Nolan Bushnell has always been a man slightly ahead of his time. After co-founding Atari in 1972 -- and some might say the video game industry as a whole -- he was forced from the company just before it became a multi-billion dollar business. He followed that up by launching the Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant chain, but again left the company in the mid-'80s over a disagreement with management. (There are more than 500 locations now.) Bushnell's latest venture takes him into uncharted territory on a smaller scale but is nonetheless bold: He's going to the future.

What is a gadget you can't live without?

My iPhone, for sure.

What are your favorite iPhone apps?

My favorite application right now is Monopoly. I play that every day. It's like a bathroom game... sorry, TMI! I'm heavy into it; it's one of those games I got addicted to. Actually, I love all of the applications I have on my phone. I'm kind of a gadget-whore, but that's my favorite device.

On Monday, Best Buy tech-help division Geek Squad launched its new Black Tie Protection service, which covers home theater, mobile tech, gadgets, and more, in addition to computers. Naturally, the electronics retailer decided that it needed some star power to kick off its new product, so it invited three celebrity "icons of protection": Tanya Roberts of 'Charlie's Angels' and 'That '70s Show', MacGyver (aka Richard Dean Anderson, and Steven Seagal), a musician who's made some martial arts movies (or is it the other way around?).

Since Best Buy is the exclusive provider of this service, the celebs showed up at a Manhattan store in three black SUVs escorted by the incredibly intimidating Geek Squad members in their Geekmobiles, black and white VW Bugs that are the official cars of the service. Anderson arrived first on the orange carpet, yelling "hello New York!" to the crowd of media, fans, and bewildered pedestrians walking on Broadway. Roberts came second, looking great at age 52. And finally, Seagal's SUV showed up and the martial artist got out of the wrong side of the car, said hello to the host briefly, and walked quickly inside. Some onlookers looked disappointed, but then it was time for the Q & A.

Flanked by Best Buy and Geek Squad employees, the three "protectors" sat on a small stage with lighting so hot that two of them asked for it to be changed before anything started. While this may sound like diva behavior, we can attest that it really was hot as hell up there, especially if you were wearing a suit like Anderson's. Poor Mac was getting sweaty by the end. The brief Q&A session mainly featured a female audience member telling both Anderson and Seagal how much she enjoyed their work without asking a question. Awesome.

Luckily for us, we were given a few minutes to talk with Mr. Seagal – you'd call him that too if you were standing right next to him – about tech, music, and his current work. Check out the interview after the break, as well as our gallery featuring more pictures and quotes of the stars. Something, um, may depend on it.

What gadgets do you always bring with you to the set (for down-time?)

In an ideal world I'd bring my Xbox 360, steal someone's Wi-Fi and play Halo 3 or Katamari Damacy all day, but then I'd never get work done. As it is, my laptop and my Bose headphones are usually enough.


What cell phone do you have right now and what do you love/hate about it?

I'm an iPhone convert. I'd been previously addicted to the keyboard on the Sidekick 3, but I've since been miraculously cured. Sure, there're a couple things that could be improved upon (I would LOVE a better motion stabilizer in the camera), and I certainly miss touch-texting, but mostly, I heart it. I heart it hardcore.


Who's the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about?

I texted my friend Tarina about the N.E.R.D. concert I went to yesterday. I'm still mostly deaf, and more than a little sore from dancing.


Where do you go (site or service) pretty much every time you get online?

Notcot.org, Geekologie.com, Wikipedia, NY Times, Dlisted.com. I also like to play Text Twist a lot, and I occasionally guiltily peak in on Perezhilton.com


What annoys you most about your iPod, cell phone, or laptop (or any other gadget)?

I gotta say, my Mac does occasionally like to play games with me, such as 'Hide the Dock', or 'Haha, random application quit'. However, I have dropped it a number of times. It could just be exacting its revenge.


Name one thing you wish your cellphone could do that it doesn't do now?

Cook, clean, pimp itself out to pay for it's own bills... However, if I'm being realistic (which I'm obviously not), I'd love a phone that had a laptop's memory capabilities. I have nearly 6,000 songs and I'm the digital equivalent of a pack rat. There's just never enough room for it all.


What upcoming gadget can you not wait to get your hands on?

I feel like I'm cheating on my iPhone already, but the new HTC touch pro looks might fine, though it's application icon design could use a little spiffing up. Otherwise, the next new game or console. I'm a videogame junkie. What'd you expect from a kid named after one?


You're stranded on a desert island: What gadget do you bring?

My laptop. At least I'd have music and movies for a while, and when it runs out of juice, it'd still make a mighty fine weapon.


What's the most-played song or artist on your iPod?

