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INTERVIEW Howard Scott Warshaw t
CFG>
Hi, Howard. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to do this interview. I'm not going to go over a lot of questions that were covered in other interviews. Instead, I'd like to talk about new or, at least, newer aspects and ideas about your involvement with Atari and especially the Atari 2600 game cartridge E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial . So how does this sound?
CFG> I am assuming that most people reading this interview are well aware of your involvement with the big video game company Atari in the 1980s, but if not, I'd like to lay a little ground work. So, when did you get your start with Atari and how did you go about getting yourself hired there?
CFG> And what video game titles for the Atari 2600 did you have a hand in programming? CFG>
And the rumor that Yar's Revenge was actually named after Atari head Ray Kassar is true?
Initially Yar's wasn't Yar's, it was a nameless game in development. There were some working titles around from marketing but I felt they were pretty lame and I wanted something special for my game. So I asked if it was too late to submit my own entry, and the marketing guy said I could, if I hurried. I came up with the name Yar's Revenge because I knew "revenge" was a good title word and the Yar, well, you'll see in a moment. So I stayed up all that night writing a little sci-fi story called “The Yarian Revenge of Rassak IV.” A whole story about these creatures called Yars from the Rassak solar system. I figured a back-story to go with it would make the title stronger. And also I thought this was my chance to add to the English language (which is something I had always wanted to do). So I got this all together and handed it in the next morning. Two days later I saw the marketing guy and asked if they had made a decision yet. He said no, so I asked him if he would like to be in on a little secret about my story. He, of course, said yes. And I swore him to secrecy not once, not twice, but three times. After he swore the third time, I was sure he'd spread it all over the place, that's when I told him... Yar spelled backwards is RAY and Rassak spelled backwards is KASSAR. Ray Kassar was the sitting CEO of Atari and the head man there. The marketing guy asked me if Ray knew about this and I told him absolutely yes. That is why secrecy was so important because I didn't want this to effect the decision unfairly ;) I knew two things at this point: 1) This guy would DEFINITELY tell everyone in marketing about this and that should lock up the title for me, and 2) Nobody in marketing would have the balls to talk to Ray about it. I was kind of counting on #2, because the truth was Ray Kassar had no clue about any of this :) The next day I saw the marketing guy, and he said, "Hey Howard, guess what? We're going with Yar's !!" "You didn't tell anyone, did you?" I asked, barely able to keep the smile off my face, and he assured me he hadn't ;) Ray did hear about this whole thing months later and we shared a funny moment over it at a press conference. It was a very cool thing, one of my favorite Atari moments. CFG>
What was your relationship with Ray Kassar. I mean, I know he was the head of Atari, but was he a good guy to work or was he a prick? Did you ever get in any heated arguments with him? I do have one good Ray story. On a semi-regular basis, the "wigs" as we called them would come through on a little tour. It was the executive equivalent of going to the zoo to see the animals. Now you have to understand that Ray was always impeccably dressed with a very distinctive cologne, and I was an upscale slob with my perennial herringbone tweed jacket with leather elbows, jeans, a t-shirt, and rainbow sandals ala' Hawaii. Ray was also usually followed on the trips by his entourage, some 3-5 VP's close in tow. One day they all came in my office for a demo of Raiders, which was under development at the time. So I put on the 1812 Overture and gave a good show, then afterward I talked a bit with Ray about market strategy. Now he and all the VP's are jammed into my office, and Ray and I are chatting away and he is patronizing me in the proper manner. Then at one point, Ray jokingly says to me, "Well Howard, maybe we should just trade jobs for a day and see how it goes." I didn't miss a beat and came right back with: "OK Ray, let's do it. Here's my dev system, just give me your fragrance and let's get it going." Now, the 4 VP's in my office are stunned, but they are also fighting back tears of laughter. People don't usually talk to Ray like this and they don't know how this is going to go. They are afraid to crack up until they see Ray's reaction first, but they are having trouble containing themselves and one or two are starting to burst. Ray is frozen. Everyone is waiting to see what it's going to be. Then, after what seemed an eternity, Ray finally giggled a little and rolled his eyes, and then the VP's finally burst and fell on the floor laughing. It was a very touching scene :) CFG>
So let's go into the whole E.T. fiasco. I know a lot of people say that E.T. was responsible for the downfall of Atari. You know, the game that brought down an empire. What are your feelings on this? Is it true? That said, I also realize that consumers don't (and shouldn't) care about development time. All they should care about is the playing experience. I feel E.T. is a complete and OK game. Some people like it. It certainly isn't the worst game or even the least polished, but I actually like having the distinction of it being the worst game. Between that and Yar's , I have the greatest range of anyone ever on the machine :) For me it was more about the challenge of getting it done. No one else would touch it. And believe me, I asked them all ;) I was the only one brave/stupid enough to attempt it.
CFG> Well, let's suppose just for a second, that in April 1983, Atari closes its El Paso manufacturing plant. Fourteen trailer trucks filled with unsold games such as E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Pac-Man dump and bury their contents in an Alamorgordo, New Mexico landfill. You've heard the rumor before. What are your thoughts on it? First off, Atari was a failing company at the time. They were desperate for cash. Why not reuse the plastic cases and some of the boards and ROMs? There is a lot of money to be saved by cannibalizing the inventory and reusing that. Why would a failing company spend money they didn't have in an effort to waste even more money by throwing away usable resources? Another reason is if this would have been going on, I would have heard about it. I was pretty tied into the Atari grapevine, and here's what would have happened: Someone would have said, "Hey Howard, they're burying a shitload of E.T.s out in the desert." I would have grabbed a photographer (I had plenty of money then) flown us both out to the site, and gotten some pictures of me standing on top of the mountain of buried carts. How could I not do that? But, sad as it is and unromantic as it is to say, I'm sorry but I don't buy the dumped cartridge stories.
CFG>
But I would claim that Atari had no reason to contact you. Atari wanted this kept quiet and on a need to know basis so why would Atari tell the programmers of E.T. and Pac-Man that they were burying millions of unsold games. Why would Ray give you this information? As you may or may not be aware of E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial was jokingly modified by Christian Samuel into E.T.: The Extra Testical. Also Scott Stilphen modified the game by shrinking the pits. What are your thoughts on these alterations to E.T. the game? |
