Atari IP Auction (winners to date)

[mckafka99]

Not sure if this has been covered elsewhere but:

 

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/22/more-atari-ip-auction-winners-announced-stardock-plans-star-con/#continued

[SoulBlazer]

Some good companies with those rights. I'd love to see a new Star Control game!

[AtariLeaf]

I see Battlezone listed, does this mean each individual arcade IP could be purchased by a separate company? Asteroids to one company, Centipede to another, etc?

[Retro Rogue]

I see Battlezone listed, does this mean each individual arcade IP could be purchased by a separate company? Asteroids to one company, Centipede to another, etc?

 

No. Battlezone was in a separate auction from the classic Atari IP and brand name (which has not been auctioned yet) as was Math Grand Prix. And the title of this thread is a little misleading.The IP of the current Atari (Atari SA/Infogrames) has been auctioned off, the newer titles and companies. Not the Atari brand name or original (classic) IP under Atari Inc./Atari Interactive. That'll be happening yet.

[mckafka99]

And the title of this thread is a little misleading.

 

I'm going to pass the blame on to Joystiq; I was only quoting the title of their article. Whenever I read something about 'Atari', I'm never really sure to what is being referred. Still don't have the whole 'which Atari is which' straight in my head. lol! :-)

[famicommander]

I hope a real arcade company gets the rights to Atari's arcade classics like Centipede, Breakout, Missile Command, Asteroids, etc.

 

Not Warner Brothers... they've done nothing productive with any of Midway's non-MK IPs.

 

I'd prefer Namco or SEGA, or even Nintendo. Definitely not SquareEnix, who've squandered Taito for the most part.

 

Activision would be a bitter twist of fate, all things considered.

[Retro Rogue]

I hope a real arcade company gets the rights to Atari's arcade classics like Centipede, Breakout, Missile Command, Asteroids, etc.

 

Not Warner Brothers... they've done nothing productive with any of Midway's non-MK IPs.

 

I'd prefer Namco or SEGA, or even Nintendo. Definitely not SquareEnix, who've squandered Taito for the most part.

 

None of those are video arcade companies anymore with the exception of a handful of games out of the Japanese divisions of SEGA or NAMCO or Square (who outsources for coin work as do the other two sometimes), otherwise both are chiefly redemption game manufacturers. Likewise, any coin titles released are pretty much irrelevant unless they're done in consoles as well, as arcades are just as irrelevant in todays gaming market. Theres anreason most of the arcade companies left survive by doing redemption and slots. Regardless it's moot - Warner owns all rights to the coin appearances of those Atari games via it's purchase of Midway. They just can't use the Atari name or logo, and would have to license the copyrights of the game itself (which are owned by Atari Interactive). That's why the Centipede/Missile Command/Millipede game back in 2001 was done in conjunction with Infogrames and Midway Games. The manufacturer, Team Play, had to work with both - Infogrames for the copyrights and Midway for the ROMs.

 

[BillyHW]

None of those are video arcade companies anymore with the exception of a handful of games out of the Japanese divisions of SEGA or NAMCO or Square (who outsources for coin work as do the other two sometimes), otherwise both are chiefly redemption game manufacturers. Likewise, any coin titles released are pretty much irrelevant unless they're done in consoles as well, as arcades are just as irrelevant in todays gaming market. Theres anreason most of the arcade companies left survive by doing redemption and slots. Regardless it's moot - Warner owns all rights to the coin appearances of those Atari games via it's purchase of Midway. They just can't use the Atari name or logo, and would have to license the copyrights of the game itself (which are owned by Atari Interactive). That's why the Centipede/Missile Command/Millipede game back in 2001 was done in conjunction with Infogrames and Midway Games. The manufacturer, Team Play, had to work with both - Infogrames for the copyrights and Midway for the ROMs.

 

Madness.

