nolan bushnell nolan kay bushnell born february 5 1943 is an american electrical engineer and businessman he established atari inc and the chuck e cheeses pizza time theatre chain bushnell has been inducted into the video game hall of fame and the consumer electronics association hall of fame received the bafta fellowship and the nations restaurant news innovator of the year award and was named one of newsweeks 50 men who changed america bushnell has started more than twenty companies and is one of the founding fathers of the video game industry he is on the board of antiaging games in 2012 he founded an educational software company called brainrush that is using video game technology in educational software nolan is credited with bushnells law an aphorism about games easy to learn and difficult to master being rewarding personal life bushnell enrolled at utah state university in 1961 to study engineering and then later business in 1964 he transferred to the university of utah college of engineering where he graduated with a bachelors degree in electrical engineering bushnell worked at lagoon amusement park for many years while attending college he was made manager of the games department two seasons after starting he would use his love for games and theme parks to help launch both atari and chuck e cheeses pizzatime theaters while in college he worked for several employers including litton guidance and control systems hadley ltd and the industrial engineering department at the university of utah for several summers he built his own advertising company campus company which produced blotters for four universities and sold advertising space around a calendar of events he also sold copies of encyclopedia americana bushnells first marriage was to paula rochelle nielson with whom he has 2 children bushnells oldest child alissa worked with him at uwink his second marriage was to nancy with whom he has 6 children bushnell was raised in the church of jesus christ of latterday saints but is no longer an active member and described him smoking a pipe which is inconsistent with the lds churchs health practice of the word of wisdom after selling atari to warner communications for 28 million bushnell purchased the former mansion of coffee magnate james folger in woodside california which he shared with his wife nancy and their eight children the bushnells now live in southern california in june 2008 it was announced that leonardo dicaprio would portray bushnell in the film atari an adaptation of bushnells life story despite the announcement however no progress has been made on the project business career syzygy in 1969 bushnell and colleague ted dabney formed syzygy with the intention of producing a spacewar clone known as computer space dabney built the prototype and bushnell shopped it around looking for a manufacturer they made an agreement with nutting associates a maker of coinop trivia and shooting games who produced a fiberglass cabinet for the unit that included a coinslot mechanism computer space was a commercial failure though sales exceeded 3 million and decided that his next game would be licensed to a bigger manufacturer atari inc the magnavox odyssey provided the inspiration for bushnells successful pong atari inc in 1972 bushnell and dabney set off on their own after bushnell attended a burlingame california demonstration of the magnavox odyssey he gave the task of making the magnavox tennis game into a coinop version to alcorn as a test project he told alcorn that he was making the game for general electric in order to motivate him but in actuality he planned to simply dispose of the game alcorn incorporated many of his own improvements into the game design such as the ball speeding up the longer the game went on and pong was born pong proved to be very popular atari released a large number of pongbased arcade games over the next few years as the mainstay of the company the atari 2600 would go on to revolutionize the home gaming market but bushnell was forced out of atari not long after its release in 1974 atari entered the consumer electronics market after engineers harold lee and bob brown approached alcorn with an idea to develop a home version of pong with a marketing and distribution agreement with sears pong sales soared when the unit was released in 1975 using borrowed parts from atari having the main pcb printed up by atari employee howard cantin and receiving further assistance from atari employee ron wayne two nonemployees steve jobs and steve wozniakboth of whom had previously been involved in the development of the atari arcade game breakoutcreated and marketed their own home computer they offered the design to bushnell but atari had no desire to build computers at the time instead focusing on the arcade and home console markets in 1976 steve jobs went to nolan to get him to put in some money in exchange for a minor equity stake in apple nolan remarked steve asked me if i would put 50000 in and he would give me a third of the company i was so smart i said no its kind of fun to think about that when im not crying by 1976 atari was in the midst of developing the atari vcs video computer