WEBVTT - 3: The Chalice 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.160 It's January of nineteen eighty four, and a Detroit local 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.000 named Stephen Bell has become something of a rock star, 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:09.920 one with a joystick in his hand instead of a guitar. 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:14.040 He's the first ever winner of Atari's sword Quest contest, 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:17.760 which promises one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in jewel 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:22.480 encrusted treasures to players who can successfully navigate four adventure games. 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:25.720 You might think word doesn't travel very far about a 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:29.080 video game contest, but Atari is one of the most 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:32.040 well known brands in the world, and Stephen is an 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:36.760 Atari champion, the Tom Brady of video games. His picture 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:40.879 appears in Atari Age, the magazine devoted to all things Atari. 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.800 Each issue is poured over by tens of thousands of 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:49.000 Atari fans. This means he was at least a little recognizable. 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:52.880 So when Stephen arrives for the second sword Quest competition 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:56.840 in Sunnyvale, California, a little kid spots him and kind 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:57.600 of freaks out. 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.680 They all knew because of a magazine. I actually had 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.760 one younger kid come up and want my autograph. So 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.360 one time in my life someb be wondered my autograph. 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:11.040 The kid is starstruck. Stephen is one of gaming's first 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.600 celebrity players. In fact, all the sword Quest finalists are, 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:18.720 and that attention can sometimes get well a little creepy. 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:21.600 And so they were calling the seven of us or 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:23.720 eight of us to see if we could tell them 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.640 what we did to solve the puzzle, and they wanted 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.039 to give them clues as to what to do for 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.720 the Fireworld was starting, and so as we turned in one, 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:36.080 the next one was going, and everybody was calling to 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.760 find out how we got to where we found the answer. 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:43.119 That's Jackie Custer, another finalist in the first game Earth World. 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:45.959 I actually had one guy who came to my house. 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.400 Showed up at my house. I don't know. He found 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:49.880 my address from somewhere. 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.080 Like Stephen, Jackie is becoming a bit of a celebrity 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:59.600 and maybe something else too. Maybe they're targets. Both are 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.760 looking to the second leg of the contest, fire World. 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:05.960 The two have qualified for the in person final and 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:09.440 a chance to win the second prize, a gem studded 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:13.520 chalice worth another twenty five thousand dollars. They have the 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.600 experience like a prize fighter who's already made the walk 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:20.240 to the ring. There were eight finalists in the first game, 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:24.560 which was almost impossible to solve. Seven made it. One 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:29.160 missed his flight. This time, seventy three people qualified for 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:33.040 the contest in California. Stephen and Jackie will have far 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.919 more competition than ever before. There are some familiar faces 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.600 and some not so familiar, including the man who would 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:45.280 become Stephen's earcist rival. When the smoke clears, another winner 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.560 will be crowned, and someone will get one step closer 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:52.640 to the grand prize, the fifty thousand dollars swored of 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:59.880 Ultimate Sorcery, but behind the scenes, Atari is playing a 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.920 different game entirely. It's a contest of survival in a 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.480 brand new world of next level video games, one threatening 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.840 to leave the company in the dust. To keep going, 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:18.320 they'll try anything, including breeding players' minds for iHeartRadio. This 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:22.200 is the Legend of sword Quest. I'm your host, Jamie Loftus, 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:30.239 and this is Episode three. The Chalice. Fireworld, the second 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.560 in the sword Quest series, hit stores in February of 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:37.800 nineteen eighty three. Like Earthworld, it came packaged with a 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.960 DC Comics story that helped flesh out the narrative while 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.880 providing game hints. Twins Tor and Tara were still in 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.760 pursuit of the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery, which they need 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.360 to defeat the evil king Tyrannus, the tyrant who murdered 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.000 their parents. To do that, they'd have. 0:03:54.920 --> 0:04:02.080 To navigate a fire drenched hellscape. It was a fable, mythology, 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:06.920 part Conan parked Star Wars, and all melodrama. 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:11.360 Fireworld, and never was a place more aptly named. Volcanoes, 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:15.560 blazing geysers, rivers of lava as far as that I. 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:20.200 Can see, As you might expect, all the stress of 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:24.560 exacting vengeance and suffering and hostile environments takes a toll 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:26.440 on the relationship between the siblings. 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:29.800 We'll pass out from this terrible heat unless we find 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.000 a cooler spot and quickly. We'd better talk this over, 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.680 figure out which direction we should be going. I don't 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.520 know which one's best. No time for that. This way 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.839 lies as open as any. Come on, Wait, that path. 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:43.240 Looks even worse to go down. 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.120 I mean, look at it. Will you quit arguing and 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:46.680 follow me. 