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Infogrames Officially Changes Name To Atari

Posted by simoniker on from the cruising-round-los-angeles-astride-his-harley dept.

According to this story from Reuters via Yahoo News, Infogrames is now officially changing its name to Atari worldwide. The French publisher originally picked up the home rights to the Atari name after buying Hasbro Interactive in 2001, and had recently been rebranding much of its line-up (even PC RPGs) with the Atari logo alongside the Infogrames one. Lovable French ruffian and Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell will open the Nasdaq stock exchange on Wednesday morning to herald the new ATAR stock ticker symbol for the company.

48 comments

  1. Re:Atari? by Oriumpor · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well... umm most of the games made for the atari were not even atari brand games.... or even licensed by atari (SINCE ATARI HAD NO LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR SOFTWARE COMPANIES)

    *see classicgaming.com for an interesting history lesson*

  2. No atari t-shirts? by PinkX · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So does this means that we won't be able to get any more unofficial Atari t-shirts with the Atari logo on it?

    On a side note, the slashdot guys couldn't have chosen an uglier color scheme for the games section of the site?

    --
    Articulos para gente geek: Poleras, linux, libros y mas
    1. Re:No atari t-shirts? by gl4ss · · Score: 2, Informative

      what makes you think that you could get them before any more better than now?-) like, they owned the rights to it before the full name change as well, and used the logo too.

      while at the alternative-party they gave away atari shirts(they had atari/infogrames as sponsor) as prizes. funny thing was that there was this one infogrames employee who attended(and won one competition, and got a tshirt among other things) and when rewarded told that he had tried to get an atari t-shirt for a long time but couldnt get it through the company he worked for.

      they also gave away atari coasters(the beer pint variety).

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:No atari t-shirts? by Tink2000 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Apple has the same issues... I worked for a University bookstore where you had to go if you wanted to get a Mac anywhere in about a 60 mile radius. I was also a rather staunch PC owner but enthusiastic Mac supporter. People who bought machines could get the shirts occasionally (read as: if they showed up to pick up their machine and our Mac corporate guy happened to be there, and they happened to beg for a while). But still, I interfaced with the general public for 40 hours a week, you'd think the rep would be giving me Mac shirts by the boatload. Still, I managed to get a very nice purple one that has the Apple logo very discreetly sewn on the sleeve, and I think out of all the gimme shirts I have it's my favorite. The Corporate guy swore up and down that it was hell for even him to score a shirt for himself, but he always had the really cool ones (the sweaters and pullovers instead of the white tees).

      --
      Why do I M2 everything negatively?
  3. No More PC clones and Consoloputers, Please by Rares+Marian · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Give us something cool for once.

    --
    The message on the other side of this sig is false.
  4. Atari rises from its ashes... again by imperator_mundi · · Score: 1

    Atari: no matter how many time you kill it... it will be back in a while...

    ever played Doom with respawn...

    not so bad for a company that since jaguar has vintage t-shirt as core businness

  5. PA by Hadlock · · Score: 1

    Hmm, I see a continuity break in Penny Arcade in the near future.

    --
    moox. for a new generation.
  6. I can't Wait for the "Adventure" RPG remake! by FauxReal · · Score: 0

    Imagine reliving the suspense of being chased by that bat-ish thingy while holding that chalice that you stole from blocks shaped sorta like a seahorse/dragon and ummm... yeah... no really this will be neat. I want a remake of Yar's Revenge and Crystal Castles... oooh and maybe a online version of Tank War.

    --
    Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
  7. The Incarnations of Atari by fm6 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    • Founded by Nolan Bushnell (1972).
    • Sold to Warner Communications (predecessor of AOL-Time-Warner) 1975.
    • Warner splits Atari into Home and Arcade divisions. Jack Trammiel, founder (forcibly retired) of Commodore buys Home division, forms Atari Computer Corp. (1984)
    • Arcade division gets renamed Atari Games, then Atari/Tengen, then Time Warner Interactive, then gets sold to Williams/WMS, which sells it to Midway, which renames it Midway Games West! (Dates and veracity dubious!)
    • Atari Computer Corp merges with disk drive maker JTS (1996)
    • JTS/Atari sells its "Atari assets" to Hasbro Interactive (1998).
    • Hasbro Interactive absorbed by Infogrammes Entertainment SA as part of malicious French conspiracy. Renamed Infogrammes Interactive. (2001)
    • Infogrammes Entertainment renames its North American acquistions "Atari". (2003)
    • Chuck E Cheese buys Infogrammes Entertainment SA, renames it "Freedom Software" (2004).
    In researching this timeline, I made a truely mind-boggling discovery: Atari was briefly in the engineering/scientific/graphics workstation business!
    1. Re:The Incarnations of Atari by david+duncan+scott · · Score: 1
      Jack Trammiel, founder (forcibly retired) of Commodore

