Another 1995 Sam Tramiel Interview

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https://archive.org/stream/EDGE.N018.1995.03/EDGE.N018.1995.03-Escapade#page/n63/mode/2up

 

From Edge Magazine. Covers most of the same ground as the Next Gen interview. The interviewer asks if Atari will buy Commodore or sue other companies besides Sega.

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It looks like this has a CC-Non Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/), so I'll post it here:

As Atari prepares for a brighter future, Edge talks to the company’s president, Sam Tramiel dge Is it fair to say that Atari produces excellent products which suffer due to a poor public image? Sam Tramiel We do make excellent products. We have made mistakes in the market, and some of the circumstances in the computer market just made it impossible to compete. The Jaguar will get proper marketing support and we and others are working hard to deliver great software. I’m sure that whatever poor image exists will change. Edge Atari has shifted its emphasis from computers to consoles. Is this permanent? ST Around the end of 1989, Atari decided that the computer hardware business was too cut-throat and a proprietary system could not succeed in the long run against the IBM/Intel juggernaut - just look what happened to Commodore. We decided to focus on the interactive entertainment market. If the business opportunities exist for us to get back into the computer business, we will. We feel that the Jaguar has a great future and is a very exciting platform at a great price. Edge But why launch a console now, when everyone else seems to be moving into multimedia hardware? ST The console approach enables us to have a low-price starting platform and gives the user the chance to add peripherals as he can afford them. The future peripherals will be a CD player, a voice modem, a VR headset and something else I can’t reveal. The other new platforms are just too expensive for the consumer and this has been proven by the failure of Commodore’s CDTV and the CD-i players. We are focusing much of our energy now on the multimedia software that will make Jaguar a success. Edge Is it true that the Jaguar is a make or break product for Atari? ST The Jaguar is not a make or break product but it is what we are focusing on. We are also going into the publishing business for PC CD-ROM and perhaps others as well, with another brand name. Edge Do you think Atari can compete with the giants of the console market, like Sega, Nintendo, 3D0 and Sony? ST Atari invented the videogame business and during the late 70s and early ’80s was the dominant company. The industry has been through a number of cycles and we are now entering the fourth cycle. Cycle two was dominated by the NES, cycle three has been shared by Sega and Nintendo and we at Atari have put a lot of effort into assuring the success of the Jaguar in cycle four. The Saturn is too expensive and Nintendo doesn’t even have a product yet. All Nintendo is doing is trying to confuse the market with disinformation. The 3D0 group has doubled the royalty to the software community and the hardware manufacturers aren’t happy. The Sony product is just too expensive to be taken seriously and I can’t see Sony focusing on a product that won’t have the quantities due to the high price. It will be a player, but not a big one. Edge Butthe Jaguar is going to be in direct competition with a lot of heavily backed machines. Does Atari really stand a chance? ST We have some very compelling advantages in terms of power, low price and lots of good software, with more on the way. We have a very experienced team. We also have the financing. Also important is our strategic investor, Time Warner, and our new partner, Sega, which gives us another source of good software. Edge How much input does Time Warner have in Atari? Does it provide include monetary help beyond its obligations as a large shareholder? ST Time Warner has no official input into Atari but we do talk to many of the Time Warner divisions and we value our relationship with them. For example, we were chosen to be included in the Time Warner Cable Full Service Network test in Orlando, Florida. We got a licence from Warner Brothers for the big Batman Forever movie, which is coming out next year. We also work closely with Time Warner Interactive and you’ll see them publishing many titles on Jaguar in the near future. We have no need for more money at this time, but if we did have a good reason to raise more, Time Warner could be an option. Edge Why has it taken Atari so long to pursue patent infringements? Why didn’t ‘The Saturn is too expensive and Nintendo doesn’t even have a product yet. All Nintendo is doing is trying to confuse the market with disinformation’ Sam Tramiel, president of Atari: ‘Focusing much of our energy on the multimedia software that will make Jaguar a success’ you go after Sega and Nintendo when you bought Atari from Time Warner? ST The issue of patents is very complex and we pursued the issues as soon as it was prudent to do so. Edge Are you going to pursue Nintendo, 3D0, Sony and the other console manufacturers in a similar manner? ST On the issue of patents I can only say that we will maximise their value and will pursue whatever means are necessary to ensure that they are not being infringed upon. We have some precedents and we look forward to more favourable outcomes. Edge The Sega deal means that you can release any of its titles (excluding Sonic) on the Jaguar. What Sega titles are going to appear on the machine? ST We haven’t decided yet. Edge Are we likely to see Nintendo games on the Jaguar? ST Our relationship is not so great with Nintendo, but who knows what is possible in this time of detente? Edge Europe has traditionally been a very strong marketplace for Atari product, but it’s America and Japan that ensure a console’s longterm future. What steps are you taking to sell Jaguar in these areas? ST We have chosen to make the US the first important market for the Jaguar. It is starting to work. We just introduced the Jaguar into Japan and met over 60 thirdparty developers in Tokyo. It will not be easy selling a US-made machine in Japan, but we are going to try. Edge In his book, Game Over, David Sheff alleges that Jack Tramiel imagined a sweet revenge on Commodore for the way in which he was ousted from the company. If this is true, is he happy now? ST We did not buy Atari as a road to exact revenge on Commodore. It was a good opportunity to acquire the best-known name in videogames and start a new venture. Edge Is it true that Atari is considering buying the shattered Commodore company? ST We aren’t happy about the demise of Commodore and have no plans to acquire the leftovers. Edge Finally, what do you think the future holds for Atari? ST Success. 65 EDGE magazine March 1995