[Atariboy]

Nintendo has a tiny bit of involvement with the arcade industry these days. They don't seem to do any programming and I doubt they're involved in things like distribution, support, and marketing. But their properties have made appearances over the last ten years and their GameCube hardware formed the basis of an arcade system a few years ago.

 

They just released their third Mario Kart Arcade collaboration with Namco.

 

No. Battlezone was in a separate auction from the classic Atari IP and brand name (which has not been auctioned yet) as was Math Grand Prix. And the title of this thread is a little misleading.The IP of the current Atari (Atari SA/Infogrames) has been auctioned off, the newer titles and companies. Not the Atari brand name or original (classic) IP under Atari Inc./Atari Interactive. That'll be happening yet.

 

That's a shame that Battlezone has likely been permanently split up from Atari's other classic properties. Why would Math Grand Prix have been auctioned separately? Can't imagine that having any significant value.

 

And it's just a name so I don't see the significance. Particularly when apparently some of their classic IP has been auctioned off despite you saying it's only Atari SA/Infogrames. Seems to have little relevance in a discussion outside of a court room when things like Battlezone were still sold off and apparently the rest is due to follow.

 

Regardless it's moot - Warner owns all rights to the coin appearances of those Atari games via it's purchase of Midway. They just can't use the Atari name or logo, and would have to license the copyrights of the game itself (which are owned by Atari Interactive). That's why the Centipede/Missile Command/Millipede game back in 2001 was done in conjunction with Infogrames and Midway Games. The manufacturer, Team Play, had to work with both - Infogrames for the copyrights and Midway for the ROMs.

 

I guess you would know. But that's a new one on me. I thought Midway owned only Atari Games arcade releases and had no ownership in things like Asteroids, Missile Command, etc. I thought that stuff went with the console games and computer assets?

 

How come something like Atari Anthology doesn't reflect anywhere that Midway owned the code for things like arcade Centipede and that it's being used under license? There isn't a single notice anywhere that I can find that references Midway.

 

And the few instances where Midway has released late 1970's and early 80's Atari coinops (Which I believe is limited to a single collection on the SuperNes, Playstation, and Saturn during the early days of Digital Eclipse back in the mid 1990's), no copyrights were listed as being owned by Midway. Instead all copyrights are shown as being used under license from Atari Corporation.

 

I hope a real arcade company gets the rights to Atari's arcade classics like Centipede, Breakout, Missile Command, Asteroids, etc.

 

Not Warner Brothers... they've done nothing productive with any of Midway's non-MK IPs.

 

I'd prefer Namco or SEGA, or even Nintendo. Definitely not SquareEnix, who've squandered Taito for the most part.

 

Activision would be a bitter twist of fate, all things considered.

 

Warner Brothers has released classic arcade games on mobile devices. And Midway Arcade Origins was a pretty nice compilation last Fall with 31 classic arcade games on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It hasn't left my Xbox 360's disc drive all year (Although admittedly I haven't played much 360 since the end of winter).

 

I don't see any Japanese company being a good home for Atari's classic IP. And Activision surely would have no real interest. They're only interested in multi million dollar sellers these days and aren't exactly doing much with their own classic properties. Beyond making them available for licensing, I don't think they've done anything themselves with their 80's IP in about half a decade now.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Atariboy

[Retro Rogue]

Nintendo has a tiny bit of involvement with the arcade industry these days. They don't seem to do any programming and I doubt they're involved in things like distribution, support, and marketing. But their properties have made appearances over the last ten years and their GameCube hardware formed the basis of an arcade system a few years ago.

 

They just released their third Mario Kart Arcade collaboration with Namco.

 

Understood and certainly true, and that's what I was getting at - the games are usually created, manufactured and distributed by other small arcade companies that are either licensing or partnering with the more major company, such as Nintendo.

 

 

That's a shame that Battlezone has likely been permanently split up from Atari's other classic properties. Why would Math Grand Prix have been auctioned separately? Can't imagine that having any significant value.

