Atari

Atari

Founded	1972 as Atari Inc. 1984 as Atari Corporation and Atari Games 1998 as Atari Interactive (division of Hasbro Interactive) 2003 as Atari Interactive (formerly Infogrames Interactive/Hasbro Interactive) 2003 as Atari Inc. (formerly Infogrames Inc./GT Interactive)
Headquarters	, U.S.
Industry	Consumer electronics, video game
Products	video games, consumer electronics

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher 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 Electronics Division 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 name Atari Inc. 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]. On October 11th, Infogrames completed its acquisition of Atari, Inc., making it a wholly owned subsidiary. ^[12]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Atari Inc. (1972-1984) 1.2 Atari Corporation (1984 - 1996) 1.3 As a division of Hasbro (1998-2001) 1.4 Atari Inc., a division of Infogrames (2001 to present) 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

History

Atari Inc. (1972-1984)

Main article: Atari, Inc

In 1972, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded an engineering firm, Syzygy Engineering,^[13] and soon hired Al Alcorn as their first design engineer. Bushnell decided to have Alcorn produce an arcade version of the Magnavox Odyssey's Tennis game,^[14] which would be named Pong. When they went to incorporate their firm that June, they found Syzygy was already registered in California. Bushnell wrote down several words from the game Go, eventually choosing atari, a term which 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 (verb), meaning "to hit the target" or "to receive something fortuitously". The word 'atari' is used in Japanese when a prediction comes true or when someone wins a lottery. The choice of Atari as a brand name was arguably better than Syzygy for most markets in terms of spelling, pronunciation and potential name recognition. Atari was incorporated in the state of California on June 27th, 1972.^[15]

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, sometimes called VCS for Video Computer System. Authors on the history of videogames have consistently presented the possibility the 2600 was named after the frequency 2600 hertz used by a blue box to gain control of telephone networks, or "2600: The Hacker Quarterly," which began as a magazine for telephone phreaking. 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. Midway into 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 success when they finally became available in quantity in 1980.

Under 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, with 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, and the deal eventually died. With Atari's further financial problems and the Famicom's runaway success in Japan after its July 16th, 1983 release date, Nintendo decided to go it alone.

Financial problems continued to mount and Ray's successor, James J. Morgan, had less than a year in which to tackle his predecessor's problems before he, too, left. In July 1984, Warner sold the home computing and game console divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel for $240 million in stocks ^[16] who then used it to create a new company under the name Atari Corporation. Warner retained the arcade division, continuing it under the name Atari Games, but sold it to Namco in 1985. Warner also sold the fledgling Ataritel to Mitsubishi.

Atari Corporation (1984 - 1996)

Main article: Atari Corporation

Under Tramiel's ownership, Atari Corp. used the remaining stock of game console inventory to keep the company afloat while they finished development on a 16-bit computer system, the Atari ST. In 1985, they released an update to the 8-bit computer line, the Atari XE series, as well as the 16-bit Atari ST line. In 1986, Atari launched two consoles designed under Warner - the Atari 2600jr and the Atari 7800 console (which saw limited release in 1984). Atari rebounded, making $25 million profit that year. In 1989, Atari released the Atari Lynx, a handheld console with color graphics, to much fanfare. A shortage of parts kept the system from being released nationwide for the 1989 Christmas season and the Lynx lost market share to Nintendo's Game Boy, which only had a black and white display, but was available. Also in 1989, Atari Corp. sued Nintendo for $250 million, alleging it had an illegal monopoly.^[17] Atari eventually lost the case when it was rejected by a US district court in 1992.^[18]

In 1993, Atari positioned its Jaguar as the only 64-bit interactive media entertainment system available, and sold around 200,000 units (at $250 each) in its first year on the market.

By 1996, a series of successful lawsuits^[19] and profitable investments had left Atari with millions of dollars in the bank, but the failure of the Lynx and Jaguar left Atari without a product to sell. Tramiel and his family also wanted out of the business. 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.^[20] Atari's role in the new company largely became that of holder for the Atari properties and minor support, and consequently the name largely disappeared from the market.

As a division of Hasbro (1998-2001)

Main article: Atari Interactive

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.

Atari Inc., a division of Infogrames (2001 to present)

Main article: Atari, Inc (Infogrames)

In October 2001 Infogrames announced that it was "reinventing" the Atari brand with the launch of three new games. On May 7, 2003, Infogrames had its majority-owned, but discrete US subsidiary Infogrames NA officially renamed Atari, Inc., renamed its European operations to Atari Europe but kept the original name of the main company Infogrames Entertainment. The original Atari holdings division purchased from Hasbro, Atari Interactive, was also made a separate corporate entity.

On March 6, 2008, Infogrames made an offer to Atari Inc. to buy out all remaining public shares for a value of $1.68 per share, or $11 million total. The offer would make Infogrames sole owner of Atari Inc., thus making it a privately held company.^[21]

On April 30, 2008, Atari Inc. announced its intentions to accept Infogrames' buyout offer and to merge with Infogrames.^[22]

On October 11, 2008, Infogrames completed its acquisition of Atari Inc., making it a wholly owned subsidiary.^[12]

See also

• History of video game companies
• Golden Age of Video Arcade Games
• Atari Democrat

References

External links

• Atari brand's official global site
• The Atari History Museum - Atari historical archive site.
• Atari Times, supporting all Atari consoles.
• AtariAge.com
• Atari entry at MobyGames
• Atari Gaming Headquarters - Atari historical archive site.
• Atari On Film - List of Atari products in films.
• The Dot Eaters: classic video game history - Comprehensive history of videogames, extensive info on Atari offerings and history

Atari hardware Personal computers Atari 8-bit family • Atari ST • Atari MEGA STE • Atari TT030 • Atari Transputer Workstation • Atari Falcon Portable computers STacy • ST BOOK • Atari Portfolio Video game consoles Pong • Stunt Cycle • Video Pinball • Atari 2600 • Atari 5200 • Atari 2800 • Atari 7800 • Lynx • Atari Jaguar • Atari Flashback Cancelled prototypes Atari Cosmos • Atari Panther • Atari Jaguar II Other Atari Video Music