The Ledger, every show
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks, across all 44 shows. Pick shows below, then mix any filter with any other.
shows 
every show 44 of 44
Bushnell: Atari produced only 35,000 of the 150,000 Pong machines deployed
“About a 150,000. Only of which, Atari only did about 35,000 of them. We got massively copied.”
Warner Communications fired Bushnell after ugly culture clashes at Atari
“There was this clash of cultures that got to be really ugly, and ultimately they got tired of me, and I got tired of them, and I was fired.”
Bushnell: Initial Pong machines earned nearly $300 weekly on $300 cost
“I mean, the game was earning almost 300 dollars a week. And the total cost that we had was about 300 dollars.”
The 1975 toy industry refused to sell products priced above $35
“What we didn't know
Is that the toy business at that point in time did not sell anything that was more than 35 dollars.”
Bushnell: Sears ordered 150,000 Atari Home Pong units for Christmas delivery
“He give us an order for 150,000. And He wants them delivered by Christmas, by, you know, October, November.”
Atari arcades sold for $1,500 but earned up to $50,000 in lifetime revenue
“Before I sold Warner, we were selling games. These were coin-operated games, remember. We were selling them for about 1500 dollars. During their lifetime, in CoinDrop, they'd earned 30 to 50,000 dollars.”
Bushnell bought Chuck E. Cheese from Warner for $500,000 over five years
“And that was all the technology and the one open store. The one open store was cash flowing half a million dollars a year. And they let me pay it a 100,000 a year for five years.”
Bushnell: Pong arcade units earned $300 weekly on a $300 manufacturing cost
“The game was earning almost 300 dollars a week. And the total cost that we had was about 300 dollars.”
Bushnell: Clones Accounted for Roughly 115,000 of 150,000 Total Pong Units
“About a 150,000. Only of which, Atari only did about 35,000 of them. We got massively copied.”
An $8 microprocessor enabled Atari's programmable ROM cartridge console
“A semiconductor company in Silicon Valley came up with a microprocessor. That they were willing to sell us for eight dollars, and all of a sudden, our eyes were opened, and we said, we can do a von Neumann architecture, program-based, put cartridges with ROMs …”
Bushnell: Warner Communications acquired Atari for $28 million in 1976
“Twenty-eight million bucks.”
Atari sold $1,500 arcade machines that earned $30,000 to $50,000 lifetime
“Before I sold to Warner, we were selling games. These were coin-operated games, remember? We were selling them for about 1500 dollars. During their lifetime, in CoinDrop, they'd earned 30 to 50,000 dollars.”
Bushnell: Bally rejected Pong because coin-op norms required single-player games
“And I show it to them and they don't like it because it's a two player game and the coin operated world doesn't allow for a two player game. If there's not a one player game at that time, that was sort of written in stone somewhere in the annals of coin op wor…”
Bushnell: Atari financed early manufacturing through 60-day supplier terms and cash sales
“And how we financed the company was we would sell for cash the machines. We had 30 day terms. Most of our parts we had 60 day terms. So we'd get the cash literally 60 days before we had to pay for the parts for that.”
Sears Bank advanced Atari 80% of the contract price per finished unit
“And so, Sears Bank set up a bonded warehouse at the end of the conveyor line, and so as soon as a consumer Pong dropped off the assembly line, they would advance us 80% of the contract price with Sears.”
Bushnell: Atari Sold Nearly 180,000 Home Pong Consoles to Sears in 1975
“We did. And in fact, I think that year we sold almost a 180,000 and they took them all.”
Steve Jobs worked as a quality control technician at Atari
“Steve Jobs worked for me, and He was a technician in quality control, and he was really good at it.”
Bushnell: 1960s coin-operated games generated $100 to $200 per week
“These locations would very often do a hundred to 200 dollars a week.”
Bushnell: 25-cent plays could not justify a $500,000 arcade computer
“If I could put this game in my arcade, it would make money. But then you divided 25 cents a play into a half a million dollar computer, and the math didn't work.”
Atari financed early production by securing 60-day terms from parts suppliers
“How we financed the company was we would sell for cash the machines. We had 30 day terms. Most of our parts we had 60 day terms. So we'd get the cash literally 60 days before we had to pay for the parts for that.”
Bushnell: Early Investors Passed on Atari Calling Video Games 'Flaky'
“I tried to get, you know, investors, but everybody thought that video games were kind of flaky.”
Bushnell: 1975 toy retailers capped prices at $35
“What we didn't know is that the toy business at that point in time did not sell anything that was more than 35 dollars.”
Sears Bank advanced Atari 80% for every finished Home Pong console
“And so, Sears Bank set up a bonded warehouse at the end of the conveyor line, and so as soon as a consumer Pong dropped off the assembly line, they would advance us 80% of the contract price with Sears.”
Bushnell: Atari sold nearly 180,000 Home Pong units to Sears in 1975
“We did. And in fact, I think that year we sold almost a 180,000 and they took them all.”
Arcade machines generated $100 to $200 weekly in the late 1960s
“These locations would very often do a hundred to 200 dollars a week.”