Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Primarily responsible for the formation of the video arcade and modern video game industries, the company was closed and its assets split in 1984 as a direct result of the North American video game crash of 1983. In 1966, Nolan Bushnell saw "Spacewar!" for the first time at the University of Utah. By 1968, Bushnell had become an employee of Ampex in San Francisco, and worked alongside Ted Dabney. The two found they had shared interests, including
William C. Dabney William C. Dabney William Cecil Dabney (1894–1963) was an American industrialist and the first soldier from Louisville, Kentucky injured during World War I. Dabney co-founded the Jones-Dabney manufacturer of paints. Dabney was born to Samuel G. Dabney and Louise Higgins Allen Dabney in Louisville on November 20, 1894. After attending public schools in Louisville, Davney completed his high school education at the Morristown School (now Morristown-Beard School) in Morristown, New Jersey. He then studied at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia from 1912 to 1913. Dabney served as vice president and general manufacturer of the Jenkins Graphite Lubrication Company