Tengen

[liquid_sky]

Hey all, just wondering about Tengen and their relation to Atari. I noticed on many Lynx games, that is will say © Atari Inc. Licened to Tengen. Was Tengen a subsidary, or was it a more modern day example of the "Kee Games" tactic?

[Rhindle The Red]

"Tengen" was a brand name for home video games used by Atari Games, Corp., the arcade division of Atari that the Tramiels didn't want.

 

When the Tengen name was originally introduced, Atari Games was a subsidiary of Namco (to whom Time Warner sold the Atari Games portion at the same time the Tramiels bought Atari, Corp.) Atari Games, Corp. was restricted by the terms of the Tramiel deal from using the Atari name outside of the arcade. Therefore, the Tengen brand was used for all home titles, including NES, Genesis and Lynx games. Eventually Namco sold it back to Time Warner. I believe the Tengen name eventually gave way to Time Warner Interactive and then Time Warner sold Atari Games again, this time to Midway. Atari Games then continued to make arcade games, while home versions bore the Midway brand. Midway changed the name of Atari Games to Midway Games West under pressure from Hasbro, and that left us with the only Atari we have left (which is now Infogrames).

[Jack-Ass Tramiel]

What is the current ownership status of the classic Atari arcade coin-op titles?

 

This aspect has always confused me. I thought Atari Games owned titles like Missile Command, Asteroids, Centipede, etc. (Therefore, wouldn't Midway be the owners of these games today?) But then Hasbro released re-imagined versions of Missile Command, Centipede, even Pong.

 

Did Hasbro buy all of the coin-op game rights back from Midway? Or did they automatically have the rights to home versions of these arcade titles, while Midway did not?

 

J-AT

[liquid_sky]

Didnt Midway West (Atari Games) fold?

[Albert]

quote

Didnt Midway West (Atari Games) fold?  

 

Yes, and this just happened recently. Midway as a whole decided to get out of the arcade business and concentrate on console games (which they probably make a hell of a lot more money with). It saddens my heart to see the former Atari Games exiting the arcade business.

 

..Al

[Albert]

quote

Did Hasbro buy all of the coin-op game rights back from Midway? Or did they automatically have the rights to home versions of these arcade titles, while Midway did not?

 

My understanding of this is that when Atari Games split off from the main Atari (when the Tramiels bought the company) that Atari Corp. retained the rights to produce any arcade games for home systems. So Atari Games could produce Klax for the Arcade, and Atari Corp. could release Klax for the 2600. I don't know the details of this arrangement, but apparently those rights have been passed down from company to company as time's gone on. So now Infogrammes has the rights to produce all the Atari arcade games for the home (which they've recently demonstrated with their Atari Anniversary Edition for the PC, Dreamcast and soon Playstation).

 

..Al

[Rhindle The Red]

This has always been unclear, but in that recent interview Leonard Tramiel states that "We had the rights to all of Atari's games in the non-coinop field." This means that as of the split, Atari Corp. had all rights to home use for all Atari titles up to that point. Atari Games Corp. retained the coin-op rights to all Atari titles up to that point. Titles like Klax, however, were from after the split and remained firmly in the hands of Atari Games Corp. That's why Atari Games Corp. (under the Tengen name) could release Klax for the NES. Atari had to license Klax from Atari Games/Tengen, just as they did Gauntlet and other post-1984 titles.

 

Where it got murky was in the Midway era when Midway released Atari compilations for the home based on Atari titles, including those from pre-1984. It was this sort of thing that led to the big con-fab between Midway and Hasbro around 1999/2000. These discussions/lawsuits-in-the-making centered around just where the line was drawn and the agreements pretty much match what was said above. Atari Corp. (now Atari Interactive/Hasbro Interactive) held the rights for the home for all Atari titles prior to the split. These negotiations also led to the decision to kill the Atari Games name. (Which was just as well, I guess, as the entire arcade operations were shut down, so it would have died anyway.)

[Gunstar]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rhindle The Red:

These negotiations also led to the decision to kill the Atari Games name. (Which was just as well, I guess, as the entire arcade operations were shut down, so it would have died anyway.)

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Look at the bright side, it died under the MIDWAY name, not the Atari name, what ever small comfort that might bring...Atari Games didn't die, it had it's name changed. Midway games west died. Does that make any sense? oh, well...