They Create Worlds

TCW Podcast Episode 263 - Howell Ivy

Howell Ivy had a knack for taking familiar arcade ideas and pushing them somewhere new. He discovered video games through Computer Space while serving in the Air Force, and in his off time he built a ball-and-paddle game that led to a position at Ramtek. Clean Sweep gave the ball-and-paddle format a new twist and helped inspire Atari's Breakout. Ramtek Baseball pushed that idea further with stronger sound, presentation, and a CRT modified so it could sit perpendicular to the Earth's magnetic field and still work. At Exidy, Ivy kept pressing for what was next. He bought a 6502 processor with his own money to prove that the company needed to move toward microprocessors. That thinking showed up in Car Polo, a soccer game with cars, and later in Circus, which became the biggest hit of his career. Vertigo pushed even further with motion controls and vector displays, but it was too complex to manufacture in that form and was retooled into Top Gunner instead. SEGA was looking to expand into the US arcade space, and Exidy was in financial trouble, so the companies moved toward an acquisition. Howell Ivy and Gene Lipkin went to Japan to negotiate the acquisition, but the deal fell apart. Ivy suspected Lipkin had made a separate deal with SEGA when he became president of SEGA Enterprises USA. When Lipkin left SEGA, the company turned to Ivy because of the work Exidy had already done with them, and he joined as VP of Manufacturing in 1986. Ivy helped SEGA contract out manufacturing to US companies, pushed Japanese designers toward polygonal graphics, consulted on Daytona USA, and negotiated the partnership with GE Aerospace. Ivy later became president of SEGA Enterprises USA before retiring from SEGA in 2004 after Sammy acquired SEGA. In retirement, he volunteered at a school engineering program that helped students send projects to the International Space Station.

TCW 051 - Sons of Pong: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW051-sons-of-pong

TCW 201 - Advanced Balls and Paddles Part 1: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW201-advanced-balls-and-paddles-part-1

TCW 202 - Advanced Balls and Paddles Part 2: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW202-advanced-balls-and-paddles-part-2

TCW 232 - All The Other Home Pongs: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW232-all-the-other-home-pongs

Clean Sweep (Ramtek): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0OTBI9Zagw

TCW 211 - Ramtek: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW211-ramtek

Ramtak Baseball: https://youtu.be/vZKhpCPc34U?t=83
TCW 212 - The Exidy of the 70's: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW212-the-exidy-of-the-70s

TCW 213 - The Exidy of the 80's and 90's: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW213-the-exidy-of-the-80s-and-90s

Destruction Derby: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRYduNYRmPY

Death Race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmQ_hj21K5k

Car Polo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6-xHhi2-nI

Circus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFm3b7e2tV8

The Exidy Sorcerer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iMcOY1pH1Y

Crossbow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxd_6vYJWtU

TCW 075 - Gunning for Light: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW075-gunning-for-light

TCW 028 - Picking up the Pieces: The US Arcade Industry After the Crash: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW028-picking-up-the-pieces-the-us-arcade-industry-after-the-crash

Top Gunner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MXYF260JdE

Daytona USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAcMqFTkAs8

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com

BlueSky: @theycreateworlds.bsky.social

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love

See All 267 Episodes of "They Create Worlds"