Nolan Bushnell: From Atari, Pong, and Chuck E Cheese to the Future of Games a... January 30, 2009

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Google Tech Talks
December 18, 2008

ABSTRACT

Title: Nolan Bushnell: From Atari, Pong, and Chuck E Cheese to the Future of Games as an Entertainment and Social Medium.

Award winning entrepreneur, founder of Atari, creator of Pong, and "Father of the Video Game Industry" Nolan Bushnell will present a one-hour Tech Talk on Thursday, December 18th. Always candid and entertaining, Nolan will draw from his more than 30 years of experience in the game industry to discuss topics including:

How the industry got started and then lost its way
The resurgence of mass market appeal with family friendly "casual" games
Nolan's current projects, including short demos and pictures
Increasing accessibility of games
Advertising and the game industry
Current growth opportunities and challenges

Speaker: Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Bushnell is CEO and founder of uWink, Inc. uWink develops digital media entertainment and hospitality software and owns and operates interactive restaurants that allow customers to order food, drinks, games and other digital media at the table through proprietary touch screen terminals. Mr. Bushnell is best known as the founder of Atari Corporation and Chuck E. Cheeses Pizza Time Theater, and is justifiably revered as the Father of the Video Game Industry.

Over the past 20 years, Bushnell has founded numerous other companies, including Catalyst Technologies, the first technology incubator; Etak, the first car navigation system whose mapping is still the basis for car navigation systems today; Androbot, a personal robotics company; and ByVideo, the first online ordering system (1982), which allowed customers to order and pay for product from kiosks. Additionally, he has provided consulting services to numerous corporations, including Commodore International, IBM, Cisco Systems and US Digital Communications.

Bushnell holds several patents on some of the basic technologies for many of the early video games developed and is also the inventor or co-inventor of numerous worldwide patents in various other fields and industries.

Over the years, Bushnell has received numerous awards of distinction, including being named ASIs Man of the Year in 1997, as well as being inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame. In January 2000 Bushnell became one of the first 50 inductees into the Consumer Electronics Associations Hall of Fame, which gave public recognition to his significant contributions to 20th Century technology. Bushnell is also highlighted as one of Silicon Valleys entrepreneurial icons in The Revolutionaries, a historical view of Silicon Valley, which is part of the renowned Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California.

Bushnell received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Utah, where he is a Distinguished Fellow, and also attended Stanford University Graduate School. With a passion for enhancing and improving the educational process and a desire to motivate others, Bushnell frequently lectures at major universities and conferences throughout the United States, inspiring others with his views on entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation.