Allan Alcorn (born January 1, 1948) is an American computer scientist and video game designer. He is famous for creating Pong, one of the first video games. In 2009, he was selected by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.
Atari andPong
Alcorn was born in San Francisco, California, and studied at the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer sciences.
He worked for Ampex, an early video company, where he met Ted Dabney and others who later became important figures at Atari, Inc., Apple, Cyan Engineering, and Pizza Time Theater (now called Chuck E. Cheese's).
Alcorn designed the video arcade game Pong, working with Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Pong became very popular in the 1970s.
Alcorn was involved in creating many important Atari products, including the Atari 2600. He also attended meetings where Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs (who was then an Atari employee) showed their early Apple I computer design.
Alcorn hired Steve Jobs in 1974 after Jobs saw a job ad in the San Jose Mercury newspaper that said, "Have fun, make money." Jobs arrived at Atari’s office wearing sandals and with messy hair. He told the personnel director he would not leave until he was hired.
Alcorn was asked if they should call the police or let Jobs in. He said to let him in. Jobs was young and had a casual appearance, but he showed great interest in technology. Alcorn hired him because of his enthusiasm and because he was young and could be paid less.
Nolan Bushnell, a co-founder of Atari, described Jobs as "brilliant, curious, and aggressive." However, Jobs was also difficult to work with, often making others uncomfortable. He had a strong body odor because he followed a fruitarian diet and believed it prevented body odor. He did not shower or use deodorant. Alcorn solved the problem by having Jobs work only during nighttime hours.
Alcorn's work onCosmosleaving Atari
When Ray Kassar took over as president, Atari became a marketing company. The previous leaders had taken risks and developed new technologies. Instead of creating new ideas, Kassar focused on improving existing ones. Alcorn wanted to work on the next generation of home video-game hardware, but Kassar refused to consider any changes to the Atari VCS.
By the end of 1978, Alcorn gathered a team of engineers and began designing a game console named Cosmos. Unlike the VCS, Cosmos did not connect to a television. It used a light-emitting diode (LED) display. Both systems played games stored on cartridges, but Cosmos used tiny cartridges with no electronics. Instead, they had a four-by-five inch mylar transparency that cost very little to make. This allowed the entire cartridges to be sold for $10.
Alcorn’s team included two new engineers: Harry Jenkins, who had recently graduated from Stanford University, and Roger Hector, a project designer who had worked on important projects in the coin-op division. Both were assigned to work directly under Alcorn on the project.
Inspired by the Odyssey, Cosmos used overlays to improve the look of its games. These overlays were among the most advanced technologies developed by Atari engineers.
Atari made a deal with a bank to use patents from Holosonics, a company that had gone bankrupt but held many patents for holograms. Holograms use lasers to create three-dimensional images. Alcorn brought in two specialists, Steve McGrew and Ken Haynes, to create a way to mass-produce holograms for use in games.
McGrew developed a method for making holograms on mylar. Later, Haynes used the technology for other purposes, such as adding 3D images to credit cards. Alcorn used the mylar technology to create impressive 3D holographic overlays for Cosmos. One of the first games made for the system was similar to Steve Russell’s Spacewar, a space battle between two small ships. The game took place in empty space, but the holographic overlay added a detailed 3D backdrop with moving asteroids. The overlay did not affect gameplay, but the visual effects were striking.
Before starting the project, Alcorn asked Kassar for permission to create a new stand-alone game system. Kassar did not seem interested but did not stop him. By mid-1980, Alcorn and his team had completed a working prototype. When they showed it to the marketing department, they were told the department only wanted to sell the VCS.
Alcorn, Jenkins, and Hector had invested too much time in Cosmos to abandon it. Other engineers suggested giving up, but Alcorn decided to market the unit himself. He requested space to display Cosmos at Atari’s booth during the 1980 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Surprisingly, the marketing department agreed.
At this time, Mattel and Bally had released newer, more powerful consoles, but few people were interested. The VCS had more games and a larger user base. Many buyers from toy stores and department stores visited the Atari booth. Some stopped by the Cosmos table, where Alcorn, Hector, and Jenkins demonstrated the console. The holographic overlays drew attention.
A few months later, Alcorn, Hector, and Jenkins set up a similar display at the Toy Fair in New York City. Learning from his earlier failure to sell Home Pong, Alcorn also arranged private meeting rooms. Among the visitors was Al Nilsen, the new toy buyer for J. C. Penney.
Although Cosmos did not sell as well as the VCS, some buyers decided to try it. Alcorn returned to California with orders for 250,000 units. When he told Kassar he wanted to begin manufacturing, Kassar blocked his plans. Despite the large number of orders, Kassar refused to produce a system that would compete with the VCS. Cosmos was never made.
Alcorn and Hector claimed Kassar stopped Cosmos because it would compete with the VCS. However, some people who tried the console said the games lacked value. Kassar’s decision to stop Cosmos angered Alcorn, and he left the company. He hoped to receive the same retirement benefits as Bushnell, Williams, and Keenan. According to Alcorn, being “put on the beach” meant receiving an expense account, a monthly payment, and a company car.
Alcorn’s plans nearly failed. Warner Communications said he was not eligible for the same retirement package as Bushnell and Keenan. Warner’s lawyers argued Alcorn had negotiated his severance separately and was not entitled to the same bonus.
At the time, Atari controlled 75% of the home video-game market, and VCS sales were close to $2 billion annually. The bonuses Bushnell and Keenan received were a major source of income. The case went to court, and Warner agreed to settle. Alcorn, Atari’s first full-time engineer, retired “to the beach.”
After Atari
After Atari was sold to Warner Communications in 1976, Alcorn was paid to not work at the company. Alcorn left Atari in 1981 and worked with many young companies in Silicon Valley, especially those connected to Catalyst Technologies, one of the first technology company incubators created by Nolan Bushnell and other former Atari leaders.
Alcorn worked directly with several startups, including Cumma, a system that could be reprogrammed for video games and kiosks (a system similar to the Neo Geo). He also advised Etak, one of the first practical in-car navigation systems.
Later, Alcorn became an Apple Fellow and helped many startups during the technology boom.
In 1993, Alcorn co-founded Silicon Gaming, a company that used video game and computer technology to create products like slot machines. In 1998, he co-founded Zowie Entertainment, a company that started from Interval Research. At Zowie, he helped develop a toy set that used a location system to let a computer respond to a child’s play. In 2000, Zowie Entertainment was bought by Lego.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Alcorn was incorrectly called a "co-founder" of Atari in some video game media. Ted Dabney, one of Atari’s true co-founders, explained that Alcorn was very important to Atari’s early development and was one of its first employees, but he was not a co-founder of the company.
Alcorn was played by David Denman in the 2013 movie Jobs.