If YOU owned Atari...

graywest · October 17, 2023

...what would be YOUR vision for the company?

I'm talking long-term here. In a perfect world, what do you think Atari's place should be in the greater entertainment ecosystem? Where could they be in 5, 10, or 20 years down the road?

Right now, they're mainly looking at leveraging their existing IP, buying well-known classic gaming properties, and creating updated versions that can appeal to modern as well as classic gamers. That includes both hardware and software. My personal opinion is that the current owners are doing that quite well, and I think it's a good first step in bringing some respect (and revenue!) back to a company that hasn't always had that.

But where do they go next? What's the next step? I like playing armchair CEO, so...

My personal take: I think Atari should lean into one of their earlier, 1970s-era slogans. INNOVATIVE LEISURE. That didn't necessarily box them into being a video game company, although games were obviously the biggest part of their legacy. But they also experimented with some unique ideas like the Video Music (early music visualizer as a stereo system component), holographic handhelds, odd peripherals like the MindFlex, etc. Of course, those things didn't always pan out. But unless someone is TRYING to innovate, we won't know what "could be" and what might catch on in the realm of games, play, and leisure.

I can imagine an Atari that focuses less on IP and more on bringing back the spirit of discovery and fun that Nolan's Atari had in the 1970s and early 1980s.

I think that the original, pre-Warner Atari's BIG strengths didn't ultimately lie in their IP. They didn't often create sequels, reboots, and updates. Even to this day, there really isn't a character "mascot" that everyone associates with Atari. Old Atari was always chasing what was to come next. And what was to come next was ANYTHING that people hadn't seen before.

Unique gameplay ideas
Unforseen ways and places to play games
New technologies that consumers can have FUN with
Things that can bring people together for play (Because the world needs play and leisure right now - real bad.)

The people who came up with these innovative entertainment ideas were the real power of Atari. If I were the CEO of Atari, I'd love to bring back that corporate culture and the old Atari spirit of innovation. They could potentially make their own market. While Sony and Microsoft are battling for the top end of the home console market, making incremental improvements on the same old tech and game styles that we've seen for ages, Nintendo is still innovating in this space, so it CAN be done. And it doesn't have to be a HUGE endeavor on the level of what Nintendo does. Look at what PlayDate did with their handheld. I feel like they kind of "ate Atari's lunch" in a way.

I LOVE the Recharged series. But it doesn't mean that I want to see these games rebooted every 10 years, forever.

Edited October 17, 2023 by graywest