Pong creator Nolan Bushnell working on MMO

by Scott Jon Siegel { Feb 29th 2008 at 2:00PM }

It might not be MMOP (massively multiplayer online Pong), but Nolan Bushnell is definitely up to something in the MMO world, according to a recent interview with Gamespot. No concrete details were given, but the trash-talking industry veteran did confirm that he's involved in at least one massively-multiplayer project.

Specifically, when asked if he had his hands in any MMO-based titles, Nolan Bushnell took a notedly-long pause before responding "Yes." When asked to clarify, Bushnell stated that it's unavoidable that social and massively-multiplayer games have become important, but "as compelling as World of Warcraft is, it too shall find that there are other ways to play a game."

A cryptic comment to be sure. Our buddies at Massively point out that Bushnell has a history in creating social spaces, with franchises like the Chuck E. Cheese arcades and more recently uWink. But can this sort of expertise translate effectively to the cutthroat world of MMO development?

[Via Massively]

Tags: nolan-bushnell, nolanbushnell

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ Feb 29th 2008 2:11PM

What an innovation! New and exciting!

aaron_k7 @ Feb 29th 2008 2:12PM

That is a great picture! So simple and yet so funny. Does that image constitute a "raid" in the Pong MMORPG??????

DangerMouse @ Feb 29th 2008 2:39PM

Agreed. That picture is pure win!

Jeff Smith @ Feb 29th 2008 4:50PM

I choked when I saw the pic. One of the funniest things I've seen in awhile.

Kye Grammar DF @ Mar 1st 2008 6:00AM

"Slayer!"

NATO_Duke @ Feb 29th 2008 2:12PM

Chuck E. Cheese MMO confirmed?

I'm gonna go dough farming!

Roto13 @ Feb 29th 2008 2:48PM

I may groan to death.

EternityInBlack @ Feb 29th 2008 4:28PM

No, it's Pong: The MMO

NATO_Duke @ Feb 29th 2008 4:47PM

Its a slow news day - I take em where I can get em.

Shagittarius @ Feb 29th 2008 2:15PM

I hope there's a 'Pervy Old Man in a Hot Tub' class.

ronald.raygun @ Feb 29th 2008 2:37PM

-5pt. charisma enchanted cigar in mouth

ThornedVenom (Patapornographer) @ Feb 29th 2008 2:29PM

I'd play it for the lolz.

I wonder if there'd be user-created content in a Pong MMO.

aaron_k7 @ Feb 29th 2008 2:39PM

Yes, there is. You may create a line or a dot, or a combination thereof. To whit:

| . |

:|:

. . . . . | . . . . __

As you can see people can be doing this until the next millenium.

Neebs @ Feb 29th 2008 2:41PM

Oh good, it's good to know he has an original idea now.

Gurei @ Feb 29th 2008 3:10PM

he does make a good point....theres other ways to play games of that genre.

think of how WoW tookd the concepts from EQ and changed them,to a more fun,simple and friendly desing.

now if he ,or anyone else ,brings something fresh to the table that be awsome for the industry....

seriously,MMO are still big on time requirement and constant dedication,unlike easier pick and play FPS or ...PONG.

Shagittarius @ Feb 29th 2008 4:14PM

"think of how WoW tookd the concepts from EQ and changed them,to a more fun,simple and friendly desing."

OR AS I SEE IT:

think of how wow took the concepts from EQ and dumbed them down for the masses to create an even more inane level grind.

Psaakyrn @ Feb 29th 2008 5:54PM

The question then is, do MMOs NEED to be time-consuming? There's nothing in the definition of massively multiplayer which implies that it has to be time consuming. (and for that matter, SL isn't exactly time-consuming either. Unless you're addicted, but then, anything can be time-consuming.)

Psaakyrn @ Feb 29th 2008 3:01PM

Stop dissing MMOs. You all sound as if all MMOs MUST be either WoW or SL clones. heck, without going into new-and-innovative ideas, I can list out a train of MMOs which isn't derived from Everquest or MUDs.

Planetside: MMOFPS
Puzzle Pirates: MMO-Puzzle
Dofus: MMO-strategy
BOTS: MMO-Arcade
Neopets: MMO-Casual/Grab-bag

Other not-so-wild possibilities:
MMO-Pinball
MMO-Sim/Construction (Lego seems to be heading towards this, along with Spore, to an extent)
MMO-Board Game
MMO-Party (similar to MMO-Arcade)
MMO-Adventure (more in line with 4-Swords than Myst)

Fact is, MMO is not even a genre. It's just a classification of games based on the number of players, and that's it. You don't expect people to invent new numbers.

Curtis the Claw Game Master V2 @ Feb 29th 2008 3:02PM

I will diss MMO's all I want. You can't stop me you whiner.

Blazur @ Feb 29th 2008 3:57PM

I wasn't gonna diss MMO's, but now I feel compelled to do so. Ahem...

All you fool's that waste money on MMO's are suckers!

That is all.

THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ Feb 29th 2008 4:39PM

{CRYING OUT OLOUD} NOOO STOP QUIT (sobs) MMOS STOP IT!!! You big baby you make me sick!

Curtis the Claw Game Master V2 @ Feb 29th 2008 3:07PM

Is there anywhere you can play a MMO Pong? That looks really fun for some reason.

Microswirl @ Feb 29th 2008 3:09PM

I hope the Pong MMO still manages to incorporate a tutorial level where you slay rats in some old lady's basement. My strategy would be to lob dots at them.

B.D. Joe @ Feb 29th 2008 3:17PM

Actually, Al Alcorn, one of Atari's first employees, created Pong.

Nolan Bushnell did create Computer Space, though, widely considered the first arcade game.

Read this, it's a fantastic book.

http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-History-Video-Games-Pokemon/dp/0761536434/ref=pd_sim_b_img_2

Scott Jon Siegel @ Feb 29th 2008 3:31PM

I've read it, actually. It's a good overview.

I'll give you Al Alcorn as Pong's designer and programmer, although arguably the production of Pong as an arcade unit (and phenomenon) must be at least partly credited to Bushnell.

And Computer Space *is* arguably the first arcade game, although it performed abysmally in the market, and was highly derivative of SpaceWar!, which itself is widely considered the first video game ever (and most definitely the first open source, community-developed project).

As long as we're doing book recommendations:
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Up-Japanese-Video-Games-World/dp/0744004241/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1

Kohler's book is fairly underrated. Though brief (especially in relation to Kent's behemoth), it gives a fairly insightful look into the culture of video games, particularly focusing on western influences (like the advent of storyline in arcade games, which hit its first peak with the then-revolutionary intro sequence of Donkey Kong). Good stuff.