 

It happened because of a business deal, Math Grand Prix had been shifted over behind the scenes to one of the other subcompanies under the Atari SA umbrella who was going to create a new game and possibly series with the property. And it's not just a name, there's original code involved as well.

 

And it's just a name so I don't see the significance. Particularly when apparently some of their classic IP has been auctioned off despite you saying it's only Atari SA/Infogrames. Seems to have little relevance in a discussion outside of a court room when things like Battlezone were still sold off and apparently the rest is due to follow.

 

Again same thing. Battlezone had already been separated due to another previous project, hence not being a part of the main classic IP, which is all still under Atari Interactive/Atari Inc.. As I stated it's still only just the non "original" Atari properties and companies at this point, all the other stuff under the Atari SA umbrella, which those two specific games had been moved under because of the above.

 

I guess you would know. But that's a new one on me. I thought Midway owned only Atari Games arcade releases and had no ownership in things like Asteroids, Missile Command, etc. I thought that stuff went with the console games and computer assets?

 

No, the pre '84 properties were split in '84. Atari Corp. got the copyrights and trademarks, as well as the rights to all home use. Atari Games got the rights to any arcade appearance and all coin patents.

 

 

How come something like Atari Anthology doesn't reflect anywhere that Midway owned the code for things like arcade Centipede and that it's being used under license? There isn't a single notice anywhere that I can find that references Midway.

 

I think you're confused, I never said they own the code. I said they supplied the ROMs. That was an arcade game, hence they supplied the ROMs. They own the usage of the ROMs in the coin platform, because they own the rights to any of the Atari Inc. coin games in the coin format. That of course includes non-ROM/CPU games as well. (Incidentally the ROMs they supplied had any reference to Atari removed and stated Midway Games instead. Team Play had to change them to Infogrames/Atari Interactive). Atari Anthology is not an arcade game, it's a home game.

 

And the few instances where Midway has released late 1970's and early 80's Atari coinops (Which I believe is limited to a single collection on the SuperNes, Playstation, and Saturn during the early days of Digital Eclipse back in the mid 1990's), no copyrights were listed as being owned by Midway. Instead all copyrights are shown as being used under license from Atari Corporation.

 

Correct, those were home games. I don't see what the issue is, Curt and I have never stated anything different. When Atari Inc. was split in '84, Atari Corp. got the home rights to all Atari Inc. coin properties as well as any copyright and TM filings (since most of those properties were used in the consumer market as well) and Atari Games got the arcade rights as well as all patents.

[Atariboy]

And it's not just a name, there's original code involved as well.

 

I figured that much.

 

Again same thing. Battlezone had already been separated due to another previous project, hence not being a part of the main classic IP, which is all still under Atari Interactive/Atari Inc.. As I stated it's still only just the non "original" Atari properties and companies at this point, all the other stuff under the Atari SA umbrella, which those two specific games had been moved under because of the above.

 

So you're saying that these two are the only properties that were separated? Or are there others that also had their ownership shifted?

 

I could care less about Math Grand Prix although it's disappointing to see it go elsewhere and not stick with the rest of the 2600 properties. But it's a crying shame that Battlezone has likely been permanently separated.

 

What do you think the chances are for the bulk of their classic IP to be bought as a group when it comes up for auction?

 

I don't see what the issue is

 

Too many darn names is what the issue is. I got my wires crossed as I read your post. I thought you were claiming that Warner Brothers owns the copyrights associated with the pre 1984 Atari arcade material which is the complete opposite impression I've had since first going online back in the mid 1990's.

 

Atari Anthology is not an arcade game, it's a home game.

 

Of course, but you have to understand what I thought you said. Somehow as I read your post, I thought you claimed that while the trademarks for the pre 1984 arcade material had went with Atari Corp, the related copyrights had stayed with the arcade division and thus largely fall under the ownership of Warner Brothers.