system later renamed the atari 2600 but bushnell realized that if the company was going to grow it needed capital and with the stock market in a bleak condition going public would not be the solution he made a list of companies to approach to buy atari meanwhile steve ross ceo of warner communications noticed that his children were hovering around video game cabinets at walt disney world warner communications was contacted about atari by one of its investors to discuss purchasing the company bringing the capital they needed for the vcs launch which took place in august 1977 in november 1978 bushnell was forced out of the company after a dispute with warner over its future direction notably on the lifespan of the atari 2600 and their closed software strategy which was later changed for the new home computer division by 1982 atari had us13 billion in annual sales and was the fastestgrowing company in the history of american business by 1984 the company had crashed and was split into three pieces to be sold off the coinop division became atari games the consumer division was sold to jack tramiel who folded it into his tramel technology ltd which was then renamed atari corporation the budding ataritel division was sold to mitsubishi electric chuck e cheeses pizza time theatre chuck e cheeses in 1977 while at atari bushnell purchased pizza time theatre back from warner communications it had been created by bushnell originally as a place where kids could go and eat pizza and play video games which would therefore function as a distribution channel for atari games chuck e cheeses pizza time theatre also had animatronic animals that played music as entertainment it is known that bushnell had always wanted to work for walt disney but was continually turned down for employment when he was first starting out after graduation chuck e cheeses was his homage to disney and the technology developed there in 1981 bushnell turned over daytoday food operations of chuck e cheeses to a newly hired restaurant executive and focused on catalyst technologies through 1981 and 1982 bushnell concentrated on ptt subsidiaries sente technologies and kadabrascope sente was a reentry into the coinoperated game business arcade cabinets would have a proprietary system and a cartridge slot developed by data east corporation so operators could refresh their games without having to buy whole new cabinets kadabrascope was an early attempt at computer assisted animation in 1983 as the restaurants started to lose money sente though profitable was sold to bally for 39 million and kadabrascope was sold to lucas which became the beginnings of what became pixar during this time bushnell was using large loans on his pizza time stock to fund catalyst by the end of 1983 chuck e cheese was having serious financial problems president and longtime friend joe keenan resigned that fall nolan tried to step back in blaming the money problems on overexpansion too much tweaking of the formula and saturation in local markets by the management team he resigned in february 1984 when the board of directors rejected his proposed changes chuck e cheeses pizza time theaters now named after its famous mouse mascot entered bankruptcy in the fall of 1984 showbiz pizza place a competing pizzaarcade family restaurant then purchased chuck e cheeses pizza time theatre and assumed its debt the newly formed company showbiz pizza time operated restaurants under both brands before unifying all locations under the chuck e cheeses brand by 1992 today over 500 locations of this restaurant are in business catalyst technologies venture capital group bushnell founded catalyst technologies one of the earliest business incubators the catalyst group companies numbered in the double digits and included androbot etak cumma and axlon axlon launched many consumer and consumer electronic products successfully most notably ag bear a bear that mumbledechoed a childs words back to himher in the late 1980s axlon managed the development of two new games for the atari 2600 most likely as part of a marketing attempt to revive sales of the system already more than a decade old the company was largely sold to hasbro etak founded in 1984 was the first company to digitize the maps of the world as part of the first commercial automotive navigation system the maps ultimately provided the backbone for google maps mapquestcom and other navigation systems it was sold to rupert murdoch in the 1980s in may 2000 the company headquartered in menlo park california became a wholly owned subsidiary of tele atlas while many of the ideas eventually led to currentday innovations most of catalysts companies eventually failed due to a lack of underlying technology available in the 1980s to sustain these hightech innovations for example catalysts companies included cinemavision which attempted to develop high definition television cumma attempted to distribute video games using special vending machines that would write the game onto discs on demand byvideo developed an early online shopping experience using kiosks and laser discs that allowed shoppers to virtually purchase products that would then be delivered later