Nolan Bushnell Appointed to Atari Board

[SoulBlazer]

It's very true that Kent's 'Ultimate History of Video Games' has some errors, but it's a fascination to read, especily with the interviews from the people involved in the business. Just take that with a grain of salt as you read it and you're fine.

 

The other really great book is Herman's 'Phoenix' which focuses more on 'just the facts' and has a more textbook like style of reading -- but still very enjoyable. The last edition is out of print, but a new one should be out (hopefully) later this year.

 

Both books should be read, as they compliment each other very well. You can find used copies on Amazon for cheap prices.

 

I also found Baer's book to be a wonderfull read. Even got my copy signed by him!

 

Which is why that 'Nolan' poster really pissed me off when he called Baer a 'patent whore'

 

In any event, this thread has gotten very interesting.....

[rolenta]

The other really great book is Herman's 'Phoenix' which focuses more on 'just the facts' and has a more textbook like style of reading -- but still very enjoyable. The last edition is out of print, but a new one should be out (hopefully) later this year.

 

Thanks!

 

Actually, the third edition is back in print and is available from my website and Amazon. I'm working on the fourth edition, but because I'm rewriting the entire book, rather than just adding new chapters, the book is taking a lot much longer to complete than I originally anticipated. It definitely won't be out this year.

[SoulBlazer]

The other really great book is Herman's 'Phoenix' which focuses more on 'just the facts' and has a more textbook like style of reading -- but still very enjoyable. The last edition is out of print, but a new one should be out (hopefully) later this year.

 

Thanks!

 

Actually, the third edition is back in print and is available from my website and Amazon. I'm working on the fourth edition, but because I'm rewriting the entire book, rather than just adding new chapters, the book is taking a lot much longer to complete than I originally anticipated. It definitely won't be out this year.

 

Ah, thanks for correcting me there, Sir! I was not aware of that concerning the third and forth edition.

 

I think both your book and Kent's compliment each other very well and it was nice to see each author saying good things about the other book in the forewards.

[+Psionic]

I'm working on the fourth edition, but because I'm rewriting the entire book, rather than just adding new chapters, the book is taking a lot much longer to complete than I originally anticipated. It definitely won't be out this year.

Don't bother...I just came back from the future and the fourth edition is a total failure. :!:

[rolenta]

Don't bother...I just came back from the future and the fourth edition is a total failure. :!:

 

You must be mistaken. I believe you have seen the third edition of ABC To The VCS

[orubin]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/28149/Bushnell_Virden_Appointed_To_Atari_Board.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29

 

My first thoughts were "I mean it's a late April fools joke, right? Or a PR stunt? They're

not actually going to take direction from that guy?!?!?!"

 

It is a board position. For those who have never served on a board of any kind, they do NOT run things. The boards job is to recommend and, sometimes, set general direction, and to act as oversight to the executive staff. If the board is functioning correctly, they have no control over any day to day activity.

 

And lets not slam Nolan here. While he may not have been the greatest person at running a company, he is quite good at coming up with cool ideas and thinking outside the box, and I for one (OK, I worked for him a few times) think he is very creative. And given the state of the new Atari, this might be something they could use.

 

My 3 cents (inflation.)

[+Psionic]

And lets not slam Nolan here. While he may not have been the greatest person at running a company, he is quite good at coming up with cool ideas and thinking outside the box, and I for one (OK, I worked for him a few times) think he is very creative.

Fair point...but I don't think anyone has ever attempted to deny that. His overall honesty is my only issue with him, and the reason he's getting "slammed" at all is for taking credit for things he never did.

 

That ridiculous interview where he claimed to have been involved in the design process of the Missile Command coin-op is only one example of this.

[Tempest]

Welcome to Atari Age Owen. Looks like we've got just about everyone here.

 

Also I would like to state yet again to please keep this thread civil and respectful. This thread is getting a lot of eyeballs from outside people.

 

Tempest

[Cebus Capucinis]

Those outside people might be outside ATTORNEYS so keep your best clothes on and put your best foot forward!

[+wood_jl]

This is just a sad thread making all those involved look worse and worse..

 

 

desiv

 

I respect your opinion, but respectfully disagree. This thread is not sad. This thread is emotional. Perhaps that is so because these people feel passionate about these issues, regardless of their position. But passion does not always equate to sadness. As well, most everybody it the thread has a keen interest in Atari, at some level. I myself am just a fan. Yet I am at Atariage because I am a fan, and I'm fascinated to find others the same or more interested, or particulary if they're involved; the very idea of having industry pioneers posting in this thread and on AtariAge is not "sad" indeed, but of extreme human interest! Bravo for those who post in it, complainers notwithstanding!

[mgabrys]

You are right, the electron beam was actually moved from point to point instead of by line, still it was the first experiment of a "game" played on a video screen...

What the game is, is the first experiment of a game done on a CRT, not a "video screen". That's exactly why it was also cited in Ralph's patents. To be the first on a "video screen" it would have be a dot that was raster rendered and controlled via a video signal. Ralph and his team were the first ones to figure out how to do that through a video signal.

