nolan bushnell
Latest
Leonardo DiCaprio to star in Nolan Bushnell biopic
A biopic about Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell has been picked up by Paramount Pictures, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star, reports Variety. Although we feel "attached to star" is indicative of DiCaprio taking on the role of Bushnell himself, we guess it's equally likely he could star as Atari co-founder Ted Dabney or a paddle from Pong! Bushnell is also known for founding Chuck E. Cheese. The film, currently titled Atari, will be produced by DiCaprio's Appian Way.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Atari founder cries wolf about piracy-ending chip
So news is making its way around the internets that at the Wedbush Morgan Securities Management Access Conference, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell proclaimed the end of PC gaming piracy as we know it, thanks to a "stealth encryption chip." The magic chip he's referring to that "will, in fact, absolutely stop piracy of gameplay"? The TPM chip -- what's been on motherboards for years, that apparently Bushnell just found out about. While the tinfoil hats in the house will likely attribute TPM (Trusted Platform Module) and other onboard crypto-chips to the eventual downfall of privacy and personal computing, to date we've yet to see piracy stunted or civil liberties breached because of the little bugger. FUD you later, Nolan.[Thanks, Carl]
Last Week on Massively: WoW-related stories
This week's round up of WoW-related posts on our sister site Massively covers many different angles of the MMO universe dominated by World of Warcraft. You can click on the links below or subscribe to a special WoW-only Massively feed.As the Worlds Turn: Get your fixWith so many games out there, presenting different worlds, different rules, different ways to play, what is it that grabs hold of players and, for some, doesn't let go?Does WoW really need to be 'beaten'?When will the constant cries of 'Will this be the WoW-killer?' be stifled once and for all? Let's instead concentrate on the far more interesting question: 'Why does there need to be a WoW-killer?'Pong creator Nolan Bushnell to enter MMO spaceThe man many call 'the Father of Videogames' -- as he is responsible for founding Atari and creating Pong -- Nolan Bushnell was recently interviewed by GameSpot at this year's GDC.Behind the Curtain: Should raiders get special treatment?Loot should always be a secondary concern in MMOs. I've been seeing more and more, the idea that developers should put the concerns of those players whose sole or primary concern is the acquisition of loot above the concerns of other players.Clan Gear: guild clothing for the massesAdam and Freya Chapman have run Threadsafe, a direct-to-garment printing business, for the last two years. Now, in conjunction with Adam's brother Keith, they're opening Clan Gear, a direct-to-garment printing outlet for gamers, where the focus on the printing is your artwork, your character, and your designs.Investment of $1 billion+ wouldn't dethrone WoW, exec saysAccording to a report, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stated in an investor meeting that his company had done extensive research on the MMO category, and came to the conclusion that even a game bolstered by an initial investment of $500 million to $1 billion would still probably have a hell of a time competing in the same space as the Blizzard juggernaut.
Pong creator Nolan Bushnell working on MMO
It might not be MMOP (massively multiplayer online Pong), but Nolan Bushnell is definitely up to something in the MMO world, according to a recent interview with Gamespot. No concrete details were given, but the trash-talking industry veteran did confirm that he's involved in at least one massively-multiplayer project.Specifically, when asked if he had his hands in any MMO-based titles, Nolan Bushnell took a notedly-long pause before responding "Yes." When asked to clarify, Bushnell stated that it's unavoidable that social and massively-multiplayer games have become important, but "as compelling as World of Warcraft is, it too shall find that there are other ways to play a game."A cryptic comment to be sure. Our buddies at Massively point out that Bushnell has a history in creating social spaces, with franchises like the Chuck E. Cheese arcades and more recently uWink. But can this sort of expertise translate effectively to the cutthroat world of MMO development?[Via Massively]
Pong creator Nolan Bushnell to enter MMO space
The man many call 'the Father of Videogames' -- as he is responsible for founding Atari and creating Pong -- Nolan Bushnell was recently interviewed by GameSpot at this year's GDC. The piece reads along smoothly enough, with Bushnell offering up his opinion on the marginalization of game arcades since the 80s, how to monetize casual games, and the importance of socialization.On this line of questioning, GameSpot asks 'Do you have anything in massively multiplayer games?' After a long pause, Bushnell confirms he does with a single 'yes', but reveals no further details, saying intriguingly ' ... as compelling as World of Warcraft is, it too shall find that there are other ways to play a game.'It's a given that he knows a lot about the industry, but that's not necessarily a quality guaranteed to create a fun game. However, he does know quite a bit about creating social spaces, which could be a big advantage in designing an MMO. What do you think, could something interesting come from Nolan Bushnell?
Bushnell clarifies 'unadulterated trash' talk, moans about innovation etc.
Following up on Nolan Bushnell's recent labeling of our post-Pong games as "unadulterated trash," Gametap's Curt Feldman decided to have a chat with the Atari founder on the tel-uh-fohn. In the resulting interview, Nolan Bushnell explains that his scorn is just reserved for a "narrow segment" of gaming, which happens to include (you're not going to like this) Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto. While Rockstar's sandbox gets predictably deplored for its "deification of antisocial behavior," Bungie's critically acclaimed shooter is deemed no more than "Doom 1 in different clothing." As he puts it, "Clothing or not, the clothing is nicer, but the game is the same."
