Howard Scott Warshaw

Howard Scott Warshaw (2015)

Howard Scott Warshaw (born July 30, 1957 in Colorado ), also known under the abbreviation "HSW" or as "The Silicon Valley Therapist", is an American psychotherapist and former computer game designer. He became known through the Atari games Yars' Revenge , Raiders of the Lost Ark and ET The Extra Terrestrial , all of which were developed for the Atari 2600 console. In addition, he wrote two books and produced and staged three TV documentaries.

Early years

Warshaw grew up in New Jersey . He later went to school in New Orleans . After graduating from high school, he worked at Hewlett-Packard as a multi-device systems engineer. He attended Tulane University , New Orleans, where he earned a bachelor's degree in math and economics. He graduated from Phi Beta Kappa and received a scholarship for his thesis in computer science. A year later he received his master’s degree in computer engineering . In 1981 he went to Atari.

Atari

His first success at Atari was the game Yars' Revenge . The game was originally planned as an Atari 2600 adaptation of the arcade game "Star Castle". However, he had to change the game significantly after the technical limitations of the Atari 2600 became clear. The new concept for the game was mutated houseflies that defended their world against hostile alien invaders. The game was a huge hit and is still considered one of the best games for the Atari 2600. The success led to Warshaw as a programmer for the Atari 2600 game "Raiders of the Lost Ark" of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark was hired, which was also a great success.

The success of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" led to the fact that he was also hired for the implementation of ET The Extra Terrestrial for the film of the same name. The problems with making the game started early after it became known that it only had five weeks from the idea to the finished product. While the game finished on time, it was rated poorly and described as confusing and frustrating. Atari suffered a great financial loss from the project. Due to the video game crash in the United States that took place at the same time, Atari was split up and the company was sold within two years. During this time, Warshaw developed another game called "Saboteur", which was later adapted to the television series The A-Team . However, Atari was smashed before a version of the game could be released.

Next life

After the collapse of Atari, Warshaw wrote two books. The first, The Complete Book of PAN , is a guide to the card game of the same name. In the second book, the second Conquering College , he describes his techniques for his academic success, such as RASABIC (Read Ahead, Stay Ahead, Be In Class), which enabled him to complete his studies early and save a whole year of tuition.

He later studied video production and published the documentary From There to Here: Scenes of Passage , a chronicle of American immigration by two Russian women from the same family; one in 1912 and the other in 1978. He then made the multi-part documentary "Once Upon Atari," a collection of interviews and stories from Atari staff and designers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 2005 he produced and directed the documentary "Vice & Consent", which shows members of the BDSM scene in San Francisco. This documentary was picked up by Santa Clara University as part of their sexuality program.

Web links

Individual evidence

personal data
SURNAME	Warshaw, Howard Scott
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American programmer
DATE OF BIRTH	July 30, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH	Colorado

[1] ttp://www.viceandconsent.com/film/director.htm

[2] ttp://www.digitpress.com/library/Interviews/interview_howard_scott_warshaw.html