Slashdot Mirror
Atari Accuses Journalists of Making Stuff Up So They Produce Recordings of the Interview (theregister.co.uk)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Legendary games company Atari has accused a Register reporter of making stuff up and acting unprofessionally following an interview earlier this year in San Francisco at the launch of its new games console, the Atari VCS. In that article, we were critical of the fact that the machine did not work, and that its chief operating officer Michael Arzt, whom we spoke to, appeared unable to answer even the most basic questions about the product. We were shown "engineering design models" that were said to be "real" yet turned out did not work, and pointed out as much.
In the article, we wrote: "What happens if we plug this into our laptop, we ask Mike. I don't know, he says. Will it work? I don't know. If we plug it into a different games machine, will it work? No. So it's custom hardware and software? I don't know about that." Presumably this is where Atari feels that the reporter "wrote what he wanted instead of what was discussed with him." Which makes this clip tough to explain -- and we'll give you a clue: your humble Reg hack is the one with the British accent... This is a clip of Atari having no idea about its own controller. The Register goes on to provide more examples of how Atari "is so full of crap..." The accusations started via the company's Facebook page, where a potential buyer of an Atari VCS posted a link to the Reg article and asked the company to explain it. The full interview between the journalist and Atari can be found here.
In the article, we wrote: "What happens if we plug this into our laptop, we ask Mike. I don't know, he says. Will it work? I don't know. If we plug it into a different games machine, will it work? No. So it's custom hardware and software? I don't know about that." Presumably this is where Atari feels that the reporter "wrote what he wanted instead of what was discussed with him." Which makes this clip tough to explain -- and we'll give you a clue: your humble Reg hack is the one with the British accent... This is a clip of Atari having no idea about its own controller. The Register goes on to provide more examples of how Atari "is so full of crap..." The accusations started via the company's Facebook page, where a potential buyer of an Atari VCS posted a link to the Reg article and asked the company to explain it. The full interview between the journalist and Atari can be found here.
So you're saying a company COO had no clue as to what was being developed at his own company? Color me shocked, simply shocked.
No, you're wrong. Journalism isn't given rules dictated by the subject's marketing schedule, that's called a puff piece. Atari was foolish to send someone who knew nothing to talk about a work in progress. Period. Then they lied.
Why? Certainly if Atari is willing to give interviews on it, the reporter not only can but should publish about it. But even if Atari hadn't, why shouldn't the reporter report?
Atari is wrong to have accepted an interview to talk about an unfinished product and the journalist was wrong for posting an article about said unfinished product.
How exactly was the journalist "wrong" to write the article ?
It appears the article was honest reporting and that the Atari staffer was woefully unprepared for an interview.
Atari fucked up. The journalist did nothing wrong. Your critical thinking skills are very poor, son.
Bullshit. Atari was stupid to agree to the interview and to send an unqualified representative who couldn't talk about the product. The reporter did his job and reported factually on the product and the meeting.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
You aren't heeding your screen name, you stupid cock-gobbling retard.
You ARE A MORON.
Why even continue with the interview when 3 minutes into it, it's apparent there's going to be no substantive information exchanged? Listening to the 10 clips there was painful. Hard to listen to someone who's supposed to be a COO making up shit / having to cover for lack of any product. At that point you would just save your dignity and end the interview huh?
Why? Certainly if Atari is willing to give interviews on it, the reporter not only can but should publish about it. But even if Atari hadn't, why shouldn't the reporter report?
The reporter was INVITED by Atari.
'Nuff said.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
The Atari of today has nothing to do with the original Atari that actually made games and computers.
Atari is now nothing more than a brand name and some IP that has been passed around several times until Infogrames, a French holding company, bought the name in an attempt to capitalize on the good will and nostalgia gamers had for the original brand. What they've really done is dilute that good will even further.
Well ... actually ... we don't know, that's why we're [expletive] here.
I just don't get why this hasn't been out and on the market for over a year already. This is such a simple product. You can run an emulator on a Raspberry Pi or equivalent. Ideally you put in original joystick ports (use the Stalladaptor or something like that to make them show up on the computer as USB devices). If you really want to bring in the nostalgia crowd, build a cartridge reader that works as a USB flash reader. Outsource it all to Foxconn.
To really cash in, create a web store where you can lease any Atari cartridge game for $1/month or buy it outright for $20. Or set up a Netflix subscription model for $10/month for the full library.
Oh, and if you manufacture joysticks compatible with the original, don't be surprised at how many people buy them to use with their old equipment.
.
This.
Atari now is not the "Legendary" company of days gone by.
Atari says, none of these things work, and they are just manufacturing design models.
Journo comes out and makes you believe the final product will function like them.
Hmmmm.... Smart guy.
Tell us how you really feel next time. Don't pull your punches.
Bullshit. Atari was stupid to agree to the interview and to send an unqualified representative who couldn't talk about the product. The reporter did his job and reported factually on the product and the meeting.
That article was written like a bad movie or restaurant review. That's not reporting. Was any attempt made to contact the company for answers to any of the questions raised in the article? If there was, it wasn't reported.
How is it wrong to publish an interview that the company asked for about a product they are clearly failing on? Turning down the interview or failing to follow through on it would be unprofessional. It's what a PR person would do, not a journalist.
