Video Game Copywriting — My Introduction to Computers!

Perhaps like many people, my first introduction to computers came through playing video games! Except in my case, I didn't merely play video games: I wrote the instruction manuals to show people how to play the games, along with the packaging copy to convince people to buy them. Essentially, I got paid to play video games and to write about them. What's not to like about that?

Atari Video Game Manuals

Although the Atari video games would be considered primitive by today's standards, they were both fun to play and to write about. The manuals were structured so that we had to first create a scenario in the player's mind to establish their game-playing character and to identify their objective in the game. After we established that role, we then transitioned into teaching people how to play the game and get the most out of it. The writing challenge for Atari copywriters called upon us to blend instructional, technical writing with narrative story-telling. With my literary background and my love for story-telling as well for playing games, that kind of creative challenge was something which I soon discovered I was perfectly suited for!

Atari Football Kicks-Off My Video Game Career

Whenever I could, I would humorously weave elements from my own life into the story-lines. For example, in Atari 5200 Football, I placed the player in the cold, outdoor stadium in Buffalo, NY, my hometown.

Atari Space Dungeon — Searching for Space Treasure!

Sometimes, the game designers would send us a game for which there was no story, so we had to make one up. We had to make entertainment sense of the images and the collision detect modes that the programmer used throughout the game play. When I conjured up the scenario for Atari's Space Dungeon, my fellow writers teased me that it read like a treatment for a science fiction movie. Why not? It's an interactive world. Some games become movies; some movies become games.

Atari SwordQuest Challenge: Reinventing a Video Game by Consulting the Stars

For one of the four playoff competitions in the Atari SwordQuest Challenge for a Jeweled Sword worth $50,000, I had all of two days to come up with a way to allow about a dozen contestants to compete in a race to get through all the levels of EarthWorld for the Atari 2600, a very difficult, brute-force adventure game that had required gamers to spend weeks of their lives trying to figure out the astronomical permutations regarding which 16 magical objects needed to go into which 12 astrological rooms of the Zodiac at various points in their quest for a magical sword. Atari had sold over 500,000 of these games in a gigantic cross promotion involving DC Comics and the Franklin Mint, and only 7 people managed to get themselves invited to participate in a quarter-final playoff tournament, which would be worth a $25,000 prize to the winner, as well as a chance to compete in the final SwordQuest Challenge for the Jeweled Sword.

Since all the rooms in Atari's EarthWorld were named after the houses of the Zodiac, I wrote a series of entertaining, but arcane, clues that directed the keenest reader among them where to place the correct magical objects and race to victory within less than two hours. Essentially, I provided word-clues within an astrological theme to blend aspects of the game's key elements with a puzzle based on the game's theme. That added twist elevated the game-play to a more entertaining level, while making it possible for someone to actually solve the game/puzzle in time for the luncheon award ceremonies. I got a nice memo of gratitude from the product manager for making the playoff competition a success, and the whole episode was written up in Atari Life, the Atari employee newsletter.

Of course, while it is not possible to play the limited edition playoff game that was especially programmed for the playoff, anyone wishing to try their luck deciphering the arcane clues can do so by getting familiar with the list of magical objects and the signs of the Zodiac. Your eye-hand coordination won't be tested, as it was in the original game play, but at least you might have some fun trying to figure out what goes where based on the word-clues that I wrote. The playoff winner navigated through the puzzle in less than an hour. How well can you do? Here are the answers to the Atari SwordQuest EarthWorld playoff. Try not to peek!

Atari becomes my Catalyst to other high-tech adventures!

After working as a copywriter at Atari, I went to work directly for Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari and the whole video game industry itself (with the invention of Pong!) as the publicist for his Catalyst Technologies, a high-tech incubator for ideas that Nolan wanted to convert into entire industries—and sometimes succeeded in doing so! For me, it was just the continuation of my new love affair with high technology—one that continues to this day.

[Update: 1 October 2009. ATARI VIDEO GAME EPROM AUCTIONS:

While rummaging around in my attic recently, I came across several EPROMs of the Atari video games that I had worked on, including the probable one-of-a-kind EPROM that was used for the actual SwordQuest EarthWorld playoff contest, for which I wrote the arcane clues that turned that brute-force monster into a playable game. I'm considering auctioning off these EPROMS, including the one for the SwordQuest EarthWorld playoff contest. However, I would first be interested to know if some technical wizards out there know of ways to convert, or adapt, or emulate the SwordQuest EarthWorld playoff contest into a playable video game that might appeal to legacy video game connoisseurs or collectors. Anyone who can enlighten me technically on this subject, please email me with details. If interested in participating in a future EPROM auction, then email me to get on a list of people to be notified when—and if—I actually go ahead and auction off these legacy items. No phone calls, please.]

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