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

[carmel_andrews]

According to AA's trivia section Atari were forced to hold back the launch of the VCS (2600) due to 'legal reasons'

 

Can anyone elaborate on the specific legal reasons

 

I can only think of 2

 

1 the fact that the VCS also used 'sprite graphics' using a chip Atari designed

 

2 the fact that Atari used programmable game cartridges like the Channel F

[jaybird3rd]

To make a long story short, Magnavox sued Atari for patent infringement, and Atari worked out a one-year deal to pay Magnavox a royalty on every Pong system that Atari sold. Thanks to Nolan Bushnell's foresight, the deal "just happened" to expire right before the 1977 CES in Chicago, so Atari just kept the already-in-development 2600 under wraps until the show so they wouldn't have to pay Magnavox any royalties for it (which they would have had to do if they shipped it earlier). It only made the 2600's debut all the more exciting, because nobody at CES was expecting to see it.

[Foxsolo2000]

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

[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

[Foxsolo2000]

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

[G.Whiz]

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

[rolenta]

To make a long story short, Magnavox sued Atari for patent infringement, and Atari worked out a one-year deal to pay Magnavox a royalty on every Pong system that Atari sold. Thanks to Nolan Bushnell's foresight, the deal "just happened" to expire right before the 1977 CES in Chicago, so Atari just kept the already-in-development 2600 under wraps until the show so they wouldn't have to pay Magnavox any royalties for it (which they would have had to do if they shipped it earlier). It only made the 2600's debut all the more exciting, because nobody at CES was expecting to see it.

 

I just checked with Ralph Baer and this is not true. Magnavox and Atari did not have a one-year licensing deal. Atari, like every other company that came along, paid Magnavox royalties for every system it released that used Sanders technology that Baer developed.

 

The only special privilages that Atari received was that because it was the first company to be sued, it obtained the licensing rights dirt cheap.

[shadow460]

I think is Bushnell had kept Atari we might have more powerful consoles today. Atari would have had something in the NES time frame, be it the actual NES or an Atari system.

Nintendo probably wouldn't be a big name today. They might still have the portable market, but they'd probably be a third party developer in the console world.

[NovaXpress]

If Bushnell had kept Atari, we'd now be members of OdysseyAge.

 

Bushnell didn't have enough money to launch and support a programmable system. Only a major company like Warners could handle that sort of investment. The VCS never would have became a mass market commodity without them.

 

Bushnell was in the right place at the right time. He got his start by ripping off SpaceWar. He made his money by ripping off Pong. Throw in the home consoles and he was pretty much ripping off Ralph Baer in general, taking advantage of Magavox's missteps to do things a little better. The guy from the Sears sporting goods department who took a chance on Atari consoles is the real unsung hero.

 

Bushnell had Sente. It created nothing of note and failed miserably. If he's such a genius at the video game business then why hasn't he done anything with it in the almost 40 years since? He was an immensely important figure, but his time was over in the 70s.

[jaybird3rd]

I just checked with Ralph Baer and this is not true. Magnavox and Atari did not have a one-year licensing deal. Atari, like every other company that came along, paid Magnavox royalties for every system it released that used Sanders technology that Baer developed.

 

The only special privilages that Atari received was that because it was the first company to be sued, it obtained the licensing rights dirt cheap.

Ah, thanks for that clarification. My understanding of the incident comes primarily from hearing Bushnell's and Al Alcorn's version of the story, particularly from the "Stella at 20" documentary (in which Alcorn specifically mentions the one-year timeframe leading up to CES when Atari kept quiet about the 2600). Speaking of "unsung heroes," I'm so glad that Ralph Baer is finally beginning to get due recognition as one of the fathers of video games. Bushnell's innovation was commercializing video games and helping to make them a mainstream entertainment product, but he couldn't have done it if it wasn't for the trailblazing work of Ralph Baer (among others of course).

 

It is a pity about Bushnell, though ... I still think of him as a visionary and I admire his ideas (particularly about education), but unless I missed something, he hasn't been able to parlay any of that into any kind of lasting commercial success since he left Atari. It's really too bad that he and Ray Kassar couldn't find a way to peacefully coexist; they could have been a lot more successful together than either of them were on their own after Bushnell left. Warner picked up the technology that Atari had created and brought the marketing dollars that made it successful, but without Bushnell and his original creative team (Miner, DeCuir, Mayer, Milner, etc), Warner didn't have the vision to create something better. All they knew was to stick with the 2600 (for far too long) because it was their cash cow, and aside for the 5200 (a bungled recycling of the 400/800), Atari never developed another game system; all their subsequent consoles came from outside the company.

Edited August 8, 2006 by jaybird3rd

[kirin jensen]

If Bushnell had kept Atari, we'd now be members of OdysseyAge.

 

Bushnell didn't have enough money to launch and support a programmable system. Only a major company like Warners could handle that sort of investment. The VCS never would have became a mass market commodity without them.

 

Bushnell was in the right place at the right time. He got his start by ripping off SpaceWar. He made his money by ripping off Pong. Throw in the home consoles and he was pretty much ripping off Ralph Baer in general, taking advantage of Magavox's missteps to do things a little better. The guy from the Sears sporting goods department who took a chance on Atari consoles is the real unsung hero.

 

Bushnell had Sente. It created nothing of note and failed miserably. If he's such a genius at the video game business then why hasn't he done anything with it in the almost 40 years since? He was an immensely important figure, but his time was over in the 70s.

Pretty much on the money. The deal to retail through THE retailer of the 70s was a huge deal. If the O2 had made a similar deal with, say, KMart or J.C. Penny it might have remained in the #2 spot instead of slipping to #3.

