Why did Atari hold back the launch of the vcs by 1 year

[kisrael]

Oh yeah, and "Nolan" never used deodorant. Nyah.

 

As to the original question? Already answered: there were no "legal reasons" for any delay. The delay that pushed the 2600 from 1976 to 1977 was a lack of money. Which is why Atari was sold to Warner. So all you fantasizers have to understand that without Warner there would never have been a 2600. Development costs alone were estimated at $100M. It was Warner who wrote Jay Miner's paychecks. There's the reality of the situation.

 

Much of the AtariAge trivia pieces were written years ago, when information was harder to find. Like the "Adventure was the first easter egg" myth, "2600 delayed for legal reasons" just isn't the case.

So for those who missed it last time (I had to google for it)

 

Given the relative obscurity of the "very first", I wouldn't be surprised if the egg in Adventurer was an "independent reinvention", but that many of the programmers including an egg later had at least heard of WR's signature.

[supercat]

Given the relative obscurity of the "very first", I wouldn't be surprised if the egg in Adventurer was an "independent reinvention", but that many of the programmers including an egg later had at least heard of WR's signature.

 

According to what I read, the Fairchild programmer liked to show off his hidden messages. That is IMHO quite different from Warren Robinett's egg, which remained secret for many years.

[NovaXpress]

Adventure was released in 78/79 wasn't it? So it was only a secret for 2 or 3 years before EG published the solution.

 

I'm sure that Atari looked over their prime competition (Channel F in the early days) and knew about the first egg.

[pocketmego]

"Pocketmego" should do a litlle research. He really tells it like it ain't.

 

Bushnell resigned from a floundering Chuck E Cheese in 1983 when the board of directors decided that they weren't going to listen to him any more. After he left, the chain was bought by competitor Showtime Pizza and finally turned things around.

 

He started over 20 companies. The only ones to make real money did so after he sold/lost them.

 

And uWink smells like total failure. uwink

 

 

That's fair Nova, you sure know your history, man. I hope I can be an obnoxious turd like you when I grow up. Hell, I'd just settle for that rapier self promoting humor you employ as a thinly veiled defense mechanism. Nerd much?

 

-Ray

[NovaXpress]

You're already being an obnoxious turd, the point is that if you're going to be obnoxious then you'd better know what you're talking about.

 

Oh, you want to get snippy about Bushnell owning Chuck E Cheese? Maybe you should have done ten seconds of research to figure out what most of us already knew: he was done with that company even before the Crash.

 

Don't blame other people for correcting your mistakes. And don't be so sure about things unless you're actually, you know, sure about them.

[pocketmego]

You're already being an obnoxious turd, the point is that if you're going to be obnoxious then you'd better know what you're talking about.

 

Oh, you want to get snippy about Bushnell owning Chuck E Cheese? Maybe you should have done ten seconds of research to figure out what most of us already knew: he was done with that company even before the Crash.

 

Don't blame other people for correcting your mistakes. And don't be so sure about things unless you're actually, you know, sure about them.

 

Actually, you're right. I was out of line.

 

I sometimes post here after I get home from work and I should wait until I unwind. The truth is I should have looked up a little info on Bushnell before making assumptions.

 

I would like to let bygones be bygones if you will.

 

-Ray

Edited August 10, 2006 by pocketmego

[NovaXpress]

You'll fit in here just fine.

[kisrael]

Adventure was released in 78/79 wasn't it? So it was only a secret for 2 or 3 years before EG published the solution.

 

I'm sure that Atari looked over their prime competition (Channel F in the early days) and knew about the first egg.

If my understanding is correct, the question isn't if "Atari" knew about the egg, or ONLY if Warren Robinett did, since they say it was a secret 'til after it was too expensive to retool the mahinery to duplicate the game.

 

I'd say it's AT LEAST even money that he hadn't heard about it. Maybe my own history causes me to shortchange the Fairchfild Channel F, but it just doesn't seem to have had the presence in the market. Plus, back then the culture was more engineer-y than "gamer"-y-- I mean I know WR was trying to port the text Adventure, but beyond liking the mainframe games of the period I don't know if they would have played much of the other non-Atari systems.

