Renowned Atari game designer shares insights with APSU students
(Posted Monday, April 17, 2023)
By Sara Klosterman
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Howard Scott Warshaw, a former game designer for Atari, shared valuable insights during a live Zoom session hosted April 12 in Austin Peay State University’s Kimbrough Building. Dr. Matthew Farrell, Austin Peay assistant professor of management, moderated the discussion.
During the session, Warshaw talked about his experience being rejected in his initial interview with Atari.
"You have to have a real genuine desire to arrive at the place you're being blocked from," he said. "Ask yourself if the obstacle is formidable."
Warshaw also discussed his problem-solving techniques and his desire to help college graduates. His approach highlighted the importance of flexibility and creativity in finding solutions to complex challenges.
"I want to let go of all the standard ideas and visions about how I've learned to do things," he said. "I want to focus exclusively on my goal with the most open-minded perspective I can."
In addition, Warshaw spoke about the crash of the video game industry, which he said was due to Atari releasing the first interactive television product that penetrated the market. Atari missed the lead time of delivering its next system, but Warshaw said that was expected of a company in their first product lifecycle.
"Most great innovations have huge blind spots in addition to having a great vision," he said.
Dr. Farrell monitored the event, and said students, faculty and staff benefitted from Warshaw’s stories, insights and humor.
The session concluded with a Q&A segment, where attendees had the opportunity to ask Warshaw questions about a variety of topics, including his experience in the gaming industry, his views on the future of interactive entertainment and how he managed to graduate college in three years instead of four, as well as his experience as a psychotherapist.