And Bushnell estimated the number of games he'd be able to serve through uWink at 600 trillion games across 100,000 restaurants Ambitious - but hey, it's Nolan Bushnell, right?

When we covered Bushnell's recent talk at Wedbush Morgan's annual management access conference, we heard him say that he misses the idea of gaming as a social activity, since the decline of arcades, and that part of what he hopes to do with uWink is to revive that group spirit and keep multiplayer that's actually in-person alive.

In the GameDaily interview, he cited an example - Pong used to be a hot tool for chicks to pick up guys at bars?

"What's the essence of that game experience?" Bushnell asks, pausing before answering his own question. "The essence of that game experience is the social experience."

And there's a precedent for such things. "Pong was highly social," he reminds us. Bushnell recalls the early days when the game was introduced to bars. "It was okay for a woman to pull a guy off the bar stool to come and play with her, because it was only a two player game. And so it was like a constant girl's choice in a bar. And it was right at the point of women's liberation...and the number of people who said they've met their husband or wife playing Pong over the years, you know, I bet over a thousand people have said that."

Interview: Nolan Bushnell's 600 Trillion Games [GameDaily]

In addition to founding Atari, Bushnell also founded Chuck-e-Cheese's, and now he's into social gaming. His current project is UWink, a social gaming-focused restaurant chain with touch screen consoles at every table where users can not only order food and drink, but also play games together. UWink is set to open its second restaurant in Hollywood soon.

"Social games aren't sitting in boxer shorts in your basement," Bushnell said. "It's being out, having fun, being able to hi-five people around the table, and it's a bridge between traditional board games, which are highly social experiences in the home, and a video game. The idea is to create games in which the conversations among the people are as important as the gameplay itself."

One more thing on Bushnell's list of current projects? "Think of the holodeck come true," he said:

"It's an immersive game - totally revolutionary, totally new."

Lastly, Bushnell had plenty to add in a panel discussion that focused on the broadening casual and non-traditional game market. He sits on the board of NeoEdge, a tech company that enables advertisers to deliver 30-second spots in that casual gaming arena. And he thinks the industry has only begun scratching the surface as far as the amount of revenue available from advertising:

"People in the U.S. watch about 28, 27 hours of television per week, and they play about 7-8 hours of games per week. On a parity basis, that says there should be somewhere between 25 and 30 billion dollars of ads available for the game business... [but there's] less than a billion now," he said.

"We think there's a massive opportunity to get rid of that inefficiency with a lot more ad-supported gameplay... and not only should we be getting more revenue on a per game basis, but the gameplay should be significantly more valuable to an advertiser."

Also on the panel were Kathy Vrabeck, president of Casual Entertainment for Electronic Arts; John Koller, senior marketing manager for Sony Computer Entertainment America; Doug Clemmer, president of Valusoft & THQ Wireless, and WildTangent founder and chairman Alex St. John - and among other things, the panelists all agreed that greater ad support in games could accelerate the growth of digital distribution, free-to-play games, and ultimately, the death of that $60 retail box.

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell's latest restaurant uWink opened yesterday in Woodland Hills, California. Bushnell's previous restaurant Chuck E. Cheese was centered around arcade games, pizza and animatronic animals. His latest is geared more towards casual games and booze. There's food, too, but the key here is booze. The restaurant has a nice big bar, stocked with various types of alcohol. The drink menu comes via touch screen, so go ahead and order that 11th Tom Collins. You'll get no sass from the touch screen!

Kotaku reader Matthew was on hand at uWink's opening and sent us a review (after the jump) and a smattering of pictures (also after the jump). Brian Ashcraft

The restaurant was pretty neat very nice staff and atmosphere. It wasn't a terrible location (except it's in one the crappiest malls in the Valley). On the interactive and gaming side there's a touch screen where you order everything and play games while u wait.

The touch screen is pretty responsive except that some of the games require fast response time and it didn't really allow for that. Otherwise you can play something of the equivelant of fancy cell phone games with other members of your party such as the Amazing Trivia Game and a game called Shootout where you toss a basketball. Or you can play by yourself.

All the prices of food are clearly displayed as well as there nutritional value. The only real problem my friend and I had was that when we ordered a "build it yourself burger," the prices of the extra stuff such as bacon and cheese was not tallied, but did show up on the bill. So we disputed it saying that it [the touch screen] never told us, and we got a burger taken off the bill. Everything else went pretty smoothly.

Some stuff was non-operational such as certain games or incorrect pictures as it was there first day so I don't hold it against them. Oh, and they give you RFID cards to order your food with. You just swipe it on the side of your console, and it will split the bill for you. Also, the checkout function didn't work so we had to go up to the front desk and have human interaction that sort of ruined the whole experience. But other than that I would go back again.

Oh, and one more thing: They said they were gonna have something else outside. So I guess that wasn't finished either. The pics with those white orb things on the table—that's supposed to be for some sort of projection game like the ones on the floor in malls.

Got plans for October 16th? Atari and Chuck E. Cheese founder Nolan Bushnell is opening his first uWink video game diner in Woodland Hills, California. Here's how it works: Customers order food or drinks via touch-screens built into their tables. The computers even make cocktail recommendations based on a personality quiz. And customers can pay to play casual video games while they eat or wait for their food. Sound kinda cool, but totally missing an animatronic band. Brian Ashcraft

Eat at uWink Next Week [GameSetWatch]

Atari founder and Gaming's Grandfather, Nolan Bushnell, has found a location for the first uWink Bistro. At the techy restaurant, food and drinks will be ordered via touch screen and games played at each table. The fare will include pizza, burgers and shakes.

The uWink Bistro will be located in the Westfield Promenade in Woodland Hills, California. "For almost a year, we have been searching for the right location for our initial uWink Bistro," said Bushnell. "We are thrilled that we have finally found this site: the demographics, the space and the pre-existing kitchen are all in line with our business model."

Last year in Kyoto, I heard Bushnell speak about the uWink Bistro. The idea sounded intriguing, and it should be interesting to see if how his restaurant will be received. I can't help but think Chuck E. Cheese for adults — minus the animatronic rodent.

Full Release [Business Wire]

In an interview with Wired, Pong designer Nolan Bushnell talks about his new restaurant venture, his next-gen Chuck E. Cheese, uWink, and a new game — he's calling it Ping. Bushnell wants to bring games back "to their role as a social facilitator, the way party games help people to interact." He maintains that Pong is "responsible for hundreds, maybe thousands of marriages." Bushnell's desire for games to become social facilitators seems noble, but he ignores the fact that other game types can be facilitators instead, suggesting that consumers need to be in a place like uWink or an arcade for said social interactions. Kind of flies in the face of digital communities like Xbox Live and most MMOs, doesn't it?

The Player [Wired]