Curt Vendel Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 "Sadness comes again..." by Curt Vendel, Atari Historian. Another sad chapter is added to the Atari Legacy: Feb 7th, 2003 marks the true end of an era unlike any other... What started out in a garage at 2965 Scott Blvd. Santa Clara Ca. will come to an end at 675 Sycamore in Milpitas today 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 today is the day that the worlds Pioneering Video Game Company's legacy and existence comes to an end... In the coming weeks the building will be cleared of people, furniture, equipment, hardware and paperwork. What was the birthplace of many laughes, smiles, challenges and thrills will slowly and quietly drift off into the nothingness that has been commonplace within the Valley for decades. To be that last person... the one who will stand in the doorway, looking in and seeing the emptiness of it all, to listen to the quietness that itself will echo a myriad of electronic bleeps and beeps, synthesized theme music and trademark sound effects that many recognize in a heartbeat. The fading glow of screens no more, of flashes and pulses emitting onto the walls, ceiling and long gone faces of gamers and engineers alike... The door will lock and the final car will exit the parking lot, all that is left is a shell that stands alone, stands proud as its ghosts within play-on until the next tenant moves in... :-( Curt Vendel, Atari Historian: The Atari Museum http://www.atarimuseum.com =============================================== Please copy and distribute this article freely, thank you... Curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeybastard Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 Uuughhhh.... now I'm depressed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy_Dude Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 that bites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 I thought they closed Midway West down over a year ago. It's only logical since the arcade industry is pretty much dead. Sad times indeed... Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted February 7, 2003 Author Share Posted February 7, 2003 They stopped producing coin-ops and were focusing on console games, however it was still all staffed by Atari Games employee's, several of which had been with Atari since the 70's... Midway at one point was considering getting back into coin-ops, but I guess they made up their minds once and for all. Several friends over there have emailed me over the days to let me know how things are going and let me know about todays closure. Curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeybastard Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 I was hoping Midway might change that division into something producing Video Poker and/or video slot machines with the Atari name. Konami has started making video poker and that was what gave me the idea. I assume the WMS gaming company that makes slots/VP is part of Midway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariKee Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 What a drag. But I guess it was a long time coming. I feel the REAL Atari Games died when the last coinop (SF Rush 2049) was released. So, although this is sad, it's more of a "kick when you're down" bummer to me. Brian Deuel Webmaster http://www.orubin.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 This sucks! But I guess it's not totally unexpected. Curt, I posted this to TAT. Hope that's okay by you. http://www.ataritimes.com/arcade/features/...taricloses.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 It's sad, really sad. Sad for the people that lost their job; sad because there's no respect for the history; sad because piece by piece Atari are vanishing. Goodbye Midway Games West. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin Vinnie Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Will there still be Infrogames with the Atari logos? Excuse me, I'm slow. Cousin Vinnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Yes, AFAIK. You could go to www.atari.com. But it's only the logo, nothing to do with "our" Atari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocket Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Not to get totally off topic but I havent really watched the arcade scene much lately - though I havent really seen anything 'new' in a long time - Is the arcade business going down the tubes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atari_aaron Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Well, About the newest thing that's made an impact that I noticed (and I don't spend much time in arcades anymore) are the dance machines... and even those are a couple of years old. I saw something the other day that surprised me though. I saw a bank of four gameplay stations in the university union set up for 8 different networked PC video games. I didn't see anyone playing them, but they were there. The unique thing about them was that they were coin operated. So they have a standard PC linked to coin thing, with a monitor, keyboard, trackball, and joystick built into the desk. You could choose from games such as doom and other fps for your quarter. That's about the newest thing I've seen. Of course, I'm in Fargo... and that sort of thing has probably been available in arcades elsewhere in the country for a while. Aaron But concerning the main topic, it's sad to see the demise of Atari. Every day another piece of my childhood disappears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witchfynde Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 I didn't even know Midway was in trouble or anything. And that was a nicely written, poetic, sad end to what used to be such a big, groundbreaking company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 It is sad, indeed. I would talk about it more, but I simply do not know what else to say... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Will there still be Infrogames with the Atari logos? Atari Games Corporation was a separate entity from Atari Corp. Atari Games produced coin-op games, and for a period of time they also produced games for third-party consoles under the "Tengen" brand. Atari Corporation is the one that produced game consoles and software, and is the one Infogrames purchased the rights to. I don't recall off the top of my head when the company split, but I'm sure someone here can enlighten us. Midway's decision to close Midway Games West won't have any impact on Infgrames at all. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 I think that it really sucks that the Arcade industry is on the way out. I remember as a kid walking into my favorite arcade and spending $5 in quarters on my favorite games. Just like the Drive In movie theatre, the Arcade will soon be a thing of the past and that truly is a sad thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 Will there still be Infrogames with the Atari logos? Atari Games Corporation was a separate entity from Atari Corp. Atari Games produced coin-op games, and for a period of time they also produced games for third-party consoles under the "Tengen" brand. Atari Corporation is the one that produced game consoles and software, and is the one Infogrames purchased the rights to. I don't recall off the top of my head when the company split, but I'm sure someone here can enlighten us. IIRC, Atari split home and arcade division when Tramiels bought it in 1984. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witchfynde Posted February 8, 2003 Share Posted February 8, 2003 I think that it really sucks that the Arcade industry is on the way out. I remember as a kid walking into my favorite arcade and spending $5 in quarters on my favorite games. I remember the days when $5 could keep you in an arcade all afternoon (unless you really sucked at games ). Nowadays it only lasts you about ten minutes Just like the Drive In movie theatre, the Arcade will soon be a thing of the past and that truly is a sad thing. I don't think so, I think they'll still be around, but the days of the big arcades are pretty much gone, those are a bit rare nowadays (not to mention the "five or more arcades per mall" deal too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldunko Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 atleast there's still some large arcades around, like the massive ones like playdium or gameworks (i'm not american, atleast in 1998 it was still around ). its sad to see atari games go though, what i don't see is why they laid off those employees? if some have been there 30+ years, wouldn't that say something about their designing talent thus making it logical to keep them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 The "arcade" at the mall I go to is less of a video game arcade and more of a stupid "physical" games arcade. Stuff like Ski-Ball, Whack-A-Mole, and others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Just like the Drive In movie theatre, the Arcade will soon be a thing of the past and that truly is a sad thing. I don't think so, I think they'll still be around, but the days of the big arcades are pretty much gone, those are a bit rare nowadays (not to mention the "five or more arcades per mall" deal too). This is one where I WANT to be wrong!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Sadly, I rarely enjoy myself at arcades these days. There are only a few genres of games that seem to get most of the floorspace: Fighting, Driving, and Dancing. And a few other odds and ends, such as the various motion-sensing games. The only ones here that even remotely interest me are the driving games. And of those, the one I've had the fondest memories playing recently has been San Francisco Rush.. by you know who--Atari Games!! I was always impressed with the wide variety of imaginative games that Atari Games released over the years. Even though their closure at this point is more symbolic than anything else, it still signifies the end of an era. And in a larger sense, this probably represents the last direct lineage of any Atari employees who were still effectively working at the same place they had been since being hired at Atari. At this point Atari truly is only a name to be shuffled between different companies hoping to profit from the company's glory years. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 The two most senior employees would be Eugene Jarvis and Ed Logg. I'd be surprised if they were not transferred to Midway proper. If they got layed off that would be a stupid waste of talent. When I interviewed Eugene Jarvis in 1999 he told me that he thought arcade companies would always be around, but unfortunately I think he was blinded by the luck that seemed to follow his career all those years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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