Atari buys Intellivision

[famicommander]

... 45 years after anyone would've cared. But they did it.

They continue their recent rampage of purchases. They recently bought or already owned:
Atari's catalogue (minus the 1984 and later arcade stuff that WB has now)
Atariage.com
Mobygames.com
Night Dive Studios (including the System Shock franchise)
Digital Eclipse
GT Interactive brand and most of its catalogue
Infogrames brand and most of its catalogue
Ocean brand and most of its catalogue
Accolade brand and most of its catalogue
M Network brand and all of its catalogue
Rollercoaster Tycoon and most of the former Hasbro Interactive catalogue
The Stern electronics non-licensed catalogue (12 arcade games, most notably Berzerk and Frenzy)

And now the Intellivision brand and over 200 associated games. They did not buy the Amico, hilariously, and the clowns running that operation will now continue on trying to release that bullshit without any Intellivision branding.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

Atari is French since Infogrames bought it.

 

[Jeneki]

They did not buy the Amico, hilariously, and the clowns running that operation will now continue on trying to release that bullshit without any Intellivision branding.

Makes me wonder if this was the only way to wash the Intellivision name off that dumpster fire, and any future financial/legal fallout it incurs.

 

[famicommander]

Makes me wonder if this was the only way to wash the Intellivision name off that dumpster fire, and any future financial/legal fallout it incurs.

More like the Intellivision name and catalog was the last thing the company had worth any money, so they sold it to keep their Amico scam going so they don't get sued

 

[Tarma]

I thought Atari / Infogrammes went bust? They were trying to open some mecca to esports in the guise of a hotel in the desert last I heard...

 

[famicommander]

I thought Atari / Infogrammes went bust? They were trying to open some mecca to esports in the guise of a hotel in the desert last I heard...

Some rich kid bought them after that. I think the hotel project is still a thing but the company is mostly focused now on mining its back catalog. They released a 2600 clone that kinda sucks but it plays physical 2600 and 7800 carts, they've released a bunch of various other emulation boxes in various form factors, they're selling actual working 2600 carts brand new again, they have a program to publish homebrews for physical release, they released an actually fantastic compilation/interactive museum called Atari 50, they bought a couple of active studios (Nightdive, Digital Eclipse), they've been releasing actually good updated versions of their classic games like Asteroids Recharged, Missile Command Recharged, etc, and they've been buying up classic game websites (Atariage, Mobygames) and game libraries (Atari, Accolade, Intellivision, Stern, Ocean, M Network, etc).

They haven't been perfect, most of the hardware they release is straight up shit, but on the software side they've actually done pretty decently. They even rehired Nolan Bushnell as an advisor and board member.

 

[GutsDozer]

They go out of their way to mention The Amico..... People ask if they are going to release it and honor years old preorders.....They say that's up to the Amico team........Why even mention it? I like Atari but dang that's a troll if I've ever seen one.

 

[famicommander]

They go out of their way to mention The Amico..... People ask if they are going to release it and honor years old preorders.....They say that's up to the Amico team........Why even mention it? I like Atari but dang that's a troll if I've ever seen one.

They had to mention they didn't buy it because it's been a multi-year PR disaster and they want people to know they bought everything from the company except that trainwreck.

 

[fake]

A mange infested rat licks that last streaks of barbecue sauce off a paper plate in a trash can.

 

[famicommander]

A mange infested rat licks that last streaks of barbecue sauce off a paper plate in a trash can.

If they release one Intellivision compilation 1/10th as good as Atari 50, that's more good than has come out of the Intellivision brand since the compilations of the games first started hitting PS2 and Xbox and DS back in the day.

Atari having them is certainly better than Tommy Tallarico using the brand name to scam bigbear out of his retirement to fund a piece of vaporware

 

[Takumaji]

It will be interesting to see what they make of their IP/brand purchases, there's an IntelliVision fan scene out there and these people would love to get something Atari 50-style for their fav console. It would have to be cut down a little because the history of the IntelliVision and Mattel as a manufacturer of video game stuff isn't near as long and diverse as Atari's but back in the day, the "IntelliVision shock" kicked off an intense development phase at Atari which led to the release of their ill-fated 5200 console so there's a certain irony in the fact that IntelliVision is an Atari brand now.

