Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Warren Davis created Q*bert in 1982. He also built the graphics digitizing pipeline that powered Mortal Kombat, Terminator 2, and Revolution X. He was on the team that canceled a top-down tank game before it became anything. He shared a urinal with a member of Aerosmith. And he got a very unexpected bonus check for a game he didn't make.
This is the complete interview — Parts 1 and 2 combined into a single uninterrupted cut. Originally recorded December 2021 to celebrate the release of Warren's book, "Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games." We went three hours. Worth every minute.
Topics covered: Q*bert's origin as a programming exercise, the naming meeting Warren describes as a Monty Python sketch, the little girl who kept dying on the first jump, Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert (Warren's director's cut), the laserdisc games era and why it collapsed, Gottlieb's fall, Williams as the Emerald City, Joust 2, the Amiga digitizer experiments that led to WTARK, Eugene Jarvis, the canceled USSA tank game, Exterminator, Terminator 2, the Ed Boon Mortal Kombat envelope story, Revolution X with Aerosmith, House of the Dead (before House of the Dead existed), Disney, Imagineering, and Q*bert finally landing in MAME.
0:00 Intro — Warren Davis and the book
13:57 Early life: Sheepshead Bay and computers
18:47 Bell Labs — telephone operators and free calls to Israel
21:48 The acting career and the fork in the road
27:43 Joining Gottlieb — Ron Waxman
38:05 Jeff Lee — Q*bert's artist
45:52 Q*bert's origin: the programming exercise
51:52 Tuning — what it really means to dial in an arcade game
55:04 The little girl and the field test
58:39 The naming meeting (the Monty Python sketch)
1:08:31 Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert — the director's cut
1:09:12 Q*bert blows up: merch, licensing, and what Warren didn't see
1:11:33 Home ports: best and worst
1:20:59 Us vs Them — Dragon's Lair changes everything
1:21:54 Dennis Nordman and the laserdisc concept
1:34:14 New Wave Toys Q*bert repli-cade (Warren Davis edition)
1:40:02 Warren holds the hardcover for the first time
2:00:47 The forest level — Kalamazoo and the steadicam cowboy
2:06:06 Why laserdisc died: smacking the cabinet for a free game
2:10:24 Gottlieb's collapse (and the worst company name ever)
2:17:44 Williams — the Emerald City
2:21:55 Joust 2 with Christina Donafrio
2:27:56 The Amiga digitizer experiment and WTARK
2:33:53 Eugene Jarvis
2:38:35 The canceled USSA tank game
2:46:33 Exterminator — Jeff Lee reunion at Premier Technology
2:52:39 Back to Williams 1991 and Terminator 2
2:54:38 The Ed Boon / Mortal Kombat envelope (and soybeans)
2:57:28 Revolution X and Aerosmith
2:58:19 The celebrity urination story
2:59:07 House of the Dead before House of the Dead
2:59:40 Disney Interactive and Imagineering
3:02:09 Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert lands in MAME
📚 Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games:
amzn.to/4cIMlcm
warrendavisshop.square.site for signed copies
🎙 Passenger Seat Radio:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMcmWOVaPtGly7c6IEJEmaN30l1Id8Cra
🌐 monroeworld.com
🔔 Subscribe — Preserve the past. Protect the future.
Join Our Discord
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Warren Davis created Q*bert in 1982. He also built the graphics digitizing pipeline that powered Mortal Kombat, Terminator 2, and Revolution X. He was on the team that canceled a top-down tank game before it became anything. He shared a urinal with a member of Aerosmith. And he got a very unexpected bonus check for a game he didn't make.
This is the complete interview — Parts 1 and 2 combined into a single uninterrupted cut. Originally recorded December 2021 to celebrate the release of Warren's book, "Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games." We went three hours. Worth every minute.
Topics covered: Q*bert's origin as a programming exercise, the naming meeting Warren describes as a Monty Python sketch, the little girl who kept dying on the first jump, Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert (Warren's director's cut), the laserdisc games era and why it collapsed, Gottlieb's fall, Williams as the Emerald City, Joust 2, the Amiga digitizer experiments that led to WTARK, Eugene Jarvis, the canceled USSA tank game, Exterminator, Terminator 2, the Ed Boon Mortal Kombat envelope story, Revolution X with Aerosmith, House of the Dead (before House of the Dead existed), Disney, Imagineering, and Q*bert finally landing in MAME.
0:00 Intro — Warren Davis and the book
13:57 Early life: Sheepshead Bay and computers
18:47 Bell Labs — telephone operators and free calls to Israel
21:48 The acting career and the fork in the road
27:43 Joining Gottlieb — Ron Waxman
38:05 Jeff Lee — Q*bert's artist
45:52 Q*bert's origin: the programming exercise
51:52 Tuning — what it really means to dial in an arcade game
55:04 The little girl and the field test
58:39 The naming meeting (the Monty Python sketch)
1:08:31 Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert — the director's cut
1:09:12 Q*bert blows up: merch, licensing, and what Warren didn't see
1:11:33 Home ports: best and worst
1:20:59 Us vs Them — Dragon's Lair changes everything
1:21:54 Dennis Nordman and the laserdisc concept
1:34:14 New Wave Toys Q*bert repli-cade (Warren Davis edition)
1:40:02 Warren holds the hardcover for the first time
2:00:47 The forest level — Kalamazoo and the steadicam cowboy
2:06:06 Why laserdisc died: smacking the cabinet for a free game
2:10:24 Gottlieb's collapse (and the worst company name ever)
2:17:44 Williams — the Emerald City
2:21:55 Joust 2 with Christina Donafrio
2:27:56 The Amiga digitizer experiment and WTARK
2:33:53 Eugene Jarvis
2:38:35 The canceled USSA tank game
2:46:33 Exterminator — Jeff Lee reunion at Premier Technology
2:52:39 Back to Williams 1991 and Terminator 2
2:54:38 The Ed Boon / Mortal Kombat envelope (and soybeans)
2:57:28 Revolution X and Aerosmith
2:58:19 The celebrity urination story
2:59:07 House of the Dead before House of the Dead
2:59:40 Disney Interactive and Imagineering
3:02:09 Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert lands in MAME
📚 Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games:
amzn.to/4cIMlcm
warrendavisshop.square.site for signed copies
🎙 Passenger Seat Radio:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMcmWOVaPtGly7c6IEJEmaN30l1Id8Cra
🌐 monroeworld.com
🔔 Subscribe — Preserve the past. Protect the future.
Join Our Discord
discord.monroeworld.com
