On Mon, 12 Jan 1998, Piero Cavina wrote:
> Uh, this is really for Glenn..
> .it's not clear to me how do you think to release the documentary.
That makes two of us.
> TV broadcasting only?
No.
> VHS tapes.. sold by mail-order? Hmmmm...
Yes, most likely this would be the first method.
I really only have one chance to edit this thing and I'd rather edit it
LONG rather than short, even though it may mean it would be more
niche-oriented and technical than the cable networks would prefer. I'd
then hope for as much decent PR as possible which could possibly either
get the cable companies interested in funding a re-edit for broadcast or
I'd go to them at that point and try to get them to take me seriously.
I have four hours of decent footage and right now I think I can cut
together a two-tape set for grass-roots classic-community distribution.
The length of each tape would be somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes. One
of them would focus on programmers, and one would focus on the engineers
w/Bushnell and Alcorn.
I originally had a very narrow focus for this project, aimed mainly
towards doing a video version of the IEEE article, i.e. how the 2600
earned its longevity. That's definitely still a theme that runs through
there, but embedded in the 20th anniversary is the even more important
theme of the game industry then vs. now, which really should NOT be
ignored for the sake of focus.
The videogame industry has really JUST entered an era in which it is
beginning to look back and recognize its evolution since its inception 25
years ago. I think a lot of people are still in a phase where they are
being swept through game evolution, forgetting the past without taking the
time to reflect on what has been gained, and possibly what has been LOST
in the constant flow of new technology.
I know I learned a lot about the game business and game history from doing
this documentary. I gained a newfound respect for all the original Atari
veterans who clearly possess amazing wisdom about how to run a game
company and what makes a truly good videogame, and it is quite depressing
how most of them are not currently in positions of great power and
prestige in the industry they created. There are also a couple passages
of intense pathos regarding the rise and fall of Atari due first to the
evils of Ray Kassar, and later to the stupidity of the Tramiels--Nolan
recounts how he sat and watched the company he created disintegrate piece
by piece, incapable of intervening.
> One or more MPEG/Quicktime files on a CD-ROM, maybe the SC-CD reissue? In
> this case, would the full documentary fit a single CD? Or there would be
> space just for some excerpt?
My budget is all but blown, yet I did not interview ANY of the Starpath
guys, and Warren Robinnett never flew out to CA. I could sneak some of
this onto the reissue CD easily by doing phone or taped interviews and
putting them onto the CD as either audio tracks or as highly compressed
audio files (.ra or .mp3). I could also throw a lot of decent audio
extracted from the video footage that I can't fit into the existing
documentary this way. I would also consider throwing on a few video
clips, but they are very wasteful of space. I'd almost rather build local
HTML files with a series of framegrabs and have you just click on them for
audio. Similar to the Stella preview pages, but much longer clips.
I also have scans of Larry Wagner's 20 year old producion notes which are
fascinating as a historical document on the origin of the 2600. There are
pages with graph-paper sketches of the rotations of the tanks and jets,
pages with detailed notes from Joe Decuir concerning how much RAM to put
in, pages about determining optimal TV overscan, pages that list the
initial games in development with their original titles and programmers,
pages with the original Grass Valley register names for the stella
breadboards...
There was an incredible amount of thought put into the Stella project.
Its technical shortcomings were almost all DELIBERATE in order to reduce
silicon and meet a price-point vs. its competition, and ultimately this
really helped it succeed over other machines which RGVCers like to get
into flamewares with me over such as the Astrocade or the Intellivision.
You really begin to understand the amazing convergence of talent that
happened at Atari between 1972 and 1980. It was absolutely phenomenal
what the company accomplished at that time in so many areas, not just the
consumer-side. It's a shame that Atari isn't given as much respect as an
influential force in the history of videogames and computers vs. companies
such as Apple with the Apple II or Commodore with the C64 or Nintendo with
the NES.
--
Stella list is Administered by krishna@xxxxxxxxxxxx <Glenn Saunders>
Archives (includes files) at http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archives/
Unsub & more at http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/stella.html
+-shameless plugs-------------------------------------------------------+
| Stella documentary at http://www.primenet.com/~krishna |
| Nick's VCS links via http://www.primenet.com/~nickb/atariprg.htm |
| Write the best game, win framed autographs of famous Atari alumni!! |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
