RI Podcast: The Archaeology of Microelectronics, Programming and Halo 2600

Ed Fries worked on Excel and Word at Microsoft before leading the development of the first Xbox console. Fries also brought games like Halo to Xbox when he worked at Microsoft.

Halo 2600 Atari Cartridge concept (not on Xbox) — The inspiration for Halo 2600 came from a doodle in *Microsoft Paint*. Encouragement from Atari 2600 developers led Eddy Fries to make it into an actual game. That was at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, 2010. Eddy was the name Fries used in his formative years as a programmer – porting clones of games like Frogger.

Video games interest

Fries discussed his life in technology via Remotely Interested (RI) Podcast 19. He talked about Microsoft; Xbox; Halo 2600; unlocking mysteries of Egyptian Archaeology; and earliest secrets of video game development. Retro Gamer Magazine also ran an article on Fries and Seamus Blackley (former Xbox CTO ) in issue 174.

Podcast summary

Fries restores early video game arcade machines in his life after Microsoft. His version of Halo 2600 for the Atari VCS / 2600 was included in the Smithsonian Institute’s video game collection. Other information in his RI Podcast interview focuses on the relationship between hardware and software. 3DO and Sega; understanding design processes to better understand product development; and the creative side of microelectronics. RI Podcast 19 is about technology and people.

Accompanying Links

Ed Fries WordPress Blog: https://edfries.wordpress.com/

Atari 2600 Programming: http://www.atariage.com/2600/programming/

https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=998

Direct X: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX

DICE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3-zKcmyvPw

CHM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XllTdSi5hY

3D Printing: http://old.seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2004064617_fries11.html

https://venturebeat.com/2016/05/30/microsoft-games-pioneer-ed-fries-spends-three-months-fixing-gotcha-the-first-color-arcade-game/

Matt Chat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTFcWb_cWRo ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od_kGGW-Xq4 ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkTIE2EHfpY ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9zjOTz0enI

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This episode of Remotely Interested is hosted on scholarlygamers.com as a guest contribution by Podcast Showrunner Adam Spring. Scholarly Gamers holds no rights over the content presented, but is pleased to share insight gained into the mindset of industry veterans such as Mr. Fries.