      Hmmm...my understanding was that Jack had always said that he'd sell the company when it hit $10 million (or some such figure) because it would be too big to be any fun, so it did and he did.
      --

      This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander

    2. Re:The Incarnations of Atari by QuackQuack · · Score: 3, Informative
      Midway also recently shut down the "Midway Games West" division, prompting a wave of "Atari goes out of business" articles.

      In researching this timeline, I made a truely mind-boggling discovery: Atari was briefly in the engineering/scientific/graphics workstation business [atarimuseum.com]!

      Yep, They also made unsuccessful PC clones at one point. Tramiel's Atari tried lots of things that ultimately failed. They didn't have the resources to pull them off.

      Also, in the Warner days, Atari was rumored to be developing a system and games that could be controlled by "thought" power. I kid you not. You attached sensors to your forehead, and positive thoughts caused the system to do one thing, and negative thoughts, something else. That was the theory, I guess they weren't successful at it, because I'm sure we would've seen such a system from somebody if it could be done.

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      By reading this sig, you agree to the terms of my sig license.
    3. Re:The Incarnations of Atari by SewersOfRivendell · · Score: 1

      JT had a rep for being a real bastard, alienating suppliers and distributors alike with his demands. Several usually reliable sources claim that he was ultimately forced out by his investors. His replacements drove the company into the ground, of course.

    4. Re:The Incarnations of Atari by saladpuncher · · Score: 1

      Yep, it was called the MindLink. Atari never released it but you can still find prototypes if you are an avid collector. It worked by muscle impulses meaning that you had to squint and contort your face to control the game. You can read about it here www.classicgaming.com

    5. Re:The Incarnations of Atari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, EEG controller systems were experimented with in the '70s and '80s with mixed results.

      There were articles published in various electronics hobby magazines (ETI/Electronics Australia and Practical Electronics (UK) among others).

      The main problem seemed to be that the mere act of sitting in front of a game console caused an immediate reduction of brain activity. This was exacerbated by 4-bit graphics and those utterly crap versions of Pacman and Asteroids (Bless you, Activision and David Crane)

      Seriously, the problem was that any system that provided a response that was more than a simple toggle was hideously expensive, and even that required a considerable degree of practice and concentration. It also takes time for brain wave states to change, which is useless if you're playing something that involves timing or reflexes.

      Now, if someone can just reduce a positron emission tomography scanner to the size of a baseball cap...

    6. Re:The Incarnations of Atari by david+duncan+scott · · Score: 1

      I wish I could lay my hands on the book I read some years back, written by one of Jack's "Tramieleons". It was a fun read, at least, and described Jack as a fearsome sort of guy, certainly capable of giving a company a wild ride. It might have been Michael Tomczyk's, but I wouldn't swear to it.

      --

      This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander

  8. apologies in advance... by Hadlock · · Score: 2, Funny

    Atari was briefly in the engineering/scientific/graphics workstation business!

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of Transputers!

    --
    moox. for a new generation.
  9. I'm okay with this. by pommaq · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, the Infogrames armadillo was cool and all, but that "Fuji" logo is simply one of the most beautiful pieces of graphic design ever.
    EVER.

  10. Trying to hide shame behind a proud name by Nice2Cats · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Infogrames just screwed up the release of Master of Orion 3 big time -- the game is a disaster and they still haven't released even the first code patch for it after, what now, two months? To say I now avoid products with that name is an understatement.

    Now, Atari -- I still have my Atari ST downstairs, and from time to time I plug it in, boot it and cry a little over the clean, crisp picture on the screen, the ease of use, and how unfair the world in general is. I could even do uucp with that machine, and if it only had had a MMU...and if only IBM hadn't bought MS DOS...if only pigs could fly...

    Shame, shame, shame on Infogrames for dragging Atari down into the muck with them. Of course, it won't help: The Brits tried renaming their continuous disaster of a nuclear plant "Windscale" to "Sellafield" (or vice versa, I keep forgetting) but that didn't fool people one bit.

