When it comes to video game companies, I’ll admit that Atari is one that I’ve payed little to no attention to in recent years. It seemed they were long past their heyday and any news I heard about them tended to be negative. However, the last twelve months has seen my interest in Atari grow due to some interesting decisions that they’ve been making. Due to this, I thought it might be interesting to discuss why Atari have suddenly got my attention after all this time and what I hope to see from them.
Let’s start with a brief history on who Atari are and their significance to the video game industry. The original Atari company was established in 1972 and quickly became one of the most significant companies in the video game industry with their console, the Atari 2600, becoming the best-selling console of the second video game console generation. However, a deluge of shovelware led to the Video Game Crash of 1983, which interestingly in Japan is known as the Atari Shock, leading to Atari being divvied up and sold, an unceremonious end for such an important company. The modern Atari company actually started out as Infogrames Entertainment and later acquired the brand through their acquisition of Atari Interactive. Still, things have not been smooth sailing with bankruptcy rearing its ugly head in 2013 and forcing sales of many of their intellectual properties such as Desperados, Backyard Sports, Deer Hunter and later on the notable Alone in the Dark franchise in 2018.
So why among all of this seeming doom and gloom have Atari suddenly got my attention? It’s because they’ve made some very interesting acquisitions and purchases lately that could see them etch out an interesting sector of the video game market. Prior to noticing them again, they acquired the IP rights to twelve Stern Electronics games, Berzerk and Frenzy being the two most notable titles, which may not be particularly noteworthy news were it not for the fact that this was the first step in their new strategy. That same month, they acquired a company which immediately drew my attention and gave me and many others an idea of what Atari was planning. Nightdive Studios, whose catalogue of games I’d recommend you check out, specialises in updating and rereleasing older games on modern systems. Their acquisition, alongside their back catalogue and the acquisition of those other games, made me wonder how far they’d go in order to secure their place in this market.
Turns out, they’ve already gone beyond what I expected them to do at that point! Soon afterwards, they announced that they had acquired more than 100 games from the 80s and 90s which include IP like Bubsy, Demolition Racer and 1942: Pacific Air War. Unfortunately, the full list doesn’t seem to be available but it’s easy to imagine setting Nightdive Studios to work on updating these games and rereleasing them. However, the reason that I decided to write this article happens to be news that I saw, as of the writing of this article, yesterday. It was announced that Digital Eclipse, a company that has developed and released numerous game collections such as the first Mega Man Legacy Collection, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection and, rather appropriately, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, was being acquired by Atari! With both Nightdive Studios and Digital Eclipse, I don’t think there can be any doubt that Atari are seeking to establish themselves as a classic games titan.
The potential for Atari from these acquisitions is huge but, so far at least, that’s all it is, potential. So far, we haven’t much if any results from these acquisitions and it’s very possible that those who have any faith in Atari will be sorely disappointed. Still, I’m choosing to be excited for these developments and I’m eager to see what games they’re going to prioritise releases for. Should Atari manage to succeed in this endeavour, it’ll be a remarkable turnaround for the company and their legacy and one that I, as a fan of older games and someone who wants to see video game preservation improve, will be hoping for this to be the case.
Let me know your thoughts on my reasons for Atari suddenly getting my attention again, what your own thoughts are on the history of Atari, on their recent acquisitions which seem to centre around updating and rereleasing old games, what you think about either Nightdive Studios or Digital Eclipse, whether you have any concerns about this new direction for Atari and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.