1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: It's the nineteen eighties, and parents in news media are 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: seeing the devil in everything. Ritual animal killings, subliminal messages 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: and heavy metal songs, demonic imagery in the Smurfs, which 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: some religious fundamentalists have dubbed undead creatures because they were 5 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,920 Speaker 1: blue and some were corpses. Some even believe Pamper's diapers 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,119 Speaker 1: are the work of the devil. Because the Procter and 7 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: Gamble logo has an astrological design. It's a kind of 8 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: mass hyst area that comes to be known as Satanic panic. 9 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: Most of it, virtually all of it, is total nonsense. 10 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: But in May nineteen eighty three, in the bowels of 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,919 Speaker 1: a building in California, a group of people really are 12 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: gathered around a giant Zodiac sign on the floor. If 13 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: you're one of the people concerned about Satan taking over 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: the world, this is one very weird scene. In the 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: middle of it as a thirty year old named Jackie Custer. 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: She's a new mom and a room full of strangers 17 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: where there will be a kind of ritual involved, a 18 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: ritual she's been participating in over and over again for months. 19 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 2: Well, I'm a night owl, and I know that I 20 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 2: would put my son down to bed before eight o'clock. 21 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,320 Speaker 2: You know, he was usually asleep, and as a toddler, 22 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 2: he kept pushing that bedtime up. But I would start 23 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,479 Speaker 2: and many times Dana would come home from work really 24 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 2: really late, and I'd still be sitting there doing it, 25 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 2: and he'd say, what are you doing. You know, you 26 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 2: got to get up with the baby. And I would 27 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 2: get into it, and I'd sort of lose track of 28 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 2: time and where I was and just kept going on it. 29 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 2: I would say, hm, oh, it had to have been 30 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 2: close to one hundred hours or more. 31 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: This ritual consumed Jackie's free time. But Jackie didn't have 32 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: to pledge her soul to the devil, nor is she 33 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: here in California to sacrifice her baby. All she has 34 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,559 Speaker 1: to do is be better and faster than the six 35 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: other people in the room. Six others, all of whom 36 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: have practiced the same thing for most of the past year. 37 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: One is a member of the Coast Guard, another a 38 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: sixteen year old kid. They're all gathered at the headquarters 39 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:14,079 Speaker 1: of Atari, the world's leading manufacturer of video games, and 40 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: while they didn't realize that at the time, they were 41 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: about to make video gaming history, for the first time 42 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: a home video game could pay off with a real, 43 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: tangible reward, a prize that held enough value to pay 44 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: for college, or a new car, or a lot of 45 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: demonic pampers diapers. One of these people is going to 46 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: leave with a gold talisman worth twenty five thousand dollars, 47 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: but they won't be able to hang on to it 48 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: for long. For iHeartRadio, this is the Legend of sword Quest. 49 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jamie Loftus, and this is episode two. Gentlemen, 50 00:02:52,120 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: start your joysticks. In nineteen eighty two, a Atari launched 51 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: sword Quest, a contest that featured four games, four prizes, 52 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: and a chance for the winners to meet up again 53 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: to vie for the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery, a jewel 54 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,920 Speaker 1: studied blade valued at fifty thousand dollars. Here's how the 55 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: first game Earth World worked. Your character explored twelve different 56 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: rooms that contained sixteen different objects. You had the option 57 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: of bringing the objects to different rooms. If you did 58 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: and it was a fit, you got a number that 59 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: corresponded to a page and panel in the included DC 60 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: comic book. The comic was hiding word clues. Put five 61 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: clues together and in the right sequence, and you cracked 62 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: the game. But there was one problem. None of this 63 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: was explained to players. 64 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 3: There was no clues or hints anywhere in an instruction 65 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 3: manual or anywhere to explain what items go where. It 66 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 3: was literally trial and error, as I required one object 67 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 3: in one room, or two in this one, three in 68 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 3: this one, and I think you had like sixteen objects 69 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 3: or something like that. 70 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: That's Bert Wardahl. We met him in episode one. At 71 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: the time, he was thirteen years old and eager to 72 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: have a gold talisman worth twenty five thousand dollars on 73 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: his nightstand. But Atari wasn't making it easy. In fact, 74 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: the game was so hard it drove people to the brink. 75 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 3: The amount of combinations you could use are probably in 76 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 3: the millions or billions, and I just remember being very 77 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 3: frustrated by it because I didn't know what to do. 78 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 3: I did find one of the clues haphazardly, I don't 79 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 3: know what I did to generate it. 80 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: It was like being told to win at chess, but 81 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: not telling you how each piece moved. The best advice 82 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 1: Atari gave in the Owner's Manual was to keep a 83 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: pen and paper handy because you'd be doing a lot 84 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,919 Speaker 1: of exploration. When it came to trying to solve the 85 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: puzzles Bert played, he played a lot. He wandered in 86 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: and out of rooms on this controlling a character that 87 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: was little more than a pair of legs and a torso. 