    1. Re:Trying to hide shame behind a proud name by analog_line · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I highly doubt that Infogrames is undergoing the name change in the US to dodge scorn from pissed off customers over MOO3. Don't disagree with MOO3 being crap, but Infogrames has far bigger fish than that.

      I suspect it has a lot more to do with appearing to be less French to the American game market. The country-wide unspoken, unorganized boycott of things appearing to be too French is really hurting French businesses. Not fatally, but it's leaving a mark. Just seems strange when they out of the blue take on the name that's as American as apple pie and blue jeans to most gamers in the States.

      This supposition probably is not 100% true. Most people in positions of authority seem to be completely, utterly, 100% not at all influenced by events surrounding them, as all huge unexpected changes have always been "planned far in advance." One wonders if they have bathroom trips for the next four years accounted for. And frankly, even before saying someone looked French was turned into a political character assasination tool, the ATARI name is worth a lot of money, and Infogrames certainly has been using it pretty freely recently.

      Good timing on their part, though.

    2. Re:Trying to hide shame behind a proud name by taluven · · Score: 1

      Yes, MOO3 is crap, but infogrammes has published some really excellent titles too. Including Civ3 and Neverwinter Nights. I think they are just trying to use a name that gives warm fuzzies to us old-school types. Their challenge now is to not ruin the atari name by publishing more crap like moo3.

    3. Re:Trying to hide shame behind a proud name by siliC · · Score: 1

      First, i don't think many people care about MOO3 all that much - certainly not enough for a corporate name change. :)

      Second, MOO3 is GREAT (to me). There's a high learning curve (in that you have to get your mind into the system) - but it's incredibly fun in it's current incarnation. Sure, i'll get the code patch when it comes out - but i love this game even without the data patch that's already out.

      Lots of people gave, what seems to me, instant reactions to a hard core strategy game. But if you spend some time with it (which i was only willing to do because of MOO and MOO2), there is a true beauty to be found there.

      It's not easy. Games can easily last an order of magnitude (in hours) longer than a *craft, etc., type of game. But it's fun! (again, imho)

      Lots of people agree with me, though they don't seem to have popular websites to broadcast their opinion on. :) (perhaps... they're too busy becoming Master of Orion! or not.)

    4. Re:Trying to hide shame behind a proud name by QuackQuack · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Now, Atari -- I still have my Atari ST downstairs, and from time to time I plug it in, boot it and cry a little over the clean, crisp picture on the screen, the ease of use, and how unfair the world in general is. I could even do uucp with that machine, and if it only had had a MMU...and if only IBM hadn't bought MS DOS...if only pigs could fly...

      Ease of use? I always found Atari's GEM implementation hopelessly frustrating, at least if you wanted to do anything more than launch programs.

      Still, if you like the ST, you might want to check out the aranym project, which aims to turn your PC into a modern Atari system. Many open source programs have been made to run under aranym, and many old ST programs will also work with it

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      By reading this sig, you agree to the terms of my sig license.
    5. Re:Trying to hide shame behind a proud name by QuackQuack · · Score: 1
      Not fatally, but it's leaving a mark. Just seems strange when they out of the blue take on the name that's as American as apple pie and blue jeans to most gamers in the States.

      The name "Atari" is actually Japanese, I think. It was taken from the game, "Go".

      I also recall seeing a Japanese movie on MST3K where one of the characters was "Mr. Atari".

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    6. Re:Trying to hide shame behind a proud name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here Here!
      <rant>
      This company has just managed to ruin another happy memory. Civ 3 grew on me, eventually. Moo 3 is garbage. Now they're going to fsck up Atari? Damn them all... To hell with Infogrammes! I'm in full boycott, now. I spit on them and their crappy company.

      The Atari name deserves better than this.
      </rant>

  11. In other news... by Craig+Maloney · · Score: 1

    The official pronunciation of the famous brand name "ATARI" was changed today to "eh-tar-REEE". Persons caught using the old pronunciation will have a 2600 joystick shoved in a convenient orifice.

  12. A slap in the face... by NetDanzr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As a longtime Atari fan, I consider this to be a slap in the face. Having barely recovered from the slap caused by Spectrum Holobyte changing its name to Mindscape in 1995, now I need to suffer the gaming company with the worst tech support out there to appropriate the name Atari. Up to this day, Atari had a relatively good reputation, which now goes down the drain.

