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akelatal

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Atari: From the beginning, part 3

By akelatal 1 Comments

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A little ambiance to help set the tone. When you worked at Atari Corp, you commuted to Sunnyvale, deep in the heart of Silicon Valley. Sunnyvale is neither sunny nor vale. It is an office park, which is to say that you can't walk anywhere, as there are no sidewalks. It's like Los Angeles that way, but with far fewer attractive people.
 
Speaking of attractive people, let's take this time to mention the Atari Kill Krew. It was me, New Guy Artist, attached by social bond to BJ West, Lead Artist and soon-to-be Game Designer. Chris Hudak, Cyberpunk Writer -- Chris can fill a whole shelf full of books on his own, and we won't get too into it here, but see the attached picture to get a glimpse at what he was all about. That's not a costume, that's him. Chris Hudak IS cyberpunk.
 
The three of us comprised the heart of darkness that formed the center of the BIWN (bewn! bewn bewn!) team. Peripheral to this story, but not to my heart, is a cadre of fantastical personalities and rogues whose exploits continue to warm the cockles of my cold, dead heart even unto this day. In no particular order:
 
Faran Thompson, producer. It is entirely to Faran's credit that he remained as cool and collected as ever during the gestation of this project, given all the crap he must have had to endure -- from both sides of the equation. 
Chris Thompson (no relation), artist. Our buddy "Chicago" -- so-called 'cause he was from there... probably still is, come to think of it -- provided a great deal of moral support, even though he had nothing to do with our product.
Ford Minton, artist. We picked him up during a visit to CES in Las Vegas, where he was working a schlub job doing graphic art work for strip club flyers and raves. Honestly, I can't say that working for Atari was a step up.
Lance, Hank, Tal, and the rest of the tester gang. The only way these poor bastards managed to get through their day was by being completely and hopelessly insane. They gave the word "broken" a completely new definition, all on company time. I shed a single tear.
 
And this is not to forget the Suits, those lovable scalawags who were ultimately responsible for What Happened To Atari, but we'll reveal the perps in upcoming posts. No sense in letting it all hang out too early. As Ryan Davis knows, you can't start the show with a show-stopper.
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akelatal

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A little ambiance to help set the tone. When you worked at Atari Corp, you commuted to Sunnyvale, deep in the heart of Silicon Valley. Sunnyvale is neither sunny nor vale. It is an office park, which is to say that you can't walk anywhere, as there are no sidewalks. It's like Los Angeles that way, but with far fewer attractive people.
 
Speaking of attractive people, let's take this time to mention the Atari Kill Krew. It was me, New Guy Artist, attached by social bond to BJ West, Lead Artist and soon-to-be Game Designer. Chris Hudak, Cyberpunk Writer -- Chris can fill a whole shelf full of books on his own, and we won't get too into it here, but see the attached picture to get a glimpse at what he was all about. That's not a costume, that's him. Chris Hudak IS cyberpunk.
 
The three of us comprised the heart of darkness that formed the center of the BIWN (bewn! bewn bewn!) team. Peripheral to this story, but not to my heart, is a cadre of fantastical personalities and rogues whose exploits continue to warm the cockles of my cold, dead heart even unto this day. In no particular order:
 
Faran Thompson, producer. It is entirely to Faran's credit that he remained as cool and collected as ever during the gestation of this project, given all the crap he must have had to endure -- from both sides of the equation. 
Chris Thompson (no relation), artist. Our buddy "Chicago" -- so-called 'cause he was from there... probably still is, come to think of it -- provided a great deal of moral support, even though he had nothing to do with our product.
Ford Minton, artist. We picked him up during a visit to CES in Las Vegas, where he was working a schlub job doing graphic art work for strip club flyers and raves. Honestly, I can't say that working for Atari was a step up.
Lance, Hank, Tal, and the rest of the tester gang. The only way these poor bastards managed to get through their day was by being completely and hopelessly insane. They gave the word "broken" a completely new definition, all on company time. I shed a single tear.
 
And this is not to forget the Suits, those lovable scalawags who were ultimately responsible for What Happened To Atari, but we'll reveal the perps in upcoming posts. No sense in letting it all hang out too early. As Ryan Davis knows, you can't start the show with a show-stopper.