User:Kimberley Howard

Annotated Bibliography: Nolan Bushnell and the creation of video games.

Borrell,J. (2001) 'Still playing after all these years', Upside, vol.13, iss.10, pp.110-116.

This journal found in ProQuest gives a detailed description of Nolan Bushnell and how he created the Atari empire. Still playing after all these years explains in great detail how Bushnell and his colleagues first started building the computer game organisation and provides the statistics that will make this research project more interesting and credible. These statistics include; within 18 months of starting Atari had sold 35,000 machines, had two buildings and 150 employees and by the winter of 1977-78 Atari was a $400 million company.

This article provides great information on how Nolan Bushnell and his colleagues Ted Dabney, Al Alcorn and Steve Bristow formed an organisation that changed the way we look at technology. This article will be extremely useful in the research project as the information present is not in the other books, websites and journal articles I have reviewed when researching this assignment.

By using this article in the research project it will provide more reliable information that will make a more interesting and worthwhile piece.

Herz, J. (1997) Joystick Nation: How videogames gobbled our money, won our hearts and rewired our minds, London: Abacus. ISBN 0349107238

Joystick nation: how videogames gobbled our money, won our hearts and rewired our minds is a book, similar to Trigger Happy, that speaks of the evolution of games from their primitive beginnings decades ago to the multi-million dollar industry of today.

Chapter Two titled A national history of video games outlines in great detail how video games have evolved. This included the 1971 creation of Computer Space, the first coin operated arcade game to the creation of Nolan Bushnell’s Pong. Mentions are made of Atari being sold to Warner for $28 million in 1976 and the two videogame crashes of 1977 and 1983 as well as the invasion of Sony and Nintendo that hindered the success of Atari.

This book will provide excellent background information in relation to the history of computer games as well as the success and failures of these games that are now such an important part of todays technology.

Jones, S. (2003) Encyclopedia of New Media: An essential reference to communication and technology, New York: The Maschovitis Group. ISBN 0761923829

As this course is called New Media Technologies this book will be useful when completing this research project. This book looks at new media and the definition behind it and provides a wide range of information on all subjects relating to new media. In the introduction it states:

The Encyclopedia of New Media tells us much about where we have been, where we are and where we are going with new media. The Encyclopedia is a collection of information about numerous people, places, ideas and things that connect to new media. (21)

This book speaks of the history of new media which will be useful in this project as background information is necessary. Chapters have also been written on gaming, it states “computer and video games have been key arenas for the development and proliferation of new media forms and technology� (63). This quote is the perfect example of computer games impact on new media. The chapter on gaming focuses on the birth of computer games and gaming going mass market; referring to the creation of computer and video games around the world and being sold to the masses. References are also made to the launch of Nintendo and Sega, major competitors of Atari and the emergence of online gaming. The book provides new information that will be useful for this research project.

Lukas, P. (2002) 'Game Boy', Fortune Small Business, vol.12, iss.5, pp.60-65.

This journal article found on ProQuest will prove most useful for the area I’m studying; Nolan Bushnell and the creation of video games. Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari was a pioneer in the world of video games and this journal article will provide an interesting aspect to the project. Unlike most of the other books and articles written on Nolan Bushnell, this article does not glorify him, instead it talks of his failures and mistakes as well as his achievements. This article provides an insight into Nolan Bushnell’s personality, a quote taken from the article states:

Bushnell has charisma and he's brilliant, but he can't follow through. He can recognize how to get people to drop quarters into his game, but that's about it (61).

This article has more depth than other material about Nolan Bushnell, as it talks more about the person and his strengths and weaknesses than just his statistics; referring to his bankruptcy of his other major project Chuck E. Cheese. Lukas notes of Bushnell's desire but inability to finish a job or his wife Nancy Nini calls “A five year attention span on new projects� (63).

Poole, S. (2000) Tigger Happy: The inner life of videogames, London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 1841151203

Trigger happy: the inner life of video games is a book that looks at the evolution of video games. It speaks of how video games were invented 30 years ago and are so big now they are now measured in terms of the first weekends millions like those of mass market films. Steven Poole said “video games now generate $17 billion worth of business and can now be studied at University� (32).