Joystiq interview: Nolan K. Bushnell -- Atari founder and restauranteur
We caught up with Nolan Bushnell at the "I Am 8-Bit" party, and asked him a few questions. Since he founded two of our favorite things, Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, it's hard not to be impressed with the guy. Plus, since he's not in the game business anymore, he can be snarky and honest about the current console wars. Also ... he sort of looks like a pirate. Check out the interview after the jump where he comments on the success of the Wii, calling the PlayStation a mistake, and some of the details on his new gaming restaurant venture.
Atari founder says PlayStation an accident
Nolan Bushnell , founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, looks to be a new member of the Microsoft Defense Force. In an interview with Red Herring, Bushnell took the time to trash the entire PlayStation brand, not just the PlayStation 3. While we can expect the SDF to come out swinging, Bushnell's comments leave even those of us sitting on the fence with raised eyebrows.Bushnell is absolutely convinced the PS3 will fail ... and not just fail to reach the vaunted nine-digit milestone for the third time, but outright flop. Bushnell told Red Herring that "It would not surprise me if a year from now they'll be struggling to sell 1 million units ... I think in the the number of early adopters you have is actually around 300,000." Furthermore, he goes on to say the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 were merely accidents, reaping rewards not by being the best, but by being in the right place at the right time.The PlayStation did not succeed because Sony had a Field of Dreams moment; it was supported because developers loved how it was easier to develop than the cumbersome Saturn and consumers bought it because the software was far cheaper than the N64. My PlayStation didn't just fall off the shelf and into my shopping cart, I bought it for a reason. While it would take a fanatic to believe the PS3 will sell over 100 million units, thinking the PS3 will only sell one million units by this time next year -- and fail to sell out of the launch units -- is crazy.[Via GameDaily]
Atari founder praises 360. PS3? Not so much
In a short interview with Red Herring, Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, speaks his mind about the next generation of gaming. He makes the comment that he likes Xbox Live because it may become the "platform for the living room." With Live gaining more and more functionality, we're hard-pressed to argue. He further praises the Xbox 360 while simultaneously denigrating the PS3. When asked about Sony's strategy, he replies that "Sony shot themselves in the foot," and that "the price point is probably unsustainable."Bushnell believes that Microsoft's easy to use development tools and the extra money to be made on Live will ultimately be what separates the 360 from the PS3."For years and years Sony has been a very difficult company to deal with from a developer standpoint. They could get away with their arrogance and capriciousness because they had an installed base. They have also historically had horrible software tools. You compare that to the Xbox 360 with really great authoring tools [and] additional revenue streams from Xbox live... a first party developer would be an idiot to develop for Sony first and not the 360. People don't buy hardware, they buy software."While we agree with many of Bushnell's points -- we are fanboys, after all -- we're not as eager to agree that the PS3 will outright fail. According to Bushnell:"It would not surprise me if a year from now they'll be struggling to sell 1 million units. I think in the U.S. the number of early adopters you have is actually around 300,000."Bold claims to make about a company with one of the largest brands on the planet. Then again, there may not even be 300,000 PS3s to be had.[Thanks, Vic]See Also:UWink: Chuck E. Cheese for Adults
UWink: Chuck E. Cheese for adults
G4's Feed blog brings us some pictures and thoughts on uWink, the "media bistro" that opened Monday in Woodland Hills, CA after months of planning. The restaurant/gaming parlor comes from the mind of Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, creator of Pong and, later, the man behind the Chuck E. Cheese chain of arcades/pizza parlors.Alissa Bushnell, Nolan's daughter, says the bistro is geared towards adults and women, with casual games that take two or three minutes to play built in to every table. Buying food and drinks from touch-screen menus earns patrons play time on the games games, from trivia contests to Pong clones.Three more locations are planned for southern California soon, and the company hopes to expand nationwide in the coming months, meaning you mights be Winking pretty soon. Eh? Eh? Thank you, I'll be here all week.
Legendary computer scientist Alan Kotok has died
Alan Kotok, a pioneer that helped create the first video game, SpaceWar! on the PDP-1, and helped the joystick, this site's namesake, become an icon of video gaming passed away peacefully in his sleep over the U.S. Memorial Day weekend. His help in creating Spacewar! was invaluable, although not necessarily conventional. In one memorable incident, Alan forced Steve Russel (the main author of Spacewar!) to get his act together by calling up the maker of the PDP-1 to get some math routines required to write movement code for the game. Once he'd received the code he slammed down the tape on Steve's desk (who was widely known by the nickname "slug") and said "Here you are Russel. Now what's your excuse?" Steve got the point and went on to finish Spacewar!Had Alan not taken the initiative like he did, the entire history of video games could have turned out differently. A man called Nolan Bushnell was later inspired by Spacewar! to try and make video games accessible to everyone: he eventually went on to found a little company called Atari. There's nothing to say that games wouldn't be as popular as they are today had Alan not given Steve Russel the kick up the arse he needed, but it certainly makes you think.Another of Kotok's achievements was working with John McCarthy of Stanford to create the first computer program that could credibly play chess. The program, which could look at 1100 positions per second, took part in an international competition with a USSR chess program in 1966. The match took nine months to complete! Alan is survived by his three children and one grandchild. His wife, Judie, passed away last year. Rest in peace, Alan.Update: see comments.
