For virtually anyone born between sixty and eighty, Atari is one of those words, one of those names that can take us to a cloud of memories, from a time when children or teenagers were fascinated by the universe, the universe of electronics, which was beginning to gain a foothold in our lives, and which completely redefined what we understood to be playing. The revolution that greatly contributed to Atari, a historic brand that celebrates 50 years today.

The company was founded on June 27, 1972 in Sunnyvale, California by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney.Atari has played a key role both in the arcade machine industry and in the movement to bring the same playful offer to video-conscious households. Since his early years, outside of the corporate movement (such as the sale to the Warner Group in 1976), there have been two names that shine with their own light. The first is Pong and the second Atari 2600.

Pong saw the light half a year after the founding of Atari, on November 29, 1972 and for many, it is the first electronic arcade in history and the first video game, although the company later had to face a lawsuit it lost to the makers of Magnavox Odyssey, the first console in history. Pong, inspired by table tennis, showed two lines on the sides of the screen and a box that acted like a ball. Each track was controlled by a potentiometer and the goal was always to return all missiles to your opponent.

like Magnavox, Atari also created a home version of Pongwhich gained great popularity and for many people it was the first game console to enter their home. Over time, many other manufacturers around the world “inspired” the creations of Atari and Magnavox and brought Pong clones to virtually every corner of the Earth, some better finished than others. The first one I tried in the early eighties had a design problem and the control made a cramp from time to time …

Atari’s Pong, released through SEARS in 1975. Image: Evan-Amos

The second name, as I mentioned, was Atari 2600. It was not the first home video game console, but it was by far the most successful at the moment1977. Unlike Pong and other similar designs, in which the game or games were stored in the device’s internal memory, the 2600 used removable cartridges, a format that it popularized and that has been widely present in the market for decades.

Thanks to the success of the Atari 2600, the brand has achieved something that many have longed for, but very few have achieved, that her name has become synonymous with her product category. Until the launch of the NES, but especially its entry into the European and American markets, which did not occur until the mid-1980s, it was common to use the word Atari to refer to game consoles and, to a lesser extent, video games.

The 1970s and 1980s were very good times for Atari, which managed to maintain its leading position for many years, but like any growing market, began to fill with new competitors and the situation began to become more complicated for the company. These are exactly the times when Bernie Stolar, about whom we published an obituary yesterday, joined the company to try to keep it on the crest of the wave. However, the breakthrough of the Atari Jaguar, a console ahead of its time, marked the beginning of the end of a company that failed to withstand the onslaught of brands arriving from across the Pacific.

1996, with unattainable competition, after the economic fiasco Lynx and Jaguar and with the departure of some of their owners from the business, Atari has merged with another company, JTS Inc.., but its activities were practically suspended and it never participated in the hardware market again.

Atari 2600, a console that changed everything. Image: joho345

Atari and the 21st century

At the turn of the millennium and after the brand passed to several owners, was acquired by Infogrameswho decided to use his name, first sign some of his releases and later accept him as the new company name. So today’s Atari is what Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA) used to be. In the United States, its games are released under its own label, while in Europe, Namco Bandai Games, a shareholder with more than one-third ownership of Atari, is in charge.

The complications would not end there. At the beginning of 2013, on January 21, all Atari Inc. subsidiaries, this does not surprise anyone, because both before and after the acquisition of the Infogrames brand, its financial results were negative. Through this operation, the parent company sought to evaluate in order to embark on the development of new games or, if this was not possible, was at least sufficiently attractive to a potential buyer.

After settling the accounts, the company withWe focused on new business areas such as mobile games and free game mode, as well as a new business unit dedicated to cryptocurrencies and the announcement in 2021 of the opening of brand – based themed hotels (in cooperation with the ICICB Group). According to the notification, the first opening will take place in Dubai, Gibraltar and Spain. In addition, last year they also announced their plans to return to the hardware market, which would be a historic return.

Just 50 years ago, Bushnell and Dabney wouldn’t have imagined the huge number of bikes that the company they had just created would give, and that his original name was not even Atari. Half a century after this day, despite the difficulties and changes the brand has experienced, Atari is still and will be synonymous with video games, as well as for many other people of my generation. It doesn’t seem easy to have another fifty, but who knows?