Howell Ivy's guest appearances

Howell Ivy

Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

The Ted Dabney Experience

OwlTail

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! Interview with Howell Ivy, Co-founder of Exidy and Developer of Exidy Sorcerer Computer Welcome to Floppy Days episode 114 for May, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host. Again this month, I have a special interview show for you that actually has been a few years in the making.  Some time ago, I had come across and had gotten initial contact with Howell Ivy, who it turns out was co-founder of Exidy and was instrumental in the development of the Exidy Sorcerer computer. The Exidy Sorcerer is a machine that I covered clear back in 2014 in  episode 17 of Floppy Days.  It was a very early machine, just after the release of the home computer triad of the Commodore PET/Apple II/TRS-80 Model I and before the Atari 400/800, with great graphics, a Z-80 processor, and one of the first home computers (after the VideoBrain) to have plug-in cartridges (these based on the 8-track tape cartridges).   After the initial contact with Howell, he went silent and I was unable for the last few years to get an interview set up.  Finally, recently, I was able to get a response and quickly got the interview in the books. I also recorded a video for an interview for the first time!  The link to the video interview on YouTube is in the show notes here. Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links: New Acquisitions  Mattel Aquarius Aquaricart and 32K RAM "Combo Pack" -  https://www.ebay.com/itm/124471439128?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&amp;_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649  Apple II Yellowstone Disk Controller - Big Mess o’ Wires   Upcoming Shows  Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV -  https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297  The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA -  https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start  VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/  KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  VCF West 2022 -  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA -  https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/   Interview Links  The History of Exidy -  http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_24.html  Howell Ivy interview at RetroGamer - https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/howell-ivy/  

<a href="https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays</a> Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! Interview with Howell Ivy, Co-founder of Exidy and Developer of Exidy Sorcerer Computer Welcome to Floppy Days episode 114 for May, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host. Again this month, I have a special interview show for you that actually has been a few years in the making.  Some time ago, I had come across and had gotten initial contact with Howell Ivy, who it turns out was co-founder of Exidy and was instrumental in the development of the Exidy Sorcerer computer. The Exidy Sorcerer is a machine that I covered clear back in 2014 in <a href="https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-17-the-exidy-sorcerer-live-from-vcfse-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> episode 17 of Floppy Days</a>.  It was a very early machine, just after the release of the home computer triad of the Commodore PET/Apple II/TRS-80 Model I and before the Atari 400/800, with great graphics, a Z-80 processor, and one of the first home computers (after the VideoBrain) to have plug-in cartridges (these based on the 8-track tape cartridges).   After the initial contact with Howell, he went silent and I was unable for the last few years to get an interview set up.  Finally, recently, I was able to get a response and quickly got the interview in the books. I also recorded a video for an interview for the first time!  The link to the video interview on YouTube is in the show notes <a href="https://youtu.be/QojU9ty4q_U" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays</a> where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links: New Acquisitions <ul> <li>Mattel Aquarius Aquaricart and 32K RAM "Combo Pack" - <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/124471439128?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&amp;_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://www.ebay.com/itm/124471439128?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&amp;_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649</a> </li> <li>Apple II Yellowstone Disk Controller - <a href="https://www.bigmessowires.com/yellowstone/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Big Mess o’ Wires</a> </li> </ul> Upcoming Shows <ul> <li>Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297</a> </li> <li>The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - <a href="https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start</a> </li> <li>VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - <a href="https://gameatl.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://gameatl.com/</a> </li> <li>KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - <a href="https://www.kansasfest.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.kansasfest.org/</a> </li> <li>VCF West 2022 -  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - <a href="https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/</a> </li> <li>VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - <a href="http://vcfmw.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://vcfmw.org/</a> </li> <li>Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - <a href="http://www.tandyassembly.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.tandyassembly.com/</a> </li> </ul> Interview Links <ul> <li>The History of Exidy - <a href="http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_24.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_24.html</a> </li> <li>Howell Ivy interview at RetroGamer - <a href="https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/howell-ivy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/howell-ivy/</a> </li> </ul>

Floppy Days 114 - Howell Ivy, Exidy Sorcerer and Exidy

Howell Ivy is the creator of Exidy’s infamous Death Race. Released in 1976, this was the first arcade game to stir a moral panic over videogame violence in America, leading the company to hire round-the-clock security in response to many green-ink letters and phoned-in death threats. Exidy followed Death Race with the relatively innocuous but very successful Circus; Venture, arguably the spiritual forerunner to Atari’s Gauntlet, and then back to controversy with the genuinely gruesome light gun game, Chiller (1986). Howell departed Exidy under somewhat difficult circumstances and joined Sega of America where he oversaw the development of the company’s early Virtua series of games, and his long tenure at the company saw him bear witness to one of the most revolutionary periods of videogame design.

Howell Ivy is the creator of Exidy’s infamous Death Race. Released in 1976, this was the first arcade game to stir a moral panic over videogame violence in America, leading the company to hire round-the-clock security in response to many green-ink letters and phoned-in death threats. Exidy followed Death Race with the relatively innocuous but very successful Circus; Venture, arguably the spiritual forerunner to Atari’s Gauntlet, and then back to controversy with the genuinely gruesome light gun game, Chiller (1986). Howell departed Exidy under somewhat difficult circumstances and joined Sega of America where he oversaw the development of the company’s early Virtua series of games, and his long tenure at the company saw him bear witness to one of the most revolutionary periods of videogame design.