[GrizzNKev]

ATARI

NOT ATLUS

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,0,25279.story

The U.S. operations of iconic but long-troubled video game maker Atari have filed for bankruptcy in an effort to break free from their debt-laden French parent. Atari Inc. and three of its affiliates filed petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York late Sunday. Its leaders hope to break the American business free from French parent Atari S.A. and in the next few months find a buyer to take the company private. They hope to grow a modest business focused on digital and mobile platforms, according to a knowledgeable person not authorized to discuss the matter privately.

[Jamix012]

This is the Atari that has nothing to do with the Atari of old, correct?

[LevityNYC]

I want to know where the last 3 Swordquest prizes are.

The Crown, The Philosophers Stone, and the Sword....those things gotta be worth a combined 10 million dollars at today's precious metal prices.

[GrizzNKev]

This is the Atari that has nothing to do with the Atari of old, correct?

Pretty much, yeah.

[Amir0x]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

[Toa TAK]

40 year old men are crying right now.

But that sucks, something as iconic as Atari US is filing for bankruptcy.

[Vilam]

Déjà vu déjà vu.

How weird would it be for Atari to break free from Infogrames and go back to being independent? This company just won't die.

[jwk94]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

yeah, same here.

[pants]

Break free? How fragmented is Atari currently?

[WiiRevolution1]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

Same here.

Don't do that op! DON'T!

[Renagade]

Does this mean we'll never know what happened to the remaining Swordquest prizes?

[Soulflarz]

yeah, same here.

Id cry....

[Amir0x]

Same here. Don't do that op! DON'T!

I mean this is sad too in a way, of course if jobs get impacted by this...

...but if Atlus went bankrupt, I think that would actually be my cue to leave this hobby behind once and for all :P

[Eusis]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

yeah, same here.

Yet another one here, but it'd have probably been Index Digital Media (well, I guess the OP would've still used Atlus anyway). Glad that isn't the case, as that would deal a serious blow to the kinds of games I like to see come out. Atari though is just... they're just a name being brandied around and will probably be claimed by yet another company (though at this point it'd probably be to label old Atari releases with rather than being their actual company name), and the biggest things this could've hit aren't an issue: they were completely mishandling D&D so that needs to change hands (and they may've lost that license anyway), and CD Projekt Red's already shopping for a new publisher anyway, and got with WB for their last game.

[Kickass667]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

heh, I did the same thing.

[GrizzNKev]

I sincerely apologize for scaring people.

[Synth_floyd]

Déjà vu déjà vu. How weird would it be for Atari to break free from Infogrames and go back to being independent? This company just won't die.

Atari died a long time ago. The company that uses the name Atari now has nothing to do with the actual Atari company.

[IdreamofHIME]

I was just thinking about Atari the other day when I realised I hadn't seen shit from them in years.

[Eusis]

I sincerely apologize for scaring people.

It's not your fault Atari matters so little now that we don't even bother to think of them first when we see a company whose name is 5 letters long and starts with A and t.

[Amir0x]

I sincerely apologize for scaring people.

Not your fault. Just my damnable brain jumping to conclusions!

Anyway, from the sounds of this bankruptcy, seems they want to emerge as a mobile game company? Sad Atari is reduced to this :(

[EscapingJail]

For some reason I read atlus.

Was about to have a heart attack.

EDIT: looks like I'm not the only one.

[MartyStu]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

Same here.

[Smiles and Cries]

is this the TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED Atari?

I want a next gen one of those :(

[fates]

Don't they own all the D&D PC games?

[Ramon3MR]

If it had said Atlus, I would've soiled myself.

[GulAtiCa]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

Yeah so did I.

[Mutanthands]

is this the TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED Atari? I want a next gen one of those :(

I think the studio behind it died recently.

Best hope for a "spiritual sequel" from some splinter group.

Edit: Eden Studios. Owned by Atari, but still marginally alive as of last year. Still there?

[JohnTinker]

So Atari was Infogrames at one point right? Then they bought Atari/the brand and renamed themselves? And they were in France correct? Is this an offshoot of that?

[Eusis]

Don't they own all the D&D PC games?

Think Hasbro has been reclaiming the licenses: GOG notes all the games as Hasbro published now. Of course it's Atari on BG:EE on Steam so who the fuck knows. Just get the damn license out of their hands and into those of someone that'll keep these games available and actually make good, faithful adaptions of the D&D rules rather than some shitty generic action RPG that goes OH LOOK I'M D&D. Especially with some of those settings, Eberron would've been a badass place for a game more akin to Baldur's Gate, KotOR, or Dragon Age 1.

[DeadTrees]

I want to know where the last 3 Swordquest prizes are. The Crown, The Philosophers Stone, and the Sword....those things gotta be worth a combined 10 million dollars at today's precious metal prices.

