Ze_ro Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Did you know?:The Atari symbol is known as the "Fuji" because of it's resemblance to Mt. Fuji. I've heard this before... but anyone know how this actually came to be? I mean, so what if it looks a little bit like a mountain... why Mt Fuji? This explanation never seemed to make a lot of sense to me... --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 I could have sworn that Alcorn or somebody at the Expo last year said the logo was actually supposed to look like pong balls flying at a paddle, and the "Fuji" look was a happy accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Bushnell designed it didn't he and MMF is correct that its a reference to pong - two paddles and the center play line in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 I thought it was Mt Fuji because of the Japanese "tie-in" w/ the name Atari, which is similar to "check" in the Japanese game Go. A later company of Bushnell's was Sente, meaning "checkmate". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Actually, the first name of Bushnell's company was Syzygy. They only changed it to Atari (from the game Go, which he was a big fan of) after they learned Syzygy had been trademarked by someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted February 27, 2003 Author Share Posted February 27, 2003 I still think it's odd to see a japanese reference in an otherwise (almost exclusively) American company... Why not Ranier? McKinley? Everest? And since when does Mt. Fuji look like two bent lines and a strait one? --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 It's true that it was designed to represent to players in a Pong match, and the Fuji reference is indeed a "happy accident". I have no idea who coined the Fuji reference, although that would be an interesting bit of trivia by itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Just interesting to note that there is an Atari-style symbol that appears among the Japanese-style lettering in Mario Paint for SNES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 Actually, the first name of Bushnell's company was Syzygy. They only changed it to Atari (from the game Go, which he was a big fan of) after they learned Syzygy had been trademarked by someone else. And Syzygy had been taken by a candle-making company in Mendencio ran by hippies (It's true). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapdash Posted March 4, 2003 Share Posted March 4, 2003 It's true that it was designed to represent to players in a Pong match, and the Fuji reference is indeed a "happy accident". I have no idea who coined the Fuji reference, although that would be an interesting bit of trivia by itself. Didn't someone interview the guy who designed the logo? Or maybe it was in that "Secrets of Atari" article?? I seem to recall that it was mainly supposed to (abtractly) represent two PLAYERS (not paddles) going head to head across the net/line from another, but also that the resemblence to Mt. Fuji was intentional (note that unlike some other mountains, it is "flat" on top rather than peaked). I can't verify that though... (Hmm, but it isn't the 30 Secrets Of Atari article after all). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 I thought I read in "Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Video Games" Syzygy was a roofing company... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 Actually, the first name of Bushnell's company was Syzygy. They only changed it to Atari (from the game Go, which he was a big fan of) after they learned Syzygy had been trademarked by someone else. And Syzygy had been taken by a candle-making company in Mendencio ran by hippies (It's true). Erm... as I heard it, it was taken by a roofing company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted March 5, 2003 Author Share Posted March 5, 2003 Hippies... roofing... sounds about right to me --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranthulfr Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 I've heard this before... but anyone know how this actually came to be? I mean, so what if it looks a little bit like a mountain... why Mt Fuji? This explanation never seemed to make a lot of sense to me... /| Mt. Fuji is an extinct volcano... The Atari logo looks sort of like a volcano because it has two steeply inclined sides that form a cone and a middle section reminiscent of a lava conduit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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