Atari

Logo of Atari since 2012.

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972, currently by Atari Interactive, a subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA (ASA).[1][2][3] The original Atari, Inc. founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney 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 electronic entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.

In 1984, the original Atari Inc. was split due to its role in the video game crash of 1983, and the arcade division was turned into Atari Games Inc.[4] 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.[5][6] In 1996, Atari Corporation reverse-merged with disk-drive manufacturer JT Storage (JTS),[7] becoming a division within the company.

On November 6, 1998, Hasbro Interactive acquired all Atari Corporation related properties from JTS,[8] creating a new subsidiary, Atari Interactive.[9] Infogrames Entertainment (IESA) bought Hasbro Interactive in 2001 and renamed it to Infogrames Interactive, later Atari Interactive in 2003, when Infogrames Inc. licensed the Atari name and logo from the latter and changed its name to Atari Inc.,[2][10][11] a name used for a company founded in 1993 as GT Interactive, which IESA also renamed to Infogrames, Inc. and acquired a 62% controlling interest in by 1999.[12] After IESA's acquisition of Hasbro Interactive, Infogrames, Inc. intermittently published Atari branded titles for Infogrames Interactive. On October 11, 2008, Infogrames completed its acquisition of Atari, Inc., making it a wholly owned subsidiary.[13]

History

Atari Inc. (1972–1984)

In 1971, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded an engineering firm, Syzygy Engineering,[14] that designed and built Computer Space, the world's first commercially available arcade video game, for Nutting Associates. On June 27, 1972, the two incorporated Atari, Inc. and soon hired Al Alcorn as their first design engineer. Bushnell asked Alcorn produce an arcade version of the Magnavox Odyssey's Tennis game,[15] which would be named Pong. While Bushnell incorporated Atari in June 1972, Syzygy Company was never formally incorporated. Before Atari's incorporation, Bushnell considered various terms from the game go, eventually choosing atari, referencing a position in the game when a group of stones is imminently in danger of being taken by one's opponent. Atari was incorporated in the state of California on June 27, 1972.[16]

The third version of the Atari Video Computer System sold from 1980 to 1982

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, each getting an "exclusive" deal. Joe Keenan's management of the subsidiary led to him being promoted president of Atari that same year.[17]

In 1976, Bushnell, through Grass Valley, CA firm Cyan Engineering, started development of a flexible console that was capable of playing the four existing Atari games. The result was the Atari Video Computer System, or VCS (later renamed 2600 when the 5200 was released). The introductory price of $199 (equivalent to $838 in 2016) included a console, two joysticks, a pair of paddles, and the Combat game cartridge.[18] Bushnell knew he had another potential hit on his hands but bringing the machine to market would be extremely expensive. Looking for outside investors, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications in 1976 for an estimated $28–32 million, using part of the money to buy the Folgers Mansion. Nolan continued to have disagreements with Warner Management over the direction of the company, the discontinuation of the pinball division, and most important, the notion of discontinuing the 2600. In 1978, Kee Games was disbanded.[19] In December of that year, Nolan Bushnell was fired following an argument with Manny Gerard. "[W]e started fighting like cats and dogs. And then the wheels came off that fall. Warner claimed they fired me," recalled Bushnell. "I say I quit. It was a mutual separation."[20]

Development of a successor to the 2600 started as soon as it shipped. The original team estimated the 2600 had a lifespan of about three years; it then set forth to build the most powerful machine possible within that time frame. Mid-way into their effort the home computer revolution took off, leading to the addition of a keyboard and features to produce the Atari 800 and its smaller sibling, the 400. The new machines had some success when they finally became available in quantity in 1980. From this platform Atari released their next-generation game console in 1982, the Atari 5200. It was unsuccessful due to incompatibility with the 2600 game library, a small quantity of dedicated games, and notoriously unreliable controllers.

Under Warner and Atari's chairman and CEO, Raymond Kassar, the company 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 US history at the time. However, it ran into problems in the early 1980s as interference from the New York-based Warner management increasingly affected daily operations. Its home computer, video game console, and arcade divisions operated independently 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 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 had resigned and executives involved in the Famicom merger lost track of negotiations, eventually killing the deal. With Atari's financial problems and the Famicom's runaway success in Japan after its July 16, 1983, release, Nintendo decided to remain independent.

