Nolan Bushnell: Today's games are "unadulterated trash"

by Justin McElroy { Oct 22nd 2007 at 11:45AM }

The man behind Atari and founding father of the video game industry Nolan Bushnell has shared with electronic design just how unhappy he is with the industry he helped to usher in, saying, "Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad for that." Wow, he's sounding more like our real dad every day.

As sorry as we are to hear Bushnell's displeasure with gaming's behavior since it sprang from his intellectual loins, we do have to say that we think he's generalizing just a bit and coming off a tad -- dare we say it? -- curmudgeonly? We know the guy plays plenty of 360 and loves his Wii, so why all the anger? Gaming has its share of crap, but there are also plenty of bright spots, even if they aren't the sort of game that packs 'em in to a Chuck E. Cheese.

[Via Gamasutra]

Tags: atari, nolanbushnell

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Jerk Face @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:48AM

Pardon my language, but that picture makes him look like the craziest mother fucker in the entire world!

I seriously can't stop laughing. I really need to stop reading this shit at work!

Jerk Face @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:54AM

Oh, god! I just actually READ the article:

"Wow, he's sounding more like our real dad every day."

Holy shit that is too much. I'm seriously going to get fired for my obvious and blatant internet usage at a government job. Damn you McElroy!

Abscissa @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:20PM

Heh, he does look kinda, "There be gold in them thar hills!"

Shagittarius @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:49AM

I remember when I was your age we use to have real music, good music, the kind of music you could dance to. Now the music is all terrible. You kids today are stupid!

Jerk Face @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:51AM

We used to have to walk all the way to the arcade, uphill both ways, just to play Galaga on the flickering screen and with the sticky buttons. And god damn it, we liked it!

Jerk Face @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:51AM

We used to have to walk all the way to the arcade, uphill both ways, just to play Galaga on the flickering screen and with the sticky buttons. And god damn it, we liked it!

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:57AM

Oh how I miss the days of Chuck-E-Cheese.

...with those...disembodied limbs on the wall that would sporadically start clapping and banging symbols together when the animatronic band wasn't playing.
I never did get the the F-ck was up with that when I was a youngin'.
...Hell, I *still* don't..!

DWells55 @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:11PM

As much as I respect Atari, I can't help but agree that this guy sounds like he's having a "back in my day" rant. Don't get me wrong, Atari and games like Pong helped usher in the era of video gaming which we've all become so accustomed to. However, like any for of expression or media, video games have progressed and evolved over the years. Yes, games of today are radically different from those of the past and it seems that many companies have lost sight of creating a great game and are more concerned about being a business. However, that's not to say that there aren't still fantastic, well-made, innovative, and most importantly, fun titles being made. As Joystiq points out, Bioshock succeeded in being both a great game in the gameplay aspect but also a work of art in it's direction, style, and visuals.

Change is inevitable. It's simply a matter of embracing that change for the better.

Hirsbrunner @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:11PM

Chuck E. Cheese?!! Phhfft!!

Back in my day it was the Showbiz Pizza Place!

That's what it was, and we LIKED it!

That creepy anamatronic bear would stare me down every time we went there.

Cellien @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:35PM

It was Showbiz for me too. Samfish is a youngin' :P

AstroZombie @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:57PM

Hell yeah, I remember Showbiz. After they changed over to Chuck E. Cheese, they took out the sit-down Star Wars cabinet, and I never went back.

Chris @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:41PM

Whats wrong with you people, it was Chuck E. Cheese first, THEN Showbiz, and THEN back to Chuck E Cheese. I loved Chuck E. when I was a kid and devistated when it turned into Showbiz.

Hirsbrunner @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:57PM

Not where I lived, it wasn't. It was Showbiz first, THEN Chuck E. bought them out.

That's when I stopped going. They took all the arcade games out, and put in crap games.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:11PM

Showbiz was mostly in the South, if memory serves, while Chuck-E-Cheese kinda had the West coast and New England locked up.
My dad was the regional account manager (or something) for Chuck-E-Cheese, so we went there ALL the time. Between spending several days a week there and Atari, it's how I dun gots mah start!

BUT YEAH! Rotten kids! Not knowin' that Chuck-E-Cheese was before Showbiz Pizza Place! What's the world comin' to these days?!

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:31PM

We had Showbiz in Aurora Il when I was a young-un.

The anamatronic gorilla scared the shit out of me.

Hirsbrunner @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:59PM

Ahh, that's right! It was a gorilla, not a bear. That creepy-ass gorilla used to scare the bejebus outta me, too.

Skeffington @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:50AM

He sounds like one of those guys who wear old decrepit Led Zeppelin T Shirts and make a point of saying every two seconds: 'Music was better was in my days, we had Jim, Jimi and Janis, that was the real stuff! None of that crap you young kids call 'music' these days...'

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:52AM

Except what the kids call "music" these days really is crap.

Is fall out boy crap? Is Britney Crap? Is Emo Crap?