[dwh]

If Bushnell had kept Atari, we'd now be members of OdysseyAge.

 

Bushnell didn't have enough money to launch and support a programmable system. Only a major company like Warners could handle that sort of investment. The VCS never would have became a mass market commodity without them.

 

Bushnell was in the right place at the right time. He got his start by ripping off SpaceWar. He made his money by ripping off Pong. Throw in the home consoles and he was pretty much ripping off Ralph Baer in general, taking advantage of Magavox's missteps to do things a little better. The guy from the Sears sporting goods department who took a chance on Atari consoles is the real unsung hero.

 

 

Careful, Magnavox might sue this site and force us to change it to OdysseyAge(!).After reading the Ralph Baer book, it seems that he spent half his life in court for Magnavox.

[Shannon]

snip

 

Atari never developed another game system; all their subsequent consoles came from outside the company.

You forgot the XEG system.

[jaybird3rd]

You forgot the XEG system.

True, but that wasn't really a new system either; it was another 400/800 retread and more a computer than a game system.

[supercat]

Speaking of "unsung heroes," I'm so glad that Ralph Baer is finally beginning to get due recognition as one of the fathers of video games.

 

Ralph Baer's book is interesting, but even reading things from his point of view I don't totally find myself siding with him. I think he clearly deserves credit for establishing the concept of a mass-marketed device to play games on a television set, of inventing a game with two on-screen paddles that bounce around an on-screen ball, and probably for using simultaneous display as a means of collision detection (I don't know if any video applications did such things previously). Patents, however, are not supposed to be so broad as to encompass entire industries. To allow a person to get a patent covering all games played on TV screens would be like giving Upjohn a patent covering any and all topical baldness medications.

 

I don't particularly have any beef with Baer winning patent lawsuits against Pong machines. Going after Activision for its 2600 games, however, is another story. The concept of using computers to play games long predates Baer's patents. Although the prior art (SpaceWar) was hopelessly impractical for home use at the time it was developed, when microprocessors became cheap enough to appear in consumer-level products the development of computer games for home use would be a natural and logical progression. The 2600 is a computer (thanks to Warren Robinett, it can even run BASIC). While it's not as expensive as the one that ran SpaceWar, and may not be as powerful (I would guess it has a lot less RAM, but more raw processing speed, but I don't really know) it's a computer nonetheless. Though SpaceWar didn't hook up to a television set, I'm sure there were computers in the intervening years that used NTSC monitors as display devices, and RF modulators to allow people to view video signals on television sets.

 

BTW, it's still amazing to think about how many ways the 2600 designers lucked out technically. The 2600 ended up being one of the few early systems to really do a good job of vertical scrolling despite the fact that nobody anticipated any need for any sort of scrolling whatsoever (an oversight that in a way seems curious, to be sure; scrolling had been used in movies and television programs for aeons). Despite the lack of scrolling hardware, though, vertical scrolling works very well.

[Shannon]

You forgot the XEG system.

True, but that wasn't really a new system either; it was another 400/800 retread and more a computer than a game system.

Yeah, but so was the 5200...

[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.

 

I also want to point out that most of the richest men in this country were thieves. Its not about stealing its about knowning what and when to steal. Just ask Bill Gates. Obviously Magnavox just didn't have what the public REALLY wanted, or they wouldn't have all wanted Ataris.

 

If Bushnell had kept Atari just a little longe HE and not Kassar would have gotten the rights to produce Space Invaders for the system and once he did that money would not have bene an issue and he would have maintained a much better morale amongst his programmers. There would be no Activision, I tell you that.

 

Instead warner's put Evil Incarnate in the Big Boss chair and created the systems downfall from day one, unknowingly of course.

 

-Ray

Edited August 9, 2006 by pocketmego

[Atari-Jess]

Yes, me too. I see Bushnell as sort of the Steve Jobs of the videogame world.

 

Thats pretty fair, Bushnel ran a party company, just like Jobs. Hell, he probably knew jobs since he worked there as what was it, employee 40?

 

Jobs may have been inspired business wise by a certain Mr. Bushnell.

[NovaXpress]

Well, Jobs stole from Wozniak when "they" were creating Breakout so there you go.

 

Bushnell didn't have the ability to buy Space Invaders. And if he'd used his own money, the 2600 wouldn't have lasted long enough to see its release.

[rolenta]

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.

 

He doesn't own Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese went bankrupt years ago but I don't know if this happened while he owned it or after he sold it. Today it's a public company owned by CEC Entertainment Inc. Bushnell isn't even on the Board.

 

Bushnell's latest project is UWink which has been around for at least three years and hasn't yet offered anything.

 

As for him never having to work again, I don't know how true that is either. I was surprised to learn a few years that Bushnell squandered away most of his money.

Edited August 9, 2006 by rolenta

[jaybird3rd]

As for him never having to work again, I don't know how true that is either. I was surprised to learn a few years that Bushnell squandered away most of his money.

I don't know if he "squandered" it or not, but he's certainly had his share of money troubles in recent years:

 

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09...nell2-9937.html

 

However badly Bushnell might have managed his money, after reading that article, I still think Merrill Lynch sucks.

[NovaXpress]

"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

[kisrael]

"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

Heh, uWink.

 

Hey, didn't Antic magazine have an article about a restaurant that was wired up w/ Atari computers? Seeing uWinks "order from the table" made me think of that...

[Godzilla]

so.... how about that original topic? any real answers regarding that? or just more nolan bashing?

[NovaXpress]

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.