30 Minute Nolan Bushnell Interview - circa 2000

Originally shot for the PS1/Dreamcast/PC title "Atari Anniversary Edition", released in 2001.
00:00 The Beginning of Atari
02:00 Syzergy
02:16 Computer Space
02:52 Did you ever think it was going to get this big
03:50 The best and the brightest
04:13 70s Silicon Valley vs Atari
05:05 Health Insurance
06:08 No Venture Capital
06:40 I was tired so I sold.
06:58 The conception and history of pong
07:00 Early Computer Games
07:57 Vector vs TV
08:25 $10k Minicomputer Time Share?
10:30 Do it in Hardware
10:35 Pong as a training project for Al Alcorn
11:33 Was going to be a guy not a paddle
12:07 Andy Capp's Tavern mecca for Silicon Valley Techies
12:47 Barrel
13:05 Cash Box service call
13:27 BIRTH : Build the first 11
14:23 Smash hit
14:44 Simple yet Complex
14:55 Women Players
15:41 The trick to free games in pong
16:00 The world knows about it in a femto-second.
16:40 Atari Shuffle - Carpers, Nylon Jackets and the Static charge
17:40 No coins - Water Coins
18:27 The home version of pong - No one would buy - A turkey?
19:10 How do we get Distribution
19:40 Sears Sports Department Buyer
20:29 He showed up on our doorstep the next day, how many can you make? Realistically 25,000-30,000, we said 70,000, he ordered 150,000!
21:50 Sears banked 80% of the cost - we ended the year having made 200k pong games
21:23 His strategy for market domination - minimum rules, maximum riches
22:12 How did Atari VCS 2600 dominate
22:25 In Channel Capacity - Small Scale Internal Process - Tie up the capacity
23:55 The blocking strategy $100k to dominate is cheap.
24:30 His feeling on founding an industry
24:40 Amusement Park + Engineering Degree + Video Computer Experience
25:13 There will be games in most homes - Revolutionize Education
26:00 His perspective on the industry
26:44 There was a time in computing when I knew EVERYTHING!
27:15 The games were fun because they were simple, accessible, challenging but fun.
28:22 Technical Breakthrough (Space Wars/Mainframe to Pong TTL to Home Pong/Single Chip to Asteroids/CPU to Stella 2600/Cartridge Model)
30:20 Razor/Razorblade model
30:40 Big Faster and Polygons
31:00 Entertainment : B&W to Ball Paddle to Driving to Puzzle (Pacman/Centipede) to Computers (Colossal Cave) long form game.
32:40 Arcades have always had good user interfaces
33:18 Home Console vs Computer : Creativity : Low Budget creativity
34:10 Emulation allows anyone to access the classics.
35:05 Nolan's favorite game? Go!
35:40 The CPU used in pong - THERE ISNT ONE!
36:00 No CPUs until 1975/76 Asteroids

[@buckfiden9309]

Excellent interview.

[@artsolano6762]

One of the true pioneers in the computer industry. Bushnell is often pushed aside for the likes of Gates and Jobs, but he is there among them for his contributions. What could have been if Bushnell had never sold to Warner. Atari's demise is a sad story. Its ascension was such a wonderful story of risk, hard work, and innovation.