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Atari to sell RollerCoaster Tycoon, Test Drive franchises at auction

F

fluffydelusions

Member
Bankrupt publisher Atari Inc., the US branch of French owner Atari S.A., has failed to find a buyer for its portfolio of franchises and will not attempt to sell them off piecemeal.


The Wall Street Journal reports that bidding on a pool of game franchises and the Atari name itself, will start at $15 million.

The minimum bid for the RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise is $3.5 million, while potential buyers must pay at least $1.5 million for the Test Drive series.

Minimum bids totaled around $22.2 million, according to a court filing Wednesday.

Atari Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in January. According to The Wall Street Journal, its investment banker reached out 180 would-be buyers, with about half agreeing to pursue purchases. However, only 15 actually submitted bids, none of which were approved by Atari.

Thus, Atari Inc. now plans to sell its brands on a franchise-by-franchise basis during auctions beginning next month. The Humongous, Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise, and Math Gran Prix franchises are going for $500,000, while the Total Annihilation series will be available with a $250,000 floor price.

Before the auctions can take place, a judge must approve of the sale process, something Atari hopes can happen during a June 11 hearing. Bids must then be submitted by July 10 ahead of auctions to take place July 16, 17, 18, and 19. If all goes to plan, Atari will seek final approval of all sales during a hearing on July 24.

Atari is also seeking permission to sell games "of minor value" separate from the official auctions. None of these titles were specified.
Click to expand...

http://www.gamespot.com/news/atari-...coon-test-drive-franchises-at-auction-6408794
 
J

JDSN

Banned
I cant think of a single studio that would make a proper Roller Coaster tycoon game in this day an age.
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
Imagine the number of heads that will roll if Gearbox got the RollerCoaster Tycoon license. :D

...well, at least they'd digitally release the old games, right?
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
I'd sort of like to see Microsoft pony up for Test Drive just to bring the franchise Mattrick created back to him.
Forza Horizon seemed to suffer in sales due to the misconceptions of the Forza brand with an open-world driving game but marry Horizon with the Test Drive-brand and keep them distinct and it might pay off.
 
C

Coppanuva

Member
Rodney McKay said:
Imagine the number of heads that will roll if Gearbox got the RollerCoaster Tycoon license. :D

...well, at least they'd digitally release the old games, right?
Click to expand...
Gog has had 1 and 2 with all the expansion packs for ages. Not sure on 3, but it's available on steam at the least.
 
L

LuuKyK

Member
SOMEONE BUY ROLLERCOASTERTYCOON. I beg of you ;_____________________;

No seriously, anyone, even EA, as long as RCT4 comes out Im fine.
 
M

mrboo001

Banned
JDSN said:
I cant think of a single studio that would make a proper Roller Coaster tycoon game in this day an age.
Click to expand...

Firaxis

If they could bring X-Com to the modern market, then they could pull it off.

Also, Sid Meier made the orginal Tycoon game: Railroad Tycoon.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
Selling the atari name? Awesome, that means we'll have a brand new renamed Atari company that will go under in the next decade! The cycle continues!!
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Fans should buy the RCT license and then get the source-code of RCT1/2 and port that EVERYWHERE.
 
F

Fat Goron

Member
Oh no, I can't handle this....

This could mean Rollercoaster Tycoon 4 has an actual chance of being developed. At the same time, this could ALSO mean RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 has an actual chance of being another "SimCity"-like fiasco.


I don't know what to think.... =(
 
J

JDSN

Banned
Neuromancer said:
Sell them to anyone but EA please. Literally anyone else and I'll be happy.


Firaxis?

Kalypso?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess Firaxis would make it right if the publisher meddling is minimal. Kalypso lost all goodwill for me after that horrible Mafia Wars clone that was Omerta.
 
M

Munin

Member
I don't really understand why people want another RCT. The first 2 games are perfection, the 3rd one has its issues but is vastly underrated. But in any case the theme has been explored to its fullest, I'm happy to just replay the old games.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
if they weren't a kickstarter with limited funds, the Theme Park Studio guys could buy RCT.


Who the fuck is going to spend 500k on Math gran prix, or Humungous bear or whatever the fuck it's called??
 
T

Totobeni

An blind dancing ho
Thus, Atari Inc. now plans to sell its brands on a franchise-by-franchise basis during auctions beginning next month.
Click to expand...

Don't they own Splashdown too? I'd like to see someone make a sequel of it.

also I can see publisher paying to get Alone of the Dark.
 
N

Niahak

Member
TheSeks said:
Fans should buy the RCT license and then get the source-code of RCT1/2 and port that EVERYWHERE.
Click to expand...

IIRC, the first RCT was programmed entirely in assembly by Chris Sawyer (as was Transport Tycoon). That would make it pretty difficult to port. Much easier to build a wrapper around it or start over from scratch.

Very good game -- I only played the first -- but I agree with sentiment elsewhere here. It's already been explored pretty well. It'd be cool to have an OpenRCT like OpenTTD, but the license isn't really necessary for that.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
C

cuyahoga

Dudebro, My Shit is Fucked Up So I Got to Shoot/Slice You II: It's Straight-Up Dawg Time
Fatty Bear? I can't believe a game called that was published.
 
S

Shahadan

Member
JDSN said:
I cant think of a single studio that would make a proper Roller Coaster tycoon game in this day an age.
Click to expand...

I could see Nintendo doing one with Nintendo themed rollercoasters or something.
Monte Christo could have, also, but they went under and it would have been shit anyway.

In any case I don't see any studio buying the IP.
 
T

Tenacious-V

Thinks his PR is better than yours.
DMA Design (Rockstar North)

They did a great job with Lemmings, Uniracers, and GTA. I think they'd make an awesome RCT.
 
J

jtb

Banned
someone please give RCT a proper home and the sequel (preferably iOS optimized) it deserves. I need that shit in my veins during my subway rides.
 
E

EdReedFan20

Member
JDSN said:
I cant think of a single studio that would make a proper Roller Coaster tycoon game in this day an age.
Click to expand...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects...the-ultimate-theme-park?ref=recently_launched

They could. If they could afford to purchase the naming rights, I bet they would. They would sell more games. Also, with the name Theme Park Studio, I could see EA suing them due to EA owning the Theme Park brand. They would say something along the lines of Theme Park Studio confusing consumers into thinking they are buying an EA game.
 
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