playnetaristo in 1996 nolan bushnell became senior consultant to the small game developer aristo international the company died shortly before the dotcom bubble burst with its prototype machines still in development in 1997 uwink uwink before brainrush bushnells most recent company was uwink a company that evolved out of an early project called in10city pronounced intensity which was a concept of an entertainment complex and dining experience uwink was started by bushnell and his business adviser loni reeder who also designed the original logo for the company the company has gone through several failed iterations including a touchscreen kiosk design a company to run cash and prize awards as part of their uwin concept and also an online entertainment systems network all the restaurants have since closed atari sa atari sa on april 19 2010 atari announced nolan bushnell along with tim virden would join the companys board of directors modal vr bushnell is also one of the founders of modal vr a company that develops a portable largescale vr system for enterprises to train eg security forces antiaging games llc nolan is on the advisory board of antiaginggamescom brainrush bushnells most recent company is brainrush a company that uses video game technology in educational software where he is founder ceo and chairman the company was venture capital funded in 2012 it is based on the idea that many curriculum lessons can be turned into minigames developers can take any body of knowledge from english language arts to foreign language geography multiplication table or chemistry tables to parts of the human body and gamify the experience brainrush calls their underlying technology adaptive practice they have also developed an openauthoring system allowing users to quickly create games in different topic areas between 2010 and 2012 brainrush ran a test in spanish language vocabulary learning with over 2200 teachers and 80000 students across the country and got an increase in learning speed of between 810 times traditional learning brainrush rolled out the full platform in the fall of 2013 other ventures in 1981 bushnell created the timbertech computer camp in scotts valley california nolan bushnells 67ft boat charley ron holland design 1983in 1982 bushnell commissioned charley a 67foot racing yacht designed by ron holland charley went on to win line honours in the 1983 transpacific yacht race in 1984 bushnell purchased the arcade game company videa and renamed it sente games among the games developed by the company before its close in 1987 included the hockey video game hat trick in 1991 bushnell endorsed the commodore international cdtv a cdrombased version of the amiga 500 computer repackaged for the consumer electronics market in summer 1995 bushnell announced a new line of amusement centers called e2000 which would be similar to chuck e cheeses but based on a video game theme in june 1999 bushnell joined the board of directors of wave systems corp in 2005 he served as a judge on the usa network reality series made in the usa in 2007 bushnell joined the board of neoedge networks as chairman in 2007 bushnell joined the advisory board of gamewager in 2008 bushnell became a member of airpatrol corporations board of directors in 2009 bushnell announced his intention to move into the gameeducation market with a venture called snap he also announced that he would make an appearance at sgc a gaming convention organized by screwattack in may 2016 bushnell joined the board of directors of mgt capitol investments john mcafee proposed executive chairman and chief executive officer of mgt capital stated nolan is one of the brightest minds in cyber technology in his career he has founded more than 20 high tech companies giving him unprecedented knowledge of the tech industry as a director he will help mgt identify and cultivate the necessary strategic partnerships to position the company as the world leader in cyber security in january 2017 bushnell joined the board of directors of perrone robotics a maker of robotics software platforms for autonomous vehicles and mobile robots media appearances bushnell was featured in the documentary film something ventured about venture capital development accolades bushnell is considered to be the father of electronic gaming due to his contributions in establishing the arcade game market and creation of atari at the british academy video games awards on march 10 2009 the british academy of film and television arts awarded the academy fellowship to bushnell in recognition of his outstanding achievement as a founding father of the video games industry biographical film since 2008 there has been interest to a biographical film about bushnells life while bushnell had been approached by others to make such a film and turned these offers down he accepted an offer made by paramount pictures in june 2008 with a script by craig sherman and brian hecker with leonardo dicaprio envisioned to star as bushnell gdc pioneer award controversy in january 2018 the advisory committee of the game developers choice awards announced that bushnell would receive the pioneer award at the march ceremony at the