It's unlikely that the latter two were actually manufactured, as Atari was down the crapper financially by the time Swordquest Waterworld was released.

[hitmon]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

I read it the same way. That was close. Also its weird seeing you without the red.

[Amir0x]

What is the last thing Atari has made on any of the consoles or PC?

Wiki says they published those DBZ fighting games and Test Drive Unlimited 2... Stuntman.

I liked Test Drive Unlimited, they were alright.

Edit: ATARI published Witcher 2 in the USA!?

[terrisus]

Yeah, Infogrames had bought the Atari name/properties a number of years back, and then a couple of years ago had changed their main label to Atari as opposed to Infogrames - but which encompassed a bunch of different things, not just the traditional "Atari."
So, from the sounds of it, the larger company is having some issues, and they're hoping to break back off a smaller piece to keep it around.

[sonikokaruto]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

I tought: WTF WHY NOT ACTIVISION!


then noticed it said atari

[Eusis]

They generally acted as a publisher rather than developer anyway, so in those cases they can usually just go to someone else. Assuming someone else doesn't have a stronger claim to a license and rips it out of their hands, as the case was with DBZ.

[A Black Falcon]

This is the Atari that has nothing to do with the Atari of old, correct?

Yeah, this is the Atari that used to be known as Infogrames.

[Smiles and Cries]

I think the studio behind it died recently. Best hope for a "spiritual sequel" from some splinter group. Edit: Eden Studios. Owned by Atari, but still marginally alive as of last year. Still there?

ouch... TDU2 really hated the try at a story but still loved the huge islands and cars :(

[EDarkness]

Edit: ATARI published Witcher 2 in the USA!?

TERA as well, from what I understand.

ouch... TDU2 really hated the try at a story but still loved the huge islands and cars :(

Test Drive Unlimited is one of my all time favorite games and I was soooo looking forward to TDU2, but man, they screwed that up seriously. It's like they totally forget what make the first game great. Unfortunately for them it lead to their demise. I would love to see someone else pick up the Unlimited series and actually use the first game as a template and simply improve and expand areas that needed adjustments.

[Valnen]

They just put Baldur's Gate on Steam too. Hopefully whomever acquires the license to that puts Baldur's Gate 2 EE on Steam as well.

[Amir0x]

TERA as well, from what I understand.

Crazy. I didn't even remember seeing their logo.

I mean of course Witcher 3 is going to have a publisher for the USA, but it just surprised me.

[Eusis]

Edit: ATARI published Witcher 2 in the USA!?

They did this with Witcher 1 too. Then WB took over for Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition on consoles AND PC, so their involvement with Witcher = who cares. At worst you'll have GOG I'd think.

[Jive Turkey]

Lots of illiterates on GAF tonight.

[Tron#1]

Correct me if im wrong but didnt the CEO just came out couple months back talking negative about Wii U? think he said something about he didnt see the appeal of the console.

[Paznos]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

Same here.

[Eusis]

Lots of illiterates on GAF tonight.

We're only talking knee jerk reactions before our brains fully process what we're seeing. I brought up that both start with At and are 5 letters, but seriously that sort of thing DOES result in mistakes in reading with the way the human brain processes language, and to be honest it really does inadvertently say a lot about how irrelevant Atari's been as of late: who cares what happens to them, we only want to know Atlus is fine.

[NeededSleep]

Man, what a rough generation it has been for developers and publishers.

Gotta say though Atari had fucking horrible tech/customer support. I had a faulty NWN cd that was missing some files on it. Took about 7emails and 2 calls to get any sort of replacement from them.

[DrAndonuts]

For a split second I thought the title said Atlus and I nearly shit myself

Same.

[DarҖaoZ]

Man, I must be really tired. I read Atlus instead of Atari and that made just say "WTF? Atlus is going Bankrupt?" But is good to see I was wrong.

Still this sucks for Atari, hopefully they can do something.

[Jive Turkey]

We're only talking knee jerk reactions before our brains fully process what we're seeing. I brought up that both start with At and are 5 letters, but seriously that sort of thing DOES result in mistakes in reading with the way the human brain processes language, and to be honest it really does inadvertently say a lot about how irrelevant Atari's been as of late: who cares what happens to them, we only want to know Atlus is fine.

I know man...Just some good-natured teasing.

[twinturbo2]

Am I the only one hoping that WB Games buys out Atari's back catalog for the irony of it, since Time Warner owned Atari back in the day?

They kept the Atari Games titles, from Gauntlet onwards, after offloading the home computer business to the Tramiel (sp?) people, sold the Atari Games catalog to Midway in the mid-'90s, then reacquired that when they bought out Midway in 2009, IIRC.