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Computer Space turns 40, video games gear up for mid-life crisis

Terrence O'Brien — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:54:00 EST

It was November of 1971 that Nolan Bushnell, Ted Dabney and Computer Space officially ushered in the era of the video game. Before running off to start Atari, the two men created the world's first coin-operated video arcade cabinet and, indeed, the first commercial video game ever -- a full six months before the Odyssey. Computer Space was a relatively simple title in which a player used four buttons to pilot a ship around the screen and do battle with flying saucers. The mechanics and graphics should be familiar to anyone who has ever tried their hand at Asteroids. In fact, it is essentially Asteroids without the titular space debris. Technologizer has a rather fascinating and in depth look at the pioneering game, tracing its evolution all the way back to a 1962 DEC PDP-1 tech demo. Head on over to the source to get the full story.

Computer Space turns 40, video games gear up for mid-life crisis originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leonardo DiCaprio to star in Atari founder biopic

Joshua Topolsky — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:27:00 EST

Like something out of Bizzaro World, word on the street is that hunky dreamboat Leonardo DiCaprio will play Atari uber-nerd Nolan Bushnell in an upcoming biopic. According to reports, the film will detail Bushnell's life from his early work at amusement parks, through founding Atari and eventually building the Chuck E. Cheese's empire in a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington meets Tucker" fashion. We understand there will be a thrilling montage where Bushnell soundly defeats every Atari staff member at Pong, then builds the first animatronic Jasper T. Jowls with spare parts from a 1976 Impala.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Gaming

Leonardo DiCaprio to star in Atari founder biopic originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atari founder cries wolf about piracy-ending chip

Ryan Block — Mon, 26 May 2008 00:09:00 EST

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]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Atari founder cries wolf about piracy-ending chip originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 May 2008 00:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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