Tough call. I did make a playlist for a friend a couple days back with some of my favorites, current and everlasting:

Cry Me a River – Ella Fitzgerald
Glory Box – Portishead
ThickFreakness – The Black Keys
Set Me Free – The Heavy
Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat's Heavenly House Mix) – Nina Simone
I against I – Jedi Mind Tricks
Just – Mark Ronson and Phantom Planet
Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing In the Line for the Bathroom) – N.E.R.D.
This is the Thing – Fink
Bum Like You (alt. Version) – Robyn
Waiting for a War – The Morning Benders
Die Alone – Ingrid Michaelson
Romantic Rights – Death From Above 1979
The Birth and Death of a Day – Explosions in the Sky


BlackBerry, Sidekick, or Treo?

I never kiss and tell...especially not with my iphone within earshot!


Do you have an iPhone? Are you getting the new iPhone 3G?

Already have... though I may have to get the new one after people report back about it.


What's the longest time you've ever spent playing a video game in one sitting and what game was it?

God, I've easily spent 8 hours or more on Halo or Call of Duty in one sitting before (with breaks for food of course). Time well spent you ask me, though my ass may disagree.


Mac or PC?

Mac 17-inch Laptop. It's user friendly, has nifty applications, and a beautiful design. It's a handsome machine, I must say.

One of the few successful "mainstream" female comic writers in the United States, Gail Simone (pictured, below) is the author of DC's 'Birds of Prey,' 'Welcome to Tranquility,' All-New Atom, and will soon take the reigns of 'Wonder Woman.' Her most recent work is for the GameTap network, which commissioned Simone to create an episode for its 'Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series,' a 10-part animated series in which different guest animators, writers, and actors have been asked to re-imagine the backstories of a series of well-known video game characters. The first season is focused on Tomb Raider's heroine Lara Croft. Simone's contribution is "Pre-Teen Raider," which is all about a young Ms. Lara Croft (pictured, above) -- before the movie deals, before the buried treasure, before the paparazzi -- which is available now at Gametap.com. We spoke with Ms. Simone about reinterpreting one of the most illustrious icons in the video game world.


Lara Croft has become something of a sex symbol for the gamer generation. How does that fit into your portrayal of her?

It's a bit odd, in a way, because I have to confess I wasn't quite aware of how huge a sex symbol she was for the gaming community. I mean, she was always beautiful, but I always thought of her more as an adventurer and a vaguely aristocratic action heroine, than a glamour girl or pin-up babe. I think, if that's all someone sees in Lara, they're missing what makes her so entertaining. The beauty and sexiness is great, but I like the other elements in there as well. Without them, it's just another babe, which is fine, but not as interesting or complex.

Are you a gamer? Did you play much Tomb Raider?

Yeah, I'm sort of addicted to buying game systems. We have everything from the 2600 to the Vectrex to the Virtual Boy to all the next gen consoles and portables. Most are in storage but the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii get the most play in our house. That might change as the PlayStation 3 library expand, but I did actually play the last Tomb Raider all the way to the end. It was really compelling to me, as I almost never do that (with a couple exceptions--I finished Kingdom Hearts II and have no idea what happened). Fun story, great challenges, great villain. I really dug it, and that was well before I got this gig!


Give me some adjectives that you think describe Ms. Croft...

Um...this is a loaded question if ever I heard one! Okay, I'm game. Tough, haughty, agile, strong, deadly, committed, beautiful, smart, cunning, and yes, I agree, she's a hot babe.



Please tell us some things about Lara that you discovered (or made up) along the way...

Well, our story (brilliantly animated by studio Six Point Harness) takes place when she's just 12, before she really comes to her full power. But I do like to think of her as someone with a powerful sense of mischief and fun. I felt that was something lacking a bit in her films...I think she'd make some smart, snarky comments sometimes.


Lara wouldn't be much of a gamer, would she?

Oh, I wouldn't say that. Games are vastly more interactive and challenging today than they used to be, and hugely more mind-empowering than sitting back and watching television. Lara always needs to be doing something. I can see her playin' video games quite easily.


Your style is very distinctive...

I write comic books mostly, and some animation. I have written everything from very mature comics to comics specifically for very young children. I like to work on a variety of projects, which is why this appealed to me.


How long did it take to create your episode? How many people were involved?

Hmm. I'm not totally sure on that second bit...it's a small piece, really, so the long part of the job was getting approval. I had story ideas ranging from Lara in the Jurassic era to a transvestite Lara at a gaming convention. Once we got the story right, it was actually a pretty fast process.


Do you enjoy this sort of short-form, remix, web-based content? Does much of your work these days fall into this category?

Very much. I'm not doing a lot of Web-based content, but I think even the most foolish person can see that that's where we're all headed. I love the fact that so many people now can make a movie in their basement and distribute it all over the Web by that night. I think that's astonishing, and a lot of creators will benefit from having no middle-men between their work and their viewers. That's tremendously exciting.



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