 

I "think" the "1947" reference / thread is about Higinbotham's paddle game "tennis for 2" which occurred in 1958 actually:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_higgenbotham

 

That was on an oscilloscope - which is vector, and was never intended to be anything other than a tech-demo for the day (to the point that the creator never wanted to be remembered for it vs. his work in nuclear non-proliferation according to his son).

[Retro Rogue]

I "think" the "1947" reference / thread is about Higinbotham's paddle game "tennis for 2" which occurred in 1958 actually:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_higgenbotham

 

That was on an oscilloscope - which is vector, and was never intended to be anything other than a tech-demo for the day (to the point that the creator never wanted to be remembered for it vs. his work in nuclear non-proliferation according to his son).

 

No, the 1947 reference is indeed referring to US patent #2,455,992, entitled "Cathode-Ray tube Amusement Device".

Edited April 26, 2010 by wgungfu

[desiv]

and I'm fascinated to find others the same or more interested, or particulary if they're involved; the very idea of having industry pioneers posting in this thread and on AtariAge is not "sad" indeed, but of extreme human interest! Bravo for those who post in it, complainers notwithstanding!

 

Did you respect my opinion or am I a complainer? Or do you respect my opinion as a complainer?

 

Either way, I never said that the idea of having industry pioneers in the thread was "sad."

What I felt was sad was the level that some of the people I respect seemed to drop to while defending themselves.

 

I fully believe you can and should defend your opinion, short of feeding trolls. And I want to look forward to those posts. However, I would prefer to see more of the factual posts we have seen and less of the posts involving condescension and comments which are truly classless.

I expect those from trolls, but I see some people I admire being dragged down to the level of the trolls, and I think they are better than that.

 

That is the only thing I feel is "sad."

The thread in general has some incredible information, and trending more so...

 

IMHO

 

desiv

[mgabrys]

Isn't there another book planned including a more general overview on the industry of that time too? (I seem to recall it being mentioned that a lot of interesting non-Atari related stuff was unearthed as well, meriting such a venture)

Yes, but that one is coming from more of the arcade/coin-op perspective, covering the transition of the industry from EM to video. It'll cover from the mid-60's through to '84.

 

I'm replying to stuff 23 pages behind this so apologies for the time-shifts. I refuse to skip ahead since this is a gold mine of info to the extent that it's absorbing the whole of my lunch hour on an otherwise busy monday.

 

Do you have any info in any of these tomes on the 3rd party titles for the 2600 and how these came about (apart from the usual ex-atarians leave and start Activision, Imagic etc)? I distinctly recall David Crane being interviewed on Tech TV (when he was pushing skyworks) and specifically mentioned - to the host's (Leo Laporte) surprise - that they (Activision) paid Atari Inc., licensing royalties as part of their settlements from all the lawsuits they incurred. It was something that I've found NO-ONE to confirm, not even Steve Kent - who I mentioned all of the above during a lunch I had with him in 2002 (want to talk to an author, pay for a lunch - you'll be surprised how often that works).

 

I mention this seemingly trivial bit of off-the-cuff, because it seems to point a finger at the explosion of 3rd party games and Atari's rise in income around the same time (as well as the motivator for the flood of bad games in the face of rising royalty checks). Crane was specifically talking about Activision and Atari - not the later work with Nintendo.

 

Uncover anything along these lines? If not - you might want to ping Mr. Crane - might make for an interesting inclusion.

[Curt Vendel]

Nolan is a great salesman and a great motivator.

 

What is missing here is some respect to others in the industry and those who worked to create much of what Nolan has many times taken full credit for or taken credit where he wasn't involved.

 

A nice, neutral and respectful comment like "I saw the Magnavox game, thought there was something to it, so a few years later we released our own Color Home Pong which had marketed improvements to what I originally saw."

 

Not "Yeah I saw the Magnavox Odyssey and it was a failure" or to call Ralph Baer a "Patent Whore" or a "Pain in the ass".

 

Or taking credit from a man who decided not to pursue the PR spotlight and take credit for his work on Computer Space, to change the story about the project being done in Nolans house and not Ted's and hide the fact that he pushed the guy out as a business move.

 

Again - where is the respect for the peers of the industry and the people who worked side by side to make the products, make the company.

 

Then the nonsense about being involved in a game project that didn't even start as a drawing on a piece of paper for over a year AFTER the guy was gone. That's not a senior moment, that is just again twisting the past which in today's world is easily fact checked, to say it was a senior moment or claim senility - no that would be delusional fantasies to totally create in one's mind being part of a whole project/product that never happened.

 

So many will say - well then where is Curt's respect for Nolan. Nolan's got 40 years of mends to fix, when he can start to be more civil, respectful and honest with everyone, he'll get plenty of it in kind from all - me especially.

 

Heck - look at Steve Jobs, he aired his dirty laundry decades ago and he's one of the most respected men in the IT industry.

