Brian Colin

He has been noted for his work in the field of bitmapped video-game graphics and animation, creating video-game sprites and tiled background graphics with a recognizable, identifiable style. He can be seen across the country at gaming conventions.

• Name — Brian Colin • Born — 4 November 1956 • Known for — Rampage Arch Rivals • Occupation — Video game designer, artist, animator

Colin joined Bally/Midway as an artist and animator during the golden age of arcade video games. His first project was creating new character animation for the arcade game Discs of Tron, for which he was given onscreen credit. Between 1982 and 1984, he created in-game raster graphics and animation for numerous Bally/Midway arcade games, including Kozmik Krooz'r, Spy Hunter and Zwackery, the latter being the first game for which Colin was credited as a game designer. 1985's Sarge was designed by Colin along with Bally/Midway programmer Jeff Nauman. It was their first complete collaboration in a partnership that would continue into the 21st century. Their 1986 game Rampage was a success that set arcade earnings records; it was eventually ported to more than 25 different platforms and is still prominently featured in Midway arcade compilations for current systems. Colin continued to work with other Bally/Midway programmers on games like Max RPM and Xenophobe, but as of 1988's Blasted, he collaborated primarily with Nauman. Their next two games were released after Bally/Midway was acquired by Williams Electronics in 1988: Arch Rivals in 1989 and Pigskin 621 A.D. in 1990. An easter egg in Xenophobe was seen with the second stage being named "Colin's Rock", as tribute to Brian Colin. Colin left Williams/Bally/Midway to form the game development studio Game Refuge with Nauman in 1992. Starting with General Chaos in 1993, Colin has conceived and designed over 45 different video games under the Game Refuge brand, including the arcade games Rampage World Tour and Star Trek: Voyager. He has also branched out into video slot machine design, advergaming and touchscreen gaming. He continues to produce games for PCs and mobile platforms as the CEO of Game Refuge. More recently he has attempted to create a sequel General Chaos called "General Chaos II: Sons of Chaos" with Kickstarter backing.

• Seninsky, Frank. "Frank's Cranks: Bally Aiming High" Play Meter, August 15, 1986, p. 42–44 • Haley, James. "Behind the Designing Scene" Canadian Coin Box Magazine, August–September 1990, p. 36 • "Video-Game Previews: General Chaos" VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, August 1993, p. 47 • Bieniek, Chris. "Video-Game Reviews: General Chaos" VideoGames, October 1993, p. 54 • "Rampage: World Tour Destruction Guide" Tips & Tricks, June 1997, p. 40–45 • Bevan, Mike. "The Making of...Rampage" Retro Gamer Issue 56, 2008, p. 70–75 • Bevan, Mike. "The Making of...Spy Hunter" Retro Gamer Issue 66, 2009, p. 28–31 • Hamen, Susan E. Inside the Industry: Engineering. ABDO Publishing Company, 2011, p. 81–83.