Atari founder Nolan Bushnell is coming to the Alamo City

[RARusk]

On November 9 there will be a rally by a local group called Tech Bloc that will be held at RackSpace here in San Antonio featuring Atari founder Nolan Bushnell (this page goes into more detail about the event and how much to attend). If you're local this would be where the old Windsor Park Mall used to be (I-35 and Walzem).

Prior to the main program there will be the pre-party with gaming contests and cosplay. The contests will be done using the four main Atari consoles: 2600, 5200, 7800, and Jaguar. All consoles, controllers (including homebrew), games, and other stuff that have been accumulated over the years (including the Lynx) are being provided by me for the event.

I'm hoping that some of the local AA'ers will come by and partake in the festivities. Feel free to ask me questions if you're interested.

[amiman99]

It would be nice to go, but on Thursday is a no go for me, it's a school night and kids can't go.

 

I wished they did that on a weekend.

[PikoInteractive]

I bought Tickets already, hopefully nothing comes up.

[RARusk]

As I mentioned there is going to be gaming contests held before the main program. Each of the four consoles will use one game for them with volunteers keeping track of the scores. And the games are:

On the Atari 2600 it will be Space Invaders.

On the Atari 5200 it will be Pac-Man. The console itself has been modified to get rid of needing to use the special switchbox. The controller used will be an arcade stick (built into an old ColecoVision case) with a Wico Command Center keypad module and all attached to a Redemption 5200 adapter.

On the Atari 7800 it will be Asteroids. The controller used will be the Mini 7800 controller used for the early Atari Flashback consoles but re-wired so it can be used on the 7800 itself.

On the Jaguar it will be Tempest 2000. The controller used will be a rotary controller I built years ago and with a second joypad for bonus stages and high-score entry.

[RARusk]

The event went pretty well and I got a couple of pictures of myself with Nolan. He also came in with the express purpose of shoeshaming everybody - he wore bright red shoes with LED lighted soles. Everybody also liked the consoles and setups - winners of the contests got a flat screen TV. After everything was said and done I was invited to dinner at a restaurant near Trinity University which I happily accepted. Glad I went. Not only was the food taken care of, meaning free dinner, I also got to sit just a few feet away from two of the three founders of RackSpace, Nolan Bushnell, and the Mayor of San Antonio. All in all, a pretty good night. I have plenty of pictures but I will need to go through them first.

[RARusk]

I just put my pictures from the event on FaceBook but I need to put them on my account at imgur before posting them here. In the meantime, a local film crew did work for the event and released their film today. You can catch fleeting glimpses of me but I'm in there.

 

[lushgirl_80]

Sounds like a nice event! I'll be interviewing Nolan again early next year. He is a great man.

[RARusk]

I finally put up my pictures up at imgur but here are a few of them if you don't want to travel:

 

 

 

 

My Atari 2600 Jr. setup for Space Invaders using a slightly modified Competition Pro joystick.

 

 

My Atari 5200 setup for Ms. Pac-Man. The console was modified to have separate power and video to remove the need for the special switchbox. To get around the horrible analog joystick controls I used an arcade joystick built into an old Colecovision case and a Wico Command Joystick keypad module all attached to a Redemption 5200 adapter which I got in 2003 but never used until now. It should be pointed out that the poster is for the 2600 version not the 5200 version. BTW, I didn't supply the posters either.

 

 

My Atari 7800 setup for the 7800 version of Asteroids. Since the original 7800 controller is marginally better than the 5200 controller I modified an Atari FlashBack Mini 7800 controller to work with the original 7800 console. You can't just plug that controller into the 7800 as it was only designed with the FlashBack so I cut some traces and rewired the controller which was a pain in the ass because of the cramped space. Works much better than the original. Again, the poster is for the 2600 version of the game not the 7800 one.

 

 

My Atari Jaguar setup for Tempest 2000. The controller is a custom made rotary controller connected to a modified joypad to serve as an interface to the console. Once again, the poster is for the 2600 version of the game and actually looks better than the Jaguar version cover.

 

 

My first picture with Nolan Bushnell which was taken during the event.

 

 

Nolan during his portion of the Rally.

 

 

I took this picture of Nolan's shoes after the Rally.

 

 

This was taken during the after Rally dinner at Chisme. This is a picture of Graham Weston, one of the founders of RackSpace, Nolan, and Ron Nirenberg, the Mayor of San Antonio. One of the other RS founders, Dirk Elmendorf, was too far away to be photographed.

 

 

One more picture with Nolan before going home.

 

 

This is a game that Nolan was involved with in the late '80s. Had it autographed and took this picture at home after the event.

 

 

[AMenard]

I finally put up my pictures up at imgur but here are a few of them if you don't want to travel:

 

 

 

 

My Atari 2600 Jr. setup for Space Invaders using a slightly modified Competition Pro joystick.

 

 

My Atari 5200 setup for Ms. Pac-Man. The console was modified to have separate power and video to remove the need for the special switchbox. To get around the horrible analog joystick controls I used an arcade joystick built into an old Colecovision case and a Wico Command Joystick keypad module all attached to a Redemption 5200 adapter which I got in 2003 but never used until now. It should be pointed out that the poster is for the 2600 version not the 5200 version. BTW, I didn't supply the posters either.

 

 

My Atari 7800 setup for the 7800 version of Asteroids. Since the original 7800 controller is marginally better than the 5200 controller I modified an Atari FlashBack Mini 7800 controller to work with the original 7800 console. You can't just plug that controller into the 7800 as it was only designed with the FlashBack so I cut some traces and rewired the controller which was a pain in the ass because of the cramped space. Works much better than the original. Again, the poster is for the 2600 version of the game not the 7800 one.

 

 

My Atari Jaguar setup for Tempest 2000. The controller is a custom made rotary controller connected to a modified joypad to serve as an interface to the console. Once again, the poster is for the 2600 version of the game and actually looks better than the Jaguar version cover.

 

 

My first picture with Nolan Bushnell which was taken during the event.

 

 

Nolan during his portion of the Rally.

 

 

I took this picture of Nolan's shoes after the Rally.

 

 

This was taken during the after Rally dinner at Chisme. This is a picture of Graham Weston, one of the founders of RackSpace, Nolan, and Ron Nirenberg, the Mayor of San Antonio. One of the other RS founders, Dirk Elmendorf, was too far away to be photographed.

 

 

One more picture with Nolan before going home.

 

 

This is a game that Nolan was involved with in the late '80s. Had it autographed and took this picture at home after the event.

 

 

What? No spa, booze or drugs! Mr. Bushnell is getting old