Howard Scott Warshaw Interview - The Atari Legend Who Almost Destroyed an Industry!

[Adriano Arcade]

Howard Scott Warshaw Interview - The Atari Legend Who Almost Destroyed an Industry!

 

Howard Scott Warshaw is a true Atari legend, who left an undeniable impact on the whole video game industry. Enjoy this new podcast interview with the man who created Yars' Revenge, and then almost "destroyed" the industry with E.T. on the Atari 2600.

 

https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/podcast-howard-scott-warshaw/

[high voltage]

Weird that C64, A8 did very well from 1983 onwards. The industry was doing well, according to US computer gaming magazines. I think the Apple ][ was still in there, but not so much as the C64.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by high voltage

[keithbk]

The Atari 2600 was 6 years old when the crash happened.

 

The Commodore 64 came to market in August 1982, priced at $595 retail. By the summer of 1983, it was possible to find it selling for as little as $389. During 1983, Commodore also offered a $100 rebate.

 

By 1983, for $289 you could own a REAL computer that played INCREDIBLE video games. Zork and other Infocom games were HUGE draws to the Commodore 64. Meanwhile, the Atari was being flooded with shovelware titles from off-brands, crowding the marketplace and causing better games to be overlooked.

 

If you look at the games that were being introduced for the C64 over the first 3 years, you see a HUGE contrast between those and all the Atari had to offer. I remember when Impossible Mission came out and we were amazed at the voice synthesis, the quality of the graphics, and just how fun these games were, and they used the same Joystick as an Atari.

 

You had massive RPG-style games hitting the market for the C64, like the early Apshai titles (1983), Might and Magic, Bard's Tale, Ultima, etc. You had arcade games that looked as good as anything in a real arcade. Once I got my C64, I never really played my Atari. There wasn't a comparison between the two.

Edited August 13, 2021 by keithbk

[zzip]

10 hours ago, high voltage said:

Weird that C64, A8 did very well from 1983 onwards. The industry was doing well, according to US computer gaming magazines. I think the Apple ][ was still in there, but not so much as the C64.

They weren't doing well enough to cover the amounts of money being lost on the console and arcade side of gaming.

[keithbk]

While 360,000 C64s were sold in 1982, about 1.3 million were sold in 1983, followed by a large spike in 1984 when 2.6 million were sold. After that, sales held steady at between 1.3 and 1.6 million a year for the remainder of the decade and then dropped off after 1989.

 

By 1989, 25 million Atari 2600 units sold (1977-1989, 12 years).

 

By the end of 1989 (8 years on the market), approx. 13 million C64 units sold (roughly half the number of Atari 2600's on the market).

 

I can just about guarantee you that almost everyone who bought a C64 owned an Atari at one time, and if half your market switches brands, it causes huge ripples through the market.

Edited August 13, 2021 by keithbk

[orange808]

28 minutes ago, keithbk said:

While 360,000 C64s were sold in 1982, about 1.3 million were sold in 1983, followed by a large spike in 1984 when 2.6 million were sold. After that, sales held steady at between 1.3 and 1.6 million a year for the remainder of the decade and then dropped off after 1989.

 

By 1989, 25 million Atari 2600 units sold (1977-1989, 12 years).

 

By the end of 1989 (8 years on the market), approx. 13 million C64 units sold (roughly half the number of Atari 2600's on the market).

 

I can just about guarantee you that almost everyone who bought a C64 owned an Atari at one time, and if half your market switches brands, it causes huge ripples through the market.

And, of course, not every Atari owner was an enthusiastic gamer.  So, many people left the video game market.  Lots of moving parts.

 

----- 

This isn't directed at anyone in particular on the forum:

I get the impression that some of this untrue ET meme has hurt HSW's feelings.  The ET meme is a fat lie.  He's a person, you know.  It would be nice if we could correct the record while we're all still together.  When the bold print or headline says he broke the industry, the details of the podcast don't matter a lot.  You're still spreading misinformation and bashing Howard.  Let's get the story right while we still have time to apologize.

Edited August 13, 2021 by orange808

[zzip]

32 minutes ago, orange808 said:

This isn't directed at anyone in particular on the forum:

I get the impression that some of this untrue ET meme has hurt HSW's feelings.  The ET meme is a fat lie.  He's a person, you know.  It would be nice if we could correct the record while we're all still together.  When the bold print or headline says he broke the industry, the details of the podcast don't matter a lot.  You're still spreading misinformation and bashing Howard.  Let's get the story right while we still have time to apologize.

I think a lot of the people here understand that the "ET destroyed the industry" story is crap.    But the problem is the games media loves to repeat it because it makes a good story

[+sramirez2008]

Highly recommend the book. 

[Leeroy ST]

On 8/13/2021 at 11:03 AM, keithbk said:

While 360,000 C64s were sold in 1982, about 1.3 million were sold in 1983, followed by a large spike in 1984 when 2.6 million were sold. After that, sales held steady at between 1.3 and 1.6 million a year for the remainder of the decade and then dropped off after 1989.

 

By 1989, 25 million Atari 2600 units sold (1977-1989, 12 years).

 

By the end of 1989 (8 years on the market), approx. 13 million C64 units sold (roughly half the number of Atari 2600's on the market).

 

I can just about guarantee you that almost everyone who bought a C64 owned an Atari at one time, and if half your market switches brands, it causes huge ripples through the market.

I recall hearing the 25 million 2600 banner/note being years before 89.

 

And there are news articles from 1985 about a surprise rise in C64 and C128 sales after the post price war slump. So there was a down period, not so much holding steady than coming back.