RePlay checked in with Brian Colin, creator of Bally-Midway’s Rampage, following his attendance at the April 4 premier of the new movie based on the classic video game. The film, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson hits theaters April 13.
The Los Angeles event at the Microsoft Theater was “over the top,” said Colin. “For starters, the movie was phenomenal –– a wildly entertaining thrill ride that just kept building and building, and actually had me shouting out loud with glee more than once.
“In the lobby after the show,” he continued, “actor Jason Liles (who plays George) gave me a shout out to the crowd as the game’s designer, after which I was pleasantly mobbed by game fans seeking autographs and photo ops.”
(For those into details, Colin conceived of Rampage and worked out the gameplay mechanics, writing the initial design and fighting with management to get it approved. He worked with programmer Jeff Nauman to develop and create the classic vid. Colin aptly described the collaboration as a “Lennon-McCartney thing.”)
It’s clear Colin had a blast at the premier: “Top it all off with an exclusive star-studded ‘after party’ and you can probably understand why I’m still walking around with this ridiculous grin on my face. (I may need to have it surgically removed at some point.)”
By the way, actor Johnson (executive producer of the film) told Variety he was a “very big fan of the video game growing up,” explaining that he’d play in a pool hall back when he was 13. “I would drop quarters in the ‘Rampage’ video game all the time,” The Rock told the entertainment publication.
Wanna go on a Rampage yourself? Go drop some quarters on a movie ticket! By the way, Colin and Nauman are still actively doing design and development for Game Refuge Inc., a company they co-founded.