Atari Arcade Division Closes

Bill Kendrick writes "Today Midway dropped the axe on 'Midway Games West' (Formerly Atari Games Corporation). The remaining 30 people working there have been laid off. The other half of Atari, who went on to make the Atari ST line of computers and Jaguar and Lynx game systems, is still alive and kicking, as part of Infogrames. Still, it's a sad day for gamers."

Comments

gonna miss them as much as me??

[peculiarmethod]

Midway's list of free games include:

- Defender
- Joust
- Rampage
- Spy Hunter
- Robotron 2084
- Tapper
- Defender II
- Bubbles
- Satan's Hollow
- Sinistar

http://www.midway.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FT Co ntentServer?pagename=FutureTense/Apps/Xcelerate/Mi dway/Play

pm

Very sad, but Atari arcade never evolved

[totallygeek]

I love old video games. Maybe it is just because the new games are too difficult, require too much memory of secret moves or play areas, or are too jazzed about graphics than about game play. I think many at Atari felt the same way I do. The simplicity of game play for Atari arcade games was attractive for me. The fact that I had the Atari 2600 and most of the games in the game room were Atari made my arcade experience get named "playing Atari". However, most kids today wouldn't want to play Joust or Defender. If they did, Joust would be a first-person adventure in 3D where you would run around looking for a good bird to climb onto, while running from bad birds and flying dinosaurs. Defender would need to be a console game with 42 CDs where you are role-playing in your fight against mutant alien invasions. Atari's death is sad, but they never attempted to sell arcade games that satisfied the audience of today.

Re:Very sad, but Atari arcade never evolved

[doofusclam]

I spent 4 (pissed) hours last night with 2 player Joust thru MAME on my Xbox. The balance is superb and something new games could learn from - the difficulty level is rock hard but the environment and controls are so simple that no matter how I get killed I always think 'damn try harder next time' rather than 'stupid sucky unfair game' - theres not many like that made these days.

They ran out of inspiration long ago

[SexyKellyOsbourne]

All they have put out since their Atari classics are nothing more than lame rehashes of their old games -- which are available for FREE with MAME -- sold for the latest consoles and PCs for $50.

They have produced nothing of value since, and though it would have been shameful had they been aborted before they put out their classics, they were headed to the dustbin of history due to their lack of inspiration.

Hopefully, Midway will hire 30 young, ambitious, and talented programmers in their place.

Atari lives on forever, regardless

[MFInc2001]

The "legendary" (Nolan Bushnell) Atari has been gone for a long time already. However, the Atari we all grew up with and loved, and still love, shall go on forever in the form of MAME and Atari 2600 emulators.

--MFInc

LadyboyLovers.com

Are most arcade games violent?

[Anonym0us Cow Herd]

20+ years ago, I used to love arcade games. That's why I love MAME. Lots of my old favorite games.

I've been to a couple arcades a few times in the last 10 years. A rare event for me. But I notice something. All of the games seem to be violent. Games involving fighting, shooting, etc.

My question is this: Are all arcade games violent nowdays? Or is it just that the two arcades I've seen are not representative of the arcade games available?

I'm not offended by the fact that violent games exist, nor that people play them. I've played a few myself. I just don't care for them. I liked the games of logic or skill like the old games. Shooting cartoon/imaginary spaceships, enemies, or some kind of graphic token isn't the same thing as shooting people. (And it's not that I wouldn't actually shoot people either, given the need.)

Did not go quietly?

[StuffYourReligion]

OK, so this is a rumor... not because I don't trust the source, but because I don't remember the exact story (yeah, so don't you trust me either). There are facts here, but I am not clear on them all.

My good friend's housemate worked at Midway, and I first heard the news last Tuesday. I believe it was actually the day before, on Feb. 3, that the cops arrived... before the announcement was even made. Apparently it wasn't your usual, quiet, lay-off. So the police were there and then everyone was told to leave immediately. "Don't grab your stuff, don't clean out your desks, just leave." Apparently they expected trouble for some reason, and I heard some things were indeed smashed by people on their way out.

They were going to let people back to gather their belongings later in the week... one at a time, escorted and supervised. If there were really just 30 employees there (says so in the article)... why would they have expected trouble? Why would they have thrown people out so rudely? This I don't know. I'm sure this sort of thing happens all the time, but it seemed a bit strange to me, and the story made an impression on me most of all because it was Midway.

Makes me wonder what their corporate culture was like, and if most of the employees were wizened, old, maladjusted sociopaths who had lived so completely inside video games for the past years they might not react well to having themselves unplugged rather than just reset. My friend's housemate doesn't fit that description. Well, he's young anyway. *shrug*

No telling how many thousands of quarters went from my pockets into Midway machines back in the '80's ... but one of the most surprising things for me, hearing this story, was that Midway still even existed. I didn't know. I guess I haven't been in an arcade in a while.

Re:Did not go quietly?

[scatterbrained]

When Midway bought Atari Games there was a huge culture clash - Midway was viewed by Atari as a cheap bottom feeder, and Atari was viewed by Midway as an inefficient waster of money (both true to some extent). My opinion is that there were some major disagreements among the Midway corporate level people and the Midway game designers about whether the purchase was a good idea, and that some of those people didn't try very hard to support Atari projects. Just the usual character assasination and not invented here stuff.

I worked at Midway and with Atari people, and I liked most of the people I met there. I think this move just reflects more of the agonizingly slow death spiral that Midway is in right now.

There have been a lot of layoffs and frustration over the years, and I wouldn't be surpirsed that there were cops or private security types - WMS (Midway's ex-parent company) has hired these types before during a production strike. Midway can be pretty paranoid about corporate secrets, but that goes along with the territory.

As for corporate culture at Midway, it's pretty ugly (my opinion). See http://fatbabies.com for a sampling of what some (very opinionated) people think about Midway and other fine outfits in the games industry.

Re:Did not go quietly?

[mcgroarty]

I work for Midway.

I'm not speaking in any official capacity, but let me ask you this... if you were closing off a company filled with valuable equipment, including many $20,000 parts that fit neatly under a winter jacket, would you lay everyone off, then say "now go back to your offices and grab some stuff!!!" -- ?

There's nothing at all strange about how it was handled. When the emotions are high, it's only common sense to work it this way, as there will always be somebody who tries to take advantage of the situation.

Neil, the CEO, flew out to talk to everyone personally. He handled this himself, and he apologized repeatedly, understanding the value that these people place on the old building and the Milpitas area. But that space is huge and costs a ton to keep up, and the projects coming out of there weren't going to help Midway's bottom line much while the economy's in the shape it's in.

Most are being offered jobs in the other Midway studios, and a few are talking about starting their own projects externally.

There wasn't some crazy ape cage full of angry people, ready to explode and tear the place down -- that office had a number of top-notch professionals, and I was frankly floored by some of them when I visited that studio. I'm going to enjoy having some of them in Chicago, and I hope the majority do make their way to the San Diego office as well.

I blame the consumer, of course

[Anonymous Coward]

You walk into an arcade and what do you see? 5 different racing games, a couple of gun games, maybe a dance game, and thats it!

WTF happened to arcade games?

Driven by focus groups, test marketed before they are mass produced, arcade games are yet another barometer of the bland tastes of the unwashed masses. Apparently the majority of people want more of the same, just slightly different. Look! Its a racing game that allows you to switch camera angles!! Look! Its a gun game where you shoot zombies instead of terrorists!!

Where is the sense of adventure?

I wish about 80% of consumers would simply die quietly in their sleep. No, I'm not bitter, just hopeful.

Embedded Links are your Friend!

[ackthpt]

Making this a link rather than trying to get fr1st p0st helps.

