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Atari

Atari

This article is about the corporate game company. For other uses, see Atari (disambiguation).
Atari, Inc.
Type Public (NASDAQ: ATAR)
Founded 1972 as Atari Inc.
1984 as Atari Corporation and Atari Games
2003 as Atari Interactive (formerly Infogrames Interactive/Hasbro Interactive)
2003 as Atari Inc. (formerly Infogrames Inc./GT Interactive)
Headquarters New York, N.Y., U.S.
Key people Curtis Solsvig III, interim CEO
Patrick Leleu, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer
Diane Price Baker, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Industry video game
Products Test Drive, Alone in the Dark, Godzilla, Neverwinter Nights, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3
Revenue ▲$218 million (2006)
Net income ▼$68 million (2006)
Employees 232 (2006)
Website www.atari.com

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since 1972. As of 2007, it is owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA).[1]Atari Interactive has in turn licensed the brand name and assets to Atari, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATAR), a 51% majority owned subsidiary of Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA), encompassing its North American operations.[2]

The original Atari Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles, and home computers. The company's products, such as Pong and the Atari 2600, helped define the computer entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid 1980s.

In 1984, the original Atari Inc. was split, and the arcade division was turned into Atari Games Inc..[3]Atari Games received the rights to use the logo and brand name with appended text "Games" on arcade games, as well as rights to the original 1972 - 1984 arcade hardware properties. The Atari Consumer properties were in turn sold to Jack Tramiel's Tramel Technology Ltd., which then renamed itself to Atari Corporation.[4][5] In 1996, Atari Corporation reverse merged with disk drive manufacturer JT Storage (JTS),[6] becoming a division within the company.

Atari Interactive started as a subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive[7], after Hasbro Interactive acquired all Atari Corporation related properties from JTS in 1998.[8]IESA in turn acquired Hasbro Interactive in 2001, and proceeded to rename it to Infogrames Interactive. [9] In 2003, IESA then changed the company name entirely to Atari Interactive.[1]

The company that currently bears the Atari Inc. name was founded in 1993 under the name GT Interactive. IESA acquired a 62% controlling interest in GT Interactive in 1999, and proceeded to rename it Infogrames, Inc.[10] After IESA's acquirement of Hasbro Interactive and its related Atari properties in 2001, Infogrames, Inc. intermittently published Atari branded titles for Infogrames Interactive. In 2003, Infogrames Inc. licensed the Atari name and logo from Atari Interactive and changed its name to Atari Inc.[11]Currently, Atari Inc. develops, publishes and distributes games for all major video game consoles, as well as for the personal computer, and is currently one of the largest third-party publishers of video games in the United States.

Contents

[edit] History

Main article: History of Atari


[edit] Atari Inc. (1972-1984)

In 1972, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney formed their own engineering firm, Syzygy, and soon hired Al Alcorn as their first design engineer. He decided to have Alcorn produce an arcade version of the Odyssey's Tennis game,[12] which would go on to be named Pong. When they went to incorporate their firm that June, they soon found that Syzygy (an astronomical term) already existed in California. Bushnell wrote down several words from the game Go, eventually choosing atari, a term that in the context of the game means a state where a stone or group of stones is imminently in danger of being taken by one's opponent. In Japanese, atari is the nominalized form of ataru(vb), which literally means to "hit the target" or to "get something fortunately". The word 'Atari' is used in Japanese when your prediction came true or you won a lottery. The name "Atari" is arguably more memorable than "Syzygy" in terms of spelling and pronunciation for most markets. Atari was incorporated in the state of California on June 27th, 1972.[13]

The third version of the Atari Video Computer System sold from 1980 to 1981
The third version of the Atari Video Computer System sold from 1980 to 1981

In 1973, Atari secretly spawned a "competitor" called Kee Games, headed by Nolan's next door neighbor Joe Keenan, to circumvent pinball distributors' insistence on exclusive distribution deals; both Atari and Kee could market (virtually) the same game to different distributors, with each getting an "exclusive" deal. Though Kee's relationship to Atari was discovered in 1974, Joe Keenan did such a good job managing the subsidiary that he was promoted to president of Atari that same year.

