In memory of Christian Oberth
| Filed under Happenings, History, Software showcase; 1 comment. |
The Apple II community has suffered some prominent losses in the past year, such as Stan Marks and Steve Jobs. One that recently flew under the radar was that of programmer Christian Oberth, who passed away in mid-July at the age of 59.
By the time Oberth turned 30, he’d developed an extensive résumé, creating computer and arcade games for companies such as Milton Bradley, Stern Electronics, and Datamost. His published titles for the Apple II included 3-D Docking Mission (1978), Depth Charge (1978), and Phasor Zap (1978). He also programmed coin-op arcade games such as Armored Car (1981) and, perhaps most notably, Anteater (1982), adapted in 1983 to the Apple II as Ardy the Aardvark.
Sadly, the extent of Oberth’s portfolio was not fully recognized in his obituary, which offered only the summary: "He was an original Apple programmer, made an anteater game and was passionate about making and playing games."
Donations in Oberth’s name can be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, a four-star charity on Charity Navigator.
(Hat tip to Craig Grannell)
Very sorry to hear about Chris’ passing. I met him in 1978 (I was 13) when my dad bought and Apple II (integer basic) from the Elektrik Keyboard in Chicago. He also bought cassette copies of Phasor Zap and Depth Charge. I used to tape the paddles together to better control the coordinates, and even added a switch so that the game would auto-fire because the cheap buttons wore out from so much use. I was actually searching for Chris because I stumbled on the old Elektrik Keyboard office on Lincoln Ave (which coincidentally is now my dentist’s office) and was going to send him a picture. What a bummer. RIP Chris and thank you for many hours of entertainment!