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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.
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.
Tell us how you really feel next time. Don't pull your punches.
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.
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.
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.
> to agree to the interview
Make that "to *request* the interview". Atari invited the reporter to do the review.
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."
Thanks. I had heard about that when it was pre-announced, and I didn't realize it was out. It does still suffer from not having a cartridge slot, but otherwise it's perfect for the nostalgia gamers.
I'm not convinced that the new VCS console will succeed in competing with other gaming consoles, so I'm not convinced that it will ultimately be much more than a fancy retro gaming system itself.
I'll admit that I may have mixed up talk of the Flashback with the VCS.
I'll admit that I may have mixed up talk of the Flashback with the VCS.
It doesn't help that VCS is what the 2600 was called at Sears etc. I am severely tired of companies reusing product names.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
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.
"VCS" is what Atari called it for the first five years of its existence, and was renamed "2600" at the same time the 5200 was released. The Sears re-brand was the Tele-Games Video Arcade, and my Sears box is still going strong after 41 years. :-)
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
...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.
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?
Actually, El Reg has been around since 1998. That makes it 20 years old, not 14.
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