In 1975, Bushnell started an effort to produce a flexible video game console that was capable of playing all four of Atari's then-current games. The result was the Atari 2600, one of the most successful consoles in history. Bushnell knew he had another potential hit on his hands, but bringing the machine to market would be extremely expensive. Looking for outside investors, in 1976 Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications for an estimated $28 - $32 million, using part of the money to buy the Folgers Mansion. He departed from the division in 1979.

A project to design a successor to the 2600 started as soon as the system shipped. The original development team estimated the 2600 had a lifespan of about three years, and decided to build the most powerful machine they could given that time frame. By the middle of the effort's time-frame the home computer revolution was taking off, so the new machines were adapted with the addition of a keyboard and various inputs to produce the Atari 800, and its smaller cousin, the 400. Although a variety of issues made them less attractive than the Apple II for some users, the new machines had some level of success when they finally became available in quantity in 1980.

While part of Warner, Atari Inc. achieved its greatest success, selling millions of 2600s and computers. At its peak, Atari accounted for a third of Warner's annual income and was the fastest-growing company in the history of the United States at the time. However, Atari Inc. ran into problems in the early 1980s. Its home computer, video game console, and arcade divisions operated independently of one another and rarely cooperated. Faced with fierce competition and price wars in the game console and home computer markets, Atari was never able to duplicate the success of the 2600.

These problems were followed by the infamous video game crash of 1983, which caused losses that totaled more than $500 million. Warner's stock price slid from $60 to $20, and the company began searching for a buyer for its troubled division. In 1983, Ray Kassar was forced to leave Atari, and executives involved in the Famicom deal were forced to start over again from scratch and the deal eventually languished. With Atari's further financial problems and the Famicom's runaway Japanese success after its July 16th, 1983 release date, Nintendo decided to go at it alone.

Financial problems continued to grow and Ray's replacement, James J. Morgan, had less than a year to try and tackle his predecessor's problems before he too was gone. In July 1984, Warner sold the home computing and game console divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel, the recently ousted founder of Atari competitor Commodore International, under the name Atari Corporation for $240 million in stocks under the new company. Warner retained the arcade division, continuing it under the name Atari Games and eventually selling it to Namco in 1985. Warner also sold the fledgling Ataritel to Mitsubishi.

[edit] Atari Corporation (1984 - 1996)

Atari ST
Atari ST

Under Tramiel's ownership, Atari Corp. used the remaining stock of game console inventory to keep the company afloat while they finished development of their 16-bit computer system, the Atari ST. In 1985, they released their update to the 8-bit computer line, the Atari XE series, as well as the 16-bit Atari ST line. Then, in 1986, Atari launched two consoles designed under the Warner Atari - Atari 2600jr and the Atari 7800 console (which saw limited release in 1984). Atari rebounded, producing a $25 million profit that year. In 1989, Atari also released the Atari Lynx, a handheld console with color graphics, to critical acclaim. However, a shortage of parts kept the system from being released nationwide for the 1989 Christmas season. As a result, the Lynx lost market share to Nintendo's Game Boy, which had only a black and white display but was widely available. Also in 1989, Atari Corp. sued Nintendo for $250 million, alleging it had an illegal monopoly. Atari lost.

By 1996, a series of successful lawsuits followed by profitable investments had left Atari with millions of dollars in the bank, but the failure of the Lynx and Jaguar left Atari without any products to sell. In addition, Tramiel and his family wanted out. The result was a rapid succession of changes in ownership. In July 1996, Atari merged with JTS Inc.,a short-lived maker of hard disk drives, to form JTS Corp.[14] Atari's role in the new company largely became a holder for the Atari properties and minor support, consequently the name largely disappeared from the market.

[edit] As a division of Hasbro (1998-2001)

In March 1998, JTS sold the Atari name and assets to Hasbro Interactive for $5 million—less than a fifth of what Warner Communications had paid 22 years earlier. This transaction primarily involved the brand and intellectual property, which now fell under the Atari Interactive division of Hasbro Interactive. The brand name changed hands again in December 2000, when French software publisher Infogrames took over Hasbro Interactive.

