Let's Pool Our Resources and Buy Atari - How Much Will You Contribute?

[Dr Manhattan]

As you may have heard Atari Inc. is filing for bankruptcy. [source]

 

Let's purchase the Atari brand and revitalize it as we see fit. How much are you willing to contribute to be a shareholder in the new Atari Age owned Atari Inc?

 

And here's the million dollar question; What is the value of the Atari Brand? Realistically how much do you think a company would spend just to purchase the Atari brand?

 

And if you owned the Atari brand do you think you could make it profitable once again? How would you leverage the brand and the Atari back catalog?

[bennybingo]

Here's the million dollar question...

 

Even if "we" managed to come up with the scratch, who exactly would then steer the ship so to speak? How would that be decided even? It would take a massive amount of $10 donations to see this happen in the real world...so, with so many hypothetical investors, who would actually be in charge? Just curious.

[Dr Manhattan]

Here's the million dollar question...

 

Even if "we" managed to come up with the scratch, who exactly would then steer the ship so to speak? How would that be decided even? It would take a massive amount of $10 donations to see this happen in the real world...so, with so many hypothetical investors, who would actually be in charge? Just curious.

 

Clearly, I would be the maniacal Steve Jobs personality and all would bow unquestionably to my will.

 

But seriously, that is a good question. I figured it would be the largest financial contributor and / or Albert.

[+Random Terrain]

I think the job should go to Bryan Cranston. After all, he starred in every Atari 2600-related commercial ever made. Hey, was that Jane Krakowski? Nope, it was Bryan Cranston! He's that good!

[atari181]

Here's the million dollar question...

 

Even if "we" managed to come up with the scratch, who exactly would then steer the ship so to speak? How would that be decided even? It would take a massive amount of $10 donations to see this happen in the real world...so, with so many hypothetical investors, who would actually be in charge? Just curious.

<---------ME!

[Schizophretard]

If I owned the brand I don't know if I could make it profitable again but I would use it to try to resurrect the old Atari and I would focus on the retro community. I believe the retro community is all that is left of the real Atari. I would try to find a way to merge the community under the brand name and make the talented people of the community Atari employees. Homebrew programmers would be Atari programmers. Their carts would have the Fuji and be official releases. They would get royalties and credit. The people who refurbish and modify systems would be the new Atari Service Center. AtariAge would be the official Atari forums. I would make a deal that Albert would be completely satisfied with. Subscribers to the forum would be the new Atari Club and they would get an Atari Age magazine subscription. Game Gavel would be the official Atari auction site. I would also make a deal that Mike would be completely satisfied with. I would buy Best Electronics and the South American warehouses. I would bring all the old new stock back to the states. I don't know exactly how I would go about it all but you would basically go to the Atari site and find everything and everyone. There would be an Atari alternative to eBay, YouTube, Facebook, you can get an Atari email address, there would be an Atari Linux distro with all emulators and ROMs installed,.... I would just try to somehow merge the entire community under the brand name without the community thinking it is an evil corporation. It would be the modern day version of the old Atari but with our small market. Once that is done then I would focus on remakes on modern systems and stuff like that.

[Schizophretard]

Here's the million dollar question...

 

Even if "we" managed to come up with the scratch, who exactly would then steer the ship so to speak? How would that be decided even? It would take a massive amount of $10 donations to see this happen in the real world...so, with so many hypothetical investors, who would actually be in charge? Just curious.

 

Maybe a workers cooperative would work?

[Aamp]

When we're victorious, we can make a VCS in the shape of a V, with 8 switches. One switch for music or something and another for other awesome stuff.

[etschuetz]

Depending on what the asking price is for the Atari brand, and its respective IP's, I would love to be a part of it. I like the idea of refocusing Atari, Inc back to bringing back the old titles, and focusing on (re)developing the original consoles in a modern era. Just having the ability to get to bring the Jag II Proto to fruition would be grand. I would also love to see the 5200 have a 3rd revision that would focus on new controllers that would bring both digital and analog to the table. Honestly, I would take Atari from being a simple game developer to a console developer. And when you consider that devices such as the Android powered Ouya and the Nvidia Project Shield are looking to be truly viable platforms to compete with Micro$oft, $ony and Nintendo...it would be grand!

[+batari]

Atari's market cap is $25 million. I would not expect to get it for much less.

 

I don't know if this was a serious question or not, but if so, given this site has probably under a thousand active members, I think your poll selections are a little low. Might want to add a $25,000+ on there.

[+Wonder007]

Atari's market cap is $25 million. I would not expect to get it for much less.

 

I don't know if this was a serious question or not, but if so, given this site has probably under a thousand active members, I think your poll selections are a little low. Might want to add a $25,000+ on there.

 

I concur with batari. I am willing to pursue this if others on this website are seriously interested in acquiring the name; $10 donations though will not cut it. The Atari name and logo have many possibilities.

[Godzilla]

i would rule it like a pirate ship, the floggings will continue until morale improves! :-)

[godzillajoe]

Relaunch the 2600 as a cheap "kids" console with a homebrew pack-in.

[Fretwobbler]

who would actually be in charge? Just curious.

 

The shareholders would appoint a board of directors. The board of directors would be the supreme authority.

 

If the shareholders become unhappy with the directors, they vote them off.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Fretwobbler

[Serious]

As much as I would like to own Atari, bankruptcy does not mean "going out-of-business".

 

This is usually just a way for a company to shirk their debts while they restructure.

 

My impression is that they are trying to become independent of Infogrames (long overdue), and will likely re-emerge as a powerful little company focused on mobile gaming (the best move for them).