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.479 There wasn't as much drama in Fireworld the game as 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:54.760 there was in the comic. That's because A TOI was 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.280 always in a hurry to get games out to the market, 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:02.919 even if they weren't necessarily entire shape. Here's Stephen Bell that. 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.000 Was actually harder the actual game. Well, like I say, 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:08.320 you know, the games were in the comic books, but 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:12.920 the games themselves were they were okay. Once again, you 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:16.120 could tell that they had this grand vision. They didn't 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.599 have enough time to do what they really wanted to 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.479 do because you know, somebody, wait at the top. You 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:23.760 could get the next game out work, you said, selling 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.440 like hotcakes. So as far as the gameplay goes, it 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:27.279 was just okay. 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:32.400 The comic held clues, but this time players had another 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:36.760 source of information each other. When the Earth World Contest 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:40.520 was held, a network began forming among gamers, not only 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.720 in person, but in the pages of video gaming magazines 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:49.599 and through the mail. Jackie Custer, another Earth World contestant, explains. 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.760 Right after the contest, I was flooded with calls. I 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:55.359 mean it was constant, and a lot of those kids 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.440 were like teenagers and young adults that were into Atari 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.680 and was in the contest but didn't win. You know, 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:03.240 it didn't get to be a finalist. 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:07.080 The newer sword Quest players wanted help. Some of the 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:11.160 veteran players were fairly open minded about sharing tips and tricks, 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.560 but Jackie was hesitant. It felt like giving the enemy 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:15.680 strategies on war. 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:18.800 I had all these people calling me saying, well, how'd 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.120 you get the answer? How'd you get the answer? And 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:23.920 I could have very easily told everybody, but we still 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.280 had another contest, we had Fireworld, and I didn't want 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:29.599 everybody to win. I mean, if the more people we 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:32.839 had going, the less chance you had of doing well. 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.279 And so I sort of tried to keep it to myself, 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.240 you know, but some of these people would get on 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:39.320 the phone and they would beg you and push you 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:41.880 and push you and try to get you to break 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.200 it down, you know, to where you would tell them 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.320 the answer how you came up with it. So many 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.760 people won the second one, and I think that some 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.720 of the other guys that were finalists for Earth World, 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.640 I think some of them gave out secrets, you know, 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:58.880 kind of let their friends in on it. 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:06.400 With Fireworld, Jackie was at a slight disadvantage for Earth World. 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:08.800 She had done a lot of the puzzle solving while 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:13.320 her husband Dana controlled the game using the joystick. This time, 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:16.080 he wasn't as involved in helping her navigate the game. 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.200 But she was still determined to make it through. The 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:23.240 treasures in the game revolved around the Tree of Life, 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.320 a concept found in the Kabbalah, a study of life 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.920 from the perspective of the Jewish faith. There was depth 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.040 in these games if you chose to look for it, 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.040 but this was the eighties. Gamers liked Frogger. Most people 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:37.480 skipped the subtext. 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:43.400 I practiced until it was crazy, I mean constantly, and 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.720 we even thought of, like Dana just churning in the 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.640 second one, but he didn't have as much time to 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.080 work on it. He was very, very busy with work, 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:52.840 and when he came home he wanted to play with 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.440 the sun, and so he didn't really get into it 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.080 as much as I did. And so it kind of 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:00.600 just was the belief that I would just churn it 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:04.440 in and hopefully enjoy another trip to San Francisco. But yeah, 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:07.160 I practiced and practiced, and I got better. I got 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:09.360 quite a bit further on the fireworld. 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:14.760 This time, more people qualified for the finals. Seventy three 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:19.360 of them in fact, including Jackie and returning champion Stephen Bell, 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:24.800 all had the correct answer. Leads to chalice. Power abounds. 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.160 Like the first game, contestants had to know that the 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.400 correct words were identified by a clue in the poem 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:32.760 included in the comic. 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.959 In Earth World Gred, these twins have twelve beasts of 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:41.480 Zodiac birth and mastered thieving as they sought for sword 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:46.400 of Ultimate worth through Fireworld's flames. They now do rage well. 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:50.080 Time it's told is ad to seven days a year, 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:53.200 an age who knows in a world gone mad. 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:59.360 In the comic, the phrase ad to seven is printed 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.000 in a different typeface. The pages of the comic containing 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:07.440 the right clues needed to add up to seven. But 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.120 did that? Many more people figure that out on their own. 