Interview with Warren Davis, Creator of Q*bert

12.21.2020 - By Retro Game Guys Play

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Retro Game Guys Podcast is proud to welcome Warren Davis. Warren has a long list of accomplishments in the video game industry, including programming the classic arcade hit Q*bert. Released in 1982, Q*bert has since become one of the most popular arcade games of all time, and a beloved pop culture character.

Following Q*bert, Warren developed the Laserdisc game Us Vs. Them. He also broke new ground in game design by developing digitization technology that was used to create the iconic visuals in Mortal Kombat, Terminator 2 the Arcade Game, Revolution X starring Aerosmith, and Narc.

In 2018, Warren was inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame alongside a couple of other legends that we have had the pleasure of interviewing: Howard Phillips and David Crane.

Warren has a book titled “You Can’t Call It @!#?@! - Stories from a life making video games.” (The "@!#?@!" is the cartoon balloon that pops up when Q*bert loses a life in the game.)

We talked to Warren about a range of topics including his time at Gottlieb and Williams, the shortcomings of Laserdisc games, his favorite ports of Q*bert, and what he's up to now. Follow Warren on Twitter: @WarrenDavis29.