88 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: This was the first Golden Age of gaming, but not 89 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: the Golden age of graphics. This was Theater of the 90 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:15,160 Speaker 1: Mind stuff, an adventure that unfolded in your head and 91 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: was fueled by the packaging art which made it look 92 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: like a grand fantasy epic, and the included comic book, 93 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: which dramatized the whole affair. Twins Tour and Tara are 94 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: on a mission of revenge against King Tyrannus, who killed 95 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 1: their parents. To defeat him, they'll have to conquer a 96 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: series of quests. At least that's what a wise spirit 97 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: tells them in the DC comics, written by Jerry Conway 98 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: and Roy Thomas and illustrated by the late George Perez. 99 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 4: To achieve your goal, you must be willing to learn 100 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 4: what each world can teach you. You must have open minds 101 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 4: and yes, open hearts as well. You must put aside 102 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 4: your anger and your hate. You must learn to think 103 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 4: before acting. You must learn to judge before responding Descend 104 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,039 Speaker 4: and you will enter the first of the four worlds. 105 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,159 Speaker 4: You must conquer Earth World. 106 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,840 Speaker 1: But Bert was, after all, thirteen years old. He wasn't 107 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,239 Speaker 1: about to conquer anything, and he was getting slightly angry 108 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: at the game, which didn't have all the typical villains, 109 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: the aliens, the monsters. He was essentially playing against himself, 110 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: wandering around chambers with a zodiac theme. 111 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 3: Honestly, you know, the first week that I had that game, 112 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 3: I probably played it every day, tried to figure it out, 113 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 3: and nothing ever worked. I got to the point where 114 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 3: I couldn't find anything more in the game. There was 115 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,840 Speaker 3: no hints or anything to help you. There was no 116 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 3: Internet you could look on for help. There was no 117 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 3: Atari eight hundred number you could call for help. It 118 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 3: was just you trying to figure this out. And I 119 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 3: remember trying to look through the comic book on my own. 120 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,080 Speaker 1: Bert wasn't the only one having trouble in Ourlita calif 121 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: Jackie Custer was equally befuddled by the chambers and their clues, 122 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: but she didn't fit the typical profile of a gamer, 123 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: at least not at the time. Jackie was an adult 124 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: married to Dana Custer and had a lot going on 125 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 1: in her life. Back surgery for some ruptured discs had 126 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: put her out of commission, but she still had to 127 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: tend to their new baby. Earthworld was a welcome distraction 128 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: of sorts. Even though she had initially bought the Atari 129 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: system for her husband, she wound up playing it a lot, 130 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: and she loved the idea of sword Quest almost as 131 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: much as Bert hated it. 132 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 2: I kind of think I just ran into it, kind 133 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 2: of as an accident. We didn't subscribe to the Atari 134 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 2: magazine at the time, so I'm not sure how I 135 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 2: found out about it, but got the game and brought 136 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 2: it home and was fascinated by the fact that it 137 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 2: was an action adventure, that there was actually something to 138 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 2: figure out, and there's no instructions with the game whatsoever. 139 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 2: You know, you took it out of the box and 140 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 2: there was the comic book and the cassette and no 141 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 2: directions on you know, you go this way or that way, 142 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 2: or do this, do that, nothing, So you really had 143 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 2: to start from the very beginning to try to figure 144 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 2: it out yourself. 145 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: It was also kind of a bonding experience with Dana. 146 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: Jackie was good at solving puzzles, but not so good 147 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: using the joystick. 148 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 2: We worked as a team when he was home. He 149 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 2: was really good with joysticks and I was not. You know, 150 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 2: it was all thumbs and I had a really hard 151 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,679 Speaker 2: time getting through the little games within the game. He 152 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 2: would take and control it for me and get me 153 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 2: into the rooms and I would keep copious notes and 154 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 2: write everything down and try to follow along and find 155 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 2: the clues, and together as a team, we worked on 156 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 2: this oh night after night. It was like instead of 157 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 2: watching TV, we just get out the game and start 158 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 2: working on it. 159 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: Sometimes this went on all day and into the night, 160 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: Dana coming home from work and seeing Jackie still at it, 161 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: still hoping to vanquish King Tyrannus. Finally Jackie realized what 162 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: the game was doing. 163 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 2: Every once in a while, the screen would go into 164 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 2: these bright colors, and these clues would show up two numbers, 165 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 2: and the comic book had beautiful pictures. But after I 166 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 2: looked at it a few times, I noticed that there 167 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 2: was words hidden in the pictures, and so I figured 168 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 2: that it had to do with trying to figure out 169 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,199 Speaker 2: what the answer was. So I just started writing down 170 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 2: those numbers, and eventually I figured out that it must 171 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 2: stand for where it's at in the book. And so 172 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 2: I've found that a gourd hidden on one of the pages. 