Once Upon Atari: How I made history by killing an industry

This book is a wonderfully well written and authoritative account of not just a games company but a cultural moment in time and works its way out from the New Mexico landfill by developing the two paralleled timelines of both Howard and Atari after he got there, gently exposing the reader to a lot of cool subtle observations .. like the problems with the industry or as he calls "BIG". You can tell that most of the Dilbert characters have met Howard, its that kind of book.The stories of the people he interacts with are warm, personal and have some real pearls of wisdom in there as well.It speaks to me on so many levels and was a thoroughly worthwhile and riveting read.If you have ever written a line of code.. I implore you to read this book! You will lose a Sunday afternoon but you will gain a contented smile.

Well entertained. It has a lot of insider's view on what went on in ATARI games in the 80's. Anyone interested in pursuing a game programmer should read this. It also has a section on how he created the worst game ever in E.T.

What a great first hand account of what life was really like for programmers back in the day! If you lived through the early era of video games you'll love this charming book by Howard.

Livro maravilhoso, nos leva para o interior de uma das empresas mais queridas do vale do silício. O autor fala com propriedade de quem viveu uma dos períodos mais férteis da história dos videogames.

I really enjoyed reading this book from Howard Scott Warshaw. When Yar's revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. were released back in the early 80's I purchased each of them with my hard-earned Paper Route money. Every game seemed to be a dramatic improvement of some of the games that were released prior. The Atari 2600 console never changed, but as Howard explains in this book, engineers were learning new hacks and tricks that brought more life and enjoyment to a console that had long extended its lifecycle. For years, E.T. has gotten a bad rap, but compare it to earlier games such as Space War or Home Run and you'll see it's much more advanced in terms of programming. In fact, many of the games that came from third party companies after E.T. was release were really terrible in comparison.What is particularly interesting about Howard’s perspective from the Rise and downfall of Atari is that video game programming was an entirely new landscape. It was not really viewed as a serious business and one that was viewed by many as a fad that was probably going to end some day. The same was true, at one time, about the electric guitar – which is why some record labels passed on the chance of signing the Beatles. Howard takes the reader on a humorous journey through the cultural changes of the time, from working at a suit and tie company like HP to a “roach-clip” wearing culture where you can show up and goof off for days on end, assuming “goofing off” was an idea generating activity that could produce money in the end.What Atari experienced during it’s hey-day, is really the model of what was to be the Silicon Valley startup style later on with the Internet Boom, but more of the Nolan Bushnell style rather than the Ray Kassar Style. I think anyone that reads this book and has been through a startup of a tech company can relate on some level to the craziness that happens in the beginning and the maturity that eventually follows.In Summary, a great read. It’s fun. It’s intended for a wide audience, not just your average game nerd. He is a licensed therapist, so he gives you some insight on his experience through life on feeling unsatisfied at times and how to think your way through those career traps or how to overcome the feeling of blame for bringing down a multi-billion dollar industry with a poorly received game. Probably the most controversial question of all time in the classic gaming community, is – was E.T. the worst game of all time? For me, I just have to ask my 13 year old self that question and the 1982 answer is, it was one of the Best of all time.