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The Day that Pac Man Wept.
There is not one major tech company in the US that Atari alumni didn't influence (Steve Jobs and the Woz used to work there) and the 11 billion dollar North American computer and video game market wound not be where it is today with out the innovations of Atari. The Atari brand is currently owned by French publishing company Infogrames and is doing well but the company that started with Nolan Bushnell is closing it's doors. Atari has died many deaths but this is the end of an era.
Via the Atari Historical Society and Classicgaming.com
What started out at 14600 Winchester will come to an end at 675 Sycamore tomorrow as Midway drops the axe and "Midway Games West" (Formerly Atari Games Corporation) lays off the remaining 30 employee's working there. Many will stay on for a few weeks tying up loose ends and shutting off the lights, but officially tomorrow February 7, 2003 is the day that the worlds pioneering video game company's legacy and existence comes to an end.
Update: A corporation is comprised of people who possess the corporate entity. Perhaps Atari of the 70s and early 80s died when Nolan Bushnell left the company after selling it and Time Warner took over Atari. Or Perhaps it was the great video game crash of 1983 with all the extra copies of ET for the 2600 buried in a landfill. Or the Jaguar. If anything can be learned is that no matter how large a tech company can be they might not be able to last forever. Atari was not the largest company in the video game industry. ATARI WAS THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY. There is a soft ware company in Redmond that should pay attention that just because you have a close to 100% monopoly that is not a guarantee of immortality.
and now I leave you with an intersting quote from Atari and Chuck E Cheese founder Nolan Bushnell. Via Metroactive News.
It's a constant source of frustration to me that the video-game industry is dominated by Japan. It started here; the U.S. should dominate. Nintendo and Sony can be dethroned, and they should be.
Jake at February 6, 2003 
Games
Comments
Jeebus I am getting depressed...the french own it?
Posted by: pete loves atari at February 6, 2003 8:24 PM
Wozniac is cool but jobs suxorzzz
Posted by: pete loves atari at February 6, 2003 8:25 PM
Man that sucks. I remember when I got my Atari 2600 I thought it was the coolest thing since Intelevision. Big bummer dude!
Posted by: Rick at February 6, 2003 10:29 PM
Indeed, it is the end. *sniff*
Better buy a shirt while it's still nostalgic - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Clothing-Accessories/Mens-Clothing/auction-2876150.htm
Posted by: l33t k1w1 at February 6, 2003 10:33 PM
Wow. Who would have thunk...Oh wait, I did! I unfortunately saw this coming a while ago. The company was grasping at best. It is a sad day in the age of video games.
Posted by: M at February 7, 2003 7:05 PM
I still have my 2600 and about 34 game carts. S/N # 352563 still works too.
Posted by: paul at February 8, 2003 1:58 PM
The Jaguar was the real last straw for Atari. Even with their games division cranking out sweetness like S.F. Rush and Gauntlet Legends, Atari's last home console was like a terminal illness. Nothing could stop Atari's death after that.
Posted by: MJ at January 8, 2004 7:17 AM