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.480 Were a lot of twelve year olds really into typography. 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:15.319 Jackie isn't sure. 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:18.920 About that, Like this is how you do it, you know. 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.480 I just don't think that all of a sudden to 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.719 go from seven of us to fifty of well, I 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.040 think it was seventy five of us that got it 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:30.640 for the second one. I just think that some of 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:32.880 the finalists on the first one. I think let lous 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:34.280 on how it was done, you. 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:38.640 Know, however it happened. Seventy three was way too many 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.600 contestants for Atari. The company was committed to flying out 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.280 all the finalists and putting them up in a hotel 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:48.880 for three days in the Bay Area of California. This 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.960 contest was already an expensive proposition, so when the number 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.040 of winning entries grew to be too much, Atari went 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:57.800 full grade school teacher. 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.800 They couldn't afford to have that many people. It was 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.520 just too big of an unmovie group, you know. So 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:06.640 they cut it down and you had to write an 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:08.920 essay about why you want it to go. 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:14.320 Yes, an essay a homework assignment. Atari wrote back to 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:17.760 the players and told them to submit a manifesto on 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:23.400 why they loved Fireworld. So everyone wrote something, including Stephen Bell, 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:25.760 but as he dropped it in the mail, he wasn't 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:29.720 sure being a returning champion was necessarily an advantage. 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:32.640 He had a little thing on what do you like 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:34.520 about the game? Like I said, I was still in 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:37.199 contact with a middle group of friends, and once again 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:39.760 I was talking to Jackie on the phone. I said, 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:42.440 you know, I don't think they're gonna pick me to 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.440 be one of them because I already won one. And 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:48.080 she says, no, they're going to pick you to see 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:51.440 if you can win them all. Well, I guess we'll see, sure, enough, 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:53.679 you know, I get my little acceptance letter. There you 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:54.720 go coming back. 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:59.800 Keep in mind, Fireworld was an often infuriating game, so 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.840 many of these essays expressing their love for it were 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:07.720 probably not entirely sincere. But a golden chalice was at stake, 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.760 so a little creative license was to be expected. Atari 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.839 got these seventy three essays and picked the fifty they 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:19.560 liked best. Pretty soon, Stephen Bell, Jackie Custer, and forty 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.319 eight other people got a letter in the mail inviting 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.400 them to the finals, which would be held in January 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:29.880 nineteen eighty four. Stephen and Jackie had an advantage of swords. 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.040 They knew what it was like to play a game 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.319 under pressure, with a time limit and rows of television 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:39.199 set up. They were the two veterans, but now there 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.880 was just a one in fifty chance either one of 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:44.480 them would come out on top. And that wasn't the 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:47.800 only different thing this time around. As soon as Jackie 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.640 and Stephen got dropped off, they found themselves in an 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:52.520 entirely new environment. 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:56.679 Our ghostly mentors challenged us to enter the second world 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:59.160 that lies below to claim both the sword and our 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:03.000 own destinies. Well, we've come this far, and by the gods, 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:04.040 we won't stop now. 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:13.840 The first thing Jackie Custer noticed upon returning to San 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:18.440 Francisco was that things seemed a little more let's say, 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:19.960 economical with Atari. 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:24.240 Instead of having a catered dinner, they took us all 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:28.000 and we walked a few blocks to Chinatown and we 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.400 went to a Chinese restaurant and they served us kind 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.160 of like not pot luck, but buffet style, you know, 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:34.360 a Chinese dinner. 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:37.560 Where the first event had players in a lavish hotel 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:41.480 with the contest and Atari's headquarters, this one was being 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:43.960 held at a holiday inn. 0:12:44.600 --> 0:13:03.920 It's like a roaring furnace, the greatest inferno we've encountered yet. 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.040 The hotel we stayed in. It was in San Francisco, 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:02.320 it was, but it just wasn't at the same caliber 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:04.280 as the hotel we had for the first game. 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:07.840 Jackie also felt like the number of finalists may have 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:08.520 been too. 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:11.480 Much the second one. I felt like I was being 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.640 pushed here and there, and that there was too many 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.240 of us, and it was it was kind of like 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.439 more like a herd mentality, and you know, everybody hurrying 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.040 getting here and eat your dinner and hurry back to 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:24.920 this and you know, take the tour and then get 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.200 back to the hotel and da da da da da. 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.480 But not everyone agreed things were all that bad. Here's Steven. 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:35.080 We just went to San Francisco, a hotel in San Francisco. 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:37.640 But I was pretty cool because they took us to Alcatraz. 