Atari is 'saved' by infogrammes (same old, same old,going round in circles)

[carmel_andrews]

Linky only

 

 

 

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/game/12918/infogrames-buys-rest-of-atari-for-11m/

 

 

El Cheapo comes to mind

 

Back to the future comes to mind

 

So let me get this right, Atari are letting infowhatsitname buy out the company again even though it was the financial problems at infowhatsitname that lead to Atari going into administration (or Chapter 11 to you people) in the first place

 

If i were the religious sort, I'd say that the man upstairs isn't playing fair with Atari fans (or is it that the man upstairs thinks that Atari fans are 'gluttons for punishment' and have inflicted the evil that is infowhatsitname on Atari fans once more)

 

Or probably that the man upstairs either doesn't know videogames or doesn't know what a 'bad egg' infowhatsitname is and the half arsed attempts that company has made in making any sort of success out of it's Atari ownership

 

Perhaps, we should have clubbed together and did a kickstarter/crowd funder type thing to buy Atari (as somweone here suggested)...if it went to infowhatsitname for that amount (plus a 20mill. loan)

[cimerians]

I can't believe some rich guy\gal retro gamer out there doesn't love Atari enough to buy it. Why the hell does it end up always with a publisher that usually sucks?

 

Are there 11 million retro gamers who could have spent a dollar each?

 

[Gabriel]

Are there 11 million retro gamers who could have spent a dollar each?

 

Nah. They'd just bitch and moan that $1 was too expensive.

[+Gemintronic]

Nah. They'd just bitch and moan that $1 was too expensive.

 

I think we all proved to be hot air when zero came out of that topic to buy Atari. Not even any plans to boost our AtariAge brand.

[roland p]

I don't get it, That article is from 1 may 2008. Whe're now living in the year 2013 right?

[+Gemintronic]

I don't get it, That article is from 1 may 2008. Whe're now living in the year 2013 right?

 

Once you post in a carmel_andrews thread you've already entered an alternate dimension.

[OBO]

Infogrames, the firm that originaly was to be called "zboub systems"... (zboub being slang for a penis) Would have been appropriate.

[Gabriel]

I don't get it, That article is from 1 may 2008. Whe're now living in the year 2013 right?

 

I don't know about you, but I'm posting from 1994.

[Reaperman]

I don't get it, That article is from 1 may 2008. Whe're now living in the year 2013 right?

 

Oh good.

 

For a second I thought that infogrames spun Atari off so they could bankrupt and they could buy them back for a reduced price.

 

Any word on who wound up with Atari after the latest bankruptcy then?

Edited May 8, 2013 by Reaperman

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

[moycon]

In other news Nolan Bushnell recently sold Atari to Warner Communications for an estimated $30 million

[Retro Rogue]

Never mind that the original 2008 article was completely wrong anyways. The "Atari" they were buying at the time had nothing to do with the "original pioneer" nor was it "Atari," nor was it in any way an owner of the brand name and IP. Very simply put:

 

In the late 90s, Infogrames bought controlling interest in GT Interactive. If then forced GT Interactive to rename itself to Infogrames NA, Inc.

 

Infogrames then bought out Hasbro Interactive, which included the Atari name and IP. It then renamed Hasbro Interactive to Infogrames Interactive.

 

Shortly after that, it renamed Infogrames Interactive to Atari Interactive and forced Infogrames NA, Inc. to rename itself to Atari Inc. Worse than that, it forced GT/Infogrames NA/Atari Inc. to license the Atari name and IP as well from Atari Interactive as part of the renaming and branding.

 

Then Infogrames started cutting down it's own publishing operations to focus on having GT/Info NA/Atari Inc. do them. Then GT/Info NA/Atari Inc. started having it's major financial problems, so Infogrames bought out the rest of the company. That's when Wilson became head of GT/Info NA/Atari Inc. and then the ex -Sony people were brought in to run Infogrames. They in turn started up Infogrames' publishing operations again, taking back more of the operational responsibilities it had shifted over to GT/Info NA/Atari Inc.

 

Then the Sony guys left, and Jim was promoted to head Infogrames as well. So now he was running both Infogrames and GT/Info NA/Atari Inc. Then they buy out Cryptic, and Jim moves Infogrames' operations to Los Angeles to be closer, and then entirely guts the staff that was left at GT/Info NA/Atari INc. to move them over to Infogrames in Los Angeles (leaving a few people in an office as a shell for GT/Info NA/Atari Inc.) He then renames Infogrames to Atari SA. Then even later he starts merging the few people running the shell GT/Info NA/Atari Inc. with the people running Atari Interactive. Yes, Atari Inc. and Atari Interactive are run by the same few people sitting in a small section of cubes in rented office space in New York.

