BBC: Atari founder Nolan Bushnell on why life is 'a game'

[The Professor]

 

"I have made so many massive mistakes of ego, I can't tell you.."

 

 

The BBC has a great article up today about Nolan Bushnell. If you like Nolan or are interested in the history of Atari, Chuck E. Cheese, or Silicon Valley, this is an enjoyable read.

 

Here's one passage from the article:

 

He chalks the creation of Atari up to a bit of good luck: "I was probably the only electrical engineer that understood television, and understood the coin-operated game business [from the amusement park] in 1969," he says.

 

 

By combining the popularity of arcade games as well as the nascent personal computer industry, Mr Bushnell and his partner Ted Dabney found success with games such as Pong, Asteroids, and Centipede, which were played, initially, on the Atari 2600 console.And unlike today's efforts - in which blood and gore in games is both the norm and a scourge - Mr Bushnell said the company believed firmly that it could be successful without resorting to murder.

 

"We felt that, you could blow up a tank, you could blow up a plane, but we didn't want violence against a human being," he says.

 

 

 

Steve Jobs' handwritten notes for World Cup while at Atari

 

 

Some other great quotes from Nolan Bushnell:

 

"I've always valued passionate employees over anything else, and, it turns out that there's a huge percentage of the population that are actually dead - they don't know it, but, in terms of their processes, they're just waiting to be buried,"

 

"When I was 35, I was insufferable. I thought I could do no wrong and I got really sloppy,"

 

"I want Jobs and [bill] Gates and [Mark] Zuckerberg and all of these guys to thank me for blazing some of [those trails], because it was much easier once there were several notable successes from [people] in their twenties,"

 

 

 

You can see the BBC's article on Nolan Bushnell here: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33117769

[AlamoAtari]

Wow, he was a bit gruff there. But you look at his site and he still want to evolve the industry still. He sounds like he wants to spark imagination and is heavily involved with his kids. Dynamite!

[The Professor]

I don't think people want to hear about negativity or read about failure. In articles like this he usually acknowledges his failures. People are most interested in Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, or occasionally ETAK.