I spent much of my first meager paychecks at Aladdin's Castle in Saginaw, MI, playing Crystal Castles and Gauntlet. There was some later version of Asteroids which i really liked, and wouldn't mind sharing my apartment with one of the full-sized arcade machines. And probably most favorite was Tempest, which I have for the PC. There's a knob for sale which I believe works with it. Best game ever with the sound cranked way up!

The "other half" is gone too

[erturs]

I used to work at the "other half" of Atari (just plain Atari Corporation) and it was shut down nearly 7 years ago. A lot of the assets (including the Atari logo and rights to a bunch of games) were sold, and eventually made their way to Infogrames, but all of the employees were laid off and have long since been dispersed. A pity, really -- there were some good people and good technology at Atari.

i have to say this

[Ravagin]

Still, it's a sad day for gamers.

But not, you know, for the thirty people laid off.

Ah, slashdot.

They made the best arcade games, period

[MilenCent]

Atari's passing is a real blow to the industry, even if they haven't made too many games lately.

For starters, Atari was the first successful arcade game company. For a little while, if you talked about videogames you meant Atari.

Second, throughout their entire lifespan, Atari produced original games. They always tried new things. They always looked for something different to do. Of all the other companies in the industry, there are precious few who can claim that. Nintendo certainly does it. Some of Sega's splinter development teams do it. Blizzard does it by copying lesser-known games (like Dune II and Rogue). Maxis does it once in a while when they aren't releasing The Sims add-on packs. Who doesn't do it? Namco, Capcom, Square, EA, Microsoft, and Infogrammes (including their "Atari" devision).

By the way: a previous comment stated that Defender, Stargate/Defender II., Joust, Robotron, Rampage, Tapper and Sinistar were Midway games. They are, but they are not Atari games.

Here are the most noteworthy Atari arcade releases, to my mind:
Pong
Asteroids (and Asteroids Deluxe)
Missile Command
Centipede (and Milipede)
Tempest (tied with William's Robotron: 2084 for the title of Twitchiest Game)
Star Wars (still the best of all the many Star Wars videogames!)
Crystal Castles
Marble Madness
I, Robot (the very first 3D polygonal game)
Hard Drivin' (the first successful 3D polygonal game) (also Race Drivin')
S.T.U.N. Runner
720 Degrees
Gauntlet (the game that invented the idea of joining in any time, and an incredible amount of fun) (and Gauntlet II)
Toobin'
KLAX
Tetris (arcade)
Rampart (the best-designed game ever made)
San Franscisco Rush (which is actually like a high-tech update of Hard Drivin')
Gauntlet Legends (pioneering with characters that persist between games) (and Gauntlet: Dark Legacy)

So, unlike what a previous correspondent said, Atari was not a one-hit wonder.

What most of these games have in common is the creation of an entirely new kind of game. They didn't produce endless strings of one-on-one fighting games like some companies I could name. It's true that a few games were released that didn't measure up to these (California Speed stands out in my mind), but no other game company has this track record of innovation, not even Nintendo (and hey, I love Nintendo).

In the early days of the arcade game industry there were few precedents, so you couldn't mindlessly ape someone else. Atari stood out then. But even in their later years, they still tried new, nutty things. That era gave us Rampart, which, I'm not kidding, is an amazing design and should be studied, in an era when side-scrolling things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the rage. They were just about the only reason for thinking person to enter arcades for a while.

To think that Ed Logg may have been escorted off the premises by police! Man, that just makes my blood boil.

Wow. Didn't even know they were still around....

[abelaye]

...My dad worked for Atari in the early-80s when the 2600 ruled the market. It was cool. Sometimes he'd take us down there on the weekends to play in the free arcade.

My dad's own take on Atari's demise: Their engineers were a bunch of coke addicts. Now, this could very well be just the circle of folks that my dad worked with.

Here's one for the urban legend file: There used to be a couch in the lobby of the building, and every night at midnight (according to my dad who sometimes worked the graveyard shift), the face of an old Indian chieftian used to appear in the fabric. It used to freak out all the security guards who had to sit there looking at it all night.

-- anthony