 

Then Infogrames/Atari SA starts having the financial problems, sells off Cryptic and other assets, and then comes to the realization it can't pay back it's creditors. So Jim has all three entities (really all just him) declare bankruptcy, and has that cockamamy press release done last January to cause more confusion by stating GT/Info NA/Atari Inc. is going bankrupt and it's all "their" (Infogrames/Atari SA) fault. If they (Atari Inc.) could just separate, they'd be ok. Of course, he's just pointing the finger at himself like a split personality because he RUNS BOTH COMPANIES - if you can call GT/Info NA/Atari Inc. a company anymore. Mix in further lies about this "Atari Inc." being the same one that was around all those years ago, and you create the further illusion that "Atari" has been around as a company all these years and could keep going if they could just find someone to save them.

 

Just disgusting on all counts, and I can't believe people are actually still falling for it.

[Andromeda Stardust]

So, in a nutshell, infogrames is badically a giant corporate vacuum cleaner sucking up random IPs that nobody gives a crap about, and Atari got sucked up with the rest of them. So now that the corporate vacuum cleaner bag is full because they've spent all their money sucking up assets with ho returns on their investment, they are forced to file for bankruptcy.

 

Maybe it would be better if they just took the entire contents of that vacuum cleaner bag and dump it in the recycle bin, essentially releasing it to public domain. That is the corporate equivalent of a trash can, and the only true way to permanently dispose of IP is to release it to public domain, because once it goes into pubic domain aka corporate dump, it can never be taken away again. The beauty of the recycle bin theory is they can still use it, but so can everyone else too.

 

Unfortunately, bankrupcy is kind of like a corporate flea market, where buyers (companies) can get incredible deals on used merchandice (intelectual property). The idea if you are a rebel to the system, is once you know you're going down and there's nothing you can do to stop it, the objective is to dump your property before the repro guys can take it back.

 

What I'm basically saying is Infogrames is screwed, so they might as well die hard and release all of their assets into public domain while they still have the rights to do so. Only then do they file Chapter 11, when there's nothing else for other companies to buy out.

 

Fanboys can wish. BTW, never make me CEO of anything...

[+Random Terrain]

CEO = Cheating Evil Overlord

[Keatah]

Said it before, the original Atari is long dead. AtariAge is more "Atari" than anything a modern corporation can do.

[+Cobra Kai]

Nah. They'd just bitch and moan that $1 was too expensive.

I think you have this place mixed up with the Digital Press forums, where no flea market is too filthy to walk out with 13 cents in cartridges.

[Reaperman]

I think you have this place mixed up with the Digital Press forums, where no flea market is too filthy to walk out with 13 cents in cartridges.

We had a few garbage picking threads for a while.

[Retro Rogue]

 

I think you have this place mixed up with the Digital Press forums, where no flea market is too filthy to walk out with 13 cents in cartridges.

 

I was at those types before. A cockroach crawled out of my cart when I was cleaning it back at home. Another time some mutant yellow spider with long spindly legs crawled out of some hardware.

[+bennybingo]

I think we all proved to be hot air when zero came out of that topic to buy Atari. Not even any plans to boost our AtariAge brand.

Last time I checked, I don't "own" any AtariAge stock, therefore, AtariAge isn't even remotely "my" brand. I am a subscriber to the AtariAge forum, and a member of the community, but that does not make me (or any of us) an owner of the brand by any stretch of the imagination. If Albert had actually wanted to buy Atari to help build his brand (which I don't even remember being mentioned), he would have had to present a plan to his prospective investors. If it was a sound opportunity, I am sure people would have invested.

 

Truthfully, I am not looking to invest into a Kickstarter or similar in order to better another person's business. If I want to invest in a business or a brand, it would have to be an actual investment...the kind that shows a return. Sound investments and management of my income are what allow me to take care of my family, and also continue collecting retro games as a hobby. Atari (in its' current state) is NOT a sound investment...especially if the end-game is simply to help build someone else's brand. I already have shares of Atari common stock...they are framed on my wall with the rest of my video game collection. That's about as close to Atari ownership as I would like to get at this point.

[JamesD]

Why do I get the feeling this was all just an accounting stunt?

[+HatNJ]

 

Truthfully, I am not looking to invest into a Kickstarter or similar in order to better another person's business. If I want to invest in a business or a brand, it would have to be an actual investment...the kind that shows a return.

 

 

Could not agree more and if there were a Kickstarter for buying the Atari Brand guaranteed the backers would not see financial future from it.

Kickstarter = kicking money to someones bank account and nothing more

[Keatah]

A good post.

 

The internet is chock full of ways of transferring money from you to someone else. Some are out in the open, many are disguised in layers of hogwash and promises. Others get into your pocket via perceived benefits of technology.

 

I, too, would like to make a significant investment in the Atari name. But there no technically good choices. ROI is non-existent.

[Nall3k]

@Retro Rogue, do you know the reason why the Sony people left? I thought Gardner and Harrison were doing pretty good, and then out of nowhere, they both left. Would you know why?

[toptenmaterial]

Atari is alive and well here. Atari SA or whateverthefuck isn't real. AA is the real Atari.