Atari is 40 years old next month (27th June to be exact)

[carmel_andrews]

Happy birthday Atari

 

Even if you don't do hardware anymore (well you haven't done that for the best part of 19 years anyway)

 

Will Atari (or even Atariage) still be around when Atari reaches 80 (or will Atari have merged into either MS, Sony or horror of horrors, nintendo)

[Rybags]

Present day Atari - nobody really cares about them much.

[Mclaneinc]

And I'll be 51 on the 28th of June, I think I've aged better than Atari have

[flashjazzcat]

Nice - Atari beats me to 40 by six months.

[Lynxpro]

Nice - Atari beats me to 40 by six months.

 

 

Nice. I'm nearly 2 1/2 years younger than Atari. We're all getting old though.

[Gunstar]

Honestly all you can say is the Atari NAME has been around for 40 years. It has changed hands too many times to say the company has been around for 40 years, it's not even close to the Bushnell Atari that was started 40 years ago.

[kenjennings]

Atari died when it was only about 12 -- just a kid. A zombie resembling Atari lingered for a few more years. Everything else is just a licensed logo and name. I prefer to remember it as the original fun version.

[snicklin]

The missus told me that she'd heard of someone that works for Atari as a programmer and that I should do it as I could program an Atari.

 

I had to point out that she didn't quite have the right end of the stick.

 

As KenJennings says, the real Atari died years ago. I have no good feelings whatsoever for the new company. I had a soft spot for them until they started acting so badly of late. Now I'd rather that they go out of business and leave people alone.

[Rybags]

The thing is, almost all games companies are going the same way.

 

Treat their staff badly, moving to online validation when running a game, games that will just expire once the online servers come down, disappearance of real physical media, charging for content and mods that used to be free, no longer allowing mods or user created customization of games.

 

The games industry is making the music/movie industry look like saints in comparison in many ways. Maybe it's headed for another crash, except this time around we won't be mourning the casualties.

[WizWor]

Happy Birthday Atari!

 

It turns out the word Atari meant something before our favorite computer company put it on their letterhead. I would not be surprised if some of the computers and video games lasted for another 40 years. I know my kids will get mine.

[kogden]

The thing is, almost all games companies are going the same way.

 

Treat their staff badly, moving to online validation when running a game, games that will just expire once the online servers come down, disappearance of real physical media, charging for content and mods that used to be free, no longer allowing mods or user created customization of games.

 

Which is precisely why my kids do not have an XBox 360 or PS3 and I'm pretty picky about what Wii games I'll get them. Will not buy the current crop of consoles no matter how badly my kids want them. I haven't bought a PC game in about 4 years or so because of the same bullcrap which sucks because I *REALLY* wanted to play IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover. I was really looking forward to it and they murdered it for me.

 

I'm not going to put up with products that cause me inconvenience because they feel the need to make sure I'm not a criminal and feel they can tell me what I can and can't do with my machine their game is installed on. So instead of thwarting piracy, they've turned an incredibly loyal customer who used to spend thousands with them entirely and utterly against them to the point where not a single dime of my money will ever line their pockets again.

 

The "new Atari" hasn't even written any games worth playing, much less pirating. I really wish someone with a clue would buy the assets. Atari COULD be a hardware company again fairly easily. If their only attempts weren't 2600 clones in a joystick at Family Dollar then they might get somewhere. Their "reimagined" versions of the classics have been pathetic to say the least. The brand recognition is fading as that generation either loses interest, retires or dies off..... they need to do SOMETHING soon.

 

The games industry is making the music/movie industry look like saints in comparison in many ways. Maybe it's headed for another crash, except this time around we won't be mourning the casualties.

 

Same douchebags..... same companies a lot of the time even. That's ok, I quit going to the movies and only buy them when they hit the $5 shelf. As for music it depends.... I support a lot of smaller bands but again, Sony will never see another dime from me. I don't pay extra for rootkits when I can get a more trustworthy copy without the hassle.

 

Personally I'm happy to watch the music/movie/games industry just choke on it's own blood and vomit in the streets. F**k'em. Artists will still create and sell their works. None of the stuff I like is really very mainstream and easy to find anyway.

 

--Kevin

Edited June 12, 2012 by kogden