173 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 2: And then by looking at that page number, I noticed 174 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 2: that one of the clues was that number. So it 175 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 2: just hit me that that's the page number. And then 176 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 2: the second number was the panel the panel on the 177 00:09:57,480 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 2: comic book. 178 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: This went on for months. Finally Jackie looked down at 179 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: a piece of paper. There were ten word clues total, 180 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 1: but only five of them were correct. To know which five, 181 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: you had to have noticed that a poem appeared on 182 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:13,959 Speaker 1: the first page of the. 183 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 5: Comic Conquesting with Old Siblings, Twain Prime Thieves of Ravaged Earth, 184 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 5: Next journey to the fire World, Land of Volcanoes, Birth 185 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 5: Waves without number, Water's realm, but where if Evil's there? 186 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 5: Last read the Heir's winds Heaven High to claim a 187 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 5: prize most rare. 188 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: Okay, so it wasn't keats, but it was important. The 189 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: poem was printed in all brown ink except for two words, 190 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: which were in purple. Those words were prime and number. 191 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 1: Only the clues on prime number pages and panels were accurate. 192 00:10:53,800 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: The five words were talisman, tower quest found and in 193 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 1: tower found in Quest Talisman. No, that didn't seem right. 194 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 2: It was just process of elimination, hours and hours and 195 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 2: hours of doing this and keeping notes, and then eventually 196 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 2: I got to the point where I had all the clues, 197 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,199 Speaker 2: had all these panels laid out, and put the words together, 198 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 2: and it came out to say, Creston Tower Talsman found. 199 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: After hundreds of hours of playing, Jackie sent in her 200 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: submission form that had been included in the game. She 201 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: managed to finish it ahead of the contest deadline March fifteenth, 202 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three. Back in Wisconsin, Bert wasn't having as 203 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:39,959 Speaker 1: much luck. The clues were too elusive. 204 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 3: You know, I'm a smart guy. I spent probably more 205 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 3: time than anybody, at least around my area, and I 206 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 3: was trying to use logic to figure these things out. 207 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 3: I was scouring that comic book and I just couldn't 208 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 3: do it. There was nothing that helped. It was very 209 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 3: frustrating to me because usually if I put my mind 210 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 3: to something, I can figure it out, but this one 211 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,079 Speaker 3: eluded me. I got tired of it. 212 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: So Bert finally set Earth World aside. He wouldn't be 213 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,959 Speaker 1: going to Sunnyvale. The vast majority of players who didn't 214 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: have the time or patience wouldn't be going either. Those 215 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: that found an answer had no idea whether it was 216 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: the right answer. The game didn't tell them. They had 217 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: to learn the old fashioned way from the mail carrier. 218 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,680 Speaker 1: In the spring of nineteen eighty three, Jackie got a letter. 219 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,479 Speaker 1: When she opened it, she saw it was on Atari letterhead. 220 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 2: When I got the paper, I remember the day that 221 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 2: the letter arrived in the mail. I remember opening it, 222 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,440 Speaker 2: and when I've read the words that congratulations, you've been 223 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 2: you know selected, I've lost it. It was unbelievable. When 224 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 2: I told Dana, he couldn't believe it either. It was 225 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 2: really a fun part of my life, a time when 226 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 2: things were real simple and I had the time to 227 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 2: do something like this. 228 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:57,200 Speaker 1: The phrase had been correct quest in Tower Talisman found 229 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: was the answer Atari was looking for, although Jackie didn't 230 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: know it just then. She was one of only eight 231 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:08,199 Speaker 1: people who submitted the correct answer. This was exciting, but 232 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: Jackie had a couple of problems. For one, she had 233 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 1: a baby. The baby itself was not the issue, but 234 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: it's not so easy to just leave an infant to 235 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: go attend a video game tournament. The second problem was 236 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: that Jackie and Dana were a team. Dana was the muscle, 237 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:29,319 Speaker 1: sort of the joystick operator. Jackie was the brains of 238 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: the operation. But she still felt like she and her 239 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: husband were a pair like Frodo and Samwise or Bo 240 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: and Luke Duke. 241 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 2: And so when it came to filling out the application, 242 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 2: I just sort of thought it was kind of like 243 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 2: that we would be able to go up to Atari together. 244 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 2: What I sort of thought is that we were a team. 245 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 2: And I think I even filled out my name first 246 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,560 Speaker 2: and then put his next to it in parentheses or something, 247 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,959 Speaker 2: and wrote on there that we were a husband and wife. 248 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 2: But when it came back the letter from Atari saying 249 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 2: that I had been selected, I talked to them on 250 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 2: the phone and they said that because my name was 251 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 2: on there first, legally I had to be the one 252 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 2: that came up and played the game. 253 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: In a sports movie, this is the kind of moment 254 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,960 Speaker 1: where the hero in this case, heroin sprain's an ankle 255 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: or gets a bad referee call. They're down ten points, 256 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: but Jackie was undeterred. 