 

So that's why I posted what I did since I was confused. Not only was it very different than what I had believed over the years, but I couldn't find any evidence of it in home products such as Atari Anthology. If they were utilizing some copyrights that were owned by Midway and were being used under license, I would've expected that to be reflected somewhere but it wasn't.

 

I think you're confused

 

Indeed, I was.

Edited July 24, 2013 by Atariboy

[Retro Rogue]

So you're saying that these two are the only properties that were separated? Or are there others that also had their ownership shifted?

.

 

Those were the only two. The auction packages were publicly announced a while ago and in news announcements as well. Here's the legal document with them for you also. See page 50 onwards.

 

http://bmcgroup.com/restructuring/DocView.aspx?ClientID=316&DocNumber=260&CaseNo=1-13-bk-10176

 

What do you think the chances are for the bulk of their classic IP to be bought as a group when it comes up for auction?

 

Not sure what you mean, they're only being sold as a group.

[Atariboy]

Not sure what you mean, they're only being sold as a group.

 

Well that's not terribly hard to figure out if you ask me.

 

A: I'm a member of the general public so I'm not as informed as someone that is closely following things and perhaps is even privy to extra information due to some connections inside of the company.

 

B: I asked the question so obviously I was unaware that it's being sold as a package.

 

But thanks for the good news. It isn't going to do this material any good to be sold off piecemeal so I'm certainly glad to hear that it's a package deal.

Edited July 24, 2013 by Atariboy

[Hatta]

I hope Wargaming makes TA and MOO offline, single player games. They've been doing mostly MMO strategy games (world of tanks, massive assault network). It would really be a tragedy to see these implemented as MMO F2P games.

[SoulBlazer]

I hope Wargaming makes TA and MOO offline, single player games. They've been doing mostly MMO strategy games (world of tanks, massive assault network). It would really be a tragedy to see these implemented as MMO F2P games.

Agree, while I like World of Tanks, I'm also a huge fan of MOO and hope this company can do some stuff with them. Likewise, I'm a fan of both Rebellion and Stardock. I like what I see here for the most part on the companies that got the franchises. Wonder who got Rolercoaster Tycoon? I also wonder how this is going to affect the 'Atari' games for sale on GOG.

[Cebus Capucinis]

Agree, while I like World of Tanks, I'm also a huge fan of MOO and hope this company can do some stuff with them. Likewise, I'm a fan of both Rebellion and Stardock. I like what I see here for the most part on the companies that got the franchises. Wonder who got Rolercoaster Tycoon? I also wonder how this is going to affect the 'Atari' games for sale on GOG.

 

You play WoT SoulBlazer? I'm up to Tier 8 machines now (primarily play British machines and US TDs). If you want to look me up my WoT username is the same as here, just without the space.

[SoulBlazer]

You play WoT SoulBlazer? I'm up to Tier 8 machines now (primarily play British machines and US TDs). If you want to look me up my WoT username is the same as here, just without the space.

Cool! Yes, I play some, not in a while, but I'll fire it up this weekend.

[Cebus Capucinis]

Cool! Yes, I play some, not in a while, but I'll fire it up this weekend.

 

Not to derail any further, but it's pretty much the only video game my dad plays anymore, so I play pretty regularly with him. We'll probably be on this weekend as well, so yeah, if you see CebusCapucinis in a battle or friend me, it's the AA me.

[nightwheel]

This is the first I've heard about this stuff happening. It's sad to see Atari US selling off all of it's IP's. I hope they get some proper homes.

 

Any Idea if this affects the rights to the classic hardware too?

