**** Nolan Bushnell Interview - CALL FOR QUESTIONS ****

[Joey Z]

Just out of curiosity, what's his high score in Pong?

well, I'm pretty sure the game ends at 11 points, doesn't it?

[snicklin]

He actually posted here a few times.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/162342-discuss-atari-history-with-nolan-bushnell/

 

Thanks! I really should step outside this section of the forum from time to time.

[+frankodragon]

well, I'm pretty sure the game ends at 11 points, doesn't it?

Err.. then what about Breakout then? What's his high score for that game?

[Shawn Jefferson]

I'd be interested to hear more about his reasons for selling Atari (were they purely monetary?), did he regret selling the company when he saw what Warner was doing with it? What were his interactions like with the Warner folks? What did he feel they were doing wrong, and what were they doing right? Did they orchestrate the collapse of Atari themselves, or was that something that was inevitable due in part to the way he built and ran the company, or decisions that were made early on?

Edited July 18, 2015 by Shawn Jefferson

[ricortes]

Since it came up generally in another thread...

 

Could you ask him about the use of personal computers during the 70s? Some specifics would be nice like did they have CP/M computers for the secretaries to do word processing on. Was he still in on the decision making process when the Atari CP/M expansion was alive and when it was canceled. Why it was canceled would be of interest.

[ryanmercer]

"When are you going to take to crowd funding to attempt to create something equally as wonderful as early Atari? Perhaps even hardware that would have existed during the period?"

[Bryan]

I think Nolan has generally concentrated on finding the "next big thing" instead of trying to re-create the early '70s. Besides, there are literally TONS of efforts out there to make retro gaming platforms. I'd love to see Nolan involved in something that actually went somewhere, but I think it'll take a game changing technology to launch a new 'Atari.'

[ilaskey]

Were there any aspects of the 2600 he wishes were different in retrospect e.g. a bit more RAM, More sprites etc.

 

I always felt Atari had particularly attractive packaging/artwork compared to their peers. Was that deliberate or just lucky with the art/marketing people?

[Bryan]

Any updates on the Atari movie?

 

http://www.afr.com/technology/atari-founder-nolan-bushnell-talks-steve-jobs-and-virtual-reality-20150202-131799

[+wood_jl]

(1) You HAVE TO ASK about what the clash(es) were with Warner, during the period of time when he stayed on, AFTER Warner purchased Atari but before he left, and why he left.

 

(2) What were his thoughts on the home computer industry at the time? Should the 400/800 have just been a next-gen videogame console, instead? Should Atari have even attempted entering the home computer industry? Should they have done it under a different name, much as a Lexus is really a Toyota but the marketing suggests otherwise?

 

(3) Obviously (as the founder), he must have continued to watch Atari's progress - and decline - over the years. What did he think of the following CEOs, such as Ray Kassar, James Morgan, and even in the final era - what did he think of Jack Tramiel, and what he did?

 

(4) In an alternate universe, the Atari brand could have been what the Apple brand is, today. Instead, the Atari brand is merely an office of a few people and several sue-happy lawyers, persuing copyright claims while simultaneously licensing out the brand to SHIT games for cheap cash, and T-shirts. While extremely lame, isn't that really sad?

[rkindig]

(1) You HAVE TO ASK about what the clash(es) were with Warner, during the period of time when he stayed on, AFTER Warner purchased Atari but before he left, and why he left.

 

(2) What were his thoughts on the home computer industry at the time? Should the 400/800 have just been a next-gen videogame console, instead? Should Atari have even attempted entering the home computer industry? Should they have done it under a different name, much as a Lexus is really a Toyota but the marketing suggests otherwise?

 

(3) Obviously (as the founder), he must have continued to watch Atari's progress - and decline - over the years. What did he think of the following CEOs, such as Ray Kassar, James Morgan, and even in the final era - what did he think of Jack Tramiel, and what he did?

 

(4) In an alternate universe, the Atari brand could have been what the Apple brand is, today. Instead, the Atari brand is merely an office of a few people and several sue-happy lawyers, persuing copyright claims while simultaneously licensing out the brand to SHIT games for cheap cash, and T-shirts. While extremely lame, isn't that really sad?

Good questions, wood_jl! Thank you

 

Randy

[rkindig]

You have been an inventor and an innovator across time spanning several waves of social and technological advancement. Do you ever discover blind spots in your creative vision caused by assumptions or paradigms that, once fundamental, have become obsolete?

 

At the levels of business where you have worked, did you ever look across the industry at a peer and think, "I just don't like the way that person does business"; even if that business was successful? In other words, to what extent are ethics even a factor? How much of a factor have they been for you? Have you ever made an ethical decision knowing it would amount to a diminished business outcome? Are there decisions you look back at now and wish you had made differently; in either direction?

 

Atari loyalists are quick to remind others of how much stronger the Atari ST products were than their early PC compatible counterparts. Likewise, we hold quite the grudge over the emergence of DOS and Windows on Intel as the "defacto" standard for desktop computing. What are your thoughts about why it all turned out the way it did? What, if anything, do you think Atari could have done differently to remain competitive or become dominant in that early marketplace? Do you think they should have?

 

Somewhat related to the previous question, do you look back now and think that if Atari had abandoned their efforts in coin-op and computing, and focused intensely on the home gaming console market, they might have recaptured the kind of dominance they enjoyed in the first generation of that industry? Again, should they have?

 

As a lifelong gamer, what do you think of the shift in focus away from the single-player campaign, toward the multi-player social aspects of triple-A software titles? Is the marginalization of creative storytelling in favor of the user-driven social experience an evolution you appreciate?

 

Science fiction has both enticed and frightened us with a future wherein the barrier between consciousness and simulation simply doesn't exist. The neural sciences and the video gaming market are racing to converge on the realization of that vision. As a pioneer in video gaming, what do you think the future holds in terms of application, implementation, and impact of neural-interactive simulations?

Great questions, PixelMischief! Many of them are unrelated to Atari and really none of them relate to the 8-bits, but I love these questions.

 

Randy