GDC Rescinds Nolan Bushnell’s Pioneer Award. MOD EDIT: Read OP

daegan · Jan 31, 2018

new thread for new news. From Gamesbeat:

The Game Developers Conference has rescinded its Pioneer Award to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. The former Atari executive has admitted to sexually inappropriate behavior in multiple interviews throughout the years. His stories usually come in the form of "wild" anecdotes about office environments in the 1970s, where the objectification of women colleagues wasn't viewed as harassment by the male-led power structures of companies and other organizations.

https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/31/...bushnells-pioneer-award-after-metoo-protests/

GDC's statement:

There was a little discussion of this yesterday in the thread announcing the awardees, but I applaud this move from GDC.
My own edit: I'm preserving my original post above, but after having myself challenged later in the thread and reconsidering some stuff in the mod edited link, I'm rethinking this position a bit.

NEW OP EDIT 2/13/18: Kotaku has a wonderful investigative piece linked to later in the thread. It's the best inspection of the situation I've read so far and you should read it before jumping in:

jschreier said:
By Kotaku senior reporter Cecilia D'Anastasio: https://kotaku.com/sex-pong-and-pioneers-what-atari-was-really-like-ac-1822930057

MOD EDIT: For some perspective from former Atari employees who worked with Bushnell in the 70s, please be sure to read this Medium article:

https://medium.com/@Brad_Glasgow/th...-assassination-of-nolan-bushnell-2405452b635d

Please consider the information provided in this article before posting. Draw your own conclusions but do so with as much information as possible.

Deleted member 10629 · Jan 31, 2018

Good.

Having firsthand witnessed institutional harassment of women, fuck him.

Soony Xbone Uhh · Jan 31, 2018

This looks really bad for the GDC.
They knew before and doing it just because of the negative echo now.
And if they didn't know before, they didn't do their job properly.

So even if it's the right thing to do, you done it wrong.

Common Knowledge · Jan 31, 2018

Lol that is one short-lived award.

TubaZef · Jan 31, 2018

After all the repercussion, yep, that was the right thing to do.

Bjones · Jan 31, 2018

He stilled pioneered. Don't give him an award but you can never take that from him. I mean I think he is a piece of crap but business wise he did what he did.

Giever · Jan 31, 2018

Soony Xbone Uhh said:
This looks really bad for the GDC.
They knew before and doing it just because of the negative echo now.
And if they didn't know before, they didn't do their job properly.

So even if it's the right thing to do, you done it wrong.

Looks better than not doing it at all, regardless.

Bigg · Jan 31, 2018

I actually didn't know Bushnell had a history of being a sexual harasser. Fuck him.

Also I read the Glixel piece about this and I'm not sure why Brianna Wu is quoted here? And hoo boy I STRONGLY disagree with the bolded:

"Nolan Bushnell is clearly a deeply important person in video game history," she said. "He deserves to be honored for a lifetime achievement award without question. But in the year that the #MeToo movement is going on and we're having a reckoning about what women face in the workplace? It just seems really tone deaf by GDC."

Someone being influential does not mean they deserve an award.

Bjones said:
He stilled pioneered. Don't give him an award but you can never take that from him. I mean I think he is a piece of crap but business wise he did what he did.

I don't think anyone is saying Bushnell isn't hugely influential. He still shouldn't be celebrated because the dude's a creep.

chaobreaker · Jan 31, 2018

I'm seeing the same old alt-right gamer crowd on Twitter get incredulous over this news as if Bushnell's history of being a workplace sleazeball never happened. Like he didn't admit to it in the countless interviews he's done over the decades.

Wiseblood · Jan 31, 2018

Gestault · Jan 31, 2018

This isn't me saying it was justified, but the trashy work environment is well documented basically throughout the early game industry, when the workplace was still informal, but resources started pouring in from more mainstream sales/investment. One consistent thing I've seen in interviews from people on the ground at the time was the openness about how bizarre the environment truly was. You suddenly had every vice available for a previously blue-collar workforce, and all the shitty attitudes you could imagine suddenly elevated to seats of influence. It got incredibly gross, and absolutely limited who would have been comfortable working in the industry at that point. The frankness (and general sense of regret) about what was happening is something I have to appreciate, even from those who embraced it at the time.

I'm actually very happy seeing this reaction from Bushnell:

Neutra · Jan 31, 2018

commendable response from Nolan.

daegan · Jan 31, 2018

That is a respectable response.

Deleted member 24550 · Jan 31, 2018

I don't know how bad it was exactly, but that's a classy response to be honest.

