Blue Sky Rangers
Encyclopedia
The Blue Sky Rangers are the group of Intellivision
game programmers who once worked for Mattel
back in the early 1980s.
When the Intellivision first came out in 1978, its games were all developed by an outside firm, APh Technological Consulting
. Realizing that potential profits are much greater with first party software, Mattel formed its own in-house software development group. The original five members of that Intellivision team were manager Gabriel Baum, Don Daglow
, Rick Levine, Mike Minkoff and John Sohl. Levine and Minkoff (a long-time Mattel Toys veteran) both came over from the hand-held Mattel games engineering team. To keep these and later programmers (the Mattel team peaked at 110 people in 1983) from being hired away by rival Atari
, their identity and work location was kept a closely guarded secret.
In 1982, TV Guide
published an article about Intellivision's secret programming team. The writer of the article wanted to come up with some group name other than "The Application Software Programmers," so he came up with the name "The Blue Sky Rangers." This was based on the programming group's "Blue Sky Meetings," which were a series of brainstorming sessions for new game ideas.
This name stuck, so in public, the programmers were (and still are) referred to collectively as the Blue Sky Rangers. One of the early programmers, Keith Robinson, re-acquired the rights to Intellivision in recent years and the Blue Sky Rangers' games are now available on a variety of computers and video game platforms, as well as cell phones.
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
game programmers who once worked for Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
back in the early 1980s.
When the Intellivision first came out in 1978, its games were all developed by an outside firm, APh Technological Consulting
APh Technological Consulting
APh Technological Consulting is a software company, located in Pasadena, California, USA. In 1976 they helped Mattel to develop the Intellivision video game console and also wrote most of the early games for it...
. Realizing that potential profits are much greater with first party software, Mattel formed its own in-house software development group. The original five members of that Intellivision team were manager Gabriel Baum, Don Daglow
Don Daglow
Don Daglow is an American computer game and video game designer, programmer and producer. He is best known for designing a series of pioneering simulation games and role-playing games, as well as the first computer baseball game and the first graphical MMORPG, all between 1971 and 1995...
, Rick Levine, Mike Minkoff and John Sohl. Levine and Minkoff (a long-time Mattel Toys veteran) both came over from the hand-held Mattel games engineering team. To keep these and later programmers (the Mattel team peaked at 110 people in 1983) from being hired away by rival Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
, their identity and work location was kept a closely guarded secret.
In 1982, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
published an article about Intellivision's secret programming team. The writer of the article wanted to come up with some group name other than "The Application Software Programmers," so he came up with the name "The Blue Sky Rangers." This was based on the programming group's "Blue Sky Meetings," which were a series of brainstorming sessions for new game ideas.
This name stuck, so in public, the programmers were (and still are) referred to collectively as the Blue Sky Rangers. One of the early programmers, Keith Robinson, re-acquired the rights to Intellivision in recent years and the Blue Sky Rangers' games are now available on a variety of computers and video game platforms, as well as cell phones.
External links
- Intellivision Lives! website
- Article at The Dot Eaters about The Blue Sky Rangers and the Intellivision