"We're an entirely new entertainment phenomenon," said Gene N. Landrum in 1978. Landrum was president and chief executive of Pizza Time and had been general manager of National Semiconductor Corp.'s consumer products division. "We compete with Marriot's and Disney's parks, but people can come here once a week instead of once a season."

Under Bushnell's ownership, 300 Chuck E. Cheese outlets sprouted across the country and gained $150 million in sales. But by 1984, competition -- not to mention the bad reputation of the pizza itself and the loss of video games' novelty power -- led to tremendous losses, Bushnell's subsequent departure and the bankruptcy of Pizza Time Theater Inc.

But the mechanized Chuck E. Cheese himself hinted at one of Bushnell's next big ideas. (Of course, there were other "big ideas" along the way, including a computerized car navigation system eventually bought by Rupert Murdoch.) In 1982, Bushnell launched Androbot, a company that sold BOB (Brains on Board) and TOPO, two personal robots that fetched beers and managed other important household tasks.

"What will happen to all the dogs displaced by BOB?" Bushnell was asked in 1984.

"They'll become curiosities, like old cars," he responded.

Actually, it was BOB that became a dead-tech curiosity when Bushnell sold the faltering company in 1985.

"We were unable to hit the price point and the function that we wished at the same time," Bushnell said. The Androbots were "too dumb and too big."

Not to mention that the stubby plastic droids simply weren't as cute as A.G. Bear, a plush plaything from Bushnell's more successful post-Androbot venture, Axlon Inc. Without a doubt, A.G. Bear, which responded to a child's sounds in imitative babble, and Axlon's other offspring were the forefathers of the Furby.

While Axlon still exists as a royalty-collecting company, Bushnell has since refocused most of his efforts back on the virtual world. There was Octus, whose products enable computer-control of telephone services like voice mail and faxes, and, most recently, PlayNet, developers of networked interactive entertainment stations for bartops, which folded last year.

While it's unlikely that Bushnell has exhausted his start-up spirit, these days he's immersed in the role of gamedom guru for a generation of screenagers seeking their roots. He speaks about entrepreneurship, education and creative engineering to packed crowds at gaming conventions around the world, and holds court as commissioner of the Professional Gamers League.

And he's still King Pong. Just ask Dennis "Thresh" Fong, the whippersnapper Quake champ who was schooled by Bushnell in a Pong playoff at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. After all, there's no secret to winning at Pong, other than following the directions: "Avoid missing ball for high score."
salon.com | June 12, 1999

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