- [Narrator] This isn't any ordinary gamer.

- [Nolan] I had the reputation at the time

of this mad genius.

- [Narrator] He created a bunch of companies

focusing on robots …

- [Nolan] Automobile navigation.

- [Narrator] Microwave components.

- [Nolan] And a bunch of others.

- He is the man who launched the video game revolution.

(upbeat digital music)

- [Narrator] But there's one more creation you may

not know about …

A place where a kid can be a kid.

- [Announcer] Let's welcome creative genius, Nolan Bushnell.

- [Broadcaster] Nolan Bushnell.

(upbeat digital music)

- [Narrator] In many ways, you can trace the history

of video games all the way back to this man, Nolan Bushnell.

In 1972, Nolan co-founded one of the first

video game companies.

They called it Atari.

Their first hit is a table tennis game called, Pong.

It sets record sales and permanently changed

the arcade world.

Even though arcades were hitting critical mass,

families were still hesitant to accept them

into their lives.

To change hearts and minds, Nolan knew that

arcades needed a new and friendly face.

This is the story of how he introduced the world

to a new mascot of gaming, Chuck E. Cheese.

(upbeat digital music)

In the 1970s and '80s, this is what a video game looked like.

Yeah, it doesn't look like much.

But back then, games like these turned Atari

into a multi billion dollar company.

(digital music)

- At Atari, we had explosive growth.

We were just printing money because we were lean and mean,

and had good games.

- [Narrator] But having good games wasn't enough.

The market was saturated, and Atari needed to break

into a new demographic.

- [Nolan] I wanted to create a chain of big arcades

focusing on kids.

- They've even passed laws restricting the use of the games.

- But, there were certain cities that didn't

wanna have arcades because teenagers came and

they'd cause trouble.

So I felt that disguising it as a restaurant was

a good business strategy.

Chuck E. Cheese was an arcade, masquerading as a restaurant.

(laughing)

- [Narrator] Though Nolan had the idea, he needed someone

to turn it into a reality.

So he tapped one of the brightest

business minds within Atari.

A man as ambitious as he was.

A man as crazy as he was. - Come on, baby.

Meet the first president of Chuck E. Cheese, Gene Landrum.

(upbeat music)

- I have been pretty competitive in my life.

I was 20 years old, I was Mr. Ft. Lauderdale.

I won a hundred tennis tournaments.

So, I did business kind of the same way.

I happened to be an aggressive guy, and go get it done,

and win the game.

(upbeat music)

When Nolan hired me to do this, I actually looked at myself

and said, “What do you know about food, Gene?”

Nothing.

- [Narrator] But that was a risk Nolan wanted to take.

He knew that creating something unorthodox

required visionaries, not experts set in their ways.

- Experts don't understand the future.

Too many times you have to un-teach experts.

So, when it came to spinning up the Chuck E. Cheese project,

I thought Gene would be the perfect guy.

- [Narrator] So, where did Gene start?

Well, with food.

- [Gene] Pizza makes sense because families love pizza.

And, guess what?

It takes 20 minutes to make a pizza.

So, while they're waiting, the kids are playing

the games, and I had Chuck actually deliver the pizza.

And I went down south and found a guy who did

costumes for Disney.

I said, “Look I don't want a mouse.”

Disney's got Mickey.

And I don't want a rat, it's too hard core.

I want a soft rat.

And he did it.

- [Narrator] And after only three months of work,

Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theater opened its doors

for the first time on May 17, 1977.

(upbeat music)

- Everybody was willing to say that

talking robots in a pizza parlor with a lot of games

was a really stupid idea.

And in fact, the day we opened I knew we'd screwed up.

The place wasn't big enough.

- My joint was filled.

There wasn't a seat.

And once I learned how to do it, I opened a store a week.

Fifty stores I opened in one year!

- I had no fear.

I knew that it was gonna do well.

(subtle dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Chuck E. Cheese's initial stores were a hit.

But at the parent company Atari, things were going

a little differently.

- Warner bought Atari, and all of a sudden

you had a whole bunch of New York suits pruning

my pet projects.

I was really upset about that, and it dawned on me

that I was having a lot more fun working on

Chuck E. Cheese than on Atari.

- [Narrator] And so Nolan eventually left Atari.

Over time, the company struggled and faded away

as the spotlight turned to new gaming giants like Nintendo.

But while kids today may not know the name Atari,

Chuck E. Cheese is still a childhood hot spot.

After 40 years, the buck tooth, pizza-serving

stuffed rat still stands as a testament to

Nolan's innovation in the video game industry.

(subtle dramatic music)

- It was a whirlwind.

It was more successful than I thought it would ever be.

But, Chuck E. Cheese, it's a viable concept.

It makes sense.

It still makes sense.

- Chuck E. Cheese's is better than ever.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

- There's a vanishingly small number of places

where parents and children can have a fun night out.

And that was one of the goals.

You know, I feel good about that.

I saw it, I did it.

I was at the beginning.

Enough.

(laughing)

(ding)