Disposition and Conclusion

I finished Wizard in early January of 1980; it took exactly four months from the time I joined Atari to learn the VCS and finish the game. Even by the quick standards of those days, this was considered fast. We sent the program over to marketing and, my dues paid, I set to work on a program for the HCS. About a month later, marketing was ready with their comments.

They liked the game, but it didn't fit well into the product line. Atari had been making the transition from 2K ROMs to 4K ROMs, and the new 4K ROM products were gobbling up all the sales; 2K games just couldn't sell. I had been required to build a 2K game because they weren't sure of the future of 2K ROM games when I started, but by the time I finished, they were sure that such games had no hope in the marketplace. Still, they liked the design; could I re-design it to take advantage of 4K? Perhaps some snazzier graphics, better sounds, or more game options?

I had a hidden agenda: I was already well into my project for the HCS, and I found the HCS much more interesting to work with then the VCS. I really didn't want to revert to that Neanderthal machine. Besides, I had a perfectly solid argument, which I used to foil the marketing people: You don't just take a 2K game and add another 2K of padding to get a 4K game. The game would have to be completely redesigned from scratch, and the end result would be a completely new product. I couldn't guarantee a fast delivery and I couldn't even promise that the game would play like a souped-up version of the 2K game. I would just start over and do the best I could. For political reasons I was unaware of at the time, the marketing people decided not to press the matter. Wizard was buried in the Atari archives.

Few people have ever seen Wizard. There appears to be a version of it floating around on the Web, and it supposedly can run on the various VCS emulators available for PCs. It is certainly not one of my best designs, but I am nevertheless pleased with it. It's a solid design that takes good advantage of the platform and delivers a gaming experience that was otherwise unavailable at the time. It's a strong demonstration of good design in a tight environment: I set a clear gameplaying goal (hidden movement), and I achieved it.