>Retro_
GameDev 2026

One of the most influential designers and programmers in the history of video games. Co-founder of Activision in 1979 – the first independent video game development company – Crane revolutionized the industry with titles for Atari 2600 such as Pitfall! (1982), one of the best-selling and most iconic games of the era. Their focus on gameplay, visual narrative, and technical innovation laid the foundation for modern design. Throughout his career, he also created classics such as A Boy and His Blob (NES), Ghostbusters, Little Computer People, and David Crane's Amazing Tennis. In the 90s he founded Absolute Entertainment and later Skyworks Technologies, where he explored new formats such as casual and advertising games. Today, he continues to develop retro console titles through Audacity Games, reaffirming his commitment to creativity on classic platforms.

David not only helped define the language of video games, but he remains a key figure in the retro scene, inspiring new generations of developers with his playful and visionary approach.

Digital illustrator famous for his pioneering work in pixel art during the 80s and 90s. His career took off at Lucasfilm Games (later LucasArts), where he created the backgrounds for classics such as Loom, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders and The Secret of Monkey Island. With innovative techniques such as dithering and palette cycling, Ferrari brought to life worlds rich in atmosphere, pushing the technical limits of the time. After his time at LucasArts, he continued his legacy in projects such as Thimbleweed Park (2017), a retro adventure led by Ron Gilbert, where he once again displayed his talent in pixelated backgrounds. He also collaborated on The Seer's Spread, a card game based on fantasy novels, and developed animated digital landscapes that showcase his ongoing fascination with color and visual storytelling.

Today, Mark continues to be an inspirational figure for artists and developers, especially in the retro scene. Not only does his art evoke nostalgia, but it also demonstrates how creativity can shine through with even the most limited tools.

He bought his first ZX81 in 1981 when they arrived in Uruguay and learned to program in BASIC with the user manual. He soon found the limitations of language and was instructed to assemble through the few books and sources of information he could find. His first serious job was an astrology program that ran on an Apple II clone with some local success, which allowed him to turn to programming as a full-time job. In 1985, he was hired to manage Monetvideo's TK90 Users' Club and with a small team from the environment they began to develop hardware for the Spectrum and MSX platforms and then video games through the Spanish distributor Dynamic for various platforms (Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad, PC, C64, Amiga and Atari).

Among his most remembered works are games such as Freddy Hardest in South Manhattan and the hit Narco Police, chosen game of the year by several publications. Later he ventured into the development of mobile applications. Since 2009 he has been working for the company Inswitch, where he experiments with artificial intelligence. Carlos is a reference figure and well known in the region for having participated in the video game industry "in the big leagues" and having forged a profession in a region of the world where personal computing was still taking its first steps.

A graduate in Computer Science and English from the University of Illinois, he is recognized for his fundamental role in the evolution of video games and personal computing. He was one of the main architects of the legendary Commodore Amiga, where he developed Intuition, the graphical interface that revolutionized the user experience in the 80s. His visionary approach led him to co-design the Atari Lynx, the first handheld console with a color display, and later the 3DO, one of the first 32-bit consoles with advanced multimedia capabilities. Prior to these milestones, he worked at Williams Electronics creating special effects for arcade games such as Sinistar. He was also vice president of technology at Epyx, where he led the development of graphical tools, software libraries, and emulators. In the 1990s he co-founded New Technologies Group, which later merged with The 3DO Company. During his career, he also contributed to the development of mobile graphics engines and worked at Sony and Google on interactive entertainment projects.

RJ has combined technical creativity with an unwavering passion for gaming, leaving a deep mark on gaming history.

A developer with more than 25 years of experience in the software industry, he currently works as a university professor and researcher in the areas of programming, programming didactics and history of video games (UNPAZ, UNIPE).

He published the first works in the field of computational archaeology, a field in which he continues to make contributions to the History of Video Games.