Bushnell To Receive BAFTA Fellowship

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) will induct Pong creator Nolan Bushnell into BAFTA Fellowship at its GAME British Academy Video Games Awards taking place on March 10th in London. Based in the UK, BAFTA seeks to support, develop, and promote excellence in films, video games and television. Previous BAFTA Fellowship inductees include actor Anthony Hopkins and renown game designer Will Wright (Spore, The Sims). Widely considered the father of video games, Bushnell is the co-founder of Atari and founder of family entertainment chain Chuck E Cheese. Currently, he is serving as CEO to game-based restaurant startup uWink and as an advisor to GameWager, a social platform and reward system designed for online PC gamers. "I am humbled to be selected for this honor from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts," says Bushnell. "The British people are not only great game players but have historically been some of the best game creators. The pub culture and country house drawing room environments have been instrumental in spawning games and game players through the centuries." "I am very grateful to receive an award from the people with a history of creating and embracing this type of entertainment." BAFTA chairman David Parfitt adds, "The Fellowship is the highest accolade the Academy can bestow on an individual for their creative work and we are very excited that Nolan is flying over to accept it at the Awards. His contribution is nothing short of remarkable; he ushered in an era, the legacy of which is the vibrant, evolving industry we see before us today."