(Insert stupid Blog name here)

Are we saying that everyone investing more than $1 in a dead brand is either a scumbag or an idiot? Sure, I'm all for the fact that the Atari brand has been mishandled for a few decades now, but we're assuming everyone who is in charge will equally cynically mishandle the brand, assets, enthusiasts and other customers. On the general video games scene, the Atari brand probably is as relevant as Saab or Pontiac are on the car market. People may have heard about them, but it is a thing of the past that only enthusiasts really care about any longer.

Edited September 9, 2023 by carlsson

Not nessarily now, but sooner or later another, ignorant management will take over. If AA still exists in a similar form as of now, this will end then. And we are already see the negative effects of money becoming more and more important. Lawyers everywhere, and these are always completely ignorant, except for their own profession. 

 

BTW: Saab and Pontiac are dead. 

Edited September 9, 2023 by Thomas Jentzsch

It raises another question: were any of the previous Atari installations customer friendly? I understand there were some eras: the Bushnell era, the Kassar/Warner era, the Tramiel era, the first post-Tramiel era. Or perhaps that was not an issue while the brand still was continuously active and current, how they treated their customers, user groups, developers etc. I understand many Atari fans despise the Tramiels just as much as they despise the current leadership, which means Atari became a company to be cautious of already around 1985.

Is that relevant? We had AtariAge lead by Albert, which was very customer friendly.

 

A profit oriented business cannot offer that.

Edited September 9, 2023 by Thomas Jentzsch

I posted some of my thoughts in another comments section here: https://forums.atariage.com/blogs/entry/18674-maybe-the-guys-who-bought-battlezone-would-want-it/?do=findComment&comment=31358

 

I agree with Thomas though - AtariAge was a fan-run, independent community. It is now owned by a corporation. It may still be managed by Albert, but he no longer determines its fate.

Anything Atari has done previously, good or bad, is irrelevant. They have no track record with this. But they are now the owners of AtariAge, and AtariAge is subject to them.

 

If there had been (for example) an Atari Fan Club in the early 80's, run by gamers, with thousands of members, with their own newsletters, club meetings, etc., and that had been bought out and run by Atari, then there would be a precedent for this. And when Atari collapsed, the fan club would have collapsed with it. The financial backing, support, and resources would have evaporated.

 

But... as I mentioned in my other post, people are resilient, and those that chose to, would have simply moved on and found other ways to connect.

 

AtariAge is really a community of people. The forum named AtariAge is merely the current gathering place.