But after growing up watching, and then repairing, the old midway arcade machines in the theme parks of his native Utah, this man would quickly go on to found Atari, give the world the long-enduring Pong, and eventually end up heralded as one of Newsweek’s “50 Men Who Changed America”.

He might not be a household name, but that hasn’t stopped the Hollywood machine revving into overdrive. News is out that Paramount has bought the rights to a biopic which will follow him from his early life as a student, right through the creation and sale of Atari and the classic game. It may even extend to his ill-judged venture into pizza-and-animatronics restaurants with the Chuck E. Cheese chain, which ended up going bankrupt.

All fascinating stuff, but even he’d admit it’s not exactly what you’d call glamorous. So which appropriately nerdy actor is reportedly lined up to play Bushnell on his fabulous engineering journey? Um…

Yeah, we don’t quite see it either.

Steve Jobs once worked with Atari employees to create and market his own home computer, which he offered to, and was turned down by, Bushnell. Here’s hoping for a little cameo, although given this casting news he’d probably end up being played by Matt Damon. Or maybe The Rock.