Financial problems continued to mount and Kassar's successor, James J. Morgan, had less than a year in which to tackle the company's problems. He began a massive restructuring of the company and worked with Warner Communications in May 1984 to create "NATCO" (an acronym for New Atari Company). NATCO further streamlined the company's facilities, personnel, and spending. Unknown to James Morgan and the senior management of Atari, Warner had been in talks with Tramiel Technology to buy Atari's consumer electronics and home computer divisions. Negotiating until close to midnight on July 1, 1984, Jack Tramiel purchased Atari. Warner sold the home computing and game console divisions of Atari to Tramiel for $50 cash and $240 million in promissory notes and stocks, giving Warner a 20% stake in Atari Corporation[21] 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.

Logotype

The Atari logo was designed by George Opperman who was Atari's first in-house graphic designer. The design is known as "Fuji" for its resemblance to the Japanese mountain, although the design's origins are unrelated to it. Opperman designed the logo intending for the silhouette to look like the letter A as in Atari, and for its three "prongs" to resemble players and the midline of the "court" in company's first hit game, Pong.[22]

Atari Corporation (1984–1996)

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 on a 16/32-bit computer system, the Atari ST. ("ST" stands for "sixteen/thirty-two", referring to the machines' 16-bit bus and 32-bit processor core.) In April 1985, they released the first update to the 8-bit computer line — the Atari 65XE, the Atari XE series. June 1985 saw the release of the Atari 130XE; Atari User Groups received early sneak-preview samples of the new Atari 520ST's, and major retailer shipments hit store shelves in September 1985 of Atari's new 32-bit Atari ST computers. 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, earning a $25 million profit that year.

In 1987, Atari acquired Federated Group for $67.3 million, securing shelf space in over 60 stores in California, Arizona, Texas and Kansas[23] at a time when major American electronics outlets were reluctant to carry Atari-branded computers, and two-thirds of Atari's PC production was sold in Europe.[24] The Federated Group (not related to Federated Department Stores) was sold to Silo in 1989.[25]

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, despite only having a black and white display, was cheaper, had better battery life and had much higher availability. Tramiel emphasized computers over game consoles but Atari's proprietary computer architecture and operating system fell victim to the success of the Wintel platform while the game market revived. In 1989, Atari Corp. sued Nintendo for $250 million, alleging it had an illegal monopoly.[26] Atari eventually lost the case when it was rejected by a US district court in 1992.[27]

In 1993, Atari positioned its Jaguar as the only 64-bit interactive media entertainment system available, but it sold poorly. It would be the last home console to be produced by Atari and the last to be produced by an American manufacturer until Microsoft's introduction of the Xbox in 2001.

By 1996, a series of successful lawsuits[28] 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.[29][30][31][32] 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 (1998–2000)

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.[33] 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.[34]

Infogrames/Atari SA (2001–present)

In October 2001, Infogrames (now Atari SA) announced that it was "reinventing" the Atari brand with the launch of three new games featuring a prominent Atari branding on their boxarts: Splashdown, MX Rider and TransWorld Surf.[35] Infogrames used Atari as a brand name for games aimed at 18–34 year olds. Other Infogrames games under the Atari name included V-Rally 3, Neverwinter Nights, Stuntman and Enter the Matrix.

On May 7, 2003, Infogrames had its majority-owned, but discrete US subsidiary Infogrames NA officially renamed Atari, Inc.,[36] 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, Hasbro Interactive, was also made a separate corporate entity renamed as Atari Interactive.

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.[37] The offer would make Infogrames sole owner of Atari Inc., thus making it a privately held company.[38] On April 30, 2008, Atari Inc. announced its intentions to accept Infogrames' buyout offer and to merge with Infogrames.[39][40] On October 8, 2008, Infogrames completed its acquisition of Atari Inc., making it a wholly owned subsidiary.[13][41]

On December 9, 2008, Atari announced that it had acquired Cryptic Studios, a MMORPG developer.[42]

Namco Bandai has purchased a 34% stake in Atari Europe on May 14, 2009, paving the way for its acquisition from Infogrames.[43] Atari had significant financial issues for several years prior, with losses in the tens of millions since 2005.[44]

In May 2009, Infogrames Entertainment SA, the parent company of Atari, and Atari Interactive, announced it would change its name to Atari SA.

