Remember Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari and father of “Pong”? I hadn’t heard much about him recently, until I saw an interview on SpikeTV’s show “Game Head.” This is a very cool guy. Good-looking, witty, pleasant, geeky without being dorky. I love you, Nolan Bushnell, and I want to have your babies. Assuming, of course, that your babies are tiny blobs of pixels whose sole purpose in life is to be bopped from one side of a CRT to the other.
You can watch the interview (after a brief advertisement) here. (If the link doesn’t work, go here and scroll about halfway down the page.)
Nolan has always been my hero. I’ve seen dozens of interviews (even have a few on my system) and despite his genius, he’s always come across as an affable, friendly, very down-to-earth sort of guy. And of course, he founded Atari, which will always have a special place in my heart.
If you’re interested in Nolan, and all of the Nolan-era Atari alum, have a look at Once Upon Atari. It’s a great series of interviews and anecdotes from the folks who lived and breathed it. And hey, it was put together by Howard Scott Warshaw (Yar’s Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the infamous E.T.) so it’s made by Atari alum, too. 
I have a copy, and it’s great. Production values are iffy, but the content is priceless.
Here are some other cool interview clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h93eLDhHqY8 (1982 talk show, Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcGdRwGMIwo (1982 talk show, Part 2)
Complete interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znP8zMCDzxc&mode=related&search=) (use the right-hand pane to navigate to the other 8 parts)