Let's see what they gonna do next, maybe there will be some sort of IntelliVision+ release next to a digital compilation, dunno, just hope they don't bring back those horrible IntelliVision controllers, IMO they're just as crappy as the 5200 ones.

The Atari IP purchase which I find most remarkeable is Digital Eclipse, they're very good at emulation and bringing old machines to new systems, been following them (sort of) since the early PSX days when they made the Williams Arcade Greatest Hits compilation with most of the Vid Kidz games (Robotron, Defender, etc.) and a pretty nice history/museum part with interview vids and lots of info. Good stuff and still worth a look.

 

[theMot]

Boring buys boringer

 

[famicommander]

Honestly it might be cool if Atari just went around and bought all the scattered and fallen classic gaming brands out there.

The Commodore and Amiga rights are split up between several small companies right now, Coleco is owned by a guy who just hoards old brands for resale, BBG Entertainment (low tier Android/Steam indie) has the rights to stuff like Boulder Dash, Astrosmash, Shark Shark, etc, most of the 1st party Odyssey 2/Videopac stuff is owned by a single guy.

It would be cool to have all those brands under one roof. Just put Digital Eclipse to work making more interactive museums like Atari 50.

 

[GutsDozer]

They had to mention they didn't buy it because it's been a multi-year PR disaster and they want people to know they bought everything from the company except that trainwreck.

So they took down the original post and replaced it with this. So I guess now they're saying Amico is it's own thing and rebranding to something besides Intellivision. Probably super smart. Atari doesn't need to deal with that dumpster fire.

 

[famicommander]

So they took down the original post and replaced it with this. So I guess now they're saying Amico is it's own thing and rebranding to something besides Intellivision. Probably super smart. Atari doesn't need to deal with that dumpster fire.

That's literally what I've told you two times in this thread already bro.

 

[GutsDozer]

That's literally what I've told you two times in this thread already bro.

Yeah I misunderstood lol. I thought they meant they were keeping Amico but it's the studios issue. I really wanted to see the Earthworm Jim game come out.

 

[famicommander]

Yeah I misunderstood lol. I though they meant they were keeping Amico but it's the studios issue. I really wanted to see the Earthworm Jim game come out.

They never actually started development on that game as far as we know. They just did an animation test for it and called it a "demo", then took people's money

 

[GutsDozer]

They never actually started development on that game as far as we know. They just did an animation test for it and called it a "demo", then took people's money

Yeah I almost fell into to that trap. Sure glad I decided against it.

 

[kernow]

Company noone cares about and is surprised is still alive buys company noone cares about and is surprised is still alive shocker

 

[Neo Alec]

The companies aren't alive. They're just brand names getting sold around.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

SNK's fate was even worse when you think about it.

 

[famicommander]

The companies aren't alive. They're just brand names getting sold around.

Yeah, but at least the company currently calling itself Atari is releasing Atari games. Both re-releases of the catalogue and new releases from classic franchises. Berzerk Recharged sucks but all the other Recharged games turned out excellent.

Just a few years ago it looked like the brand would be exclusively for crypto, hipster clothing, and those weird ass hotels. It's been quite a turnaround.

 

[Dr Shroom]

who honestly gives a diddly dick about intellivision and atari anyway besides 50+ year old gen-x'ers, fooling themselves via heavy doses of nostalgia into thinking that shit was ever good?

 

[Neo Alec]

who honestly gives a diddly dick about intellivision and atari anyway besides 50+ year old gen-x'ers, fooling themselves via heavy doses of nostalgia into thinking that shit was ever good?

Those Gen X'ers are fine by me. At my advanced age I vastly prefer them to the endless parade of toddlers on Twitter right now saying the PS2 was their first console.

 

[Takumaji]

I may be old and have a bad taste in games but I know what I like.