Nolan Bushnell, the creator of Atari, recently came back to his old home. Today, he joins Atari's executive board.

When Atari was on top of its game and making risky, borderline decisions... it was Bushnell behind it. He is the mad genius.

Back in the early 70's, his warehouse would be visited by investors and the like. The one thing they all agreed upon, was that the place was scary. It smelled of marijuana, and the assembly line crew all had long, stringy hair. One executive, even found a few syringes on the bathroom floor. Why though? Because Bushnell would take any order, no matter how big. That often meant he had to hire people off of the streets.

When Atari went sour, and most of us watched it happen, it was because Atari was bought by Warner. Warner basically "beached" Bushnell (retired with awesome bennies) and placed "The Czar" in command. This Czar knew next to nothing about video games. After Bushnell left, many followed. The environment wasn't fun anymore, and Atari wasn't creating anymore. They were just making other peoples designs, better, and slapping their names on it. Bushnell saw that happening and wanted nothing to do with it. His chosen few that remained, finally saw the light as well, and eventually left.

I'm excited about Bushnell coming back. Atari and me go way back. The Atari I loved, was when Bushnell was there. You'll see, good things will happen. He is a mastermind. He. Created. Chuck. E. Cheese. 'Nuff said. =]

Also, his think tank back in the early days... one city below me, in Grass Valley. =]

That's where they came up with the 2600 and many other cool things.

hmmm .. the guy is pretty old now though .. do you think he's up for the task of running this company again?

Age doesn't stop PK from being awesome. Bushnell is awesome too.

point well taken ..

I love how he still has his trademark pipe.