[edit] As a division of Infogrames (2001 to present)

In October 2001, Infogrames announced that it was "reinventing" the Atari brand with the launch of three new games. On May 7, 2003, Infogrames officially reorganized its US subsidiary as a separate entity known as Atari, Inc., named its European operations to Atari Europe, and kept the main holdings company as Infogrames Entertainment. The original Atari holdings division purchased from Hasbro, Atari Interactive, was also spun off as a separate corporate entity.

Atari Flashback Console
Atari Flashback Console

[edit] Atari Inc. product and corporate history

In 2002, Jakks Pacific, a toy making company, released a plug-and-play video game console called the Atari 10-in-1 TV Game. It was battery-operated and shaped similarly to an Atari 2600 joystick, and included A/V ports. In 2004, the same company created a device called Atari Paddle Games, in the shape of one of the 2600s "paddle" controllers with appropriate titles included. However, as stated, neither of the games was directly released by Atari.

The same year that the Paddle Games were released, Atari released a TV game of their own which they called the Atari Flashback Console. The device was designed and produced by Atari consultant Curt Vendel through his engineering firm Legacy Engineering. With only a 10 week development window, what they produced looked like a minute version of the Atari 7800 console originally released in 1984, 20 years previously. The two controllers were small as well, having a joystick and two red buttons on each side. Twenty titles were built into the system. Unlike most plug-and-plays, the Flashback was not powered by batteries, but an (included) AC adaptor instead. The Flashback did fairly well in sales. Since the games were all recreated on hardware more closely resembling the Nintendo Entertainment System than the 7800, some of the aspects of certain games concerning the sound, graphics, or gameplay were either changed or omitted.

Because of popular demand, Atari hired Curt Vendel once again to produce a follow up product. With a longer development window, Vendel released a new version of the Flashback console, titled Atari Flashback 2, in August 2005. The Flashback 2 is based on an implementation of the original Atari 2600 on a single chip that Curt Vendel designed, allowing the original 2600 games to be run instead of ports as in the first Flashback. In addition, the included joysticks are fully compatible with the original 2600 joysticks and vice-versa. Furthermore, the circuitboard in the Flashback 2 actually has connectors for modders to solder on a cartridge slot, allowing the Flashback 2 to play the entire library of 2600 games.

Also, in late October 2005, Atari released one of two collections of its classic arcade games only for the Nokia N-Gage console, titled Atari Masterpieces. Atari Masterpieces Volume I includes classic arcade games: Asteroids, Battlezone, Black Widow, Millipede, Missile Command, Red Baron, Lunar Lander and Super Breakout, and features an exclusive interview with Nolan Bushnell. Atari Masterpieces Volume II was released in March 2006.

On May 5, 2006, Atari and Hasbro stopped Bioware and DLA from further development of premium modules and publishing near-completed premium modules for Neverwinter Nights. No reason was stated, but it was likely in anticipation of the upcoming sequel, Neverwinter Nights 2, which would lack features from these modules. They relented after community backlash.

On September 1, 2006, Atari announced that its stock faces delisting from NASDAQ since its price had fallen under $1.00. [1] On September 5, 2006, David Pierce was appointed as new CEO of Atari, replacing Bruno Bonnell. Pierce previously worked as an executive at Universal Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, and Sony Wonder. [2]

On October 2, 2006, Atari announced that it had sold off Shiny Entertainment to Foundation 9 Entertainment, which culminated in the completion of their strategic divesture.[15]

On April 5, 2007, Bruno Bonnell resigned his position as chairman and chief financial officer.[16]

On November 7, 2007, Gamespot reported that Atari was beginning to run out of money, losing two million in the first fiscal year of 2008 and announced that were selling the rights of the Test Drive game series for the Infogrames .[17]

Recently, Atari's top-selling titles have been the Dragon Ball Z games based on the popular anime license from Toei Animation in Japan. These include the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series of games for next-generation console systems and the Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku series of games for the Game Boy Advance. These games have topped the best-seller charts for numerous console platforms since the release of Atari's first Dragon Ball Z game, The Legacy of Goku in 2002, which was the first Dragon Ball game to be made by an American company, Webfoot Technologies, and is one of the best-selling Game Boy Advance games of all time (#16). The best selling Budokai series is developed in Japan by Dimps and includes Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3). Atari is also releasing Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi and its sequel, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 which is a separate series from the Budokai series. Following the success of the Budokai and Legacy of Goku series, Atari has released numerous other Dragon Ball titles including Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2, Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, Dragon Ball GT: Transformation, Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure and Super Dragon Ball Z.

