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Went to college in Utah for Electrical Engineering
Graduated with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, was one of the students in 1960's to play Spacewar! on DEC mainframe computers -
Formed Syzygy with Ted Dabney to produce commercial arcade game Computer Space
One of the first virtual arcade machines on the market, Syzygy produced multiple consoles of "Computer Space". This coin-fed arcade game similar to Spacewar! was not successful commercially but was able to sell $3 million worth of product. -
Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney close Szygy to incorporate under Atari, inc
Formed in Sunnyvale, California, Atari, inc and began immediate development of more coin-operated arcade games to appeal to the future market. -
Pong is released as an at home arcade machine
You know it, you love it! With backing from Sears, Atari released Pong, a nearly instant success with millions of units sold. This development and release helped to concrete Atari as a household name and provided the needed funding to grow Atari in future years. -
Nolan Bushnell declines investing in Apple
"Steve asked me if I would put $50,000 in and he would give me a third of the company. I was so smart, I said no. It's kind of fun to think about that, when I'm not crying." -
Buys and Invests in what becomes Chuck E. Cheese's
Designed as a place where video games can be marketed more successfully towards children, Pizza Time Theater included pizza and animatronics as attractions and a homage to Walt Disney. -
Founds Catalyst Technologies
Bushnell Founds Catalyst Technologies Venture Capitalist Group in Sunnyvale, California as one of the first technology "Incubators". A portion of their efforts (ETAK) was to digitize the maps of the world and is the backbone of clients such as Google Maps, mapquest, and others. -
Sente Games produces Hat Trick
After acquiring Sente Games in 1984, The video game company produces "Hat Trick", a very successful arcade game featuring interchangeable housing that was rare for the time. This interchangeability allowed for quicker updates and better machine maintenance -
Founds uWink Dining
Catered as an interactive restaurant experience with robotic dining and table-top screens used for everything from ordering to playing games. -
"Atari" movie announced
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Nolan Bushnell, "Atari" was announced as an adaptation of Bushnell's life story -
Bushnell is given the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Fellowship Award
the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Fellowship Award (BAFTA) is the highest accolade the Academy bestows, and was awarded to Bushnell for his outstanding creative contribution to the Video Games Industry. -
Joins Atari, SA board of Directors
Along with Tim Virden, Alan Bushnell joins the Board of Directors of Atari, SA, a multi-national french holding company with the subsidiaries of Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. -
Founds BrainRush
After the large increase in computing power and a shift in a focus on programming, Nolan Bushnell Founds and promotes BrainRush, which focuses on video game technology and educational software -
Pong is inducted in the Video Game Hall of Fame
Due to it's ubiquity and cultural impact, Pong was inducted into the Video game hall of fame, attributing it's success to Atari and Nolan Bushnell. -
Joins Perrone Robotics as member of Board of Directors
a maker of robotics software platforms for autonomous vehicles and mobile robots, Bushnell invested in and joined Perrone Robotics as a focus toward self-driving solutions and "swarm" technologies.