257 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 2: I go, my husband wants to be there while I'm 258 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 2: playing the game and won't know what to do with 259 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 2: the baby. So They said, well, do you have someone 260 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 2: that can care for the baby while you're doing the contest? 261 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 2: And I go, yeah, I'm my mom. So they paid 262 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 2: for my husband, my mom, myself, and my son to 263 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 2: I'll go. 264 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: Although Jackie's husband could come, he wasn't allowed to play 265 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: with her. The tournament was single player only. Jackie had 266 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: been playing the video game equivalent of doubles tennis. Now 267 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,840 Speaker 1: she was being told her partner couldn't step foot on 268 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: the court. This was like limping into a championship game 269 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: with a broken ankle. Even worse, her competition would be 270 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 1: the best of the best. It was time to find 271 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: out who would be crowned the first Champion of sword Quest, 272 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: but not everyone would show up. Jackie, her husband, and 273 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: their baby arrived in Sunnyville on May one, nineteen eighty three, 274 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: the day before the tournament was scheduled. They drove directly 275 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: to the hotel, which was fully paid for by Atari. 276 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: There she got a chance to check out her competition 277 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: for the very first time. One contestant was a lieutenant 278 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: with the US Coast Guard. Two were freshmen from the 279 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:44,000 Speaker 1: University of New Orleans. One was just sixteen years old 280 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: and had to be accompanied by his parents. 281 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 6: Supposedly, there was only eight people at submitted all the 282 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 6: right answers, and there were one of their stipulations what 283 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 6: they were going to take up to fifty people, and 284 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 6: for the first game, they only had eight submit the 285 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 6: right answers. So off we all went, except for one 286 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 6: person missed their flight. I don't know who was, and 287 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 6: I kept thinking, you can get a chance for twenty. 288 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 7: Five thousand dollars prize. I might have booked another flight. 289 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: That's Stephen Bell. He was twenty years old and from 290 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: Saint Clair Shores, a suburb of Detroit. At the time, 291 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: he looked a bit like a roadie, long hair mustache. 292 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: Stephen was one of the seven, and believe it or not, 293 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: this is the first time he's talked publicly about sword 294 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: Quest since the eighties. 295 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 7: Yep, penty good first ever podcast I'm all school. 296 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: Stephen had gotten the answer right, but it happened by accident. 297 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: He didn't notice the clue hidden in the poem for. 298 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 6: The first one, and at that time that I sent 299 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 6: my answers in and I really didn't even know it 300 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 6: was a phrase because I just wrote them down in 301 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 6: the order I found him. The first game I think 302 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 6: five words were quest n tower, talisman found. A couple 303 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,119 Speaker 6: of weeks later, I got a letter from him, and 304 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 6: my father at the time was like, no way, Like 305 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 6: here you go. 306 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,399 Speaker 7: I wanted trip to California. 307 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: Jackie, meanwhile, was the only woman who had gotten the 308 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: answer correct and in nineteen eighty three, this made her 309 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 1: of great interest to everyone. 310 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 2: Atari immediately said, well, we're really excited that you're the 311 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 2: only female and all the stuff. At the time, it 312 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 2: was a big thing, you know. I know, a couple 313 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 2: of the guys that were there, the teenagers mostly were saying, 314 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 2: like interested whether or not I could figure it out, 315 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 2: or whether I knew what I was doing, and like 316 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 2: I said, I was not good with joysticks. 317 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: After meeting the competition, the contestants settled in for the night. 318 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: The next day they congregated at Atari's headquarters. Jackie looked around. 319 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,719 Speaker 1: In the tournament room was a large zodiac sign and 320 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,199 Speaker 1: seven television sets on rolling carts like the kind you 321 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,400 Speaker 1: used to see in school. Each set had two folding chairs, 322 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: one for the player, one for a judge. Then Jackie 323 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:06,720 Speaker 1: saw the prize that was up for grabs. 324 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 2: The talisman. It was very pretty. It wasn't exactly completely round. 325 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 2: It had kind of like scaloped edge to it, if 326 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 2: I remember right. So it was twelve pieces of the pie, 327 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 2: and at the head of each one they had the 328 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 2: zodiac symbol, all done in stones, rare stones, and I 329 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 2: think they used them birth stones, Aukland marines and topaths 330 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 2: and garnets and that sort of thing, and then diamonds 331 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,159 Speaker 2: and rubies and pearls. But it was very beautiful, and 332 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 2: I think it had a combination of white and yellow gold. 333 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:41,440 Speaker 2: I don't think it was all one or the other. 334 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: The talisman was eighteen carrots, solid gold, finished with diamonds 335 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:53,159 Speaker 1: and other precious stones. Atari wisely kept a security guard nearby. 336 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 1: He was with Pinkerton, the private security and detective agency 337 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 1: that had been around since the eighteen hundreds. To Jackie 338 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: and the rest of the players, everything seemed pretty well organized. 