This is an interview I conducted a while back (about six years ago) for another site.  That site was UnNamed Gaming, now closed down (available on Waybackmachine).  I am reposting this here so that fans of the Colecovision can see what homebrew developers have created.  I will be following up with Collectorvision on possibly seeing a re-release on a larger scale of this title, if interest warrants it.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Youki, a developer who has programmed a homage of sorts to Ghost n Goblins but for the defunct Colecovision system called Ghost n Zombies.
Betcha thought the Colecovision was dead huh? Well, there is a thriving community of coders out there that are steadily working on original content for the “dead” systems and youki is the first developer to be featured by UnNamedGaming.com in our effort to bring you, our loyal readers, the information that other sites won’t. The best part is, you can pre-order your copy right now from youki in collaboration with Collectorvision (e-mail youki at coleco_gnz@atomicfe.com for your copy)!

On with the interview:
UNG– Would you like introduce yourself to everyone?
youki– I’m a 37 year old French guy (so apologize me for my English..) , I live on the “cote d’azur (French riviera)” . I’m a software engineer. I falled in love with programming when i was 10 years old after having discover video games i wanted to make my own.
UNG– Have you programmed anything that has been released for other systems?
youki– I have programmed lot of video game on lot of different machines but nothing i have really released widely.
Except my front end for emulators : AtomicFE (stands for Arcade To Micro Front End : http://www.atomicfe.com)
UNG– This being your first Colecovision(CV) release, was it harder than you thought when you set out to do it?
youki– No, in fact it was extremely easy. I have been really surprised how the Coleco hardware is simple to understand and develop for. However there are some limitation but it is what i like on old machines it is very challenging.
In addition it has been extremely well documentated by Daniel Bienvenue , and the coleco hardware being very close to the MSX one lot of resources are available!.
UNG– Why Ghosts and Goblins as your first CV release, why not something else?
youki– I don’t really know, i have a fascination for this game since i discover it on my C64 in the 80’s. Each time i want test a game development tool or a new machine i try to make a kind of Ghost’n Goblins. I even own the Arcade originale PCB (despite the fact, i really bad to that game). I think it is because i like the graphical style.
And in fact i didn’t plan to make a CV game , my idea was to port the C64 version of GNG on Atari 800. I was looking for development tool for A800 and google gave me a link to a coleco development kit , i just tried by curiosity and the result is Ghost’n Zombie. It is my very first program on the coleco. Instead of doing a classic “Hello word” i made a Ghost’n Zombies.
UNG– Do you plan on making any more CV games in the future? Maybe a version of Strider?
youki– I hope to have time to release more games. in my mind, Ghost’n Zombie is the start of a trilogy “a quest for a rose”. But i have few other game i want try to adapt on C.V before completing the trilogy. Strider is not on the list. And i have also idea for original games. In fact too much project and not enough time. I think the C.V have a really great potential despite its limitation.
I don’t want list too much game , but for instance , Outrun is on the list. I’m sure we could make a very good version of outrun for the coleco using the Driving module as controller.
Anyway i don’t try to make “arcade perfect” port. I just take inspiration and make a good game. Ghost’n Zombies for instance is not a port of Ghost’n Goblins , it is simply strongly inspired.
UNG– Only 25 copies are being made available in the first run, why is that?
youki– I did not manage that part. The cartridges , boxes and manuals will be produced by Collectorvision . I have just provided game. I don’t decide here.
UNG– How did you come into contact with Collectorvision?
youki– In fact , when i saw the quick progress of my game , i thought it would be nice to produce few cartridge. and i posted a question on AtariAge forums to ask if there were somewhere template for boxes and where to find PCB etc… Few guys contacted me by P.M , and Collectorvision was one of them , he said me that it could publish my game. So i said why not.
UNG– Would you recommend others that have made games for the Colecovision to give Collectovision a chance at publishing for them?
youki– Ask me this question in few time when the cartrigde will be sent to customers.
For now, what i can say, is that the guys from collectorvision is really pleasing, helpfull and reactive and open. He seems very serious.
UNG– Anything you would like to mention in closing here? This is a good place for you to talk about anything that was on your mind or didn’t fit in the questions that were asked (like promoting a favorite site or company or something).
youki– I am really nostalgic of the 80’s when it is matter of computers or consoles. All that machines had a soul , nowadays all is standarised , even if you take 2 different plateforms like the PS3 or the XBOX 360 , if you take the same title it looks exactly the same. Back in time, just seeing a screenshot you could guess what machine it is. You had to use lof of trick in term of programming to exploit the machine over its limit ,programmer were extremely ingenious , nowadays there is so much processor power and memory that programmers are becoming lazy. Today’s game are so “realistic” or so “nice” that there is no more rom for your own imagination. It is pity. Anyway we won’t stop the “progress”. Fortunaly there are still a set of retro-coder to keep that old machines alive by creating new games or developping emulators. If you are fan of emulators you should try my emulator’s frontend : http://www.atomicfe.com . 🙂

I would like to thank youki for developing Ghost n Zombies it looks awesome and also thanks to Collectorvision for publishing it in the first place (they have many other Colecovision games available from other independent developers too), and I can’t forget Atari Age for providing the forums for this game to be announced on and allowing me to talk with youki for this interview. There are going to only be so many copies produced and if there is enough demand they may print more later but it is severely limited right now so don’t sit back and wait- GET IT NOW!

Carl Williams

It is time gaming journalism takes its rightful place as proper sources and not fanboys giving free advertising. If you wish to support writers like Carl please use the links below. https://www.paypal.me/WCW https://www.patreon.com/CarlWilliams