[SIGCIS-Members] Spacewar(!) contributor Robert A. Sanders says lose the point.

[thomas.haigh at gmail.com]

Hello SIGCIS,

 

Robert A. Saunders, one of the contributors to the original Spacewar(!) game
has given permission to share his response to yesterday's post. According to
Levy (p. 43), "In the later stages of programming, Saunders helped Slug
Russell out, and they hacked a few intense six-to-eight hour sessions." Levy
also credits Saunders as co-constructor of the first computer joysticks
(p.45).

 

Asked by Arthur Daemmrich whether "you have information / evidence that the
exclamation mark was an integral part of the name of the program,
Spacewar!?" Saunders replied "I do not recall that anyone made a point of
distinction of this at the time.  However, the exclamation point usage seems
to have become common, and I suppose that it could continue to do so.  But,
in view of the comment below, it is plausible (and perhaps sensible) to
eliminate the exclamation point - which I think I would prefer."

Meanwhile, the Talk page for the Wikipedia article references this page for
support of what I think the hackers would probably have called the
"pointful" position: https://www.crummy.com/2013/02/02/0. It reports on an
event at the Museum of the Moving Image in 2013. "I asked Russell the
question that's been burning in my mind for years: why does Spacewar! have
an exclamation mark in its name? His answer: "Once I got it working, I
thought it deserved an exclamation point!" I also asked Russell if he
considered any other names for the game. "Nope.""

So the Spacewar(!) creators themselves to not appear to be of one mind on
this point, but if you believe that creators have a moral right to name
things that's sufficiently strong to set aside previously widespread usage
(which appears to be the logic behind general adoption of Spacewar! over the
past fifteen years) then you might reasonably conclude because Russell
created more of the game his wishes should predominate.

Best wishes,

Tom

 

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