Bushnell is 'thrilled' to be played by DiCaprio

by Justin McElroy { Jun 10th 2008 at 10:10AM }

Direct from our always hefty "Yeah, No Kidding" file, MTV Multiplayer was told last night by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell that he was "very thrilled and honored" to be portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in an upcoming biopic. Yeah Nolan, no kidding.

What we're sure is not quite as thrilling to Bushnell is the fact that it's currently unclear to what extent present-day Atari will let their property (like the three-pronged logo) be used. We're hopeful that the company will play ball if they throw Phil Harrison a bit role. (A Brit as a villainous Ralph Baer? You heard it here first.)

[Update: We've got Fernando's awesome take on Phil as Ralph right after the break!]

Tags: atari, nolan-bushnell

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

greggo @ Jun 10th 2008 10:14AM

that picture is priceless lmao

PojoMofo @ Jun 10th 2008 10:16AM

Bushnell=pedo??

Ally @ Jun 10th 2008 10:44AM

Michael Jackson=pedo

sorry, had to fix that

Tiptup300 @ Jun 10th 2008 11:20AM

This movie == CATCH ME IF YOU CAN 2

Tesley @ Jun 10th 2008 12:50PM

hahahhha! i can't stop laughing at it either....

Double J @ Jun 10th 2008 10:22AM

Photoshoppers need to paste Leo's head on Bushnell's body in that hot tub picture.

PojoMofo @ Jun 10th 2008 10:27AM

NO, THEY REALLY DONT!!!

I was thinking Justins head in place of Bushnell's, and Ludwigs in place of Kate's :)

chefgon_ign @ Jun 10th 2008 10:28AM

No. No they don't.

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 10th 2008 10:51AM

Done:

http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p236/fernando_rocker/?action=view¤t=LeonardoBushnell.jpg

=p

PojoMofo @ Jun 10th 2008 11:03AM

LMAO, well done Fernando!

Double J @ Jun 10th 2008 11:12AM

God bless you.

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 10th 2008 12:27PM

I just did another one: Phil Harrison Baer

http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p236/fernando_rocker/?action=view¤t=PhilHarrisonBaer.jpg

=p

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 10:39AM

Villianous Ralph Baer...

Actual Nolan Bushnell quote, "The problem with Ralph is whether he had the idea or not, he doesn't know how to make it fun. That was what I brought to Pong."

I just love the fact that after Nolan Bushnell pretty much said Ralph can't do anything, Ralph took Atari to task with patents...

fwacce @ Jun 10th 2008 11:47AM

Yeah, how does Ralph Baer become the villain, when it was Bushnell who stole all of his ideas without giving him any credit or compensation? I think the villainous Bushnell would be more accurate.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 11:52AM

I think the word "villianous" was used as a sarcasm tool. I was just openly mocking Nolan Bushnell.

But it will be interesting to see how this pans out. Like if Nolan Bushnell will be painted as some sort of gaming luddite in the last 20 minutes.

busydoingnothing @ Jun 10th 2008 12:26PM

Bushnell and Magnavox (whom Baer worked for) latered settled, and Atari licensed Pong from Magnavox. Sure, Bushnell didn't invent Pong; he never claimed to. What he did was brought it (and in turn, video games) to the masses in the same sense that Henry Ford did for cars with the Model T and Milton Hershey did for chocolate. Many inventors and innovators throughout history (especially in America) are famous for things that they did not invent; they are famous for their ability to take an idea, refine it, and mass market it for the Everyman.

I may have a slight emotional investment in this subject, as I did a report and presentation on Bushnell for my History of Invention and Technology in America course. The early history of video games is pretty damn interesting. Bushnell pretty much came in with Pong and turned a half million dollar industry (arcade games, which were mainly pinball machines at the time) and turned it into a multi-million (or billion? I don't have my stats handy) in a little over a year. He basically created the market and solidified the viability of video games for the masses.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 12:36PM

Ahhh, but Bushnell sat in on one of the many, many public showings Baer held for the Brown Box in hopes of finding a buyer. A goal he accomplished only AFTER Nolan Bushnell publically decried the very concept as "garbage" only to introduce Table Pong as Pong to arcades a year later. It was then that Magnavox saw the marketability of the Brown Box.

So it's not a matter of Nolan Bushnell having made a common invention mainstream but rather actively stealing an invention, discrediting it's original creator, and building an empire out of someone elses work. It would be like if I took all the character designs of Street Fighter 2, gave them a quick color swap in Photoshop, and managed to outsell Street Fighter II with MY game, Street Fighting Men II. That was what Nolan Bushnell did and is, quite simply, indefensible.

The man's entire stance throughout his career at Atari was all about him being the sole creator and was a major factor in how the original designer of Warlords will never be recognized since it was against Atari policy to allow their game designers to take credit for their designs.

busydoingnothing @ Jun 10th 2008 4:27PM

Your comparison is not apples and apples at all. What you're doing is exactly what all the companies that created post-Atari Pong clones did, companies which were eventually chased after by Magnavox after the Atari suit.

Yes, Bushnell took the idea for PONG from Baer's demonstration at the Magnavox Profit Caravan in May 1972. And yes, Baer developed an early prototype of video tennis 5-6 years prior. It's questionable that Bushnell called it garbage (from my research, he said something to the effect that it "wasn't a threat" to Atari). Bushnell also had his eyes on a different market, the arcade, rather than the home market (which he didn't see as a viable market). But is his title as the father of the video game industry title not accurate, if Baer is the grandfather? To put it in Bushnell's words:

"I didn't invent the video game -- I commercialized it."

Replace "video game" with "car" or "chocolate" and you can put the same exact phrase in Henry Ford or Milton Hershey's mouth. When you think of the car, the first car, who do you think of? Do you think of all the European inventors who designed early self-propelled vehicles in the mid-to-late 1800's, or do you think of Henry Ford? It's one thing to come up with an idea or a concept, it's another thing to implement it into a physical product, and it's another thing to take that product, refine it, in and put it in the hands of the average person. That's exactly what Bushnell did. If history had gone differently and Baer had changed a few things or gone after a different market or something, then perhaps he would have gotten a lot more limelight than he has now, but unfortunately, should haves and would haves don't change what is.