August 12, 2021 — Today should have been like any other mega-humid summer Thursday in NYC, but it ended up being a particularly special one when the great Atari icon Nolan Bushnell decided to drop by the Atari offices.
Nolan Bushnell’s legacy has always been a part of everything we do, and the company has maintained a constant connection with him. When he rang Atari CEO Wade Rosen this morning and asked if he could drop by to visit with the team, the answer was a speedy, emphatic and obvious “Yes!”
The team gathered in the Atari conference room as Nolan answered questions and regaled the team with stories of the company’s youth. He happily shared stories of the people and products that helped launch an entire industry, and in many cases became legends themselves along the way.
Much of the conversation was about hardware and the original Atari 2600 video computer system, so naturally, there were some opportunities to compare and contrast that with the all-new Atari VCS videogame system. That led to an impromptu session with the VCS and Nolan’s all-time favorite Atari game, Tempest, using the Classic Joystick, but not before telling us a little about how the iconic arcade classic came to be.
And then, it was over almost as suddenly as it began, as Nolan took off for his next appointment. Until next time…
— The Atari VCS Team