Outrun · Jan 31, 2018

He responded correctly.

starfox · Jan 31, 2018

milkshake duck?

Aters · Jan 31, 2018

I'd imagine it happened in most of not all tech companies back then.

tuxfool · Jan 31, 2018

starfox said:
milkshake duck?

No.

Hopping_Mad · Jan 31, 2018

starfox said:
milkshake duck?

The phrase should sit next to toxic, offensive, problematic, and gross.

ahoyhoy · Jan 31, 2018

Bury it with Ralph Baer instead.

MegaSackman · Jan 31, 2018

"and if an award is the price I have to pay" would he had paid more than that? ^^

Paradoxal Utopia · Jan 31, 2018

I guess I'm the only one that thinks that rescinding this award based on stuff that isn't new, nor secret, nor anywhere near "sexual assault", and that happened 40 YEARS ago when this behaviour and talk in workplaces was extremely common, is absolute insanity? How does any of this take away from his accomplishments? Do people not realize that even less than 100yrs ago women couldn't VOTE in the US? Most of society was for that, and we going to condemn them all for being evil, sexist, misogynists?

Point being, society has made massive changes and strides the past few decades when it comes to how women are viewed and treated, and applying today's standards to 40 yrs ago, then going out with pitch forks to condemn and vilify 80 yr olds for it is just...patently unfair, and wrong. And I'd really hesitate to call those who take joy and feel accomplishment in bringing these people "down", and doing as much as possible to tarnish their reputations or prevent them from being recognized in any way, as good people.

hey it's that dog · Jan 31, 2018

Paradoxal Utopia said:
I guess I'm the only one that thinks that rescinding this award based on stuff that isn't new, nor secret, nor anywhere near "sexual assault", and that happened 40 YEARS ago when this behaviour and talk in workplaces was extremely common, is absolute insanity? How does any of this take away from his accomplishments?

I don't know if I fully agree with you because I don't know the details of his specific behavior, but there is something about judging a person's behavior in the 70's by the standards of today that doesn't make complete sense to me.

Nonetheless, his response to this is a good one and I'm glad he opted to take the high road rather than protesting the decision.

Boy Wander · Jan 31, 2018

The world and the workplace environment is a different place from what it was when Bushnell was in his pomp. The fact that he's big enough to recognise that fact and put out an apology should be recognised. That's about the best he can do now and at least he's not shirking responsibility for his actions.

SHØGVN · Feb 1, 2018

It was a different environment back then, it's ridiculous to retroactively judge people by their worst moments when their achivements far outweigh them. Reminds of the recent nonsense calling Winston Churchill a racist when he beat the Nazis.

Furthermore no women who actually worked at the company has spoken out against him or filed accusations, in fact Loni Reeder who was Department Coordinator at Atari defended him:

Ogodei · Feb 1, 2018

SHØGVN said:
It was a different environment back then, it's ridiculous to retroactively judge people by their worst moments when their achivements far outweigh them. Reminds of the recent nonsense calling Winston Churchill a racist when he beat the Nazis.

Furthermore no women who actually worked at the company has spoken out against him or filed accusations, in fact Loni Reeder who was Department Coordinator at Atari defended him:

Winston Churchill was a racist, and helped bully Alan Turing into suicide for being gay despite Turing playing a pivotal role in counterintelligence in the war.

He was not a monster, and was key in destroying real monsters, but the lionizing he gets even to this day is misplaced.

hey it's that dog · Feb 1, 2018

SHØGVN said:
It was a different environment back then, it's ridiculous to retroactively judge people by their worst moments when their achivements far outweigh them. Reminds of the recent nonsense calling Winston Churchill a racist when he beat the Nazis.

Furthermore no women who actually worked at the company has spoken out against him or filed accusations, in fact Loni Reeder who was Department Coordinator at Atari defended him:

No complaints definitely isn't proof of no misconduct, but Reeder's perspective on this should be taken seriously.

entremet · Feb 2, 2018

SHØGVN said:
It was a different environment back then, it's ridiculous to retroactively judge people by their worst moments when their achivements far outweigh them. Reminds of the recent nonsense calling Winston Churchill a racist when he beat the Nazis.

Furthermore no women who actually worked at the company has spoken out against him or filed accusations, in fact Loni Reeder who was Department Coordinator at Atari defended him:

Yeah, this seems rather poorly thought out. Nolan was rather gracious about it, though.

bionic77 · Feb 2, 2018

daegan said:
That is a respectable response.

It was though I hate when they say IF my behavior or actions offended people.

