1941-
 Photo courtesy uWink |
Even as a child, Bushnell added that "October Sky" quality to his endeavors, once nearly burning down the family garage with a homemade rocket apparatus attached to a skateboard. Ideas improved for Bushnell while attending the University of Utah. A self-described bad student, Bushnell was more interested in managing an amusement park and learning the latest in computer graphics.
Bushnell created his first computer video game, Computer Space, in 1970 (based on the earlier Spacewar game written by Massachussetts Institute of Technology student Steve Russell), but its cumbersome nature kept it from breaking out. It served, however, as the unwitting prototype for Asteroids, later a very popular game. First, however, came Pong, a videogame version of Ping-Pong that debuted in 1971 at a bar in Sunnyvale, Ca.
Pong became famous for its familiar beep-beep between the blips noises, its rapid-fire style and its hypnotic pull. The game was so successful as a corner amusement for businesses that Bushnell started a company called Atari in 1972, with the help of friend Ted Dabney and $500 in capital.
Atari set the standard for computer video gaming, including an agreement with Sears in 1971 to sell a home version of Pong, establishing the first interactive gaming between user and home television set. Five years later, Time Warner bought Atari, as Bushnell was already thinking beyond computer gaming and looking to the future of pizza, more specifically using pizza as the bridge connecting parents and their children.
Frequently decrying the lack of places for families to go together in America, Bushnell founded Chuck E. Cheese restaurants in 1977, creating an atmosphere of inexpensive food, video games and costumed animals that sometimes frightened but mostly delighted wee folks and their parents. Bushnell wasn't done, though. He has created more than 20 companies of various sizes, and continues to develop videogame ideas. His most recent venture is uWink.com, a company dedicated to computer entertainment in public venues and worldwide, multi-player gaming tournaments.
Bushnell was one of the first 50 inductees into the Consumer Electronic Association's Hall of Fame. He continues to promote computer entertainment and gaming as a useful education tool.