 

My advice to Nolan - stop living the lie, be honest - you did do a lot of great things, but no one will fault you for admitting you may have only been a part of somethings or maybe you saw something and were not so much the great innovator - but the great improver. I've personally played Ralph's Brown Box - its neat and I like it, but hey yeah the color Home Pong - to me, is a big improvement.

 

 

Curt

 

And lets not slam Nolan here. While he may not have been the greatest person at running a company, he is quite good at coming up with cool ideas and thinking outside the box, and I for one (OK, I worked for him a few times) think he is very creative.

Fair point...but I don't think anyone has ever attempted to deny that. His overall honesty is my only issue with him, and the reason he's getting "slammed" at all is for taking credit for things he never did.

 

That ridiculous interview where he claimed to have been involved in the design process of the Missile Command coin-op is only one example of this.

[Retro Rogue]

Do you have any info in any of these tomes on the 3rd party titles for the 2600 and how these came about (apart from the usual ex-atarians leave and start Activision, Imagic etc)? I distinctly recall David Crane being interviewed on Tech TV (when he was pushing skyworks) and specifically mentioned - to the host's (Leo Laporte) surprise - that they (Activision) paid Atari Inc., licensing royalties as part of their settlements from all the lawsuits they incurred. It was something that I've found NO-ONE to confirm, not even Steve Kent - who I mentioned all of the above during a lunch I had with him in 2002 (want to talk to an author, pay for a lunch - you'll be surprised how often that works).

 

If you want, pm me and we can discuss this further, as it's really going off again what this thread is about. But yes, Activision having to pay royalties as part of the settlement was actually a matter of public record and covered in the newspaper articles on the lawsuit at the time.

 

I mention this seemingly trivial bit of off-the-cuff, because it seems to point a finger at the explosion of 3rd party games and Atari's rise in income around the same time (as well as the motivator for the flood of bad games in the face of rising royalty checks). Crane was specifically talking about Activision and Atari - not the later work with Nintendo.

 

Licensing would not account for a billion rise however, that had to do more with how Warner was pushing manufacturing and sales - which is what got Atari in to trouble with the stock. But again, feel free to PM me to discuss it further.

Edited April 26, 2010 by wgungfu

[Retro Rogue]

My advice to Nolan - stop living the lie, be honest - you did do a lot of great things, but no one will fault you for admitting you may have only been a part of somethings or maybe you saw something and were not so much the great innovator - but the great improver.

 

Ditto. Though I have to say some of the comments on Facebook to "his" post are quite humorous if not a bit clueless. Lumping Ted Dabney in to "us nerds" at Atariage. LOL.

[Albert]

I have changed the title of this thread to a more neutral statement.

 

..Al

[Cebus Capucinis]

I have a new question for Mr. Bushnell, it's more specific!

 

If you could play one instrument in the Chuck E. Cheese band, which instrument would it be?

 

Fun questions need representation too!

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

I have a new question for Mr. Bushnell, it's more specific!

 

If you could play one instrument in the Chuck E. Cheese band, which instrument would it be?

 

Fun questions need representation too!

 

I am more interested in the porn movie!

[Cebus Capucinis]

AtariAge is very fortunate to have such hard-hitting and VITAL journalists with so much integrity as iwan and I!

[darthkur]

I have refrained from posting in this heated exchange since it's inception. I really would like to see everything sorted out correctly and have all, or at least most of, the myriad of contradictory statements that Mr. Nolan has allegedly been employing for quite some time, be expanded upon by himself. I am also very heartened to see other participants, such as Mr. Dabney, that were there during the time these historical events unfolded. I look forward to further input from him and possibly Mr. Baer if he so desires.

While I do not personally know neither Curt nor Marty, they have been well respected members of these boards and constant contributors to the ongoing scene for years. They bring up many valid points and questions that beg to be answered. If Mr. Nolen wishes to be taken seriously and believed then these issues really need to be addressed. The issue of being cheated out of over 40 grand, that Curt brought up, alone requires a straight answer. Other than to the extremely wealthy, that amount of money isn't exactly a pittance. Short-changing someone for a few bucks let alone several thousand portrays extremely low character qualities. Now someone that has been accused of frequently employing embellishments or outright deceit about past events would seem to be highly motivated to "clear his name" of of such an allegation and perhaps be moved to shed some light on the other questions previously asked by my fellow AA members concerning certain parts of Atari history.

[atari181]

Holy fucking shit, I go to bed and work and all kinds of shit happens, The real Nolan Bushnell? the real Ted Dabney? You have to be kidding me? This thread had gone crazy.

[+pboland]

The real Nolan Bushnell? the real Ted Dabney? You have to be kidding me? This thread had gone crazy.

And the real Owen Rubin it would appear.

 

Very interesting thread indeed...

[AtariLeaf]

Wow, finally read 24 pages. I've got to say I really had my eyes opened and I can't wait for these new books to come out. I'll definitely want to read them. Fascinating stuff guys.