennis co-founded a video game studio with business partner Don Traeger. This was called "PACIFIC COAST POWER & LIGHT"... and yes, we did get call when people's power went out.
Dennis was VP of Product Development, and oversaw all aspects of creative and technical design. He was even Lead Programmer. Plus -- plans, budgets, personnel... but had a great time doing it all. This studio produced "JET MOTO 3" for Sony Computer Entertainment.
Then in 1999, the studio was acquired by THQ and went on to produce motocross and driving genre products. The motocross hit "MX SUPERFLY" exceeded all sales in its genre to date.
JET MOTO 3
I was technical leader and chief creative designer for all the race tracks and environments. As Lead Programmer, i directed the creation of a sophisticated physics engine to simulate the hover-bikes.
Sony was very happy with this game, and it exceeded all projections and expectations.
MOTOCROSS RACING
- MX 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael
- MX Superfly
At PCPL, we specialized in custom, realistic driving physics in games and went on to develop and produce a series of great titles under the "MX" banner for THQ.
WWE CRUSH HOUR
Twisted Metal meets the WWE!
What a fun title this was. We got real close to the WWE stars, and designed custom vehicles that matched their personalities. Great battles, power-ups, special weapons and lots of gratuitous explosions… this is fun stuff.
WWE Crush Hour met all corporate expectations and spawned another successful sequel.
ELECTRONIC ARTS
Dennis wanted a taste of AAA game development, so snagged a Senior Development Director position for the Godfather Game in 2003. He served as engineering director for PS2 rendering team, defining requirements along with managing engineering contractors and off shore development. Went of to direct a world-building and tools group, forming team to support 200+ developers, eliminating obstacles and minimizing run-rate costs.
Dennis was instrumental in supporting the development infrastucture of this huge and complex project.
THE GODFATHER, THE GAME
This was huge project. At one point, nearly 250 developers were on the team. The Godfather featured state-of-the-art 3D rendering technology, which I introduced to EA. An innovative control scheme, incredible special effects and cinematic quaility cut-scenes made this game into a masterpiece.
The Godfather, The Game sales were over $6MM and it spawned a series of franchise products.