Subj : Re: Jack Tramiel
To : J.B. Wood
From : Computer Nerd Kev
Date : Wed Jan 22 2020 10:21 pm
J.B. Wood <
[email protected]> wrote:
> On 1/18/20 1:06 PM, Simon Geddes wrote:
>> Jack gets a bad rapp for his "Jack attacks", and I'm not sure how well I
would
>> have survived if I ever had to work under him. <snip>
>
> Hello, and hmmmm...Seems I remember a C-64 game called "Jack Attack".
> Just a coincidence I suppose. Sincerely,
Not a coincidence actually:
The game was developed by students Kevin Kieller and John Traynor for
the VIC-20 and originally named 'Cubic Critters'. After showing the
game to Commodore sales reps at a computer show they were invited to
the company's Toronto offices to strike a publishing deal. Commodore
felt the name was too close to 'Q*bert' and after being unable to
settle on a new name, the writers asked the Commodore team to name it.
The game was then renamed as an in joke after the company's founder
Jack Tramiel. Kieller said "We were led to believe that certain people
at Commodore felt Jack Tramiel looked like the red-face critter when
he was upset. According to our Commodore contacts, if Jack Tramiel was
upset and yelling at you it was known as a Jack Attack." This was
confirmed by Commodore marketing strategist Michael Tomczyk. "He
chuckled when we named one of the games Jack Attack, which was an
inside joke. Jack was short and round in stature but had a deep
booming voice that could shake the walls. I don't think he realized
the meaning of Jack Attack but he knew it was about him. He never said
much about it, he just allowed it to happen."
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Attack
--
__ __
#_ < |\| |< _#
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