339 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: They had flown in on time, had hotel accommodations, and 340 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 1: the zodiac sign was a nice touch. But behind the 341 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 1: scenes Atari was working on the fly Earth World was 342 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,640 Speaker 1: not really a game with a beginning, middle, and end. 343 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: It was a game of strategy and curiosity, and it 344 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: didn't seem to dawn on anyone in marketing that holding 345 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: a tournament with that kind of game was going to 346 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: be difficult. With just days Togo before the contest, an 347 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:36,159 Speaker 1: Atari employee started writing up rules. Earth World would have 348 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: to be a timed competition. The first person to reach 349 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,640 Speaker 1: the eleventh level of the game by finding and placing 350 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 1: objects in the correct place would be declared the winner. 351 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: There would be a ninety minute time limit because Atari 352 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: had planned a catered lunch and needed to wrap the 353 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 1: contest up by noon. To help speed things along, a 354 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: special version of the game had to be prepared by 355 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:02,120 Speaker 1: Dan Higgins, who wrote the original program, and John Michael Battaglia, 356 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: who came up with fresh clues. It was different enough 357 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: from the commercial release so that players wouldn't just be 358 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:11,679 Speaker 1: able to mimic their own movements. They'd have to figure 359 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: things out in the moment, kind of like Atari's marketing team. 360 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: Finally everyone was ready. Jackie took her seat and a 361 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:23,359 Speaker 1: judge sat beside her. The televisions began to be fired up. 362 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: Each TV had its own Atari console with Earthworld plugged in. 363 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: Those two were turned on. The rules were explained. Reached 364 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:39,120 Speaker 1: the eleventh level, when the talisman a lot of Sleepless 365 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: Nights had come to this. It was time with seven 366 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: judges watching seven players. An Atari employee gave the signal, 367 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:49,439 Speaker 1: and yes, he really said this. 368 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 3: Lady, gentlemen, start your joy say. 369 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: Like a race. All seven players hit start and began 370 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: playing across the screens. Tiny characters began darting in and 371 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 1: out of chambers. Each room had four possible exits. You'd 372 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: have to try them to see where they led. 373 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 2: I sort of felt kind of funny while I was 374 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 2: playing the game. I was very nervous too, so it 375 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,400 Speaker 2: made it even worse. And when I couldn't get through 376 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 2: to a room or whatever, I sort of turn around 377 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:23,919 Speaker 2: and look at him and kind of give him a 378 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,880 Speaker 2: look like, well, you know, I'm doing the best I can. 379 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 2: It was just fun. I knew the answers, I could 380 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:31,680 Speaker 2: figure out the puzzle. 381 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,639 Speaker 1: Because the screens were facing away from each other, it 382 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: wasn't easy to make out how the other players were doing, 383 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: but when a level was completed, a noise could be heard. 384 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:44,439 Speaker 1: Pretty soon, the room began to fill up with the 385 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: chimes one after another. But Jackie realized that she and 386 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,440 Speaker 1: Dana were really a team. Losing her partner was having 387 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: a dramatic effect on her gameplay. 388 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,479 Speaker 2: It's too bad I wasn't better with joysticks because when 389 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 2: we were playing the playoff game, the one for the prize, 390 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 2: I had a horrible time getting through the different rooms. 391 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 2: And it would have been so much better if Ganna 392 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 2: could have been there with me, playing the game with me, 393 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 2: but it didn't work out that way. 394 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: Near Jackie, with Stephen Bell and another player, Matt Belasa, 395 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 1: a twenty one year old chemistry major from Michigan, they 396 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,720 Speaker 1: began to pull away from the pack. Playing neck and neck. 397 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,679 Speaker 1: Stephen and Matt were in a two person race, but Matt, 398 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,480 Speaker 1: like most of the players, began having trouble with the 399 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: fourth level. That left Stephen and another player, Stephen Dousa, 400 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: to pull ahead. One would complete a level, then the 401 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:41,600 Speaker 1: other would catch up. 402 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 6: Well, it was kind of funny because I'm sitting there 403 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 6: reading these clues and all sudden they hear some of 404 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 6: the other contestants tevs and making a little NOOYI like 405 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 6: they had already got the first one. 406 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,680 Speaker 7: I'm like five minuter start going, so here we go. 407 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,639 Speaker 6: And then every time somebody would solve another level, you 408 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 6: would hear it, and by the like the fifth or 409 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 6: sixth one on me and Steve and Duster were pulled 410 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 6: on the way, and every time we got when we 411 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 6: could feel it one else's I is honest, like you 412 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:09,679 Speaker 6: son of it. 413 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:15,879 Speaker 1: Twenty minutes, in thirty minutes and then thirty five Stephen 414 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,959 Speaker 1: Bell got the lead. But then Stephen Dusa caught up 415 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: to him. 416 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 6: You get heard the noises, but he didn't know exactly 417 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,199 Speaker 6: where it was coming from. So so I don't know 418 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 6: how how far exactly somebody else says, But you know, 419 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 6: then when they got on the last one that I 420 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 6: get the next one, I'm in And that's when I 421 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 6: finally got like a little bit nervous, like man, I 422 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 6: could actually winness thing. 