You vastly overestimate the budget and abilities of most software houses of the day.
For every Atari or Epyx, there were many dozens of very significant publishers who did their work on consumer-grade hardware.
Except for Atari and less than a handful of others with previous income, none started with PDPs on hand. They had to work up to that.
It's not like today with everything consolidated and full of VC money. Bootstrapping your way to success was de regur, and the playing field was wide open to anyone with a home computer and a little talent.
Comments
You vastly overestimate the budget and abilities of most software houses of the day.
For every Atari or Epyx, there were many dozens of very significant publishers who did their work on consumer-grade hardware.
Except for Atari and less than a handful of others with previous income, none started with PDPs on hand. They had to work up to that.
It's not like today with everything consolidated and full of VC money. Bootstrapping your way to success was de regur, and the playing field was wide open to anyone with a home computer and a little talent.