Atari Bankrupt... :( Ode to a legend....

Gamespot Reports

The once great titan of all that was good and hopeful in our beloved hobby is in it's death rattle. They revolutionized the home console... They introduced some of the most beloved games in the history of gaming and now, after a checkered financial history of the highest of highs and lowest of lows, the mighty Atari falls... and as history proclaims, so shall we all.

Somewhere in this fair land Chuck-E-Cheese is crying...

For the kiddies in system wars...

A very small ode... (yes mods, it gets system wars(y) at the end... :P

The Atari 2600... (my first console). Every day you turn on you precious xbox,ps3 or wiiu remember where you came from...

So many great franchises lived on Atari consoles...

...and a few really shiity ones... :P (I own this game by the way and it is utter crap)

The Jaguar... Sold 8 copies... 8 of which were purchased by the developers themselves... 7 were returned... no one know where the 8th is...

What Atari turned into... :(

System Wars relevance... (as promised)

Today a great company fell... many other companies have spawned successful business on the backs of Atari success (and failures)... Nintendo, Sony and MS all have reason to tip their hat to this company.

When ranking the truly great companies and influences, inovation and experiences in gaming history where do you believe Atari fits in... You can either just share a memory or give me list on what you think...

Not the same Atari.fernandmondego_

What we call Atari today is actually Infogrames. The Atari that made all those old video games does not exist anymore.Timstuff

Doooooomed, past tense. :P

The best Atri system was the 7800. It was a better machine than the NES. Had Atari had proper leadership at the time, the 7800 - which could have come out 2 years before the NES - could have returned the company to glory. Sadly, that did not happen; though it was good for Nintendo!

I thought they went under after the Jaguar flopped. I'm assuming from the Chuck E Cheese references they made those kiddy arcade games.

I thought they went under after the Jaguar flopped. I'm assuming from the Chuck E Cheese references they made those kiddy arcade games.

Boddicker

The memories and the legacy will never die

I thought they went bankrupt 30 years ago.

They were alive? Doing what exactly?

Cause she's an Xbox, and I'm on Atari. About the way you play your game in bed.

Cause she's an Xbox, and I'm on Atari. About the way you play your game in bed.

burgeg

lol love that song

Was the Amiga a part of the Atari?

The best Atri system was the 7800. It was a better machine than the NES. Had Atari had proper leadership at the time, the 7800 - which could have come out 2 years before the NES - could have returned the company to glory. Sadly, that did not happen; though it was good for Nintendo!

StormyJoe

Investors back then were pretty dumd to fire Nolan Bushnell.

Edited: He was forced out of the Company over a disagreement on Atari's future.

While the company Infogrames may die out, the Atari name will live on and manifest itself once again later on.

You know what was a really cool game? The Pong game for PS1. That game was awesome. Some really creative twists on pong and it was super fun.

Was the Amiga a part of the Atari?

faizan_faizan

I really don't consider this Atari to be the same as the legendary Atari of old. That brand has been dead for years.

[QUOTE="faizan_faizan"]

Was the Amiga a part of the Atari?

carlisledavid79

There are actually two companies that were known as Atari and both claim descent from the orginal Atari that created Pong and the 2600 and was owned by Time Warner. After the crash of 1983, Time Warner looked into selling Atari. They held onto the arcade division which was known as Atari Games while the home console division was sold to Jack Traimel. Jack Tramiel focused on Atari's computer line for several years, resulting in the 7800 being put on the shelve for several years. After Nintendo successfully revived the NA market with NES, the 7800 was pushed out and Atari began to develop game consoles during this time. It should be noted that this is the Atari that just went bankrupt. After the failure of the Lynx and Jaguar, this Atari was sold to Hasbro who marketed Atari games under the Atari Interactive label. By 2001, a company called Infogrames Interactive bought Hasbro Interactive which allowed them to gain access to the Atari name and their properties.


Around 2003, Infogrames changed their name to Atari.


This is not the only Atari that has gone bankrupt. It should be noted that the other Atari went under much earlier.


Atari Games was the arcade division of the original Atari. After the crash of 1983, Time Warner held onto them and they continued to make Arcade games. After Nintendo brought back the home console market, this Atari began to look into porting their games to the home market. Because they could not legally use the Atari name, they used the name Tengen for games that they released in the home market. Many gamers from the NES era may remember the battles between Tengen and Nintendo over the lockout chip, Nintendo's control over the games that were on their systems, and how Nintendo treated third-party developers.


Atari Games continued to survive until 1996 when they bought by WMS Industries or the company more commonly known as Midway Games. Under the ownership of Midway, Atari Games continued to develop arcade games until 2000 before Midway opted to leave that market due to the decline of arcades in the US. It was at this point where Atari games was refocused into a developer of home console games. Because there was already another Atari making games for homes, Midway opted to rename them Midway Games West. The final nail to this Atari came in 2003 when Midway Games West was disbanded due to slumping sales. A few years later in 2009, Midway Games themselves went bankrupt.


Warner Brothers Interactive now owns the rights to Atari's arcade legacy since they bought out Midway's assets.


The saga of Atari is a long and confusing one. If anyone wants to add to this, be my guest. I just wanted people to understand which Atari went bankrupt today. It should be noted however, both Ataris claim descent from the original Atari.

Which means the bankruptcy of this Atari is truly a sad thing. Hopefully, the legacy of both Ataris will continue to live on in some fashion.

Atari also had this. Good thing I already bought it:

they have sucked for a long time i cant remember the last time i wanted one of thier games.

I had that ET game in the op, its the worst game i have ever played, ever.

Its only Atari in name NEWMAHAY

test drive unlimited test drive unlimited2 and test drive ferrari racing challenge ring bells

Atari's been dead for long time now... yea sad I know. In my town there's still one abandond building that on the outside still has an Atari logo on it from the '80s lol. I think it's used to be some kind of a retail shop or something.

[QUOTE="faizan_faizan"]

Was the Amiga a part of the Atari?

carlisledavid79

*lights a single candle*

Don't really care, tbh. The only consoles I had from them were a second hand Atari 400 and a 2600.

2_Quiet_2_Riot

Was the Amiga a part of the Atari?

faizan_faizan

I think some of the people who designed the Amiga came from Atari. I'd have to check the bonus DVD which came with my Amiga Forever set. It detailed the history of the Amiga and the people who were prominent in its creation.

[QUOTE="DerveCreaves"][QUOTE="2_Quiet_2_Riot"]

Don't really care, tbh. The only consoles I had from them were a second hand Atari 400 and a 2600.

2_Quiet_2_Riot

Wrong, it was. As far as I can remember in 1982, I was 5, it was a second hand sold to my dad by his co-worker and I know damn well it played like a console, pop in a cartridge and play ;)

You're an idiot :lol:

:[

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2_85AkzIgQ

[QUOTE="DerveCreaves"][QUOTE="2_Quiet_2_Riot"]

Wrong, it was. As far as I can remember in 1982, I was 5, it was a second hand sold to my dad by his co-worker and I know damn well it played like a console, pop in a cartridge and play ;)

You're an idiot :lol:

2_Quiet_2_Riot

LOL Wikipedia, :lol: You're desperately trying.

I was 5 at the time, sorry to disapoint you but my Time machine Delorean was only in a movie. We played it like console, and I know damn well I played Missile Command, Pac-Man and Defender on it. ;)

Go back to bed, kiddo.