In April 2010, Atari SA board member and former CEO David Gardner resigned. Original Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell joined the board as a representative for Blubay holdings.[45]

As of March 31, 2011, the board of directors consisted of Frank Dangeard, Jim Wilson, Tom Virden, Gene Davis and Alexandra Fichelson.[3]

On January 21, 2013, Atari, Atari Interactive, Humongous, and California US Holdings (collectively, the "Companies") filed petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.[46] All three Ataris emerged from bankruptcy one year later and the entering of the social casino gaming industry with Atari Casino.[47] Frederic Chesnais, who now heads all three companies, stated that their entire operations consist of a staff of 10 people.[48]

On June 22, 2014, Atari announced a new corporate strategy that would include a focus on "new audiences", specifically "LGBT, social casinos, real-money gambling, and YouTube".[49]

On June 8, 2017 a short teaser video was released, promoting a new product;[50] and the following week CEO Fred Chesnais confirmed the company was developing a new games console – the hardware was stated to be based on PC technology, and still under development.[51] In mid July 2017 an Atari press release confirmed the existence of the aforementioned new hardware, referred to as the Ataribox. The box design was derived from early Atari designs (eg 2600) with a ribbed top surface, and a rise at the back of the console; two versions were announced: one with a traditional wood veneer front, and the other with a glass front. Connectivity options were revealed, including hdmi, USB (x4), and SD card – the console was said to support both classic and current games.[52] Also, according to an official company statement of June 22 2017, the product was to be initially launched via a crowdfunding campaign in order to minimize any financial risk to the parent company.[53]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Atari Celebrates 40th Anniversary with New Game Releases and Special Promotions" (Press release). Atari. June 27, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012. "Atari word mark and logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc."
  2. 1 2 Atari Inc. (March 31, 2003). "10-KT · For 3/31/03". Atari Inc. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  3. 1 2 "ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT/REGISTRATION DOCUMENT Fiscal Year 2010/2011" (PDF). Atari, SA. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  4. ↑ Current, Michael D. (2004–2007). "A Brief Timeline of the Atari Divisions Initially Retained by Warner Communications, July 1984 to Present". Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  5. ↑ Sanger, David E. (July 3, 1984). "Warner Sells Atari To Tramiel". New York Times. pp. Late City Final Edition, Section D, Page 1, Column 6. Archived from the original on November 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ Atari Corp. (March 29, 1994). "Amendment to General Statement of Beneficial Ownership — Schedule 13D". Atari Inc. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
  7. ↑ Bloomberg Business NEws (February 14, 1996). "Atari Agrees To Merge With Disk-Drive Maker". New York Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008.
  8. ↑ "FORM 8-K Filing for transfer of assets to Hasbro Interactive from JTS". Securities And Exchange Commission. February 23, 1998. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  9. ↑ "Hasbro Interactive Pursues Copyright Infringement Suit". Hasbro Interactive. February 8, 2000. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Civilization III:Play The World Press Release". Infogrames Inc. May 8, 2002. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  11. ↑ Atari Inc. (March 31, 2003). "10-KT · For 3/31/03, Overview Subsection". Atari Inc. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  12. ↑ "Infogrames Entertainment Corporate Profile and Annual Report" (PDF). Infogrames Entertainment SA. 2006. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-11-27. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  13. 1 2 "Infogrames completes Atari Inc acquisition". Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Atari Coin-Op/Arcade Systems". www.atarimuseum.com. Retrieved 2016-07-08.
  15. ↑ Ador Yano. "Video game history". Ralphbaer.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  16. ↑ "California Secretary of State – California Business Search – Corporation Search Results". October 16, 2007. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  17. ↑ Monfort, Nick & Bogost, Ian (March 31, 2009) [1st. Pub. 2009]. "Chapter 2: Combat". Racing the Beam. MIT Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-234-56789-7.
  18. ↑ "Atari 2600 | Toys with a History | Toy Tales – Todd Coopee". 2015-12-28. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved 2016-07-08.
  19. ↑ "A History of Syzygy / Atari". Archived from the original on November 17, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  20. ↑ Ramsay, Morgan (2012). Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play. ISBN 978-1430233510.
  21. ↑ Sanger, David E. (July 3, 1984). "Warner Sells Atari To Tramiel". New York Times. pp. Late City Final Edition, Section D, Page 1, Column 6, 1115 words. Archived from the original on November 18, 2016.
