exclusive article from Howard Scott Warshaw‏ on 2600 Connection

[timdu]

I am happy to share an exclusive article that was written by Howard Scott Warshaw, the programmer of E.T. !

 

It is called "Collect call from E.T., will you accept the charges?"

 

I have posted it on the 2600 Connection web site. Here is the link:

 

http://www.2600connection.com/articles/collect_call/collect_call.html

 

enjoy!

 

 

Tim D.

 

[high voltage]

Excellent read.

 

What I really would like to know is how did programmers feel their work ending up in a landfill way back, seeing it was common practice.

Edited January 29, 2015 by high voltage

[sloth-machine]

Great article written by the man himself. Not to brown nose, but I am glad Howard was the one chosen for E.T. I played that game a lot as a child and have fond memories for it, despite it's reputation. To me the game is just as cherished as the film. Any other developer may have just turned out a Pacman clone at Spielberg's request, but Howard said no. I admire the game's concept for that alone.

 

I like him as a game developer. Yars, RotLA and Saboteur along with ET are still being played by me 30 years later (well saboteur was obviously released decades later). His concepts were very intriguing to me back then.

Edited January 29, 2015 by sloth-machine

[fiddlepaddle]

Interesting peek into the mind of Mr Warshaw. Thanks for posting!

[chas10e]

thanks for sharing great interveiws

 

wow I got some catching up to do

[Rodrigo]

Very cool!

[+save2600]

"Whenever you expect things to make sense, you are losing touch with Atari".

 

Great article!

[tremoloman2006]

This is a very well written article and worthy of reading by any Atari fan. Thanks for sharing!

[lapetino]

Very interesting for him to share more of his feelings on the time since those days at Atari, rather than once again re-hashing the making of this game.

 

And for the record, I really like that game. We read the manual as kids, and loved trying to make it through. Once you figured out the pits, the game was much easier.

[Zwackery]

I really appreciate Warshaw's willingness to document and share Atari history and provide context for those days of the medium. I use his Once Upon Atari documentary in my Game Industries & Organizations course. My one quibble is his claim that Raiders of the Lost Ark was "the first movie conversion ever" when both TRON (in the arcades) and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (by Parker Bros. for the 2600) predate Raiders. "First movie conversion done by Atari" would be enough to clarify the slight exaggeration.

[+Cafeman]

I reread the article tonight, because I have been playing all my Atari 2600 games lately. Many of them have patiently sat in the plastic container for a few years since I picked them up, unplanned. Well, tonight I played E.T. and finished the level for the first time. I had to read the online version of the manual and play a few rounds to understand it.

 

Actually, I think it's a clever and somewhat fun game. The holes aren't a problem at all when you learn the exit technique. Awesome job in fact, for Howard only having 5 weeks to create it!

[Bryan]

I even feel a little bad for Kassar in the whole ET debacle. If what he says is even partly true, his hands were tied on that one.