423 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: At exactly forty six minutes and forty nine point four seconds, 424 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: one of the judges stood up and gave a signal 425 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,440 Speaker 1: there was a winner, and it was Stephen Bell who 426 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:49,880 Speaker 1: felt a tap on his shoulder. 427 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 7: The judges were amazed on that. 428 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 6: You know, we solved all their riddles and can figure 429 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 6: it out in under an hour. In the contest, the game, 430 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 6: you had to get to the eleventh level the way. 431 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 6: After I got done with ten, I'm like, I only 432 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 6: got one to go and then sure enough I did 433 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 6: the right thing and screen popped up with eleven and 434 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:12,119 Speaker 6: the music, and the guy behind me said, ladies and gentlemen, 435 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:12,919 Speaker 6: we have a winner. 436 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:14,959 Speaker 7: And I'm like, he's obviously he's talking about to meet. 437 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 7: That was pretty cool. 438 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: Out of a half million people, he was the only 439 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: one to complete the quest. The talisman was his, but 440 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:29,880 Speaker 1: it wouldn't be his for very long. At the time 441 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,359 Speaker 1: he won Earth World, Stephen was twenty, out of work 442 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: and a little cash strapped. The win couldn't have come 443 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,720 Speaker 1: at a better time. When he started playing the game, 444 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,720 Speaker 1: he couldn't find a job. The game became his job. 445 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 6: From nineteen eighty to mid eighty two, there was nothing. 446 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,679 Speaker 6: You couldn't go to McDonald's and get a job, so 447 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 6: I was doing a lot of nothing, probably all Shortly 448 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 6: after I got the game, I actually got my first job. 449 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 6: And these games they gave you nine months to solve it. 450 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 6: In that time, yeah, I ended up getting a job finally. 451 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,640 Speaker 1: He had been playing Atari for a few years. Earth 452 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: World was being promoted through the Atari fan club, where 453 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: Stephen first caught mention of it. A twenty five thousand 454 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: dollars prize to play a game he was playing for 455 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 1: free already. 456 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 6: Her parents just one day asked us if we want 457 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 6: to go buy other thing? Sure or me and my 458 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 6: few sisters. So we brought the thing home and we 459 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 6: go from there. Started with Pong and Space Invaders. One 460 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:35,439 Speaker 6: of the games had a information about a little Atari 461 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 6: Club magazine, so I joined that and so then this 462 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 6: way I get information on all the newest games coming out, 463 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 6: and that's how I found out about the Sword Press 464 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 6: games coming out. 465 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,400 Speaker 1: At first, he had found Earthworld as perplexing as everyone else. 466 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,959 Speaker 1: The game didn't seem to adhere to any of the 467 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 1: normal rules. He wandered from chamber to chamber, but eventually 468 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: realized that searching for clues on screen was more work 469 00:25:58,080 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: than the contest required. 470 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 6: All the contest was really in the comic book. The 471 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 6: gameplay it was supposed to be kind of coinciding with 472 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 6: the book, where you would play the game and get 473 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 6: a clue, and then go back to the comic book 474 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,680 Speaker 6: and find your clue. Well, it didn't take me too 475 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,679 Speaker 6: long to find out that the whole contest was basically 476 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 6: reading the comic book and finding the clues. So he 477 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,199 Speaker 6: just played the game because it was kind of fun, 478 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 6: but to actually go through the entire game was impossible. 479 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 6: Solving that first game it was almost like a lot 480 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 6: of reads. There was no way they even admitted that 481 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 6: kind of ran shorter time and had to get it out, 482 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 6: Get it out, get it out. 483 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: Steven scanned the panels searching for hidden words. Some were 484 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: written on walls, some backwards, some in speech bubbles. Sometimes 485 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,120 Speaker 1: he grabbed a dictionary to discover their meaning. I mean, 486 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: what is a talisman anyway? But he got all five 487 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,399 Speaker 1: of them and in the right order quest in talisman 488 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 1: tower found like Jackie, He sent in his submission form 489 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:06,159 Speaker 1: and waited. Then Stephen flew out, met everyone eight and 490 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,119 Speaker 1: experienced his first earthquake. 491 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 6: I decided, I'm going to wash my hair ealthquake, Neil, 492 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 6: Now stick your head under the faucet, because you know 493 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 6: you're all limber when you're twenty years old. 494 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:16,240 Speaker 7: And I remember when I went to do that, I 495 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 7: almost fell into the tub. I'm like, what the heck's 496 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 7: going on? 497 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 6: So I washed my hair going down the middle lobbry and 498 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 6: one of the other contestants was a woman from la 499 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 6: and she says, did you feel at earthquake? 500 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,520 Speaker 7: Is that what that was? Thing? Got I I thought 501 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 7: I was losing it. 502 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 1: The earthquake was minor and the contest was uninterrupted. When 503 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,639 Speaker 1: Stephen won, an Atari employee walked over and, with camera 504 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:46,920 Speaker 1: bulbs flashing, handed him the talisman. Then everyone was invited 505 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 1: out to a celebratory luncheon, well not exactly out. After 506 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:55,120 Speaker 1: the contest, Atari employees cleared the televisions and game systems 507 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 1: and dragged in a bunch of folding tables. Like the 508 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: Knights of the Round Table, Harry, players ate and swapped 509 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: stories and strategies. 