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Atari Corp - Business is War


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Wanted everyone to see the new cover we had commissioned for Book #2 of our Trilogy... and the 2nd Edition of Book #1 is getting a full makeover and full editing as well...

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ATARI Corp. - Business Is War

Cover for upcoming book released to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the founding of Atari Corporation.

New York, New York - July 2, 2014 -- 1984 was a tumultuous time in the home video game industry. Crashing spectacularly, video game titan Atari Inc. was split up by parent Warner Communications on July 2,1984 with it's brand name and half the company sold to Commodore International founder Jack Tramiel. Recently ousted from his own company, the Auschwitz survivor and computer industry titan (who regularly equated business to war) started over in a hostile landscape and against mass amounts of inherited debt. Atari Corporation was Jack's last attempt at recapturing his earlier success while keeping the Atari brand going strong during a time when Nintendo, SEGA, Apple, and PC clones began to dominate video games and home computers.

The noted video game historian team of Marty Goldberg and Curt Vendel, co-authors of the popular book ‘Atari Inc. – Business is Fun,’ will tell the story of Atari Corporation in their upcoming book 'Atari Corp. - Business Is War.' But in honor of the 30th anniversary of Jack's founding of Atari Corporation, they're releasing the book's stunning cover in advance to video game and computer fans alike. Hand painted by artist Lukas Ketner, the cover personifies the company, it's products and history.

“Our intent was to really have a cover that embodies the company at a glance," said
Goldberg. "The iconic Jack Tramiel and his sons Sam, Leonard and Gary surrounded by the now legendary products they introduced to us. At the same time, the seriousness and competitive business nature Jack and his companies were known for had to be shown. Lukas captured it all perfectly and in a style that anyone who group up with Atari should recognize!"

Vendel elaborates, "Atari Corporation was a completely different company than Atari Inc. Not just in people and products, but in vision, philosophy and presence. Jack's masterful resuscitation in the consumer marketplace of a brand that was so close to going off the edge of a cliff is a story that will surprise and awe many. We sought out Lukas because of the skills and expression demonstrated in the Atari 2600 inspired artwork he did for app developer Panic. And we think you'll agree he didn't disappoint here either!”



About The Authors:

Martin Goldberg: Video game programmer and industry writer veteran of 13 years, former site director of IGN/
GameSpy's 'ClassicGaming.Com,' freelancer for Retro Gamer magazine, co-founder of the Midwest Gaming Classic
(one of the largest electronic entertainment expos in the United States), co-founder of the Electronic Entertainment
Museum - E2M (a non-profit archive preserving the history and artifacts of the video game and home computer
industries), member of the International Game Development Association's (IGDA) Game Preservation SIG (a
community for those interested in digital game preservation and history).

Curt Vendel: Entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Bidiots! (former online auction site for video game artifacts),
founder and CEO of Awesome Arcades LLC (former manufacturer of home arcades), former IT Systems Engineer,
self-taught Electrical Engineer, historian, founder and curator of the Atari History Museum, valued resource
for Atari insight and archival information by Atari, SA., Atari Interactive, numerous research institutions, trade
publications and entertainment magazines, television networks and movie studios. Vendel holds a BS in Computer
Science.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Web: ataribook.com Facebook: facebook.com/AtariCorpBusinessIsWar or facebook.com/AtariIncBusinessIsFun
Email: ataribook@gmail.com

EDITORS: For review copies or interview requests, contact:
Loni Reeder, Publicist
loni@lonireeder.com
555 Bryant Street, Suite 362
Palo Alto, CA 94301-1704 USA
Ph: 408-594-3312

INFORMATION FOR LUKAS KETNER:
Web: lukasketner.blogspot.com Facebook: facebook.com/lukasketnerart
Email: lukasketner@gmail.com

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There is so much to like with this cover, it is truly fantastic! Love the inclusion of the iconic 2600 joystick as well (which I certainly did use with many of the Tramiels' products!!) And I've visited that old Atari building in Sunnyvale, so it's nice to see that as well.

 

..Al

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Uh, it looks exactly like Atari cover art from the 70s and early 80s. You knew that, right?

 

Yes, I have about a hundred VCS games, I know what Atari cover art looks like.

 

Be that as it may when I saw the cover the first thing I thought of was not Atari box/label art but the artistic style of various movie posters from the same period.

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Yes, I have about a hundred VCS games, I know what Atari cover art looks like.

 

Be that as it may when I saw the cover the first thing I thought of was not Atari box/label art but the artistic style of various movie posters from the same period.

 

Mipaol is correct, we had the artist model it after specific movie posters we liked from the 80s. Not Atari 2600 box art. This style of the art itself (acrylic wash 'paint lift' process) is not unique to Atari Inc. or 2600 box art and was actually very common in the movie and news/magazine industries well into the 90s (and in fact I still see it employed every so often where I work at the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel). In fact, famous 2600 box artist Cliff Spohn worked in those industries both before and after Atari. The style was created decades before to allow artists to do quick but dramatic illustrations for articles, covers, posters, etc. Such as:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72057594070673618/

 

Here's some mid 80s through early 2000s examples of the style. (And no, none of these are specifically the examples shown to the artist).

 

Mad_max_beyond_thunderdome.jpg

 

Indiana-Jones-The-Last-Crusade-1989-by-D

 

 

drew-struzan-02.jpg

 

daylights20quad.jpg

 

moviead.gif

 

TheShadow_artwork_BrianBysouth.jpg

 

 

cutthroat-island.jpg

 

 

The new cover currently being produced for the second edition of our first book is more modeled after box art/promo style along with the coin style art.

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Excellent work on the cover! This is probably the volume I'm anticipating the most: all the Atari systems that I have set up right now are Tramiel-era systems, and that period of Atari's history is fascinating to me for several reasons. It's a pity that Jack himself passed away before he could be interviewed for the book (unless my memory is mistaken), but I'm looking forward to reading the inside story of his years with Atari.

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