  22. ↑ "The Glory of Atari's Original Logo". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  23. ↑ "Atari to Acquire Federated Group for $67.3 Million : Deal Would Give Video Pioneer Access to a Retail Network". Los Angeles Times. August 25, 1987. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  24. ↑ Pollack, Andrew. "Atari to Acquire Electronics Retailer". New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  25. ↑ APPublished: November 11, 1989 (November 11, 1989). "COMPANY NEWS; Atari Is Selling 26 Federated Stores". New York Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Nintendo Is Sued by Atari". New York Times. February 2, 1989. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008.
  27. ↑ "COMPANY NEWS; Nintendo Suit by Atari Is Dismissed". New York Times. May 16, 1992. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008.
  28. ↑ Atari Inc. (June 5, 1995). "DEF 14A · For 6/5/95". Atari Inc. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved May 18, 2008.
  29. ↑ "Atari, Form 10-K405, Filing Date Apr 12, 1996". secdatabase.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  30. ↑ "Atari, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Aug 14, 1996". secdatabase.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  31. ↑ "Agreement and Plan of Reorganization – Atari Corp. and JT Storage Inc. – Sample Contracts and Business Forms". Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  32. ↑ "ATARI CORPORATION AND JTS CORPORATION TO MERGE". Atari. Atari. Archived from the original on October 29, 1996. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  33. ↑ "JTS, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Mar 9, 1998". secdatabase.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  34. ↑ "Hasbro, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Dec 7, 2000". secdatabase.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  35. ↑ "Infogrames ready to ship first games under Atari brand". Gamespot.com. October 31, 2001. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  36. ↑ "Atari, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date May 8, 2003". secdatabase.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  37. ↑ "Atari, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Mar 7, 2008" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  38. ↑ "Atari, Inc. Reports Receipt of Non-Binding Offer from Infogrames Entertainment S.A.: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance". May 29, 2008. Archived from the original on May 29, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Atari, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date May 1, 2008" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  40. ↑ "Infogrames Entertainment S.A. and Atari, Inc. Announce Agreement to Merge: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance". May 27, 2008. Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Atari, Form 8-K, Current Report, Filing Date Oct 9, 2008" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  42. ↑ "Atari acquires Cryptic Studios". Archived from the original on August 30, 2009.
  43. ↑ "Namco Bandai To Swallow Atari Europe". Edge. May 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  44. ↑ "Atari, Form 10-K, Annual Report, Filing Date Jul 1, 2008" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  45. ↑ Andrew Webster. "Nolan Bushnell rejoins Atari, Phil Harrison leaves". Archived from the original on April 13, 2012.
  46. ↑ "Atari Files For Chapter 11 To Separate From French Parent". Prnewswire.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  47. ↑ Brett Molina (March 26, 2014). "Atari resets with jump into social casino gaming". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  48. ↑ Dean Takahashi (March 26, 2014). "Atari and FlowPlay team up to offer social casino games". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016.
  49. ↑ Makuch, Eddie. "Iconic Pong, Asteroids Publisher Atari Reveals "Comeback Strategy"". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  50. ↑ "First look: A brand new Atari product. Years in the making", Ataribox www.ataribox.com, Youtube, 8 June 2017
  51. ↑ Takahasi, Dean (16 June 2017), "Atari CEO confirms the company is working on a new game console", venturebeat.com
  52. ↑ Walker, Alex (17 July 2017), "The First Look At The Ataribox, Atari's New Console", www.kotaku.com.au
  53. ↑ Le Groupe Atari réaffirme sa stratégie de croissance rentable à l’issue du salon des jeux vidéo E3 de juin 2017 (PDF) (press release) (in French), Atari SA, 22 June 2017, Le 30 mai 2017, à l’occasion de la publication de son chiffre d’affaires annuel, le groupe Atari a annoncé la « (…) préparation d’une campagne de relations publiques et de crowdfunding pour tester la viabilité d’un nouveau produit hardware pour les jeux vidéo ». Le Groupe a depuis diffusé une vidéo dévoilant un premier design de ce nouveau produit, dont les fonctionnalités et les caractéristiques techniques seront annoncées selon l’avancement des travaux. www.ataribox.com Le Groupe estime qu’il est en mesure de développer un produit attrayant, utilisant la notoriété de la marque Atari dans le domaine du hardware. Pour limiter la prise de risque, ce produit sera initialement lancé dans le cadre d’une campagne de crowdfunding.
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