510 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 6: Jackie had come up to me and she said, you know, 511 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,080 Speaker 6: when I seen you walk into the lobby yesterday, I 512 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 6: told myself that's the winner with you know, she didn't 513 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 6: tell me that at the time. I'm like, you had 514 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 6: such confidence in me. I had no idea what I had, 515 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:21,160 Speaker 6: no idea what we're even doing. 516 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: They all flew out the next day, but for Steven, 517 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: the trip home was a little more complicated. He had 518 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:31,240 Speaker 1: come to Sunnyvale with a few changes of clothing. He 519 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,360 Speaker 1: was coming home with a medallion worth twenty five thousand 520 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:39,200 Speaker 1: dollars and one small enough to steal or worse lose somewhere. 521 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 7: That was the other interesting thing. 522 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 6: When I won, they handed it to me and said 523 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 6: here your congratulations, and I took it home on the plane. 524 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 6: And after I had won, one of the little writers 525 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 6: for their little magazine interviewed me. He asked me, you know, 526 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 6: are you going to be worried that you're having this thing? 527 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 6: I said, no, nobody's going to know what the hell 528 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 6: it is, and I ain't gonna tell them. Everyone's home 529 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 6: and I walk in and I just put it on 530 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 6: a kitchen table and went May cameer. I opened it 531 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 6: up and say what do you think? And I'm like, 532 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 6: what's that? My sister actually said it was that a replica? 533 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 6: I said, no, I want it. I won't and then 534 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 6: of course they were, oh my god, he want you, 535 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 6: and I could believe it. 536 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 7: He had took some mom. You know, she starts crying. 537 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 6: You know, there wasn't too much work at the time, 538 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 6: and I just got this, you know, three dollars and 539 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 6: thirty five cent an hour minimum wage job, and next thing, 540 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 6: you know, I got picking twenty five thousand dollars prize. 541 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 7: So that was pretty cool. 542 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:33,959 Speaker 1: This was incredibly cool. Months of gaming had earned him 543 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: a tangible prize worth real cash. But Stephen earned something 544 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: else too. Stephen had bested Earthworld that earned him an 545 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 1: automatic spot in the finals. He now had a one 546 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: in four chance of winning the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery. 547 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 1: For now, the talisman went directly to a safe deposit box. 548 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: Stephen was taking no chances. His mother, who was an 549 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: insurance agent, also wanted to get it appraised for insurance purposes. 550 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 6: When I got it appraised, there is a jewelry store 551 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,760 Speaker 6: in the area, and we told him what it was, 552 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 6: and my mom wanted to have it appraised for the 553 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 6: insurance purposes. And you know, this thing was, you know, 554 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 6: six inches diameter and three quarters thick. And we handed. 555 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 7: The guy and he says, well, what's this made out of? 556 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 8: Him? 557 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 6: He said, that's solid gold, And he says, no, it's not. 558 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 6: He says, this, it doesn't look right if I got 559 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,080 Speaker 6: a brass base. And my brain immediately went to I 560 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 6: hope so, because it'd be a hell of a lawsuit. 561 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 6: So my dad and I are standing there and and 562 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 6: the guys, I'll take it in the back, and I 563 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 6: guess what they do is they do this a little 564 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 6: chemical test on it. 565 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:42,840 Speaker 7: It was so funny because we're standing there. 566 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 6: In just about a minute or so later, some girl 567 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 6: come out from the back room and her eyes looked like, 568 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 6: you know, giant saucers, like, oh my god, what. 569 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 7: Do we get here? 570 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 6: And then that guy comes back says, I'll be damned, 571 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 6: this is solid gold. 572 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: Steven kept the talisman for a few months. Sometimes he'd 573 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: take it out of the safety deposit box when a 574 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: kid from the neighborhood wanted to see it. But keeping 575 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 1: it indefinitely carried with it a complication. Remember when Oprah 576 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: Winfrey gave every member of her audience a new car. 577 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: It was a big deal, and it was an even 578 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 1: bigger deal when every single one of those audience members 579 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: realized they had to pay income tax on their cars 580 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 1: thousands and thousands of dollars. Well, that's how contest prizes work. 581 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: They're taxable. And Steven didn't have a few thousand dollars 582 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: to spare. 583 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,200 Speaker 6: Yeah, Unfortunately, I was only in possession of it until 584 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 6: the following September, and I had to sell it. And 585 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 6: I've read on the internet that a lot of people 586 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 6: thought I sold it to go to school, and that 587 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 6: was not the case. I had to sell it to 588 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 6: pay the taxes on it. My family was comfortable but 589 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 6: we didn't have extra money, so we did not have 590 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 6: twenty five hundred dollars to give the Dirs unfortunately. 591 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 1: But where do you sell in a Tory medallion? 