Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, responsible for bringing the first widely recognized video game "Pong" to the mainstream, headed a project in the mid-1970s for Atari to launch the first arcade-oriented, family restaurant featuring computer-controlled animatronics. At a time when arcades were popular in bowling alleys and bars, Bushnell sought to increase arcade exposure to a younger audience. In 1977, Atari opened the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, CA. The concept became an immediate success, and after leaving Atari in 1978, Bushnell purchased the Pizza Time restaurant forming a new company under the title Pizza Time Theatre Inc.