If you said "no" to any one of those questions then GTFO!

danny. (fdf.) @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:56AM

look harder... there's plenty of good stuff out there.

On topic: I don't really understand why he's making attention grabs when he is completely irrelevant today.

Skeffington @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:59AM

There's plenty of great stuff, it just so happens not to be successful, or at least not as successful as the bands/genres you've mentioned.

FordGTGuy @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:00PM

Slipknot is not crap.

gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:01PM

yeah new pop/rap music sucks ass

i just listen to techno and classic rock and jazz

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:15PM

"Slipknot is not crap."

Damn right. They're MEGA CRAAAAAP!

Victor @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:35PM

Ever heard about a band called Radiohead?
Or Queens of the Stone Age?

gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:37PM

raiohead's only good album was ok computer (which is a great one, i love it)

AstroZombie @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:00PM

"radiohead's only good album was ok computer"

gonk = FAIL.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:04PM

Funny, I was listening to radiohead in the late 90s. Pretty sure Queens of the Stone age was around then also.

But POPULAR music now is CRAP by any real standards. Technically, interpretively, artistically. Its crap.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:05PM

It's funny you mention Led Zeppelin, 'cuz I read that Nolan Bushnell built all those Pong machines in an abandoned roller rink high as hell and blasting Zep over the speaker system. The guy used to know how to party.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:13PM

"raiohead's only good album was ok computer"

Now THOSE are fightin' words!

baby sea tuna @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:09PM

'"radiohead's only good album was ok computer"

gonk = FAIL.'

You're right, it was The Bends.

FordGTGuy @ Oct 23rd 2007 7:59AM

@samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!)

If thats so why do they double and triple platinum albums and songs?

thenino85 @ Oct 22nd 2007 8:59PM

I'm 22, and I'm of the same "old geezer" mentality as you ridicule.

Most popular bands today ARE NOT MUSICIANS. The best way I've heard of explaining it is that the modern band is a group of athletes. Sure, they can play ridiculously fast and in tune, and they have trained exceptionally well. *coughDragonforcecough* No one is seriously arguing that music today is "easy" to bust into. There's also a lot of excellent singer/poets out, that can make songs that are beautiful to read. But the love of music, the ability to understand the effect of music on the human psyche and manipulate it, as well as the knowledge of musical theory both these entail, is just sadly lacking in the modern generation of music. You might be able to write a bitchin' riff or a beautiful, poetic song. You might know, all the chords. But these alone don't make what you're doing musical art. The people that have these talents, who are striving after art and achieve it, are usually pushed aside for the flashier, prettier types. Many of them were pushed aside in the old days, true. But in the volatile early days of the music industry, a lot of the true musicians were able to break into the industry based on their own talent. It's not that way anymore. Sadly, "American Idol" is probably the best way for a talented person to enter the musical industry. I hate having to write that sentence, but it's the honest-to-God truth, unfortunately. (Aside note: I'm not promoting the indie scene. If I had to choose between either indie music or "mass market" music, I'd pick the later in nanoseconds. There are some good musicians in the indie scene, but there are a helluva lot of bad ones.)

Phranctoast @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:51AM

I can see this guy sitting down with Gabe of Valve at McDonalds 10:30AM complaining about the new world and how scary it is.

sicsided @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:57AM

hahahah, loved that.

T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:53AM

If only there were more games like E.T. made today...Oh well he can have fun appearing on that rubbish code monkeys show that insults my intelligence.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:53AM

If only games could be good again like clusters revenge.

Abscissa @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:25PM

Or even better yet, "Custer's Revenge". I'll have to give "Cluster's Revenge" a try.

- Typo police

Anticrawl @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:56PM

"Custer's Revenge" was an atrocity. Parents are worried about games today, well yeah just take a look back at what you grew up playing first. God damn, my mom was pissed when she saw that game, made the grandmother cry, all that good stuff. Natives are so damn emotional, must be where I get my intense rage.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:53AM

I am inclined to agree!

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:58AM

I blame Rockstar.

IMO What he ment is Rockstar

"Rockstar games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad for that."

See now it all makes sense.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:01PM

And maybe

"Rockstar and EA games today are in a race to the bottom. They develop pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad for that."

It also makes sense.

Nothing personal EA but is crap that you haven't released the Sims 3.

j.R @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:59AM

I hear they let dames into the industry nowadays too... dag nabbit

gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:55AM

he misses pong

ThornedVenom @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:56PM

He misses pr0ng.

Whyser @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:56AM

Well, I don't blame him, I mean, he loves his Wii, but he's right, most games for that system (besides what Nintendo is releasing), are "pure, unadulterated, trash"

ManekiNeko @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:03PM

I think he was referring to the snuff games on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 2... you know, lowest common denominator garbage like Mortal Kombat Armageddon and Saint's Row that appeals to humanity's basest instincts. That's what I gathered from the interview, anyway.