OT : Atari

Atari had a hand (not sure how much) in Neverwinter Nights, which is an awesome game.

~SDC~

Atari doesn't exist anymore except as a brand AFAIK, Neverwinter was entirely done by Bioware.
That's pure marketing bs ...

pdifolco is correct, the original Atari went out of business many years ago. It's only a name that someone bought.

But it's a cool name.

Infogrames ended up with trademark rights and ownership of the Atari brand name after it bought Hasbro ("Hasbeen").

It stated well over a year ago that it intended to change its English-speaking (GB & American) operations to this brand-name in its last annual reprt to stockholders (which is how I found out).

(By the way, it's share price is tanked right now, so be careful if you're trolling NG's looking for hot stock tips. OTOH, I've got some shares and a bridge I could sell you!)

~SDC~

Most of the stocks aren't doing that great, so what you say about stocks are a little artificial. That's why the DOW is still about 20% lower than it used to be, Nasdaq about 80% lower, etc from what...3 years ago?

That's just bullshit! Atari = Infogrames? How stupid is that! Now they officially ARE nuts over there!

~SDC~

Taken from the MOO3-Forums:

QUOTE

MoO3 "Pong" style graphics explained:Atari

Man-- watching those ships wander around the black screen and sort of bounce around always struck me as a little wierd-- and now. . .

Atari.

It makes sense. It all makes sense.

UNQUOTE



~SDC~

More:

[url]http://www.ina-community.com/forums/showthread.php?s=49b3b7d71fcb9f809893f270713aa06b&threadid=293137[url]

~SDC~

sorry, was thinking PHP.....

~SDC~

I am certain that it isn't the same people as it was before, but it is more than "just a name someone bought". There is a corporation behind the name, who no doubt is trying to capitalize on the name recognition. It will probably be a risk that won't pay off if they can't put out games that people will play.

And yes, I'm well aware that BioWare did all the programming and code work on the game, but Atari had a hand in getting it out to the consumer (whether it be providing capital, marketing, or whatever).

~SDC~

Atari had a hand in UT2k3 as well.



~SDC~

#5 Force,

Yeah, but I just bought it 15 mos. ago, when it looked like it had a good stable of upcoming new releases. I think Infogrames' problems in particular are related more to its poor understanding of the American (vs. European) game market and its failure to capitalize fully on its potential. But, as is the case with all investment decisions, YMMV.

At least I'm still holding it! They put out a great, glossy annual report.

~SDC~

Atari really is just a name these days unfortunately. They do get their name slapped on things from time to time, but the name itself has been sold off several times in recent years. There aren't any people behind that name at this point. Can't recall the exact date, but I think it's been around 5 years since the last "actual" Atari game.

~SDC~

As a previous fan of all things Atari (2600, 5200, 800XL comp, Lynx), I'm not too crazy about resurrecting the name for new games. Atari is defunct, dead, no more. Worse, the name hasn't been used for a few years, so name recognition is pointless for younger gamers... older gamers that remember Atari (at least, those who remember *fondly*), won't be fooled into thinking that they're back ("Dude, Atari's back! And they made UT2003!").



~SDC~

Damn...I guess this theme songs a bust then:( ....http://pcmedia.ign.com/media/news/sound/infogrames.mp3 lol

Don't know where you dug this up (not sure that I really want to either ) but it is just about the funniest thing I have ever heard.

Rocked my world.

Elrikk

~SDC~

Oh, Lord, that's a crazy mp3. Sounds like the sort of show music at the Infogrames booth at E3 (or some such expo).


~SDC~

3 minutes and 35 seconds!?!?!? They bothered to to create over 3 minutes of THAT!?!? LOL

~SDC~

Atari was once a great company and produced the game industry as we know it. My first computer was an Atari 400 with 16k of RAM, flat membrane keyboard. I have always thought the Atari computer was the best ever made. They were known for much more then pong. Not to mention the Arade division never fully disolved. There are many Atari websites that has the information on all of this topic. I do agree that IG changing their name to Atari is silly. They are a lousy company IMHO and Atari at one time was the largest game company around. To bad management messed it up with bad marketing and investments. If you are going to bash them, make sure it is concrete. In this case it is not, there are last I knew 5 programmers left who worked hard to keep it alive. I used to work in the Atari industry for many years. Marketing mainly this is where my information comes from. Funny how everyone is coming down on the company that started it all. LOL Guess you have to be an old timer like me 48 years old.

~SDC~

Well if marketing and investments brought Atari down, then this song is certainly a good fit for anyone wanting to take on the name and the poor marketing.

I don't think it was marketing that got Atari though. They were very proprietary with their software development. Eventually, the lack of software, made Atari less popular. They made some bad investments, its true, in the 16 bit market, so the PC eventually dealt the final blow I'd guess.


~SDC~

As I mentioned above, I owned several Atari systems. I could've gotten a Commodore or Apple, but, no, I wanted an Atari computer. Could've bought a Gameboy, but I trusted Atari, and bought the Lynx (had to buy a GB not long after 'cause the Lynx went kaput). I had hoped that the Jaguar would do well, but by the time I had saved enough money to buy one, well, it didn't look like the system would last much longer.

As far as I'm concerned, they were once the "best"... let the name rest in peace.


~SDC~

Morpork you said Atari has no name recognition with younger gamers, but I disagree. Im 20, I have never played an Atari, but I know what it is. It is still a cool name. Blizzard would be better, but Im betting that one would be a little more expensive to get

The last word on this topic I forgot to mention. The biggest reason Atari computers, Commodore, and Amiga fell by the way side is due to EXTREME pirating of the software. Those computers were pirated more then any other in history. That is why today I never make copies of games, I always purchase them. Watching a good computer line die because no companies would make software for it, not even business software. It was pirated on a Hugh scale as well. It really taught me a big lesson. Ok nuff, I just wanted too add this part.

~SDC~