one for Ken

[Unknown,Unknown]

Hi Ken. At the risk of seeming uncouth, I feel the need to post this story

I found online, about a book of alleged insider stories from the video game

industry:

http://www.ncbuy.com/news/2004-01-26/1008774.html 

The quote of interest: ‘…another infamous story involves Sierra On-Line
co-founder Ken Williams, who procured a hooker for a male employee who was
hapless with the ladies. Williams arranged a dinner between the two
without telling the guy his date was a “sure thing,” but when he later
asked the guy if he hooked up, he said, “No. She wasn’t that kind of
girl.”‘

I SINCERELY doubt there is any truth to this. In fact, I have called this
same site on publishing bogus stories in the past. But I figured hey,
since I’ve got this list, why not hear it straight from the horse’s
mouth…

I’m guessing the guy probably thought Larry Laffer was a Sierra employee or

something… 🙂

– Greg

[Unknown,Unknown]

(RE: one for Ken)

Greg:

There was a book written about the early days of Sierra, called Hackers, by
Steve Levy. If you can find a copy, it’s actually not a bad book.

The incident you mention spans several chapters in the book. Steve Levy
lived with one of our game developers at the time, John Harris – and
whereas
both John Harris and I believe Steve wasn’t 100% accurate in his book,
neither is the book 100% inaccurate.

I started Sierra when I was around 24 years old. The average age of our
engineers was around 18. The first few years at Sierra were wild any way
you
look at it. Unfortunately, Steve Levy captured my teen years in a book,
whereas most people are able to forget theirs.

Suffice it to say, maturity did eventually set in, and it’s tough for
anyone
who meets me to envision that I was once the fun guy described in the book.

-Ken W

—

[Unknown,Unknown]

(RE: one for Ken) Heh, I may just have to check out that book. And hey, I’m sure you’re still a fun enough guy! Though you might just have to put out another excellent game sometime soon just to remind us… 🙂 Thanks for the reply.
– Greg

[Unknown,Unknown]

(re: RE: one for Ken)

I read Hackers late last year and found it to be a fascinating book. It gets a bit dry at times, particularly at the beginning, but it makes me wish they did some kind of sequel– although if you’re looking for a good book on Video Game History, check out The Ultimate Guide to Video Games…

[Author]

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