It was probably written by his lawyers but that language is so sleazy in all these apologies. You of all people should know they were offended!

daegan · Feb 2, 2018

bionic77 said:
It was though I hate when they say IF my behavior or actions offended people.

It was probably written by his lawyers but that language is so sleazy in all these apologies. You of all people should know they were offended!

I don't disagree, but I think this is a bit different because these aren't allegations but stories recounted by himself + those close to him. So it's not like we have a whistleblower to go back on and I presume nobody at Atari was ever like "is this shit unwelcome?" in a way that would have crossed his attention.

blonded · Feb 2, 2018

bionic77 said:
It was though I hate when they say IF my behavior or actions offended people.

It was probably written by his lawyers but that language is so sleazy in all these apologies. You of all people should know they were offended!

Exactly this. It assumes his actions are OK by default.

PontyfaxJr · Feb 2, 2018

Ogodei said:
Winston Churchill was a racist, and helped bully Alan Turing into suicide for being gay despite Turing playing a pivotal role in counterintelligence in the war.

He was not a monster, and was key in destroying real monsters, but the lionizing he gets even to this day is misplaced.

It's off topic but Churchill was kind of a monster. His actions in India, Africa and Ireland were pretty evil.

On topic, I saw Loni Reeder's rant on Twitter earlier and it sounds like within the context of the time he worked in Bushnell was an ok guy. Again though I don't know the details of whatever skeezy stuff he got up to.

Axass · Feb 2, 2018

There were no accusations from anyone, it's something that happened in the '70s, his co-workers defend him, he replied and apologized like a boss. Case closed imo.

Deleted member 11413 · Feb 2, 2018

I think that GDC probably made the right choice here, and Bushnell's response is a good one.

That said, was what went on at Atari that much different from other early video game companies? I mean we know that the founders of Sierra had a very...bohemian lifestyle and culture at their company as well. I don't think that type of behavior belongs in the workplace, but if everyone was consenting to the behavior I'm not sure I see the harm outside of it being extremely unprofessional and incongruent with the standards of today

Deleted member 1849 · Feb 2, 2018

Good to see them take action, and that's a pretty good response too.

Ogodei said:
Winston Churchill was a racist, and helped bully Alan Turing into suicide for being gay despite Turing playing a pivotal role in counterintelligence in the war.

He was not a monster, and was key in destroying real monsters, but the lionizing he gets even to this day is misplaced.

Churchill was a monster with little regard for human life. He believed that workers who strike should be lined up and shot, and was partially responsible for famines in India among other things.

He was great for the UK in the second world war and took out people more evil than him, but let's not pretend he was in any way a good human being.

tbyte64 · Feb 2, 2018

hey it's that dog said:
I don't know if I fully agree with you because I don't know the details of his specific behavior, but there is something about judging a person's behavior in the 70's by the standards of today that doesn't make complete sense to me.

He got the award based on his work in the same time period though, no?

Paradoxal Utopia · Feb 2, 2018

bionic77 said:
It was though I hate when they say IF my behavior or actions offended people.

It was probably written by his lawyers but that language is so sleazy in all these apologies. You of all people should know they were offended!

If you were so sure so many of the women were offended, and his use of "if" is so sleazy, why don't you provide us the names of those women who have gone on record to say they were offended? So far, we've heard absolutely nothing of the sort, but people like you ask us to assume and conclude that women were victimized around him, with zero evidence that's the case. The only women who actually were there and spoke out, did so in his favor.

Dracon · Feb 2, 2018

The same way that you cant erase his crimes, you shouldnt be able to erase an Award.

The industry gotta recognize the flawed nature of its individuals, as long as it is not celebrated.

Feels more like GDC trying to avoid any damage to itself.

Barrel Cannon · Feb 2, 2018

SHØGVN said:
It was a different environment back then, it's ridiculous to retroactively judge people by their worst moments when their achivements far outweigh them. Reminds of the recent nonsense calling Winston Churchill a racist when he beat the Nazis.

Furthermore no women who actually worked at the company has spoken out against him or filed accusations, in fact Loni Reeder who was Department Coordinator at Atari defended him:

Dam that quote though seems like a pretty big amount of support. I would hope that people would come forward if it were the case. This case does feel iffy given how old it is and how societal norms were back then. Also the OP doesn't mention what he said he did in those interviews do I don't have the full picture.

