Big Player

Forgive me if this has been known for a while. But when I first read Will Nicholes excellent interview with Warlords designer Carla Menisky, I was surprised to see her say that the 2600 version of Warlords was released before the arcade version:

"After Dodge ’Em, I went straight to Warlords which was on the list as Kings in the Corner break-out game. I would like to set the record straight here—I did the 2600 game before the coin-op game even existed! I think that was the first time a coin-op game derived from the console game."

Here is a link to the interview. The quote is from page 2: http://willnicholes....rlaMeninsky.htm

I wrote it off as another old game designer who hasn't quite remembered the facts correctly. But then later in the week, I was reading through the PDF scans of Electronic Games Magazine at Digital Press and came across this, from the first issue of the magazine:

"Warlords (Atari). If you've only played the home version of Warlord, this coin-op newcomer should prove to be a pleasant surprise. It is perhaps the most visually sensational videogame ever designed. . .Again, you've got to see Warlord to believe it. The VCS version is a delightful variation of Breakout, but its coin-op big brother is sure to restore your arcading sense of wonder."

So at least here is some independent verification of her story. I knew of the 2600 version since the early 80's but I had not seen a Warlords arcade machine in person until the 2003 Philly Classic. Heck, I wasn't aware there was an arcade version until I started using MAME in the mid-90's. And then I had assumed the 2600 version was an arcade port, just like most of the other early 2600 games.

Here is a link to the Digital Press Electronic Games archive: http://www.digitpres...ronic_games.htm The quote comes from page 64 of the Winter 1981 issue. Thanks to Chris++ for providing a link to the archive in another thread.

Also, here is the original thread with Will's interview: http://www.atariage....lost-interview/