Fun Video Facts

1972: Atari
Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney kicked in $250 each and officially incorporated Atari on June 27, 1972. Atari’s first engineer, Al Alcorn, went to work on a simple tennis game, which he named Pong after the noises that it made. Alcorn placed a prototype machine in a tavern to see if it would generate any interest. After a short while, the manager complained that the machine was broken. As it turned out, the machine was not broken, but actually filled with too many quarters. With that news, Bushnell decided to manufacture Pong, which became the first hit video game.

1975:  Apple
Breakout, the ultimate evolution of the Pong-style games, was designed by a young Atari employee named Steve Jobs. During the design process, Jobs (and his friend Steve Wozniak) went to Nolan Bushnell with the idea of creating a personal computer. Atari was experiencing growing pains and Nolan didn’t think it wise to risk branching into another business. Instead, he gave Jobs advice and encouragement. Jobs and Wozniak built a prototype computer—Apple 1—with parts borrowed from the Breakout project. Apple and its successors went on to become the most influential personal computers in history.  

1980: Pac-Man
During the heyday of arcade shoot-up games, a young designer, Moru Iwatani, decided he wanted to create a non-violent game that would appeal to men as well as women. While gazing at a pizza with a single slice removed, he suddenly had the idea for his main character—a simple yellow circle with a slice missing. Pac-Man was born! It became a giant hit in its native country of Japan. Some critics were sure it would bomb in America. Instead, Pac-Man went on to become the most successful United States arcade game of all time.