 

 

 

Looking at what Namco and Taito are doing (using characters and images from their iconic classic games in new ways), it has seemed to me that the Atari brand and "content" associated with them could and should be used similarly.

 

"Casual" gaming (I hate that term) is back, and the game companies can just focus on the games instead of the hardware (given the ubiquity of smart phones and tablets).

 

In Japan, Taito and Sega also have big amusement centers (a.k.a. arcades). Tokyo is full of them. It would be great to see a new, independent Atari corp do something similar here. I would love to see Nolan Bushnell's ideas about bringing back arcades (uWink) done under the Atari name:

[Retro Rogue]

As much as I would like to own Atari, bankruptcy does not mean "going out-of-business".

 

This is usually just a way for a company to shirk their debts while they restructure.

 

My impression is that they are trying to become independent of Infogrames (long overdue), and will likely re-emerge as a powerful little company focused on mobile gaming (the best move for them).

 

Not in this case. The parent company, Atari SA, also declared bankruptcy now and is moving towards the liquidation of everything.

[Hatta]

I remember reading that the Atari properties bought by Infogrames cost them $5 million. I'd imagine that it would go for even less today.

[jfreescuba]

What I really need right now, before owning the company, is just someone to download an old 520st floppy for me. I'll gladly pay $$$, of course. Anyone? I'll check back tomorrow to reply to any questions or responses. Gotta go...

[the.golden.ax]

DR M just started himself a great topic.

 

It would be wonderful if it were fan owned, even if it's just a dream.

 

There are allot of IP that comes with a purchase like that. I should think a big company like M$ or Sony that likes D/L content would snap it up.

[Curt Vendel]

Okay, I've been fielding phone calls and emails for 2 days now... I have pre-surgery tests and examines Friday and then surgery the following Thurs...

 

I've been asking to put together a kickstarter project, I know the internal particulars of what is going on and many of the key players so here is what has been discussed:

 

$6 million kickstarter project

Depending the bidding for the auction of the IP,logo, trademarks and assets, it would either go for a direct bid or a pool bid with a key player in the bidding that has been in contact with me.

 

If this goal could actually be achieved, despite the tough odds, if its won, its won and then Atari goes into responsible hands, if the bidding and win is not achieved, then the funding would go into Syzygy Company and it will become what Atari has supposed to have been -- Home rec room arcades, updated games done properly (none of this crappy re-imagining) and full accessories across all game platforms, PC's, and Mac's (essentially unseat the Nyko's, Madcatz and others in the industry) and yes, look to bring back some legacy technologies.

 

So if this sounds like something all of your crazies want, then I guess I'm even more crazy to try and pull this together and get a kickstarter project going and launched by Monday and then Marty will be point man to field things while I go into surgery and take about 1-2 weeks to recover...

 

This will have to happen fast, we have a month to pull this off, its going to be a huge uphill battle, but somewhere out there hopefully is a Bill Gates or a Michael Dell or other successful person who remembers what it was like to be the little guy facing unbelievable odds and trying to go against the impossible to make something happen, so hopefully someone will step up and back at one of the higher backer levels...

 

I will check back tomorrow and look at the threads, if you guys all really want this and there is a huge positive response, then we are all insane and I will make it happen...

 

 

Curt

[Jaynz]

I would be more interested in putting more money forward to this if I had an idea of the total cost of Atari's assets, what we would actually be getting (IE, are we really getting the IP or they trying to pull an Interplay here), and what a 'profitability' plan would be. We're pretty much past the nostalgia market's profitability for the Atari hey-day, so what would the plan be going forward?

[svenski]

In theory I'm in for this *but* I think the question needs to be asked: What will we do with it if we win it? , and I think it should be to buy Atari or nothing.

 

Plus, to be fair, there needs to be something in return so the backers become stakeholders - i.e. one stock in "Atari" for each $1 backed and paid.

 

[Curt Vendel]

It has been beyond just the nostalgia, but looking to take on new titles with modern designs, for example -- Look at how Donkey Kong and Mario has evolved over 25+ years, this is how the Atari assets should have evolved as well, but keeping core play elements. Atari should also symbolize game controllers are accessories and would have a unique standing in leveraging the ability to develop controllers across all platforms, where as you would never see Sony make Wii controllers or MS making PS3 controllers, Atari could do controllers and accessories for all consoles, doing modern controllers and classic arcade style controllers as well. Many of Atari assets could be culled together into MMO styled games, having elements from various games to actually become "worlds" that players have to navigate through to make it to other stages, again leveraging Atari legacy's but bringing games into the modern realm. Ultracade, Global VR and others do lines of home rec room arcades, while the market cooled for a bit, it will be priming to become viable again soon and those who have rec rooms with air hockey, soda machines, popcorn makers, etc... would be the same buyers to buy an actual Atari made home arcade machine, and with built in wifi connectivity, it could be setup to allow buyers to buy, download and install more games as they want. Some other idea's not able to be mentioned publicly have been in the works, but there are other area's that could be implemented into... the key is diversify the company assets into multiple markets and create profit centers across these different markets, so if one market was to weaken, others would pick up the slack... this has been a serious flaw in companies such as Atari, THQ and others who narrowly focused on one particular market and then within that market and even more narrowed delivery to platforms, this creates too high a risk for the company to have "all its eggs in one basket" approach and helps to usher their demise.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

I'm normally pretty quiet here, but I'll speak up and say I wouldn't mind owning a piece of Atari, but would need to know all the details.

[Dan Iacovelli]

I think we should look at this on how they do investments on shark tank what would we get from it if we put our money into this