Nolan+Bushnell

=**Nolan Bushnell: The Father of the Video Game Industry**=

Nolan Bushnell is considered the father of the video game industry. Born in 1943, he attended the University of Utah and it is there, that in 1962 he was first exposed to video games whilst playing Spacewar in the Universities computer lab. He would spend the next 7 years trying to reproduce the technology on a smaller, less expensive computer. He was successful in creating the Spacewar clone in 1971 and Computer Space became the first coin operated commercial video game It used a black-and-white television for its display, and the computer system was made of 74 series TTL chips.



In 1972 Bushnell co-founded Atari and in that same year he was at the computer electronics show in Burlingame, California where he first saw the Magnavox Odyssey. After playing the version of ping-pong that was available on the system, he realized that he could improve on the game and also reduce some of its complexities. Together with an Atari engineer, Al Alcorn, he perfected the easier to play videogame and called it Pong. Pong was first installed in a tavern in Sunnydale, California called Andy Capp’s. Atari's first engineer, set up the cube-like device on a barrel and switched it on. Two dials were set below glowing rectangles on a screen. The instructions read: "1. Insert quarter. 2. Ball will serve automatically. 3. Avoid missing ball for high score." The game proved to be very popular but its simplicity caused it to be imitated by many others. In 1975, Atari created a sensation and the hottest Christmas gift of the year when the home version of Pong was released. But it was in 1977 with the introduction of the Atari 2600 that the home video gaming industry was revolutionized and the modern video game console industry was born.



The Atari 2600, originally called the Atari VCS, is the godfather of modern videogame systems, and helped spawn a multi-billion dollar industry. Atari sold over thirty million of the consoles, and together with other companies sold hundreds of millions of games. Cartridges for the system were produced across three decades, and there are still new games being produced today.


 * Year of Release:** 1977
 * Retail Price at Launch:** $249
 * Media Type:** cartridges, cassettes via SuperCharger
 * Processor**: 6507 (8-bit)
 * Processor Speed**: 1.19 MHz
 * Screen RAM**: 128 bytes
 * Screen Resolution**: 192 x 160
 * Color Palette**: 16 colors, 4 max on-screen
 * Max Sprites**: N/A; player-missile graphics (5 max)
 * Sound**: 2 sound channels

In 1976, Warner Communications (now Time Warner) bought Atari, and Bushnell was forced out of the company in 1978. Nolan Bushnell has started over 20 companies, including Chuck E. Cheese. He has been inducted into the "Video Game Hall of Fame" and the Consumer Electronics Association "Hall of Fame."


 * Invention**: Pong Video Game in 1972
 * Definition:** noun / game trademark
 * Function:** Pong is a simple and addictive video game. A tiny "ball" floats back and forth across a "net" bisecting a dark Television screen, and 2 players use knobs to manipulate "paddles" on the screen to hit the ball. The instructions are spare: "Avoid missing ball for high score."
 * Patent:** 3,793,483 (US) issued February 19, 1974
 * Inventor:** Nolan Bushnell

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