Collection Guide
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Bristow (Steve) papers
M1887
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Steve Bristow papers
creator:
Bristow, Steve, 1950-2015
Identifier/Call Number: M1887
Physical Description:
12.25 Linear Feet
(23 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1969-1996
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36 hours in advance. For more information
on paging collections, see the department's website: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html.
The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted
to a digital use copy.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
This collection given by Steve Bristow to Stanford University, Special Collections in April, 2012.
[identification of item], Steve Bristow papers (M1887). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Steve Bristow (1950-2015) was a video game pioneer known especially for his work on arcade games at Atari. Bristow was born
in California and lived there his entire life. In 1971, while studying at University of California-Berkeley and interning
at Ampex under the supervision of Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, Bristow worked on circuitry for Computer Space, the first
commercially sold coin-operated video game. After Ampex decided not to pursue the video game market, Bushnell left for Nutting
Associates, and Bristow followed in March 1972, creating a two-person version of Computer Space with his wife, among other
games. Around this time the Bristows also maintained and collected money from arcade machines in Berkeley as a sideline.
After graduation, Barstow went straight to Bushnell’s new company, known as Atari. As head of Coin Engineering he helped develop
multi-user versions of Pong, Indy 800 (one of the first arcade racing games), as well as the company-saving Tank and Breakout.
Among his various roles, he was involved with the Electronic Board Game Division and was Plant Manager of Pinball Production.
Bristow was more or less in charge of Atari's arcade division until 1979 when he transitioned to the Consumer and Computer
Group, where he helped put Atari’s home computer line into production. Not long after a management decision to bring out a
successor to the 2600 rather than license Nintendo’s new game system, Bristow left Atari and worked as an electrical engineer.
He passed away in February 2015 at the age of 65.
The collection consists of business papers such as reports, legal & patent documents, and sales & trade show material; notebooks;
service manuals & user guides; schematics; advertisements;, articles and photographs. Most of the papers concern Bristow's
career at Atari.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Video games.
Coin-operated machines
Video game design
Video arcades
Bristow, Steve, 1950-2015
Atari, Inc.