Barbara «Bug» Rivers was a definitely real developer who worked at Atari.
By Oisin Kuhnke on
A new trailer for Pixel Ripped 1978 starring the iconic Atari developer Howard Scott Warshaw sees him diving into the company's very, definitely real history.
Pixel Ripped 1978 is the latest title in Arvore Immersive Games' VR series that features games within a game, this one pulling from Atari's games and history to tell its story. This latest trailer features Warshaw, who's positively known for designing titles like Yar's Revenge and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and infamously known for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. In it, Warshaw speaks about a developer who worked at Atari named «Bug,» who he notes is «not like a software bug,» but «an amazing programmer named Barbara Rivers,» who they all called Bug.
«She's the one who programmed Pixel Ripped,» said Warshaw. «It was like she lived in the game. We're trying to make a game, she's coming from out of the game to tell us what she's doing.» Bug, of course, isn't actually real, and is a fictional character within the world of Pixel Ripped 1978 who works at Atari. She has to work with Dot--a recurring character in the Pixel Ripped series--to take down the evil Cyblin Lord. When you're not traveling between dimensions playing different games within games, you'll also be able to explore the actual Atarai headquarters based in Sunnyvale, California.
Following the video game crash of 1983, Warshaw left the industry. He eventually started a new career as a therapist in the Silicon Valley. His book Once Upon Atari details his time at the company during its heyday.
Pixel Ripped 1978 doesn't currently have a release date, but it will be available on the Meta Quest, Steam, and PS5.
The products
Read more on gamespot.com