592 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 6: I took it to a local coin dealer and just 593 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 6: to show them, well, the value was supposedly twenty five thousand, 594 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 6: and he offered me like fourteen thousand. 595 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 7: I'm like what, there's no way, so I left. 596 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 6: Then I go to another one and his offer was 597 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,360 Speaker 6: slightly higher. But then my dad says, well, here's what 598 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 6: they did. As as you showed that thing to that guy, 599 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 6: he made a phone call in the entire area. Probably 600 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 6: had like a limit they were going to set and 601 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 6: what they're going to pay for this thing. The only 602 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 6: other way I could have got more money was to 603 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 6: literally hold onto it and advertise it and maybe some 604 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 6: guy who wanted it for a collection of some kind. 605 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 7: But once again I didn't have any time. I had 606 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 7: to pay taxes on it, so. 607 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: Even though it had a declared value of twenty five 608 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: thousand dollars, that wasn't necessarily the street value of it. 609 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:55,120 Speaker 6: I ended up selling it for fourteen eight hundred. But 610 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 6: if you look at it, there's a small sword that 611 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 6: was on it. Yeah, I kept that part. He offered 612 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 6: me fifteen to six, and I said, well, I want 613 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 6: to keep the little sword in this sense. 614 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:05,959 Speaker 7: Okay, that's about eight hundred. 615 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,120 Speaker 1: The sword stayed on his nightstand. Then a little while 616 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:12,280 Speaker 1: later it disappeared. 617 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 6: And unfortunately, about a year or so later the little 618 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:17,680 Speaker 6: sword that I just always kept on my dresser. 619 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 1: Apristole all told Stephen had about fifteen thousand dollars in cash, 620 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:25,720 Speaker 1: and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with 621 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,000 Speaker 1: the money. The Pontiac Fierro was a new model, two 622 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 1: door sports car that was fuel efficient. Pontiac hired halland 623 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: Oates to endorse it. If you went to a Hall 624 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 1: and Oats concert in nineteen eighty four, you'd see lots 625 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:43,680 Speaker 1: of fierro ads and maybe a few display models. This 626 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 1: was what Stephen wanted, a sporty commuter car. Hey, he 627 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 1: lived in Detroit. Cars were a big deal. 628 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 6: I bought a nineteen eighty four Fiero and that was 629 00:33:54,560 --> 00:34:00,080 Speaker 6: a disaster. The engine only lasted about thirty months, and 630 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 6: then of course they gave you another one that was defective. 631 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:06,200 Speaker 6: So unfortunately, four years later I had no car and 632 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 6: nothing to show for either After making all the payments 633 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:09,319 Speaker 6: on it. 634 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 1: The Fierrero retailed for about ten thousand dollars, so Stephen 635 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,439 Speaker 1: didn't spend every cent on it, but a lot of it. 636 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 1: The rest went to other bills. But he didn't mind 637 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:23,880 Speaker 1: that so much. There was still lots of contests to go, 638 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:29,239 Speaker 1: more sword Quest worlds to be conquered. He began playing Fireworld, 639 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,760 Speaker 1: the second in the series. He could, in theory, compete 640 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:37,240 Speaker 1: in all four games and win each one. For Stephen, 641 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,760 Speaker 1: Fireworld would be a chance to become a two time champion. 642 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,120 Speaker 1: For Jackie, it would be a chance at redemption. For 643 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,120 Speaker 1: others it would be a chance to get their foot 644 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,280 Speaker 1: in the contest and get their hands on the second prize, 645 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:54,920 Speaker 1: the Chalice. But Fireworld created a problem that Atari didn't 646 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,799 Speaker 1: quite know how to deal with. Unlike earth World, which 647 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 1: was almost impossible to solve, Fireworld allowed players to share 648 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:04,880 Speaker 1: a strategy to network. 649 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,080 Speaker 2: But some of these people would get on the phone 650 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,400 Speaker 2: and they would beg you and push you and push 651 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:11,880 Speaker 2: you and try to get you to break it down 652 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:14,799 Speaker 2: to where you would tell them the answer how you 653 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 2: came up with it. So many people won the second one, 654 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 2: and I think that some of the other guys that 655 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,799 Speaker 2: were finalists for Earth World. I think some of them 656 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:28,000 Speaker 2: gave out secrets, you know, kind of let their friends 657 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 2: in on it. 658 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:32,879 Speaker 1: A community around sword Quest was forming. Ataria's second lap 659 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,120 Speaker 1: of the contest wouldn't have seven finalists, it would have 660 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,360 Speaker 1: over seventy, and they would push Atari to its breaking point. 661 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:45,400 Speaker 1: That's next time on a Legend of sword Quest. 662 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:51,040 Speaker 8: The Legend of sword Quest is a production of iHeart 663 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:54,319 Speaker 8: Podcasts and School of Humans. This episode was written by 664 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:58,240 Speaker 8: Jake Rosson and hosted by Jamie Loftus producers are Miranda 665 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 8: Hawkins and Josh Fischer. Executive producers are Virginia Prescott, L. C. Crowley, 666 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,719 Speaker 8: Brandon Barr, and Jason English. Our show editor is Mary Doo. 667 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 8: Audio engineering by Graham Gibson, Research and fact checking by 668 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 8: Austin Thompson and Jake Rosson. Original score by Jesse Niswanger. 669 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 8: This episode was sound designed by Josh Fisher, mixing and 670 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:25,920 Speaker 8: mastering by Jake Cook. Show logo by Lucy Quintonia. Voices 671 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 8: in this episode are provided by Miranda Hawkins and Graham Parker.