Computer History Museum presents
"Shall We Play a Game?
The Early Years of Computer Gaming"
Steve Russell and Nolan Bushnell with Stewart Brand
Tuesday, May 7, 2002
MEMBERS ONLY and VIP reception: 6:00 PM
Computer History Museum, Bldg. 126, Moffett Field
Mingle with Steve and Nolan, as well as other computer industry
gurus, and even have a chance to play a game!
Lecture: 7:00 PM
(General lecture seating begins: 6:50PM)
Moffett Training and Conference Center, Bldg. 3, Moffett Field
RESERVATIONS
Free. Please RSVP by May 3, 2002.
Sign up online at
http://www.computerhistory.org./events/lectures/games_05072002
or call 1-650-604-2714.
You will be asked to provide the following information.
Full name
Professional affiliation
Mailing address (Please specify work or home)
Day phone number (Please specify work or home)
Email address
Please be prepared to show your valid photo ID upon entrance to Moffett
Field.
MEMBERSHIP
Current members of the Computer History Museum
have purchased a student or senior citizen membership at $35.00
or individual membership at $50.00 or more within the last year.
To become a member, please go to our website at
http://www.computerhistory.org/contribute/support/form/
or call +1 650 604 3470.
ABSTRACT OF TALK
>From their humble beginnings in the 1960s as demonstrations of
computer interactivity, to a multi-billion dollar industry, computer
video games have become one of the largest forms of entertainment
and a major part of popular culture in America, Japan, Europe and
beyond. Steven "Slug" Russell, inventor of the early computer game
SpaceWar! and Nolan Bushnell, designer of Computer Space and
founder of Atari, share their personal stories from the days when
games were played on mainframes through the introduction of the
video arcade. Stewart Brand, publisher of the original Whole Earth
Catalog and president of The Long Now Foundation, will moderate
this discussion about the advent of the modern gaming age.
BACKGROUND OF SPEAKERS
Steve Russell
In 1962, Steve "Slug" Russell, a young computer programmer
out of Dartmouth led a team of programmers at MIT, who created
the first computer video game, "SpaceWar!" The game was
inspired by the writings of sci-fi author, E.E. "Doc" Smith.
Russell wrote his game on a PDP-1, an early DEC
(Digital Equipment Corporation) "interactive" mini-computer
that used a cathode-ray tube type display and keyboard input.
Nothing like it had been commercially available before.
The computer was a donation to MIT from DEC, who hoped
MIT's think tank would be able to do something remarkable
with their product. A game called "SpaceWar!" was possibly
the last thing DEC expected. For their part, Russell and this
group simply went about trying to figure out what would be the
best way to show the power of this new machine and came up
with the idea of a graphical battle simulation between two spaceships.
Steve Russell's SpaceWar! showed that fun could be a driving
force in the advancement of computer technology. It influenced
companies like Atari and others in creating a powerful new
entertainment medium that would become a multi-billion dollar industry.
Steve Russell went on to specialize in tools for artificial
intelligence research at Stanford University and is currently working
at Nohau, a Silicon Valley company that makes computer system
debugging tools. Today he is only an occasional gamer and visits
arcades simply to keep up with new video game technology.
Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Bushnell is best known as the founder of Atari and
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater. Having brought "PONG"
to the masses, he is justifiably revered as the "Father of the Video
Game Industry."
Over the past 25 years Bushnell has founded over 20 companies.
Additionally, he has provided consulting services to numerous
corporations, including Commodore International, IBM, and Cisco
Systems. He sits on the board of directors of several leading
companies, including Wave Systems and QQLink, Inc.
Bushnell holds several patents on some of the basic technologies
from many early video games and is also the inventor or co-inventor
of numerous worldwide patents in various other fields and industries.
Over the years he has received many awards of distinction, including
induction into the "Video Game Hall of Fame" and the Consumer
Electronics Association's "Hall of Fame."
Bushnell received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Utah, where he is a "Distinguished Fellow," and
also attended Stanford University Graduate School. With a
passion for enhancing and improving the educational process
and a desire to motivate others, he frequently lectures at major
universities and corporations, inspiring others with his views on
entrepreneurship and innovation.
Currently, Nolan is CEO, Founder, and Chairman of the Board of
uWink, Inc., a global network entertainment system.
Stewart Brand
Perhaps best known as the founder, editor, and publisher of the
"Whole Earth Catalog," Stewart Brand is also an inventor, designer,
and thinker. Trained as a biologist and army officer, he was an early
multimedia artist. Brand has created a number of institutions,
including the New Games Tournaments in 1974, The Hackers
Conference in 1984, The WELL in 1985, Global Business Network
in 1987, and The Long Now Foundation in 1996. His books include
"Two Cybernetic Frontiers" (1974), "The Media Lab" (1987),
How Buildings Learn" (1994), and "The Clock of the Long Now" (1999).
These days he's the president of The Long Now Foundation (which
is building a 10,000-year clock and library) and a co-founder of the
All Species Inventory and the Long Bets Foundation while continuing
as a consultant with Global Business Network, serving as a trustee
of the Santa Fe Institute, and occasionally consulting for Ecotrust.
Information about the Computer History Museum
URL: www.computerhistory.org