We actually were almost at alpha with the first one before Activision decided to call it Battlezone. We were going to in "Next Generation" magazine and we realized we could be on the cover if we called it Battlezone. We also considered calling in River Raid but Battlezone fit better.
You worked right across the way from me, in Action/Sim I think. I am trying to remember where you were in relation to my desk (Civ, then I82 at that time).