Howard Scott Warshaw

[StanJr]

This man RULES. His appearance at Philly 5 confirms it. His enthusiam, knowledge, and insights regarding classic gaming and the 2600 were a real boost. The man loves the VCS, he loves talking about it, and he communicates his thoughts and ideas exceptionally well.

 

If you missed Philly and HSW's appearance you missed a chance to see a truly unique dude. He spoke about everything from the state of video game innovations and the modern game, to his work on a Yar's Revenge sequel. But most of all, he got me excited about classic gaming all over again.

 

It was an honor to see him, meet him, and hear what he had to say.

 

Attached is a pic of Aimee, HSW, and Albert at the show when HSW was presented the Yar Painting Aimee did for him.

[NE146]

I gotta say that is pretty neato you guys got to hang with him

[Gregory DG]

Yar's Revenge sequel.

I'm sorry, did you say something other than this?

 

What was this going to be like?

[Duke 4ever]

Yea, like I said before, I got a picture of me and him. Ill post it soon.

 

 

Oh and he rocks!

[bjk7382]

The interview he did on the stage was great.

 

I also seen him being interveiwed by other cameras (g4 and others)

 

I sat and talked for a minute when I was buying saboteur. He seems like a very knowledgable guy.

 

I also thought of a good question after the interview.

 

-Why does he not make homebrew games now? He obviously makes great games so why not start making more great ones (like Yars' Revenge 2)

[StanJr]

ah, but he is. At the end of Sunday's FAQ session he hinted at Yars 2.

 

VERY exciting....

[moycon]

Wow that's an AWESOME picture!!

 

Whoh! Yars 2 ?? Will it be in cart form?

[MegaManFan]

This may be the oddest compliment I can come up with, but it's also the most appropriate:

 

Howard is a really down-to-earth guy.

 

Honestly, I thought I would be intimidated standing five feet away from such an icon of the gaming industry working behind the AA booth, but he never once gave me any reason to think I was out of place. He's as friendly and amiable a guy as you could hope to know, real salt of the earth, and my only regret is that the action was flying so fast and furious we never got to chat about anything BUT games since we were so busy selling them!

 

I'm truly flattered that Howard thought enough of me and my constant (and possibly annoying) nagging of him and Al to release a professional edition of Saboteur that he actually mentioned me in the game manual. I can't think of any greater honor than to have a small place in Atari history. I'm serious. I'd happily throw my 2000 SOHH Award for Best Site Dedicated to the Art of Emceeing into the trash can and display that manual next to my autographed box in its place...

 

.. unfortunately out of all the boxes I packed to take home, the only two that got mauled in my luggage despite (or perhaps because) that I packed them so extra carefully were Frog Pond (not too bad in the end - just creased down the side) and Saboteur (which inexplicably was TORN on the side, I attribute that to a baggage handler probably tossing my item carelessly). I've already asked Al about a replacement box (I'm more than happy to pay for it of course) but I'll never part with the torn one regardless, because Howard signed it personally for me and that's priceless. I'll just unfold it, put it in a vinyl sheet, and save it for all time - then put the brand new box on display to show off to all my friends.

[Cootster]

You know, when even the new 2600 titles cause more buzz than 90% of the upcoming releases for the current systems, you'd think that'd make some companies backtrack a bit . . .

 

Yar's 2 = awesome (if it stays a paddle game, pretty dang great even if it doesn't). Can't wait.

[ZylonBane]

Yar's 2 = awesome (if it stays a paddle game

Ummm...

[+Cafeman]

I was very happy to meet the man, and he was truly interesting to watch during the panel. When a question was posed during the panel, Howard gave the impression that he'd thought often of that question for many years now, and the second that he got the microphone he started to fast-talk his reply, and his answers made sense and showed that he has very strong feelings about gaming and how games should be.

[Saikyo]

Yar's 2! Wow so it's gonna get made after all you rock HSW!

[GrizzLee]

....but I'll never part with the torn one regardless, because Howard signed it personally for me and that's priceless. I'll just unfold it, put it in a vinyl sheet, and save it for all time - then put the brand new box on display to show off to all my friends.

 

Howard is awesome. I have 4 signed items from him, Gameboy Yar's Revenge, A s/w Yars (2600), his videos all signed and he even signed my Sabatuer proto that I got years ago.

 

I wish I could have gone and had him sign a boxed Sabatuer. Oh well.... I guess I 'll see if he shows for CGE and I can hit him up one more time.

 

-Lee

[MegaManFan]

I was very happy to meet the man, and he was truly interesting to watch during the panel.  When a question was posed during the panel, Howard gave the impression that he'd thought often of that question for many years now, and the second that he got the microphone he started to fast-talk his reply, and his answers made sense and showed that he has very strong feelings about gaming and how games should be.

 

What floored me was that he even noticed when I came over to sit down and watch the panel while he responded to a question about graphics being the focus of game reviews (I wanted to stay for the whole panel but the Mrs was waiting somewhat impatiently for me to return) and he noticed and grinned at me. Maybe that's just Howard's charm in general though - he makes everyone feel like they're noticed and welcomed. It speaks volumes for the kind of company Atari used to be that Howard worked there, and speaks equal volumes for the place they became that even a fun-loving man like Mr. Warshaw could feel his spirit siphoned off by mismanagement and corporate politics.