Page 35 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #2

We chat with “E.T.” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” programmer, Howard Scott
Warshaw, about life at Atari, his programming efforts, and his latest crusade.

By Darrin Powell

In 1982, a daring archeologist People smoked marijuana in the
named Indiana Jones was thrilling office. Programmers worked all
movie audiences across the coun- hours of the day and night.
try as he battled poisonous snakes, Games weren't just a job. They
runaway boulders, and ruthless were a way of life.
Nazis in a fast-paced adventure "We were always making up
film called "Raiders of the Lost games," Warshaw says. "And not
Ark." just video games. Any kind of
Meanwhile, at the offices of the game. We'd play bocci with lemons
nation's hottest video game com- Howard deals up anecdotes in in the hallway. We'd pitch pennies.
pany, programmer Howard Scott “Once Upon Atari” We'd play poker. Anything we did
Warshaw was busy terrorizing his was pretty much games."
co-workers with a bullwhip. "People hated it," Warshaw Warshaw says the management
"I had a 10-foot bullwhip that I says, laughing. "There's that story at Atari tolerated the wild behavior.
got while doing Raiders of the Lost about Atari burying a bunch of "The security department had or-
Ark, so I could get into character," them in Arizona. But I have no per- ders to keep the police away from
Warshaw says, his voice filled with sonal knowledge about that. Lots of us," he says. "It was a lot like being
conspiratorial glee. "When I'd take people tell me the story, but I've a rock star, but without the expo-
breaks, I'd go around the hallways, never seen any pictures. I've never sure. We got a lot of money, had
sneak up behind people and crack been there myself." total creative freedom and total be-
the whip. It was really loud. Like a That's bad news for collectors havioral freedom -- as long as we
gunshot." who harbor dreams of leading an kept the games coming out."
As the man who programmed Indiana Jones -like expedition into Not everybody could handle the
both Raiders of the Lost Ark and the desert to search for a hidden pressure. Some people, Warshaw
E.T. for the Atari 2600, Warshaw cache of long-lost "E.T." carts. But says, literally cracked under the
holds a special place in the history Warshaw still has plenty of interest- strain.
of movie-related video games. ing stories about those early at- "People got carted away to
You'd be hard pressed to find two tempts at synergy between Holly- mental hospitals," he says. "That
titles that wood and Silicon Val- happened a couple of times. You
better rep- ley. were one person working on a pro-
resent the ject that the company is spending
highs and Freaks and Geeks tens of millions of dollars on. And
lows of Hol- you're the sole focus of responsibil-
lywood's Future programmer ity."
early-'80s and prankster Howard But there was also the satisfac-
flirtation Scott Warshaw was tion of knowing you were working
with the born in New Jersey on the cutting edge of a popular
fledgling and educated in New new technology. The programmers
video game Orleans. At the dawn at Atari were doing things with the
industry. of the 1980s, he was working as a 2600 that its creators had never
Raiders of the Lost Ark was re- programmer at Hewlett-Packard -- envisioned.
leased in 1982. A complex quest and hating it. "It was very much like ground
with lots of rooms to explore and "I was really bored at HP," he breaking work, and there were
puzzles to solve, Raiders pushed says. "And I was something of a times you'd do something and
the envelope for adventure games zoo case. But a guy I was working know nobody had ever done it be-
on the Atari 2600. It was a critical with, his wife worked at Atari. She fore," Warshaw says. "It was a
and commercial success. thought I'd fit in. So I went and ap- team environment, but full of real
E.T. was released in 1983. A plied for a job there." individuals. It was definitely the
monumental programming effort, it At Atari, Warshaw found himself most fun place I ever worked."
sold millions of copies but went on in a free-wheeling environment that
to become one of the most ma- was miles away from the buttoned- When you wish upon a Yar
ligned titles in the Atari catalog. down world of Hewlett-Packard. Yars’ Revenge began life as a

Classic Gamer Magazine Winter 2000 35