Edit: I don't think societal norms forgives certain type of behavior. Assault/abuse/rape being one of them. I just don't know the full picture of what he even did. All I'm reading is harassment in the OP.... there is no summary of what he did. It makes it for a one sided conversation. I was hoping someone in the thread would elaborate about it but it hasn't been done so far

ourghostsofwar · Feb 2, 2018

SHØGVN said:
It was a different environment back then, it's ridiculous to retroactively judge people by their worst moments when their achivements far outweigh them. Reminds of the recent nonsense calling Winston Churchill a racist when he beat the Nazis.

Furthermore no women who actually worked at the company has spoken out against him or filed accusations, in fact Loni Reeder who was Department Coordinator at Atari defended him:

So basically women who actually worked with Nolan are categorizing this as a hit job. Good to know.

borges · Feb 2, 2018

Dracon said:
The same way that you cant erase his crimes, you shouldnt be able to erase an Award.

The industry gotta recognize the flawed nature of its individuals, as long as it is not celebrated.

Feels more like GDC trying to avoid any damage to itself.

Indeed. I mean, if Woody Allen is probe to be guilty, does he become a non talented artist all of a sudden?
Sad to hear that one of my heroes made these horrible things though.

entremet · Feb 2, 2018

Dracon said:
The same way that you cant erase his crimes, you shouldnt be able to erase an Award.

The industry gotta recognize the flawed nature of its individuals, as long as it is not celebrated.

Feels more like GDC trying to avoid any damage to itself.

What crimes did he commit?

esserius · Feb 2, 2018

Barrel Cannon said:
Dam that quote though seems like a pretty big amount of support. I would hope that people would come forward if it were the case. This case does feel iffy given how old it is and how societal norms were back then. Also the OP doesn't mention what he said he did in those interviews do I don't have the full picture

People really, really need to stop using this as an excuse. Normalizing harassment is not acceptable.

ourghostsofwar · Feb 2, 2018

esserius said:
People really, really need to stop using this as an excuse. Normalizing harassment is not acceptable.

Except the people who work with Nolan are saying there was no harassment.

Barrel Cannon · Feb 2, 2018

esserius said:
People really, really need to stop using this as an excuse. Normalizing harassment is not acceptable.

added an edit note. I don't think societal norms forgive certain behavior. I just don't know what he did. They just described it as harassment in the OP. No one has mentioned what he even did or mentioned he did. I'm all for hating on someone who did something wrong but I don't know what it was even....

Chrome Hyena · Feb 2, 2018

Well all awards/history lifetime awards should stop because most likely anyone leading a major industry in the 40s/50s/60s/70s/80s was involved in some shitty/harassing behavior at one point in their lives. Really shouldn't judge the past by today's standards.

Deleted member 29660 · Feb 2, 2018

SHØGVN said:
It was a different environment back then, it's ridiculous to retroactively judge people by their worst moments when their achivements far outweigh them. Reminds of the recent nonsense calling Winston Churchill a racist when he beat the Nazis.

Furthermore no women who actually worked at the company has spoken out against him or filed accusations, in fact Loni Reeder who was Department Coordinator at Atari defended him:

So it really is someone trying to stir shit up due to her own bad experiences and no one from that time has actually complained or made any statements since then? If so Nolan doesn't deserve the shit unless conclusive proof or someone from the times does show up.

esserius · Feb 2, 2018

Barrel Cannon said:
added an edit note. I don't think societal norms forgive certain behavior. I just don't know what he did. They just described it as harassment in the OP. No one has mentioned what he even did or mentioned he did. I'm all for hating on someone who did something wrong but I don't know what it was even....

Sure, but I'm not talking about Nolan here. I'm talking about everyone here who has effectively said, "well it was the 70s, so it was expected/fine". Which it's not.

Barrel Cannon · Feb 2, 2018

esserius said:
Sure, but I'm not talking about Nolan here. I'm talking about everyone here who has effectively said, "well it was the 70s, so it was expected/fine". Which it's not.

I don't think anyone here is saying or thinks harassment was fine then. I sure don't. But I'd like to understand what happened before I think it was acceptable or not.

bionic77 · Feb 2, 2018

daegan said:
I don't disagree, but I think this is a bit different because these aren't allegations but stories recounted by himself + those close to him. So it's not like we have a whistleblower to go back on and I presume nobody at Atari was ever like "is this shit unwelcome?" in a way that would have crossed his attention.

I just hate that language.

Whenever someone gets accused of harassment or assault they always say shit like I apologize if my actions may have offended you.

And I am like, motherfucker you know what you did. And you know it bothered or hurt them so get that may and if shit out of here.

It is probably drafted by lawyers but the language is still offensive to me.

GDC Rescinds Nolan Bushnell’s Pioneer Award. MOD EDIT: Read OP

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