[R.Cade]

Its a pity Nolan sold Atari for he seemed to be the only one who knew what he was doing with the company

 

I often wonder what the history of the company might have been had he kept control. It would certainly have been different. For all of his brilliance there is every indication that Bushnell was not the greatest book keeper in the world. Every company he owned seemed to struggle for money at one time or another. So the company might have struggled to stay afloat ona pretty regular basis. This is largely due to his being very innovative and we would CERTAINLY have seen the 5200 and 7800 units LONG before Warner ever got to them.

 

Atari would have been the company that put the NES out in America and as a result would probably still be in busines today.

 

-Ray

 

I totally agree

 

Yes, me too. I see Bushnell as sort of the Steve Jobs of the videogame world. He had a vision, and he followed it no matter what happened. Of course the paths split when Bushnell sold to Warner -- I believe it had more to do with distribution than anything else (but correct me if I'm wrong) -- whereas Jobs kept control. His own methods have been up and down as well, sometimes seen as the saviour (like now with the iPod phenomenon) and at other times the albatross around the neck (like when he was kicked out by his own BoD).

 

I imagine that Bushnell would have had his own ups and downs, but his success with Chuck E. Cheese showed that he did have at least some business sense. Who knows what might have happened, though the NES deal would have probably gone through in some form or another. But no matter what happened, the Atari name would have been more of a beloved brand than a semi-lucrative commodity kicked around by various corporations like it has over the years...

 

~G

 

 

Not that he didn't have business sense. He knew how to make money to be sure. It was maintaining that money that seemed to be his biggest problem.

 

As for him not doing anything in the videogame industry in the last 40 years, the man owns Chuck E. Cheese, he never has to work again...EVER.

 

 

No, he doesn't. The Chuck E. Cheese he owned went bankrupt in 1984 and it's assets purchased by Showbiz. Showbiz eventually used the Chuck E. Cheese characters and name exclusively due to the fact that they owned them outright, unlike the Showbixz characters which were licensed.

 

Pete Rittwage

[pocketmego]

Its a pity Nolan sold Atari for he seemed to be the only one who knew what he was doing with the company

 

I often wonder what the history of the company might have been had he kept control. It would certainly have been different. For all of his brilliance there is every indication that Bushnell was not the greatest book keeper in the world. Every company he owned seemed to struggle for money at one time or another. So the company might have struggled to stay afloat ona pretty regular basis. This is largely due to his being very innovative and we would CERTAINLY have seen the 5200 and 7800 units LONG before Warner ever got to them.

 

Atari would have been the company that put the NES out in America and as a result would probably still be in busines today.

 

-Ray

 

I totally agree

 

Yes, me too. I see Bushnell as sort of the Steve Jobs of the videogame world. He had a vision, and he followed it no matter what happened. Of course the paths split when Bushnell sold to Warner -- I believe it had more to do with distribution than anything else (but correct me if I'm wrong) -- whereas Jobs kept control. His own methods have been up and down as well, sometimes seen as the saviour (like now with the iPod phenomenon) and at other times the albatross around the neck (like when he was kicked out by his own BoD).

 

I imagine that Bushnell would have had his own ups and downs, but his success with Chuck E. Cheese showed that he did have at least some business sense. Who knows what might have happened, though the NES deal would have probably gone through in some form or another. But no matter what happened, the Atari name would have been more of a beloved brand than a semi-lucrative commodity kicked around by various corporations like it has over the years...

 

~G

 

 

Not that he didn't have business sense. He knew how to make money to be sure. It was maintaining that money that seemed to be his biggest problem.

 

As for him not doing anything in the videogame industry in the last 40 years, the man owns Chuck E. Cheese, he never has to work again...EVER.

 

 

No, he doesn't. The Chuck E. Cheese he owned went bankrupt in 1984 and it's assets purchased by Showbiz. Showbiz eventually used the Chuck E. Cheese characters and name exclusively due to the fact that they owned them outright, unlike the Showbixz characters which were licensed.

 

Pete Rittwage

 

 

Yes, we established this a few posts back. The only books I've read on the matter end with him buying Chuck E.

 

I had no idea it fell apart so soon afterward.

 

-Ray