Atari to become 'just an online company' in five years

Posted Sep 18, 2008 at 9:16AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 Tags: Atari, David Gardner, Infogrames, Namco Bandai, Phil Harrison, Sony

Atari: '90% of Our Products Will be Online' - Image 1

Atari, one of the oldest companies in the video game business, took an unfortunate turn somewhere in its history and it fell into a dive that was apparent last year. It didn't help that Alone in the Dark 5 (360, PS3, Wii) , which was supposed to be one of their bigger games for this year, didn't fare all that well with gamers.

However, once former Sony exec Phil Harrison joined the group, things have taken a turn and the company's now headed in a new direction. Atari's parent company Infogrames recently struck a distribution deal with Namco Bandai, in what will eventually become a takeover. What will happen to Atari when that happens?

By then, according to execs David Gardner and Harrison, Atari will be "just an online company." Their plan is to have 90% of their products in online gaming within five years. This probably includes online services for the consoles, like WiiWare, XBL, and PSN. They also intend to be a presence in mass market platforms like iTunes and MySpace.

My very first console was an Atari, so I don't really know how to take this news. Many old companies have managed to stay on top through the years; Nintendo is a prime example, with the Wii. Hopefully, Atari will be able to revive its golden age in the future as well.

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I think it's a very intelligent move by Atari. I do enjoy their games (Driv3r, anyone?), but a lot of people don't and if it doesn't make financial sense for them to continue on this path, then so be it.

I think that the ATARI brand is very popular, and it would fit awesome as an online brand.

This is a wise move. Good job ATARI.

# ... — Matt-N 2008-09-18 15:04

Agreed.

# *sigh* — PR Disaster 2008-09-18 17:24

Even the greatest legends must fall too I guess.

# yeah — rollypoly 2008-09-19 13:29

the atari you guys seem so fond of died a long time ago...

next up let's mourn the loss of 3DO!

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Atari to become 'just an online company' in five years

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