    1. Re:A slap in the face... by metamatic · · Score: 1

      Atari had a good reputation for tech support?

      Boy, you never owned an Atari ST, did you?

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    2. Re:A slap in the face... by NetDanzr · · Score: 1
      Actually, I did, and never had a problem with. However, I was more thinking about the bugginess of Infogrames games and Atari games. I have a whole bunch of games by Infogrames that are so buggy that I either couldn't finish them (Silver) or voluntarily uninstalled and sold on eBay (Civilization III, the Play the World expansion, Master of Orion III to name a few). For some reason, I can still play old Atari ROMs and have much more fun with them.

      Speaking of old Atari ROMs: it will be interesting to see whether Infogrames now moves against Atari fan sites or not...

    3. Re:A slap in the face... by metamatic · · Score: 1

      Seems a bit unfair to blame Infogrames for Civ III, considering it was developed by Firaxis just like Civ II was, and they're just the distributors. Also, what do you mean by buggy? Firaxis have made lots of small gameplay fixes, but that happened with SMAC too.

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    4. Re:A slap in the face... by NetDanzr · · Score: 1
      You are right that the developer was Firaxis. The same Firaxis that did a much better job with Sid Meier's SimGolf, published by Electronic Arts. And the same Firaxis that blamed Infogrames for all the problems with the game. There were four or five patches for Civ III, with the first one appearing the day the game was released (interestingly, the same happened with another game published by Infogrames - Neverwinter Nights), fixing lots of crash and display issues. When Play the World came along, users could not get the multiplayer to run at all, and a patch was quickly released, which fixed the multiplayer issue. Unfortunatelly, after installing the patch, many users complained that the game didn't recognize the CD anymore, and a new patch had to be released. The third patch has been out for quite some time now, fixing many technical and gameplay issues, but it works only with the US edition, and makes cross-Atlantic multiplayer gaming almost impossible. There are rumors that another patch is in production, again for the US only. (For more information, I reviewed the expansion here.

      However, I was expecting a review more in the spirit of "I's unfair to compare games that were 20-30kB big with complex games that are over 1GB big when installed." I had a witty answer ready, along the lines of "yet those small games offered more replay value and fun," and I'm disappointed I couldn't use it. Maybe next time ;)

    5. Re:A slap in the face... by metamatic · · Score: 1

      Well, the old games were written in assembler, which kinda evens out the difficulty factor for getting 'em bug-free.

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  13. They should really produce side-scrolling games. by mnmn · · Score: 2, Interesting


    I'm happy about the reincarnation of this brand name, now I just hope they dont just run blindly after technologies like ID software, and stick to some old Atari style games. Theres definitely a market and the brand name is well respected. People miss it.

    --
    "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
  14. Get them here by TomatoMan · · Score: 2, Informative

    Urban Outfitters has a nice one here (site uses stupid frames, this link is to the item out of its enclosing frame). Mine is dark blue, and the yellow Atari logo is fuzzy like those blacklight posters of the 70s. Perfect.

    --
    -- http://frobnosticate.com
  15. Yeah, but... by pjh3000 · · Score: 1

    ...all I want to know is when is Pong 2 finally gonna come out?

    1. Re:Yeah, but... by Tink2000 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Right after they release ET: The Extraterrestrial 2, I'd imagine.

      Ooh look! A little dot! *raises neck and makes meowing-like noises*

      --
      Why do I M2 everything negatively?
  16. Well, somebody's gotta say it! by randomizer9 · · Score: 1
    Have you played Atari today?

    Just let it die already. The glory days of Atari are way past gone...

    --
    A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men... --Willy Wonka
    1. Re:Well, somebody's gotta say it! by PyroMosh · · Score: 1

      Yes. Ikaruga is an excelent game. I highly recomend it. Best galaga style shooter since R-Type.

      --
      Touch everywhere, even when inappropriate.
  17. Are they finally figuring it out? Or not? by Hegemony+Cricket · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...Infogrammes went on a massive buying spree and scored an amazing deal when they took Hasbro's properties.

    Hasbro figured out it couldn't make video games so they dumped EVERYTHING. For a million cash and a bunch of now worthless stock, Infogrammes tied up the electronic rights to EVERY Hasbro property for nigh on fifteen years (that's Wizards of the Coast (TSR and all), Avalon Hill, Transformers, etc.).

