Steve Bristow confirms Nolan's involvement with Missile Command?

[wavelflack]

Hello to all.

 

I debated whether or not to add this to the gigantorthread about Nolan's new gig, or simply create a new topic. I felt you all might find this interesting enough to warrant standalone status. Also, the other thread seems to have petered out...

 

For my dinner reading material tonight, I selected my well thumbed copy of "The First Quarter". It has some problems, mostly in copyediting, but it's the original edition and I suppose those problems were corrected in subsequent printings?

 

At any rate, I was interested to read it again after the insights provided by the giant Nolan thread. Items previously of "scholarly interest" now seems to have greater significance. It's a bit like putting a name with a face after many years without.

 

Here's a bit of info I thought might shed fresh light on the mystery of Nolan's claimed involvement with Missile Command.

 

"Missile Command was based upon an old game called Missile Radar that Nolan had seen before he started Atari. In that game you tried to intercept missiles before they hit your base. We always brought this up at brainstorming sessions." --Steve Bristow

 

This is on page 112 of "The First Quarter". Does this help reconcile anything?

[+Cafeman]

I haven't seen you around for SOOOOO long that I forgot you existed. I think I recall you from some other board like 10 years ago -what was it?

 

Thanks for the post. I'm putting down the Sherlock Holmes tonight, and reading some Last Quarter again.

[wavelflack]

I haven't seen you around for SOOOOO long that I forgot you existed. I think I recall you from some other board like 10 years ago -what was it?

 

Thanks for the post. I'm putting down the Sherlock Holmes tonight, and reading some Last Quarter again.

 

 

That's funny. I just saw you at the tail of the big Nolan thread and wondered "Is that the same Cafeman?"

 

I guess it is!

 

Must have been GA forums, then Opa Age perhaps?

[+Cafeman]

I never really frequented Opa Age. Must have been either Gaming Aging before it was NeoGAF, or maybe it was Hardcore Gaming message board, or both. Howdy, and g'night. zzzzz.

[+Psionic]

Here's a bit of info I thought might shed fresh light on the mystery of Nolan's claimed involvement with Missile Command.

 

"Missile Command was based upon an old game called Missile Radar that Nolan had seen before he started Atari. In that game you tried to intercept missiles before they hit your base. We always brought this up at brainstorming sessions." --Steve Bristow

 

This is on page 112 of "The First Quarter". Does this help reconcile anything?

Sounds plausible enough. There were often brainstorming sessions at Atari where game ideas were discussed and sometimes things ended up being made, sometimes not. Assuming this story is true, then Nolan could claim some loose "involvement" with the game. (Nolan himself has probably forgotten this, as he apparently remained non-specific about the exact nature of his involvement during his conversation with Curt last night.)

 

The specific problem for me was his perceived claim of concrete involvement with the design of the coin-op itself and his specific memories of the game's development, which didn't seem to add up (playing the game in his office at Atari with "some buddies" and such). He explained this by admitting that he was indeed mistaken, and that he was misremembering being shown a (prototype) version of the game and playing it at a meeting during his time with Chuck E. Cheese (after he left Atari). Again, sounds plausible enough I suppose.

 

In any event, the issue has pretty much been settled...but thanks for posting that.

[mos6507]

"Missile Command was based upon an old game called Missile Radar that Nolan had seen before he started Atari. In that game you tried to intercept missiles before they hit your base.[/b]

 

After a little goggling, Missile Radar is listed by KLOV as a Nutting Associates game from 1973, so that would be AFTER they founded Atari. But obviously it's still early, one of the very first videogames, and by the looks of the promo artwork, decidedly pongish. It looks like a 1-player pong where you shoot straight up at the dot instead of just bounce it off your paddle. That's got to be a collector's holy grail.

Edited April 28, 2010 by mos6507

[The_Laird]

Steve Bristow talks about it in the latest issue of Retro Gamer and mentions that the game did actually become Missile Command.

[desiv]

So you're implying that there might be a plausible explanation for Nolan's claim that he was "involved" in Missile Command.

 

Oh no you didn't???

 

desiv

[Curt Vendel]

When I brought up mc to Nolan the other night that was actually the first thing I asked was he confusing Missile Command with the Nutting Missile Radar, which only seems to have gone to nothing more then a concept drawing and never made it even to prototype. Nolan immediately said No, that he felt he confused the Atari guys bringing a proto of MC to his boardroom at CeC and that was where the confusion was from.

 

 

 

Curt

 

Hello to all.

 

I debated whether or not to add this to the gigantorthread about Nolan's new gig, or simply create a new topic. I felt you all might find this interesting enough to warrant standalone status. Also, the other thread seems to have petered out...

 

For my dinner reading material tonight, I selected my well thumbed copy of "The First Quarter". It has some problems, mostly in copyediting, but it's the original edition and I suppose those problems were corrected in subsequent printings?

 

At any rate, I was interested to read it again after the insights provided by the giant Nolan thread. Items previously of "scholarly interest" now seems to have greater significance. It's a bit like putting a name with a face after many years without.

 

Here's a bit of info I thought might shed fresh light on the mystery of Nolan's claimed involvement with Missile Command.

 

"Missile Command was based upon an old game called Missile Radar that Nolan had seen before he started Atari. In that game you tried to intercept missiles before they hit your base. We always brought this up at brainstorming sessions." --Steve Bristow

 

This is on page 112 of "The First Quarter". Does this help reconcile anything?

[mbd30]

...

Edited April 28, 2010 by mbd30