Atari, Inc (Infogrames)

Infobox Company
company_name=Atari, Inc.
company_
company_type=Public (nasdaq|ATAR)
foundation=2003 as Atari Inc. (formerly Infogrames Inc./GT Interactive)
location_city=New York, N.Y.
location_country=U.S.
key_people=Jim Wilson, CEO
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=gain$218 million (2006)
net_income=loss$68 million (2006)
parent=Infogrames
num_employees=232 (2006)
homepage= [http://www.atari.com/us www.atari.com]

The company that currently bears the Atari Inc. name was founded in 1993 under the name GT Interactive. In 1999, Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA) acquired a 62% controlling interest in GT Interactive, and proceeded to rename it Infogrames, Inc.cite web
title = Infogrames Entertainment Corporate Profile and Annual Report
publisher = Infogrames Entertainment SA
date = Fiscal Year 2005-2006
pages = 7
url =http://corporate.infogrames.com/MT-3.34-en/mt-static/FCKeditor/UserFiles/File/DOCDEREF05_06GB.pdf
accessdate = 2007-11-06 ] 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.cite web
last = Atari Inc.
title = 10-KT · For 3/31/03, Overview Subsection
publisher = Atari Inc.
date = March 31st, 2003
url =http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.28Z7.htm#5ug
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-11-06 ]

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.

Atari Inc. product 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 prior. 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.

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 ' series of games for next-generation console systems and the ' 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, ' 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 ', ' and '). Atari is also releasing ' and its sequel, ' 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 ', ', ', ', "" 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 "". 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.Fact|date=February 2007

Another popular series by Atari has been the Godzilla Series, based on 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 [" [http://tgnforums.stardock.com/?ForumID=141&AID=123378 Atari: "In The Money", Driver Gone] " - TotalGaming.net news, July 13 2006] ).

Atari Inc. corporate history

On September 1, 2006, Atari Inc. announced that its stock faces delisting from NASDAQ since its price had fallen under $1.00. [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10724 Gamasutra - Atari To Fight NASDAQ Delisting Notice ] ] 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. [http://ds.ign.com/articles/730/730521p1.html IGN: Atari Names New CEO ] ]

On October 2, 2006, Atari Inc. announced that it had sold off Shiny Entertainment to Foundation 9 Entertainment, which culminated in the completion of their strategic divesture.http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061002/atari_sale.html?.v=1]

On April 5, 2007, Bruno Bonnell resigned his position as chairman and chief financial officer.http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/05/ap3586525.html]

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 . [Sinclair, Brendan (November 7, 2007). [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6182469.html? Atari running out of quarters?] . Gamespot. Retrieved on November 7, 2007.]

On March 6, 2008, Infogrames made an offer to Atari Inc. to buy out all remaining public shares for a value of US$1.68 per share or US$11 million total. The offer would make Infogrames sole owner of Atari Inc., making it a privately held company. [http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080306/nyth121.html?.v=101 Atari, Inc. Reports Receipt of Non-Binding Offer from Infogrames Entertainment S.A.: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance ] ] .

On April 30, 2008, Atari Inc. announced its intentions to accept Infogrames' buyout offer and merge with Infogrames. [http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080430/nyw164.html?.v=1 Infogrames Entertainment S.A. and Atari, Inc. Announce Agreement to Merge: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance ] ] .

On May 9, 2008, It was revealed that Nasdaq will be removing Atari from the Nasdaq stock market. [http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10384&Itemid=2 Atari Booted from Nasdaq : Next Generation - Interactive Entertainment Today, Video Game and Industry News - Home of Edge Online ] ] Atari has stated its intentions to appeal the decision. Atari was notified of Nasdaq's final decision April 24, 2008 and the appeal hearing took place on May 1, 2008. Atari was expected to raise its value to $15 million USD from the period December 20, 2007 through to March, 2008. The company was removed because it only managed to raise its value to $11 million through the acquisition with Infogrames.

Major products

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*"Alone in the Dark" Series.
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*"Backyard Sports"
*"Dark Earth"
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*"" (1999)
*"Driver 2" (2000)
*"DRIV3R" (2004)
*"" (2006) (PC and Wii Versions were published by Ubisoft)
*"Stuntman"
*"Enter the Matrix"
*"Ikaruga"
*"Chris Sawyer's Locomotion"
*"Neverwinter Nights" (2002)
*"Neverwinter Nights 2" (2006)
*"Test Drive" (1987)
*"Test Drive Unlimited (2006 + 2007)"
*""
*"Unreal Tournament 2003" (2002)
*"Unreal Tournament 2004" (2004)
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*"Transformers"
*"Atari Flashback"
*"Atari Flashback 2"
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*"The Witcher"
*"Thrillville"
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*"Dungeons & Dragons Online"
*"The Temple of Elemental Evil"
*"Fahrenheit", also known as "Indigo Prophecy" in the U.S..
*"Retro Atari Classics"
*"RollerCoaster Tycoon 3
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ee also

*History of video game companies

References

External links

* [http://www.atari.com/us Atari Inc.'s Official Site]