    I wouldn't be so irritated if they exploited these brands properly. However, up until this point Infogrammes has treated the treasures at their disposal much like Atari...as nothing more than names.

    Oh well, they've been making positive rumblings for the past few months, so here's to Bruno ditching his "If it can't be played on a plane, or doesn't have the same appeal as a TV show then it's out" mentality and getting back to his ultra-nerd roots.

    Maybe the switch to Atari is more than a cynical attempt to bundle the same bad decisions with a friendlier wrapper...maybe it marks a real groundshift in how they approach their business...

    Here's hoping for the latter, since we have no other choice for more than a decade.

    --
    "I ain't got no flyin' shoes."
  18. Brand Recognition by Torvo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's less about the history of what has been produced under the Atari name & logo than it is about the relative recognize-ability of the logo and name. Yes, the Infogrames Armadillo (or "floating potato" as one of its incarnations was known) is reasonably well known amongst gamers, but the Atari name and logo are burned into the collective American consciousness as a video game brand. Infogrames has been spending huge buckets of dollars to get people to recognize and accept their branding (as well as spelling) for several years. Economically-speaking, it's a better dollar investment for them to adopt the Atari brand as their corporate identity -- people already know the name, know the logo and know how to pronounce it. (Four years ago, the Infogrames internal newsletter had a pronunciation guide of the corporate name so all the employees would know the "proper" way to say it -- "'info-GRAHAM', like the cracker!")

  19. Re:They should really produce side-scrolling games by QuackQuack · · Score: 1

    In it's glory days, Atari wasn't afraid to create new game genres. That's something that's sorely missing from the game industry today. Hopefully the new Atari takes on this spirit, but somehow I doubt it.

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    By reading this sig, you agree to the terms of my sig license.
  20. Just curious by sean_r69 · · Score: 1

    Does any of ye know if ATARI actually stands for anything or is just y'know.. a name.

    1. Re:Just curious by saladpuncher · · Score: 1

      The original name of Atari was Syzygy but the name was already taken. Bushnell and Dabney were both players of Go, a Japanese strategy game, so they took a list of words from that game: Sente(which means "the upper hand"), Atari(similar to "Check" in English) and Hanne(an overtaking move). Atari was the only one that was approved by the Office of the Secretary of State in California. Look here for more details.

    2. Re:Just curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The original name of Atari was Syzygy but the name was already taken"

      You mean two people thought of a name that bad?

  21. What the hell? by Treeluvinhippy · · Score: 1

    My Atari t-shirt went from retro to contemporary in one click of the refresh button.

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    >
  22. Sewers of Rivendell??? by fm6 · · Score: 1

    Are they populated by magic albino alligators?

  23. Online brains by fm6 · · Score: 1
    They also made unsuccessful PC clones at one point. Tramiel's Atari tried lots of things that ultimately failed. They didn't have the resources to pull them off.
    It's not just resources. Selling brand-name clones requires huge economies of scale and strong marketting savvy. Every proprietary system maker has tried to switch over at one point or another. (The latest was SGI, just a couple years ago.) The only successes I can think of are HP and of course IBM itself.
    Also, in the Warner days, Atari was rumored to be developing a system and games that could be controlled by "thought" power. I kid you not. You attached sensors to your forehead, and positive thoughts caused the system to do one thing, and negative thoughts, something else.
    Not the most suprising development. In those days electronic biofeedback was all the rage. People were using home-brew EEG machines to control their alpha rhythms, supposedly achieving a chemical-free high in the process. Actually kind of dangerous -- glitches in your hardware could induce seisures. And of course, every geek knows about the electronically-induced hallucination/user interface in Gibson's Neuromancer.

    Incidentally, shrinks still do this stuff, but they prefer safer, non-gadget techniques, such as training patients to recognize and control their biological signs.

    I once saw an in-store demo of a really intriguing biofeedback device. Never got the full technical details, but it seemed to be a simple skin conductivity device, like on a polygraph, only less complicated -- just a small metal pad. In the demo I saw, you put a finger tip on the pad, and controlled a skiing game by thinking "right" or "left". It actually worked, but felt weird in some strange, incomprehensible way.

  24. Instant fix for slashdot freakiness... by Wolfrider · · Score: 1

    1. Use Opera.
    2. Click on the little icon that switches the view into "User mode" - 3rd icon from the left.

    --Not perfect, but it works.

    --
    .
    == WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??