David Theurer (born )is a game designer and computer programmer. In 1980, he created the Missile Command and Tempest arcade games for Atari, Inc., considered two of the major releases from the Golden age of arcade games. Theurer also designed I, Robot for Atari, the first commercial video game with 3D filled-polygonal graphics.
Early life
David attended Wheaton College in Chicago, initially following a path in Chemistry and then Physics, but with two years to go until completion changed once more to Psychology, earning a degree. He has said that earning the degree had helped him create addictive games by using the same techniques originally used on pigeons. The idea for Tempest was of monsters appearing from a hole in the ground, a scenario from a movie which Theurer had seen as a child.
In 2012, Theurer was given the Pioneer Award for his work on Atari arcade games.
Personal life
On the way to fireworks displays at Moffett Field on July 4, 1983, Theurer used his Porsche 928 to chase down a hit-and-run driver who had struck Michael McCully, a 15-year-old boy from Los Altos. Michael suffered a severed spine injury and was paralyzed from the waist down. The driver returned to the scene where the California Highway Patrol arrested him for hit-and-run, drunken driving, giving false information to a police officer and driving without a license. David was praised for his efforts by the California Highway Patrol.