Gaming piracy is a serious problem that seems impossible to eradicate. But is there hope for game developers? According to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, there is, thanks to the TPM encryption chips that are being built into some of the latest motherboards. More in the full article.

It's not uncommon for game industry icons to express their preferences for or against something. This time around, it's American electrical engineer and entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell. Simply put, Bushnell believes that typical in-game advertising doesn't work. More on his opinion in the full article after the jump.

A gathering of the top gaming industry executives was the grand finale to the MI6 conference. This panel included big wigs such as Peter Moore, Laurent Detoc, and Alex St. John, among others. During the panel, they discussed the future of the gaming market. According to the panel though, it seems the word "gaming" will disappear by 2020. You can read more on this in the full article.

Nolan Bushnell, the man who created the video game, started a media frenzy when he let slip many a jagged word about our today's games. Bluntly put, he said games today are nothing but "pure, unadulterated trash". That, however, wasn't true for every game, and Bushnell knew that.

Clarifying "pure, unadulterated trash," the founder of Atari pointed out that he was describing those games that were repetitive and mundane.

"There’s a lot of people think that bigger, faster, better is an innovation. It’s not. It’s just bigger, faster, better," said Bushnell in an interview.

The creator of Pong enumerated several games that upon first look, could easily be considered different from the rest. Games such as Will Wright's Spore, Konami's Dance Dance Revolution, Alexey Pajitnov's Tetris, and Harmonix' Guitar Hero were all named in particular.

"When you pick up the controller of the Wii, you know that you haven’t done that before. Even though the bowling is the same, doing it on the videogame, using the Wii controller, that’s an innovation," he added. Obvious differences aside, there were many other unsung heroes in the gaming industry. These many games continue to lie buried in the outpour of mainstream games.

More developments on this as they drop by.

Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, has been called the father of video games and is credited with the creation of the coin-operated video game Pong. This iconic figure in the history of gaming was recently quoted by Electronic Design as saying, "Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash, and I'm sad for that." 

Of course, he didn't say that without justifying it. He pointed out that people could use more social games and that a lot of video games today are very isolated. What Bushnell wants to see is more group-oriented games where families can sit down together and play.

He notes that this is very important since it represents good mentoring time for families, something that doesn't happen anymore. It's no surprise that in one of our older articles he said that he is actually intrigued by the Wii and believes it might expand the market beyond hardcore gamers. This might also be the market that he wishes more game developers to pay attention to.

In fairness to the video game developers, they have been making moves to create more family-oriented games, in addition to the genres that have gained acceptance over the years. While Bushnell probably knows this, it might be that he feels there should be more support towards family-oriented gaming than what we currently have on the market today.

 

In a press release today, Atari president and CEO David Pierce stated that Atari was undergoing another structural reorganization to reduce the company's general and administrative costs. The company is now eyeing an approximately 20% decrease in staff, which includes a 26% reduction in administrative employees.

Approved by the company's Board of Directors back in April 10, 2007, the plan is expected to be completed by the end of July. The company's entire staff have already been notified at the end of April, although there are no announcements of how many have already left Atari following the announcement.

"These actions, though difficult, are a significant first step in reorganizing Atari and demonstrate our commitment to restoring shareholder value," said Pierce. The restructuring is expected to charge an estimated US$ 0.8 to US$ 1.1 million during fiscal year of 2008.

What this means for their "PlayStation Home beater" project, we cannot tell. Things just aren't looking up for ol' Atari without the legendary Nolan Bushnell.

Regardless of whether you're a gamer or not, as long as you're American and weren't deprived of a happy childhood (hahaha), we're guessing you've probably heard of Mr. Nolan Bushnell.

No? Oh c'mon! Mr. Chuck E. Cheese? Still doesn't ring a bell? Oh alright then, Nolan Bushnell is not only the founder of gaming icon Atari, he's also responsible for the wonder that is Chuck E. Cheese, the restaurant chain that first brought together kids, food, pizza, and video games.

Red Herring was able to score an interview with this video game and consumer electronics association hall of famer (he's a founder of more than twenty companies), where Bushnell talks about his new business venture that once again brings food and gaming together, the uWink.

In that particular interview, Bushnell was asked about his thoughts on current gaming systems, he IS (or WAS) a major player in the gaming industry after all.

Red Herring asked Bushnell which areas of the game industry he's following now, and we quote:"I’m very curious and interested in the Nintendo Wii. I think it may expand the market beyond the hardcore [18- to 24-year old]. Xbox Live is interesting because it potentially becomes the platform for the living room."

Safe answer right? But wait, it gets better. When asked what he thought of Sony's PS3 strategy, Bushnell says:

I think Sony shot themselves in the foot… there is a high probability [they] will fail. The price point is probably unsustainable. For years and years Sony has been a very difficult company to deal with from a developer standpoint. They could get away with their arrogance and capriciousness because they had an installed base. They have also historically had horrible software tools. You compare that to the Xbox360 with really great authoring tools and additional revenue streams from Xbox Live... a first party developer would be an idiot to develop for Sony first and not the 360. People don’t buy hardware, they buy software.

So, Red Herring then tried to rebutt his argument by saying, "But what about Sony’s success with the PlayStation and PS2? They sold more than 100 million of each system." And Bushnell's answer? Sony's success with PS and PS2 was nothing brilliant and that they were merely able to hit the market right on spot because of perfect timing. Bushnell even calls Sony as "almost the accidental winner." Ouch very much for Sony!

As for his predictions about Sony's next-gen console? "It would not surprise me if a year from now they’ll be struggling to sell 1 million units. [Factoring in the PS3’s price], I think in the U.S. the number of early adopters you have is actually around 300,000."

Just another rich man who can afford an opinion? You decide. But it wouldn't be a surprise though if Sony luvvvers all over suddenly decide to boycott Chuck E.Cheese (and be deprived of a happy cheesy childhood. Awww...).