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.200 I was pretty cool. I don't know if anyone's ever 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.559 seen the movie Escape from Alcatraz, but we saw the 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:47.240 cell Clint Eastwood was in and all that. 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.040 There also seemed to be more camaraderie this time around, 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:53.880 both between returning players and new ones. 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.240 It was interesting in the hotel. I'm sure the other 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.080 guests didn't know what was going on, but it got 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.720 pretty rowdy and a lot of fun. A big party, 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:06.000 kind of like in the halls where our rooms were, 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:08.600 you know, a couple different floors, they had a whole 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:10.680 bunch of rooms. They had our rooms kind of together. 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.160 We go out in the hallway and everybody bring out 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.600 their drinks or whatever they had and the food, and 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.960 we sit around in the I remember sitting on the 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.280 floor of my feet up on the wall, just talking 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.000 and talking and talking till hours of the morning and 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:29.400 getting to know each other and yeah, It was a 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:39.080 big party. 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:38.840 But not everyone wanted to party. Stephen was in the zone, 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:42.280 and so were plenty of others. Owing to the number 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:46.640 of players, Atari took over the holiday inns ballroom. Tables 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.960 were set up with fifty televisions and fifty Atari systems. 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:53.200 Heavy curtains covered the floorid to ceiling windows to block 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:56.960 out the sunlight and reduce glare on the screens. Conference 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.480 chairs were set up in front of each monitor. The 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.760 whole scene looked a little bit like an old school 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:06.080 computer class. One by one, the players began taking their 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.680 seats under the drop ceiling a giant Atari sign set 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.200 up to one side of the room. Off to another 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:16.120 side was a glass case. Inside was the object of 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.520 everyone's desire, the chalice, a cup from which to sip 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:21.640 and save your victory. 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:26.000 The chalice was really gorgeous and if you're Catholic and 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:29.160 go to church, the chalice the priest has it was 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:31.760 kind of like the same size as a large chalice 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.320 in the church, and it was all yellow gold and 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:38.400 just around the cup part just you know, so many 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:43.760 stones inlaid and just so beautiful, really really neat prizes. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:49.040 An Atari employee described the rules like Earth World. Playing 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.880 through Fireworld would be a timed competition. Players would have 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.280 to gather objects and place them in their correct electronic 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:59.920 rooms and in the right order to win. Atari made 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.920 a special contest version of the game cartridge so players 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.400 wouldn't merely be able to repeat what they had done 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.880 with the home version. The televisions were turned on and 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:13.920 the Atari systems engaged. Each player held a joystick, also 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.840 provided by Atari to prevent someone from gaining an advantage. 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:20.560 No one was allowed to bring and use their own controllers. 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:25.360 With fifty players ready to go and Atari employee stepped forward, 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:29.200 some players stole one last look at the chalice, which 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.520 seemed to gleam even in the dark and dungeon like room, 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:36.440 illuminated only by the glare of the tube televisions and 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:41.400 some harsh fluorescent lighting. In this holiday Inn ballroom, the 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:46.560 sight of wedding receptions, business conferences, and speed dating. Atari's 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.760 second sword Quest competition was on. The clacking of the 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:55.520 joysticks was symphonic. Each player consumed by navigating each room 0:16:55.680 --> 0:17:00.120 and grabbing objects an oil lamp and amulet, a grappling hook, 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:04.639 and trying to figure out where each belonged. Some needed 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.040 to be placed after you put the right object in 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:10.160 another room. There was a lot of trial and error. 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.119 The layout of the rooms was more apparent if you 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.440 knew the design of the Tree of Life from the 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:22.600 Kabbala ten circles inside of three triangles. It acted as 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.639 a kind of navigator. Stephen Bell got off to a 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:30.160 good start, but pretty soon that optimism gave way to despair. 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.320 I just wasn't getting these wouldn't get these clues as good, 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:39.160 and I could tell like pretty quickly. I just remember, 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:42.879 after about ten minutes, I'm like, yeah, I ain't went 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.680 a nice one. You plu pulling away and I'm not gidneys. 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.399 The same was true of Jackie Custer, who had a 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:53.400 sense she was only plotting along. Using the joystick had 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.000 not been her strong suit, but she had gotten better 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:59.000 with it. That was thanks in part to Stephen, who 0:17:59.000 --> 0:17:59.720 had shared. 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:03.679 Some of his Stephen Bell, who won the first one. 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:07.600 He was a nice guy, and they were moving their joysticks. 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:09.640 Later they were showing me how they could move through. 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.000 And after it was over, we all kind of went 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:14.800 around one of the screens and was looking and Stephen 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:16.760 was showing us how he got through some of the 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.920 mini games, and they were just so fast. It woggled 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:22.680 my mind because I couldn't do. 