Edited July 25, 2013 by nightwheel

[carmel_andrews]

The only game i've heard of in that list is battlezone...,most of that IP i am guessing is what can only be regard as 'modern gaming content', so in essense, if that was the 'bulk' of atari's modern gaming content IP, then I guess most of it has gone to new homes

 

If what someone else said here is true (i.e. the classic/retro IP sale is still to happen), what will that leave Atari with exactly, unless Atari are yet again going to get into new markets, produce new content etc

[Hatta]

You missed some of the greatest games of the 90s then. Humongous entertainment made adventure games for kids, you can play them today with ScummVM. Total Annihilation was the first fully 3d RTS, and allowed you to command more units than any previous RTS. Star Control 2 is one of the finest space adventures ever, along the lines of Starflight, playable today for free as Ur Quan Masters. Master of Orion is a turn based 4X strategy game, along the lines of Civilization in space.

 

Yes, these aren't original Atari titles. Atari used its warchest to buy these series, which produced some of the best games ever, and then did nothing with them. It's really good to see that they are going to competent hands now.

[Retro Rogue]

This is the first I've heard about this stuff happening. It's sad to see Atari US selling off all of it's IP's. I hope they get some proper homes.

 

Any Idea if this affects the rights to the classic hardware too?

 

Atari US isn't, the classic Atari brand and IP is all under Atari Interactive. Atari US (Atari Inc.) is just the former GT Interactive, and there's not much there.

 

Yes, these aren't original Atari titles. Atari used its warchest to buy these series, which produced some of the best games ever, and then did nothing with them. It's really good to see that they are going to competent hands now.

 

Infogrames (now Atari SA) used it's warchest (unless that's what you meant by "Atari"). In the late 90s and early 2000s, Infogrames went on a buying spree and bought up companies/brands/ip as the last vestiges of the 80s companies were coming to an end. It bought the Atari brand and properties as part of it's purchase of Hasbro's computer/video game division called Hasbro Interactive. It renamed the division Infogrames Interactive and then into Atari Interactive shortly after, which is one of the named companies doing the bankruptcy auctions. Atari Interactive is basically just a holding company for all the US properties Infogrames bought up, and has always been wholly owned by Infogrames.

 

It also bought majority ownership of GT Interactive in the late 90s (GT itself had previously bought Humongous), which it then forced to rename itself Infogrames Inc., becoming the US subsidiary of Infogrames. In 2003 it then forced it to rename itself Atari Inc.(and ironically it was forced to license the name and properties from Atari Interactive). This is the company that everyone seems to be confusing with the original Atari. In 2008 Infogrames then bought the rest of the company, making it a wholly owned subsidiary as well.

 

 

Most of what's going on is ridiculous posturing and a shell game. When Jim Wilson took over as both head of Infogrames (renamed to Atari SA) and Atari Inc., he gutted Atari Inc. and sent most of the staff to Atari SA - which relocated it's operations to Los Angeles to be near Cryptic (Cryptic was handing most of the operations for the company). At that point Atari Inc. was a handful of people in cubes in an office in New York. I.E. it was a paper only company. That's why when Jim concocted the story in January about wanting to break free from Atari SA it made zero sense - he was head of both companies.

[carmel_andrews]

I guess i am missing something here, whats the point of buying up IP if your not going to do much with it (apart from stopping other people using the IP for their own use, like fan based games) and considering that Atari has consistently lost money on whatever it's been doing since info.... took ownership, did Atari actually make any money on the modern IP's, one suspects not

 

Since if it was making money on the modern IP's and people weren't SLATING the releases (cue STAR RAIDERS), it wouldn't need to keep relaunching it's classic IP and updating the content for mobile platforms, since it would be making franchises of the modern IP it already had

[Retro Rogue]

Update per Curt:

 

Hangtight kiddies... go grab some snacks and soda from the lobby... this drama is temporarily off-course and in a holding pattern... Can't get into any details publicly, but I will sum it up simply - its a CLUSTER-F*CK... If you hated InfoTari before, you are REALLY going to hate them once you find out what these SOB's have done now...Yes, essentially think of Saddam Huessien when he pulled out of Kuwait and set it ablaze to burn and caused a massive eco-disaster in the middle east... think along those terms... talk about burning bridges on the way out of the city...

 

[AtariLeaf]

Well that's certainly an interesting analogy.