Breakout (video game) Breakout (video game) Breakout is an arcade game developed and published by Atari, Inc., released on May 13, 1976. It was conceptualized by Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow, influenced by the 1972 Atari arcade game "Pong", and built by Steve Wozniak aided by Steve Jobs. "Breakout" was the basis and inspiration for certain aspects of the Apple II personal computer. The game was ported to the Atari 2600 and was followed by a 1978 sequel, "Super Breakout", which four years later became the pack-in game for the Atari 5200 console. "Breakout" spawned an entire genre of "Breakout" clones, and the
Nolan Bushnell In 2012 he founded an educational software company called Brainrush, that is using video game technology in educational software. Nolan is credited with Bushnell's Law, an aphorism about games "easy to learn and difficult to master" being rewarding. Bushnell enrolled at Utah State University in 1961 to study engineering and then later business. In 1964, he transferred to the University of Utah College of Engineering, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He was one of many computer science students of the 1960s who played the historic