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:26.520 That, you know. Eventually Jackie still fell behind. 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:29.040 I want to say that it was like the fourth 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.120 or fifth level. Like I said, it was not fabulous. 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.320 Instead, two other contestants new to the sword quest scene 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:41.480 began to pull ahead curiously. Both were from South Carolina. 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:46.040 One was Rick Davidson from Kershaw, the other was Michael 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:51.360 Rideout from Aiken. Both were making great time. Michael knew 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.399 about the Tree of Life and was able to speed 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:56.960 through rooms more quickly than most of the others. Rick 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.439 didn't know much about the Tree of Life, but still 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:03.040 managed to find what he needed. After forty minutes of play, 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:07.560 some players had tossed aside their joysticks in exasperation. The 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:09.840 objects had been too hard to come by and their 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:15.320 locations too difficult to discover. Others plowed ahead, but Michael 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:19.520 and Rick were close, very close. As Rick plunked down 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:23.000 his last object, he felt a surge of excitement. There 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:25.680 was nothing left to do. He looked around and didn't 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.160 see anyone else with their arms raised. He had done it. 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:37.200 He had beaten Fireworld and obtained the Chalice. Except well, 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.800 except Rick's judge didn't agree with him. As with the 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:45.000 first contest, each player was assigned a judge. This time 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.640 one judge supervised two players to watch out for any 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:52.640 suspicious activity and make certain the players completed the tasks. 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.520 What suspicious activity would have looked like in nineteen eighty 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:57.800 four is a mystery. 0:19:57.960 --> 0:19:58.919 But still. 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:03.080 Noticed that the judge wasn't giving him me all clear. 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:07.719 Rick had gotten all the clues and their corresponding numbers, 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:12.080 but one, just one, was out of order. The official 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:14.600 told him he'd have to do it over again, so 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.800 Rick did just that. He raced through, repeating his own steps. 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.320 He had just minutes to go, but then there was 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:29.399 a commotion on the other side of the room. Another 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:33.600 contestant was standing up. Rick looked over and the contestant 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:38.080 was getting his arm raised. Applause was breaking out. Michael 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:42.879 not Rick had one fireworld. A dejected Rick put his 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:48.960 joystick down. The rules were the rules. A little while later, 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:51.560 the judge came up to him and handed him something. 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.680 It was one of the game cartridges made especially for 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:59.639 the contest. Attari always took them back and never allowed 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:02.680 players to keep them, but the judge gave one to Rick. 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.480 It was kind of a consolation prize and years later 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:08.800 something that could fetch a pretty good price on eBay, 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:13.120 but it was no substitute for the chalice. Michael Rideout 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:17.159 had earned Atari's holy grail, and he was close to 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:27.800 passing out. With forty nine slightly envious people looking on, 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:31.399 twenty four year old Michael Rideout was ushered over to 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:35.440 the glass case containing the chalice with a flourish and 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:39.280 Atari Marketing employee lifted up the case and handed it over. 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:42.679 Both men froze for a moment to allow for a 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:46.560 photo to be taken. There's Michael, bearded to make him 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:49.439 look a little older than his years, shaking hands with 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:54.240 a smiling Atari Marketing rep male model Handsome. Michael would 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:57.360 later say he was so excited that he felt woozy 0:21:57.480 --> 0:21:59.000 and feared he might collapse. 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:02.919 He was really excited now, he Yeah, it was kind 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:05.159 of like, Wow, I thought Steven would react, you know 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:08.199 at the first one. I really Michael just you know, 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:13.520 he was so happy and jubilant and just really partying 0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:15.920 that night and having a lot of fun, and he 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:19.480 was enjoying the attention. Everybody wanted to talk to him. 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:21.439 Everyone wanted to a picture with him. 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:24.720 Michael had done a number of things right. He had 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:27.240 wisely sucked up to a taar rate during the essay 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:30.680 portion of the contest, writing that he had preferred Fireworld 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:34.040 to the first game, Earth World. But there were things 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:37.280 going against Michael too. He hadn't been in the loop 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:41.440 on trading strategies with other contestants. Winning was a surprise, 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:45.520 a big one. Afterward, he and Stephen Bell struck up 0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:46.160 a conversation. 0:22:47.080 --> 0:22:50.680 I don't remember what was said, gratulations. I did remember 0:22:51.280 --> 0:22:53.440 because of what Jackie doing the last time. I think 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:56.880 I said, yeah, well we both get to come back now. 0:22:56.920 --> 0:22:59.320 There were two finalists who would get to compete for 0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:03.160 the sword. Stephen had opted to take his initial prize, 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:07.320 the Talisman, right away, but Michael didn't really have that option. 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:11.840 After the first competition, Atari seemed to realize how dicey 0:23:11.880 --> 0:23:14.840