game developers conference gdc crediting his role at atari the following day the advisory committee reconsidered the selection of bushnell for the award i applaud the gdc for ensuring that their institution reflects what is right specifically with regards to how people should be treated in the workplace and if that means an award is the price i have to pay personally so the whole industry may be more aware and sensitive to these issues i applaud that too if my personal actions or the actions of anyone who ever worked with me offended or caused pain to anyone at our companies then i apologize without reservation nolanbushnell twitter january 31 2018 in a later statement to kotaku bushnell cautioned that exploring these kinds of issues through a finite 40yearold prism elaine shirley who worked at atari during the bushnell years said those were the times he loni reeder who was responsible for communications security and facilities at atari and later cofounded uwink with bushnell stated i was treated fairly and paid well i have fellow atari women friends who also know nolan none of us were offended by him carol kantor the first games user researcher and who led an allfemale games user research team at atari the women interviewed by kotaku generally considered the attack and decision related to bushnells award as unfair and expressed anger at those that had raised the issue with the committee the situation has led to discussion of how the atari workplace may have influenced the current video game industry kotaku observed that the percentage of females in the video game industry has declined since 1991 to as low as 15 as of 2016 which is difficult to attribute but suggested may be tied to a portion of women that would not be able to withstand the type of workplace of the 1980s atari atari inc business is fun by curt vendel marty goldberg 2012 isbn0985597402 zap the rise and fall of atari by scott cohen 1984 isbn0738868833 gaming 101 a contemporary history of pc and video games by george jones 2005 isbn1556220804 the ultimate history of video games from pong to pokmonthe story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world by steven l kent 2001 isbn0761536434 high score the illustrated history of electronic games by rusel demaria johnny l wilson 2003 isbn0072231726 the first quarter by steven l kent wikimedia commons has media related to nolan bushnell wikiquote has quotations related to nolan bushnell nolan bushnell a life in video games filmed bafta event san jose mercury news podcast interview with bushnell podcast interview nolan bushnell on we talk games the dot eaters entry on bushnell and atari an interview with bushnell discovery channel interview with bushnell gigaomcom on bushnell and neoedge networks nolan bushnell keynote address at game based learning 2009 london march 2009 an interview with bushnell on the businessmakers show quotesnoboshcom nolan bushnell quotes nolan bushnell with leo laporte on twit triangulation no60 video and audio wed 11 july 2012 duration 87 minutes nolan bushnell with dr jeremy weisz on inspiredinsider bushnell opens up about low times and proud momentsvideo and audio duration 12 minutes how i built this atari chuck e cheeses nolan bushnell audio interview vtebafta fellowship recipients19712000 alfred hitchcock 1971 freddie young 1972 grace wyndham goldie 1973 david lean 1974 jacques cousteau 1975 charlie chaplin 1976 laurence olivier 1976 denis forman 1977 fred zinnemann 1978 lew grade 1979 huw wheldon 1979 david attenborough 1980 john huston 1980 abel gance 1981 michael powell emeric pressburger 1981 andrzej wajda 1982 richard attenborough 1983 hugh greene 1984 sam spiegel 1984 jeremy isaacs 1985 steven spielberg 1986 federico fellini 1987 ingmar bergman 1988 alec guinness 1989 paul fox 1990 louis malle 1991 john gielgud 1992 david plowright 1992 sydney samuelson 1993 colin young 1993 michael grade 1994 billy wilder 1995 jeanne moreau 1996 ronald neame 1996 john schlesinger 1996 maggie smith 1996 woody allen 1997 steven bochco 1997 julie christie 1997 oswald morris 1997 harold pinter 1997 david rose 1997 sean connery 1998 bill cotton 1998 eric morecambe ernie wise 1999 elizabeth taylor 1999 michael caine 2000 stanley kubrick 2000 peter bazalgette 2000 2001present albert finney 2001 john thaw 2001 judi dench 2001 warren beatty 2002 merchant ivory productions 2002 andrew davies 2002 john mills 2002 saul zaentz 2003 david jason 2003 john boorman 2004 roger graef 2004 john barry 2005 david frost 2005 david puttnam 2006 ken loach 2006 anne v coates 2007 richard curtis 2007 will wright 2007 anthony hopkins 2008 bruce forsyth 2008 dawn french jennifer saunders 2009 terry gilliam 2009 nolan bushnell 2009 vanessa redgrave 2010 shigeru miyamoto 2010 melvyn bragg 2010 christopher lee 2011 peter molyneux 2011 trevor mcdonald 2011 martin scorsese 2012 rolf harris 2012 alan parker 2013 gabe newell 2013 michael palin 2013 helen mirren 2014 rockstar games 2014 julie walters 2014 mike leigh 2015 david braben 2015 jon snow 2015 sidney poitier 2016 john carmack 2016 ray galton alan simpson 2016 mel brooks 2017 joanna lumley 2017 ridley scott 2018 tim schafer 2018 kate adie 2018