From: Tom Whore (tomwhore@inetarena.com)
Date: Fri Oct 20 2000 - 12:26:59 PDT
On Fri, 20 Oct 2000, John Klassa wrote:
--]
--]>>>>> On Fri, 20 Oct 2000, "Tom" == Tom Whore wrote:
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--] Tom> Who is the inventor of this amongst other products?
--] Tom> Nolan Bushnell
--]
JK 1
Yes. The maker of warm fuzy bears and many of the old game consoles that
are emued by million today, Nolan Bushnell, is thrusting the company Uwink
into the task of utilizing the interconectedness of
bar/coffeshoppe/upscale hang outs/retrotrendy customers.
This isnt a new idea. there have been Bartop interconnected games for
years now. Nolan is betting on getting the old "joystick nation" crowd to
reinvest in thier mispent youths.
It doesnt like youll be seeeing much multiplayer galaga or gauntlet
though. The games look like things you would find on a PDA; for that
reason though the installed user mindset will be high.
So if you think you can be the Mindsweeper Champiiogn of the world, now
could be your chance to prove it.
heres the source article
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,39532,00.html
If you played Pong and the Atari 2600 as a kid, their creator is hoping to
lure you back with video game consoles connected to the Internet.
Nolan Bushnell's newest baby, uWink, has just launched its first set of
machines, ranging from countertop-sized to full stand-up consoles that
will extend the gaming experience beyond the mall and into bars and coffee
houses.
The company is aiming for more upscale environments and an older audience,
as opposed to the pizza parlor video games where kids pump in quarters.
UWink thinks these modernized systems will revive the video arcade market
which has fallen on hard times. The market is down sharply, from $22
billion in the early 1980s to $6 billion last year, according to uWink.
UWink machines are powered by a lot of generic PC parts, such as Intel
processors, hard drives and network cards. They run a Linux- derivative
operating system. The company expects to ship 20,000 units in the next six
months to arcades and restaurants.
"We're modernizing it, putting it in places it hasn't been and going after
markets that hasn't had access to video games before," said Nancy Nino,
director of strategic relations for uWink. "There has been no innovation
in this industry. It's been in the dark ages of technology, and coin-op
still doesn't accept credit cards."
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