We’ll explain how its founders came up with the name and what it means.
Nolan Bushnelland Ted Dabney founded Atari in 1972.
Bushnell and Dabneyoften playedthe ancient East Asian board game calledGotogether in the office.
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In 2009, Dabneytold methat he built a Go board they could set up between their desks.
Bushnell, who I also spoke to in 2009, recalled the Go board at Ampex.
“I was the better Go player,” said Bushnell.
“I taught him, so he was kind of my pupil, but I regularly beat him.”
But what does “atari” really mean?
It’s a Japanese word (), and like many words, it hasseveral different meaningsbased on context.
Why Did They Choose Atari as the Name?
We know Bushnell loved Go, but how did it become the name of his pioneering video game company?
Syzygy contracted with Nutting Associates todevelop Computer Spacein 1970-71.
There’s still some mystery in the historical record about how and why Atari won out.
It hit the big time with Pong, Home Pong, and the Atari 2600 game console.
It also branched out intohome computerssuch as theAtari 800.
After several IP acquisitions over the decades, the original Atari company is long gone.
As for Bushnell, his love of Go continues.
He has cited it ashis favorite game of all time.
“Yeah,” he replied.
“That was part of the game.”
Related:The First Commercial Video Game: How It Looked 50 Years Ago
