History of video games industry. However, the system did directly influence the birth of a vibrant video arcade game industry after Ralph Baer's design ingenuity intersected Nolan Bushnell's entrepreneurial ambition. In 1972, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney decided to strike out on their own and incorporated their preexisting partnership as Atari. After seeing a demonstration of the Magnavox Odyssey ahead of its release, Bushnell charged new hire Allan Alcorn to create a version of that system's table tennis game as a practice project to familiarize himself with video game design. Alcorn's version ended up being so fun that Atari decided to release it as
William H. Dabney William H. Dabney William Howard Dabney, (September 28, 1934 – February 15, 2012), was a retired colonel in the United States Marine Corps. He was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism in the Vietnam War. He also served as the Commandant of Cadets at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) from 1989 to 1990. Dabney was born as William Wagner in Saint John New Brunswick, Canada on September 28, 1934, to Victor William Wagner (1894–1972) and Mary Hennessey Wagner (1902–1990). His mother remarried Hugh Keane Dabney(1893-1972) on May 5, 1945 in Henrico Co., Virginia and his surname was changed to Dabney.