After listening to that whole recording, it sounds to me like there is no device, and there sure as hell wasn't a device for the December launch. It sounds too much like a con, trying to pull in some foolish investors. Can't set anything in stone because then it couldn't do and be everything to everyone.
Keep in mind that this is the same company that showed "test footage" of Tempest 4000 running on their hardware only to back down when the maker of Tempest 4000 said they never ported the code, let alone even get approached about licensing. Atari backed down later saying it was just the PC version to show what could be running on it. Daily reminder that if its on Indiegogo, its a scam.
because first impressions == journalism in new media
so how many times are they supposed to keep going back for interviews before they write their story? once is not enough?
Only ACs trying to defend your point. At least you're not Anonymous....
I'm more than willing to bet the recording was for the Journalists' own notes, and not meant to be released. It obviously wasn't recorded in a studio, probably on a phone in a pocket or something.
Atari is wrong to have accepted an interview to talk about an unfinished product
I know it's Slashdot but if you RTFA it states that: "Atari was extremely clear about the reason it had invited us – during the very busy Games Developer Conference – to meet up with it". I think that's one of the reasons why the Reg journalist was so annoyed with them.
This is a disaster entirely of Ataris own making. They invited a journalist from a technically-savvy website to see product that wasn't there being presented by a guy with no technical knowledge of it. Even they knew that this was going to turn out badly by the end if you listen to one of the clips.
go in with no shit to show, what did they expect except sarcasm and ridicule?
It is the newsletter that bites the hand that feeds the IT.
Been so since before y2k.
Fucking google it.
There's no such thing as 'Legendary games company Atari' anymore.
It's just various more or less scumbags buying the label, trying to cash out on nostalgia.
... never ever. Bin Laden ordered the sleeper cells to attack from his cave base in Afghanistan. He got tired of fighting Russians for America and decided to go all jihad. There you have it, opportunity, means and motive, just like a real investigative journalist. Bwahahaha.. AE911Truth org
There is enough inertia behind Atari nostalgia that there has to be some sort of a product soon, and with rise of casual gaming and streaming services they might actually find the holy trinity of mass appeal required to ship a fantastically successful platform. If not someone else will try again, eventually.
Wtf are you smoking? The reporter did ask the company - thatâ(TM)s what the report is on. There are recordings of them asking questions, that is what this report is on.
Are you saying that if the product is shit and the company gives shit answers the reporter is obliged to ask the same questions again and also ask if they are aware itâ(TM)s all shit? Reaching out for comment is a way to extending a report and in no way a requirement. Otherwise you should reject all articles where no comment was received by time of publication or declined.
It's just for his own use goof. It's not a podcast.
> to agree to the interview
Make that "to *request* the interview". Atari invited the reporter to do the review.
You sound like a real piece of Arzt.
Atari are only legendary In the same way that dragons and centaurs a re.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
...is not complete without at least one mention of Hitler
The reporter was invited to the interview. Atari had complete control of the entire situation, they failed. The reporter did their job.
Atari has gone bankrupt and changed owners so many times that viewing them with any nostalgia because they bought the rights to an old companies name is silly. They are not Atari. They are business/finance/scam majors who paid to use Atari's name to fool suckers like you out of some cash by using someone else's legacy.
I am an electronic hardware designer at a very small company. We are new and have produced a two designs that were wildly successful compared to expectations. I feel for the guy. Many of you are assuming he is a marketing dude, but to me he sounds like a hardware engineer trying to give honest answers about where they are in development. They have an idea of what they want to do and they have prototypes that probably have hardware that can accomodate that. The last step in the process is the glue (firmware and hardware) that makes all the pieces talk to each other. It sounds like it's one round away of development from what you're used to seeing at trade shows. If this was a marketing guy he'd have made you feel good and shown you a bunch of fake-out conceptual stuff. This instead represents the reality of hardware development. You do your best to get to a platform that's close to a finished product, but your main goal is to give software developers something they can start working on while you iron out the final design. That's my experience. This is just a moment in time for this design, and it could be pretty close to a marketing-ready demo. It's not quite there yet, but it sounds close
New Media? The register has been around for 14 years
...because first impressions ...
because I listened to the entire mp3 audio (as bad as it was) of the meeting and formed my own opinion.
Yeah I listened to the recording...
Seems completely reasonable that, and engineering sample not have all the software and driver support working, and that the controller be expected to not work with consoles and possibly not PCs... console controllers don't work on PCs without additional driver support. PS4 controllers only work with Steam for instance because steam supports them.
Then why invite a reporter to your HQ to give a fucking demo of an unfinished product? And on top of that, send a guy who has no clue how the god damn thing works.
The Atari guy is clearly saying that's an engineering sample, so he doesn't know if it will work with on a PC (yet) but the final version will be universal. Either that "journalist" is deliberately trying to twist what he said or he's too clueless about computing to work for a "technology news" site.
Actually, there is a a third option: both. And seeing what the Reg has turned into since Mike Magee left, my money is on option #3.
The audio shows the Atari COO not being certain of what a particular engineering board would support as far as working with other off-the-shelf hardware. This is a nothing story. First, the COO is not the CTO or the V.P. of Engineering or the system lead designer. Why would anyone expect the COO to know _anything_ about an engineering prototype?
And yet he posts it online as a podcast...
Actually, El Reg has been around since 1998. That makes it 20 years old, not 14.
Onda Technology Institute
are you sure your not a shill, it was posted due to company talking bullshit to show they are talking shit..