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Sex, Pong, And Pioneers: What Atari Was Really Like, According To Women Who Were There

autoduelist

Member
A witch hunt is not something done in reply to actual reason behind it.

Um... there is no such limitation on the term 'witchhunt'. It's a popular, oft used term rooted in history. Just because there are actual sexual predators does not mean you can't have a witch hunt for sexual predators. Just like the satanic cult witchhunts in the 80's, etc. Just because some people actually practice various satanic rituals/etc, doesn't mean you can't have a witchhunt for it.
 
Um... there is no such limitation on the term 'witchhunt'. It's a popular, oft used term rooted in history. Just because there are actual sexual predators does not mean you can't have a witch hunt for sexual predators. Just like the satanic cult witchhunts in the 80's, etc. Just because some people actually practice various satanic rituals/etc, doesn't mean you can't have a witchhunt for it.

Then use it for something applicable.

To use your example, the witchhunts for Satanic cults weren't made because there was an issue with Satanic cults. It was a made-up reasoning to go after people who played D&D etc. There is actual basis in the pursuance of sexual misconduct. Are there going to be people who get caught in the middle of fixing this problem? Inevitably, but I think it's also valuable to make clear that the behavior of Bushnell belongs in the past. This is an effective way of doing this.
 

Moneal

Member
Then use it for something applicable.

To use your example, the witchhunts for Satanic cults weren't made because there was an issue with Satanic cults. It was a made-up reasoning to go after people who played D&D etc. There is actual basis in the pursuance of sexual misconduct. Are there going to be people who get caught in the middle of fixing this problem? Inevitably, but I think it's also valuable to make clear that the behavior of Bushnell belongs in the past. This is an effective way of doing this.

if all parties consent to it why should it belong in the past?

The 80s satanic cult witch hunt made up to attack D&D players. It started because therapists pushed kids to lie about abuse. the first big case was against a preschool teacher and it blew up from there.
 
What reputation is that? Atari had a great reputation back then and they hired some of the best and brightest young minds coming out of college back then. In many of the articles, books and documentaries I've read and watched, former Atari employees say that it was the best job they ever had and they loved working at Atari. The founders of Activision, Apple and many other tech companies started at Atari. Atari also employed some of the first female video game designers, such as Carol Shaw and Dona Bailey.

it's less about what insiders knew and more about what outsiders thought

video games didn't have as good of a reputation as the rest of computers/technology. and i'd say that they still don't.
 
if all parties consent to it why should it belong in the past?

The 80s satanic cult witch hunt made up to attack D&D players. It started because therapists pushed kids to lie about abuse. the first big case was against a preschool teacher and it blew up from there.

As demonstrated, not all parties consented to Bushnell's behavior.

And I'm aware of that, but you will need to go a long way before claiming that that there is any real correlation between the rise in sexual misconduct claims and Satanic D&D claims.
 

Alebrije

Member
Were different times , I recommend you The art of Atari, it's not focused on the topic but let's you see they had fun in the beginning of the company, a lot of freedom and developing of ideas.
 
There is no "there" there with Nolan Bushnell and that article pretty much proves, it was the 70s, people ahd a more relaxed attitude about sex, end of story.

The fact that they've decided to disrespect what's basically the father of video games as we know them is shameful and really not at all surprising.
 

autoduelist

Member
Then use it for something applicable.

To use your example, the witchhunts for Satanic cults weren't made because there was an issue with Satanic cults. It was a made-up reasoning to go after people who played D&D etc. There is actual basis in the pursuance of sexual misconduct. Are there going to be people who get caught in the middle of fixing this problem? Inevitably, but I think it's also valuable to make clear that the behavior of Bushnell belongs in the past. This is an effective way of doing this.

First, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about in regards to the 80's witch hunt. It was fears of child sex abuse that put innocent people in jail. Second, again, it does not matter if there is 'an actual basis'. The phrase 'witch hunt' is not dependent on whether or not the thing being hunted actually occurs or not. Your 'limitation' of it only being able to be used if the thing being hunted is imaginary is an incorrect limitation of the term - you are wrong, not the people using it.

You can witch hunt anything -- if you have a witch hunt for, say, 'bullying', it means accusing people of bullying with little or no evidence. Clearly, bullying actually exists, but you can still use the term.
 
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MC Safety

Member
This is where Web-based reporting could have taken its cue from newspaper or magazine reporting. Editing is key, even if you don't have space restrictions.

It's meant to be a story about the women of Atari -- the people who worked at a very specific place and time. But then there's a huge section of text that veers from the central theme to illustrate a tangential point. It seems it's not enough to allow these women to tell the story of their experiences. And it's pointed where the rest of the text is definitely not.
 
First, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about in regards to the 80's witch hunt. It was fears of child sex abuse that put innocent people in jail. Second, again, it does not matter if there is 'an actual basis'. The phrase 'witch hunt' is not dependent on whether or not the thing being hunted actually occurs or not. Your 'limitation' of it only being able to be used if the thing being hunted is imaginary is an incorrect limitation of the term - you are wrong, not the people using it.

You can witch hunt anything -- if you have a witch hunt for, say, 'bullying', it means accusing people of bullying with little or no evidence. Clearly, bullying actually exists, but you can still use the term.

But Nolan both has his own claims about his behavior and one of the people involved talking about how she didn't like what he did to her. Witch hunts are irrelevant.
 
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