"Thank you for looking for me"
May 13, 2022 7:14 PM Subscribe
Last February, Polygon published an article about the Video Game History Foundation's search for the creator of an Atari 2600 game, "Wabbit". Now, their search has come to fruition.
A pretty obscure title from a pretty obscure publisher (Games by Apollo, later known just as Apollo), "Wabbit" has the distinction of being the first home console video game with a playable human female protagonist.
After Apollo folded, the programmer, Van Tran, moved over to MicroGraphic Image, a company founded by other former Apollo workers, where she would go on to write an (eventually unreleased) Atari 5200 conversion of Solar Fox.
A pretty obscure title from a pretty obscure publisher (Games by Apollo, later known just as Apollo), "Wabbit" has the distinction of being the first home console video game with a playable human female protagonist.
After Apollo folded, the programmer, Van Tran, moved over to MicroGraphic Image, a company founded by other former Apollo workers, where she would go on to write an (eventually unreleased) Atari 5200 conversion of Solar Fox.
Wow, what a charming story and delightful profile. Thanks so much for posting!
posted by hippybear at 7:54 PM on May 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:54 PM on May 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
What a wonderful story! I love how proud she is of her work and her unique accomplishments. Also she went on to get a CS degree and is still working in software. Not bad for someone who dropped out of high school because of a language barrier!
(I just came back from Houston excited about Viet-Cajun food. I'd love to read a book about the experiences of Vietnamese immigrants after the war, particularly those who settled around the Gulf Coast.)
posted by Nelson at 6:32 AM on May 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
(I just came back from Houston excited about Viet-Cajun food. I'd love to read a book about the experiences of Vietnamese immigrants after the war, particularly those who settled around the Gulf Coast.)
posted by Nelson at 6:32 AM on May 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
computing / video game histories are my jam :)
I urge anyone who loves this kind of story to check out the Preserving Worlds series on YouTube or on Means.Tv if you have a subscription. Great stories about old games and the communities that still care about them.
posted by signsofrain at 2:34 PM on May 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
I urge anyone who loves this kind of story to check out the Preserving Worlds series on YouTube or on Means.Tv if you have a subscription. Great stories about old games and the communities that still care about them.
posted by signsofrain at 2:34 PM on May 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
There is SO MUCH of this stuff going on right now. I've watched multiple documentaries about such things, some of them very lengthy. I find them fascinating. Do I need to start a series of posts about this kind of thing? I'd just been letting them slide by unless they were something I felt were truly notable.
posted by hippybear at 2:40 PM on May 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:40 PM on May 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'd love to read a book about the experiences of Vietnamese immigrants after the war, particularly those who settled around the Gulf Coast.)
I don't know of books, but look up VAYLA and Boat People SOS, , and there was also a documentary about the community's fight agaInst an emergency landfill in new orleans east after Katrina.
There are a couple of Vietnamese American social science scholars at UNO who may be worth reading.
There are also Hmong people (Hmong Americans? I dunno) in and among the Vietnamese American communities.
posted by eustatic at 4:24 PM on May 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
I don't know of books, but look up VAYLA and Boat People SOS, , and there was also a documentary about the community's fight agaInst an emergency landfill in new orleans east after Katrina.
There are a couple of Vietnamese American social science scholars at UNO who may be worth reading.
There are also Hmong people (Hmong Americans? I dunno) in and among the Vietnamese American communities.
posted by eustatic at 4:24 PM on May 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
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posted by retronic at 7:40 PM on May 13, 2022 [2 favorites]