Once upon Atari

How I Made History by Killing an Industry

By: Howard Scott Warshaw

Narrated by: Howard Scott Warshaw

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Video games set the world on fire, and Atari lit the match. This is an intimate view into the dramatic rise and fall of the early video game industry, as seen through the eyes of one of its most iconic pioneers. This book offers eye-opening details and insights, laying bare the issues and dynamics still taking place in modern software companies. A must-hear for anyone in high-tech production, delivered in a compelling narrative, with a fresh voice and unorthodox style.

How much fun can you have inventing video games in a creative paradise? What behind-the-scenes corporate intrigue went on while making billions of dollars and launching a new medium? What really caused the video game crash of 1983? Once upon Atari is the inside story of how it all happened and how it upended the life of one of its key players. An innovative work from one of the industry’s original innovators, delivered in a creative style that mirrors the industry it reveals. It is a compelling tale of innocence, joy, greed, devastation, and ultimately redemption.

©2020 Howard Scott Warshaw (P)2022 Howard Scott Warshaw

Awesome story from start to finish !!!!

I loved this story from start to finish . A great look at Atari from it's glory days from the inside . What a roller-coaster ride it was for one of the greatest video game engineers of all times . The unbelievable time crunch that he faced and the end of the great gaming giant is all here to be learned about from someone that witnessed it all first hand .

Must Read if You're Into Videogames

This book is such a great look at the heyday of Atari, it's culture and the fall of the industry. it's written with such great humor and do well read, I found myself laughing often and sometimes hard. I love Howard's way if putting things and he's got a good delivery. Tons of amazing stories.

An Entertaining and Insightful Ramble of a Book

How to rate this book. As a narrative, it is one of the more frustrating historical tales I’ve heard. Whereas some autobiographers opt for understating some of the various big moments, Howard (aka “HSW”) goes hard in the other direction, greedily squeezing every single little drop he can from the (frankly few) interesting anecdotes in the book. You get the up-front tease, so you know the anecdote is coming; then you get the narrative that almost gets to it; then you get the random diversion(s) to try and build the tension; then you get back to the anecdote only to veer off again; and so forth.

Having said that, I loved listening to HSW. He’s got a nerd’s wit, and he employs it constantly, but, hey, it works for me. He’s is just constantly nuancing the sh*t out of the prose, with all kinds of fun little wordplay. It should be obnoxious. If I were reading this, I’d probably find it insufferable and quit. But when he delivers it (at the 1.2x I use for playback) it’s just so much fun.

And so I found myself liking HSW’s delivery, and how it prolongs what ought to be an article-length little thought piece on the collapse of Atari, into a prolonged time machine into a bygone charmed era that I enjoy living through again, with HSW as my proxy.

So, four stars for this thing. I enjoyed it. And four stars for HSW’s delightful performance. These are solid ratings in my book. I can only give the story two stars because, geez HSW, you really, really, really milked the stuffing out of your little tale. But I did enjoy it.

humorous and insightful

absolutely loved it. funny and a wonderful insight into a part of gaming history I find fascinating. performance was great. 10/10

Loved hearing HSW talk about his history at Atari in his own words!

Howard is corny and loves puns. His character shines through this work and I truly loved every bit of it. If you were like me and you knew about the dig in New Mexico I was initially concerned there wasn’t going to be much to this but feel assured he packs a lot in between the book ends of the historical dig! Really fun hearing more behind the scenes bits of Atari!

Funny and reminiscent

if you ve lived through the 80s as a teenager and been into the video games era, this a must "read".

delivered with humor and sarcasm, I found myself chuckling often, which is not something I can say for many books.

higly recommend trip to memory lane

Very funny and insightful

A great tail of a very important time in tech and pop culture history brilliantly read

Finally! A memoir of a creative that rivals Stephen King’s On Writing.

Finally! A memoir of a creative that rivals Stephen King’s On Writing. The writing is excellent. The editing by his wife Sherri, is perfect.

The wisdom hiding in the pages should be mandatory reading for anyone in game design. The daily workout routine at the arcade I hope is a standard prescription for Dr. Warshaw’s clients in 2023.

Now that we have enough rumination time, how about a re-issue of E.T. with the changes described in Chapter 15? Or even better, a Raiders of the Lost Ark schedule of almost a year to give 2600 fans the E.T. sequel we’ve always wanted. Steven Spielberg is 76 now, and this could make a great reunion. The 45th anniversary is only four years away!

Loved it!

This book is a must-read if you are into retro gaming. I enjoyed hearing the stories behind the games I loved as a kid. And, as a fellow software developer and game designer, I found it interesting to hear what life was like at Atari.

Handling ups and downs with good humor.

A great story even if you don't have a huge interest in technology.. Howard Scott Warsaw lived interesting times at Atari. He had some great games, and one notorious game. His life is an object lesson on how not to take too much credit when things are great or too much shame when things don't go well. Excellent book.