Jul 1, 2017
Gary Koffler, VP at Datasoft and
Datamost
Gary Koffler was VP at two publishers: Datasoft and Datamost.
He was VP Software at Datasoft in 1980–1981. Datasoft published
many Atari computer games, including Canyon Climber, Clowns and
Balloons, Pacific Coast Highway, Sands of Egypt, and Zaxxon. At
Datasoft, Gary managed creation of the AtariWriter word processor
under contract for Atari.
Next, Gary was VP Software and Talent at Datamost from
1982–1984. Datamost published Atari games including Mr. Robot and
His Robot Factory, Tail of Beta Lyrae, Cohen's Towers, and Super
Bunny. Datamost also published many books for the Atari computer,
including Atari Roots, Kids and the Atari, The Elementary Atari,
and Games Ataris Play.
This interview took place on April 4, 2017.
Teaser quote: "I didn't program ... I basically programmed
programmers because I realized early on that if I wanted to have
anything that was going to appear on these machines that I wanted
to have appear on them, I was going to have to work with artists
and programmers and musicians and animators."