Atari also released a series of games based on the smash-hit The Matrix movie trilogy including Enter the Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo. These titles represent some of the most expensive video games ever developed. Enter the Matrix, which was developed by Shiny Entertainment, sold 1.38 million units for the PlayStation 2 and 1 million units for the Nintendo GameCube, making it one of the best-selling video games of the generation.[citation needed]

Another popular series by Atari has been the Godzilla Series, based off of the nuclear dinosaur originally created by Toho. Pipeworks developed and created all of these titles, and are expected to keep doing so in the future. The series started with "Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee" for the Gamecube and Xbox which was released in October 11, 2002. It was followed by Godzilla: Save the Earth for the Playstation 2 and the Xbox, on November 16, 2004. The newest version of the Godzilla franchise, is "Godzilla:Unleashed" for the PS2 and Wii, which was a milestone in the Atari Godzilla Franchise. It was shipped on December 5, 2007. Unleashed was accompanied by Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash for the Nintendo DS, which was released on November 20, 2007.

Other currently popular titles for Atari include RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Test Drive Unlimited, Neverwinter Nights, Godzilla games, the Alone in the Dark series and the Driver series (recently sold to Ubisoft for a reported $24 million[18]).

[edit] Major products

Main article: :Category:Atari games

[edit] Atari in popular culture

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Atari

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Atari Inc. (March 31st, 2003). 10-KT · For 3/31/03. Atari Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  2. ^ Atari Inc. (Sep. 18th, 2007). Form 10-K for ATARI INC, Annual Report. Atari Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  3. ^ Current, Michael D. (2004-2007). A Brief Timeline of the Atari Divisions Initially Retained by Warner Communications, July 1984 to Present. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  4. ^ Sanger, David E. (July 3rd), "Warner Sells Atari To Tramiel", New York Times: Late City Final Edition, Section D, Page 1, Column 6, <http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B10FF395D0C708CDDAE0894DC484D81>
  5. ^ Atari Corp. (Mar. 29th, 1994). Amendment to General Statement of Beneficial Ownership - Schedule 13D. Atari Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
  6. ^ Bloomberg Business NEws (February 14), "Atari Agrees To Merge With Disk-Drive Maker", New York Times: 1, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE5DB1239F937A25751C0A960958260>
  7. ^ Hasbro Interactive Pursues Copyright Infringement Suit. Hasbro Interactive (Feb. 8, 2000). Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  8. ^ FORM 8-K Filing for transfer of assets to Hasbro Interactive from JTS. Securities And Exchange Commission (February 23, 1998). Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  9. ^ Civilization III:Play The World Press Release. Infogrames Inc. (May 8, 2002). Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  10. ^ Infogrames Entertainment Corporate Profile and Annual Report 7. Infogrames Entertainment SA (Fiscal Year 2005-2006). Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  11. ^ Atari Inc. (March 31st, 2003). 10-KT · For 3/31/03, Overview Subsection. Atari Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  12. ^ http://www.ralphbaer.com/video_game_history.htm
  13. ^ California Secretary of State - California Business Search - Corporation Search Results
  14. ^ Sample Contracts - Agreement and Plan of Reorganization - Atari Corp. and JT Storage Inc. - Competitive Intelligence for Investors
  15. ^ http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061002/atari_sale.html?.v=1
  16. ^ http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/05/ap3586525.html
  17. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (November 7, 2007). Atari running out of quarters?. Gamespot. Retrieved on November 7, 2007.
  18. ^ Atari: "In The Money", Driver Gone - TotalGaming.net news, July 13, 2006

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Atari hardware
Computers Atari 8-bit family • Atari ST • Atari MEGA STE • Atari TT030 • Atari Falcon • Atari Transputer Workstation • Atari Portfolio
Video game consoles Pong • Stunt Cycle • Video Pinball • Atari 2600 • Atari 5200 • Atari 7800 • Lynx • Atari Jaguar • Atari Flashback
Cancelled prototypes Atari Panther • Atari Jaguar II • Atari Cosmos
Other Atari Video Music