Steven Poole’s book refers to Nolan Bushnell’s creation of the “first� video game Pong as well as Atari. Unlike many of the book and articles referring to Nolan Bushnell and Pong, Poole’s book speak of Bushnell being sued by video game designer Ralph Baer who made a similar game to Pong six months earlier.

Poole argues “that all these Pong style games were descendants of the lost oscilloscope program by Willy Higinbotham, who never made a penny� (34). This book speaks of due to so many rival home machines, manufacturers were dumping them at knockdown prices and many manufacturers went bust. It was thought games were just a fad.

This book would be helpful to the research project as it provides an interesting and convincing argument that Nolan Bushnell did not invent the first computer game.

Pong Story. [Online], (2004). Available: http://www.pong-story.com [Accessed 10 Aug. 2004]

The website titled Pong Story aims to set straight the misunderstanding of video games history. This site provides a detailed history of the creation of video and computer games; stating TV engineer Ralph Baer created the idea as far back as 1951. In 1952 A.S Douglas created a Tic-Tac-Toe game and in 1958, Willy Higginbotham created Tennis for Two. This website also provides in-depth information of the first video game system, Magnavox Odyssey to Atari’s Pong’s first steps.

However, the most interesting aspect of the website is an article written by Ralph Baer titled Who did it first?. Baer questions Willy Higginbotham’s claims he invented the video game, even referring to the law suit against Baer and his company Sanders, which Higginbotham lost. “W.H is a straw man put in the spotlight by a fluke of history� (1).

Baer stated “there are only two individuals who can claim to have invented the video game, Nolan Bushnell and Ralph Baer� (1). Baer even calling Bushnell the “Father of Arcade Video Games� and calling himself “The Father of Home Video Games�. This article provides a very interesting and helpful aspect to the research project as it is from Ralph Baer himself, who is discussed in many of the other books and articles.

The History of Computer and Video Games. [Online]. Available:http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcomputer_videogames.htm [Accessed 6 Aug. 2004]

The information is from a website titled About Inventors, which focuses the greatest inventors of our past, with excessive amounts of information on the inventors of computer and video games and the history surrounding it. This page speaks about the important computer games figures such as William Higinbotham, Steve Russell, Ralph Baer and of course Nolan Bushnell. In a time-line like manner it gives a brief overview of the how computer games came about as well as providing links to related pages on the website.

These pages include the detailed history of the first ever video game Pong, as well as an interview with Nolan Bushnell where he speaks of his beginnings, his future and his feelings towards Atari after he left. This will provide an interesting aspect to the research project as it provides a more personal feature which come from direct quotes from Nolan Bushnell. This website also has links to information on Atari, which could also prove useful when completing this project.

Wikipedia. [Online], (2004). Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Bushnell [Accessed 6 Aug. 2004]

During the course of this subject, New Media Technologies students are taught about Wiki and the Wikipedia; all assessment revolves around the Wiki including this annotated bibliography. The section revolving around Nolan Bushnell contains detailed information that includes a biography of the Atari founder as well as his history with computer games. After researching this page it became obvious that this page would be an asset to the research project as it provides vital information for the assignment as well as using Wiki which is extremely relevant in this course, New Media Technologies.

This website provides a detailed biography on Nolan Bushnell as well as providing links to topics mentioned on the page, including the creation of Pong; Atari’s first game, as well as pages on Atari, other video games, uWink which Nolan Bushnell founded in 1999 and Chuck E. Cheese. By using Wikipedia for this project it will enhance my knowledge of Nolan Bushnell, Atari and the creation of video games as well as Wiki.

Videogames History

Kimberley Howard 21:46, 12 Aug 2004 (EST)

Kimberley Howard 14:49, 11 Aug 2004 (EST)
Kimberley Howard 14:17, 11 Aug 2004 (EST)

Kimberley Howard 18:12, 6 Aug 2004 (EST)

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