PC-Man (IBM PC 1983) and the spark of childhood wonder

Summary

Teenager Greg Kuperberg wrote three fast-action arcade games for the IBM-PC in 1982 and 1983 (an almost impossible of feat at the time) and then took another path. In this rare examination of his work, we look at the legacy and inspiration of this “would-be” game programming auteur, who “moved-on” while at the top of his game. Video Version Want to read the Interview? It’s at the end of the story. Part 1: The Spark and a Pac-Man Clone By Steve Fulton I think a lot about “The Spark” these days. That being, “the ignition”, “the jolt” or “the wake-up call” that first made me interested in video games and computers back in the 1970s when I was a kid. The thing that made me believe computer programming was not just a “cool” thing, but also the ”ONLY” thing I ever wanted to pursue. I wonder if “the spark” has been extinguished for kids in the 21st century? With so many cynical ways technology has been twisted into service in 2025, I wonder if anyone could possibly be inspired by it? Or is the constant hum of technology, now just, another static pulse added to the background noise of a world, seemingly, drowning in the technology that once promised to save it? The early wake-up call for me was the one that I felt when I first saw a program running on an Apple II in 1980, then permanently ignited when I got my Atari 800 computer a few years later. Back then, the idea of “programming” a computer lit my brain on fire, and that fire was fueled by playing tons of computer games. I visit those systems and games on a regular basis these days, through vintage computing and emulation, sometimes venturing to places I’ve never been before.Recently I’ve been looking at the early “wild-west” of the PC-XT 8088 games from 1981 and 1982. The same ones I experienced on my friend Wesley’s PC-XT clone at his house in the early 1980s. A few days ago I was doing some final research for a long suffering story about the 1982 PC Game “Executive Suite” when I came across another game from 1982, na...