What are some ways Atari should advertise to younger demographics?

[PlutoniumPasta]

I'm sure it's no surprise that Atari, for the longest time, has been fairly out of touch with younger audiences. While Atari has made some great moves in terms of moving their brand forward, (50th collection, 2600+ and 7800+, Recharged series etc.) These products are mainly for collectors or people who want to play their old favorite video games. Atari is going to have to start making some moves to gain appeal from younger folks and more future consumers.

 

What do ya'll think?

[Video]

That's kind of a problem, as most Atari stuff is older arcade "twitch" or "high score" stuff that really doesn't appeal to the bulk of modern gamers. Even their new stuff still mostly fits this mold.

 

I've been saying a while, reboot or sequel to vcs, but only if they have the intent of making it available to Joe blow public. Sure the store on their site is ok, when they don't have production or delivery issues, but its only really applicable to people who already know of, or are fans of Atari.

 

I know new games, especially from the ground up, rather than rereleases (atari 50) or remakes (recharged titles) are more expensive to make, but you know they don't HAVE to be hundreds of millions or billions to make. New games, not attached to older games could help get them out to the modern demographic.

 

Barring that, perhaps become a third party accessories company, make Atari branded controllers and other merch for other consoles.

 

Also, try NOT following the crowd. Think many of us are tired of "another overpriced broken console/game" and I'm sure you could make sales on more budget minded complete things. If Atari had their own (modern) console, they could concentrate on their historical strengths, like oddball controller options (spinners, paddles, keypads, trackballs, etc) nothing really wrong with modern controllers, but WAY to much of atari's older library are not appropriate on sticks and d buttons.

[RadiATIon]

I really think that Atari do a good move to younger audiences with the recharged games available now on Netflix cloud games service !

[13Leader]

1 hour ago, RadiATIon said:

I really think that Atari do a good move to younger audiences with the recharged games available now on Netflix cloud games service !

Yeah,  More offerings with online gamaing is a great idea

 

 

[ZippyOasys]

It's simple.... Memes, kids today like memes and other brain-rot. Can't wait to see Skibidi Bentley.

[+Cheez26]

1 hour ago, ZippyOasys said:

It's simple.... Memes, kids today like memes and other brain-rot. Can't wait to see Skibidi Bentley.

Not every meme has to be just pointless brainrot like Skibidi Toilet. In my honest opinion, as someone who is in between Gens Y and Z, I think Atari should stick to their old guns while slowly adding new ones like, well, online gaming, as someone in here already mentioned.
Also, not every kid right now is just into brain rot. Some of them like getting into some lore behind their favorite games and character, e.g. Kirby.

I also notice a shift toward story-based games as well. As trends comes in cycles, I might say Atari could offer some adventure games besides just Adventure for the Atari 2600.

[PlutoniumPasta]

8 hours ago, RadiATIon said:

I really think that Atari do a good move to younger audiences with the recharged games available now on Netflix cloud games service !

This is actually an amazing idea. I remember when they added Minecraft Story Mode to Netflix a few years back. This was when TellTale games went bankrupt and was being bought by another company.  Adding Story Mode to Netflix as a playable game actually brought back a lot of attention to TellTale and their video games.

 

If Atari did the same with the Recharged Series, I'm sure that would bring more younger players!

[PlutoniumPasta]

3 hours ago, Cheez26 said:

Also, not every kid right now is just into brain rot. Some of them like getting into some lore behind their favorite games and character, e.g. Kirby.

Atari has built up some new story lines and lore with the new Yar's Rising game. I could see the story of that game appealing to younger audiences too.

[JPF997]

17 hours ago, PlutoniumPasta said:

I'm sure it's no surprise that Atari, for the longest time, has been fairly out of touch with younger audiences. While Atari has made some great moves in terms of moving their brand forward, (50th collection, 2600+ and 7800+, Recharged series etc.) These products are mainly for collectors or people who want to play their old favorite video games. Atari is going to have to start making some moves to gain appeal from younger folks and more future consumers.

 

What do ya'll think?

Atari wasn't out of touch with the kids during the early 2000s

( Peak Atari/Infogrames era ), they were out of touch during the Tramiel era (1984-1995) and later the Fred Chesnais era

(2014-2021) but not the in the early 2000s.

 

Back then they knew how to acquire the licenses that the kids wanted ( Dragon Ball, Beyblade, Matrix, Superman, Roller Coaster Tycoon etc ), and made games that competed and often  surpassed the quality of games made by the other big publishers  (Activision, EA, Square Enix etc ). Shame that this version of Atari started collapsing around 2007 and never managed to recover right up to the end in 2013.

Edited November 23 by JPF997

[PlutoniumPasta]

1 hour ago, JPF997 said:

Atari wasn't out of touch with the kids during the early 2000s.

 

Back then they knew how to acquire the licenses that the kids wanted ( Dragon Ball, Beyblade, Matrix, Superman, Roller Coaster Tycoon etc ), and made games that competed and often  surpassed the quality of games made by the other big publishers  (Activision, EA, Square Enix etc ). Shame that this version of Atari started collapsing around 2007 and never managed to recover right up to the end in 2013.

The Pipework's Trilogy licensed by Atari was another great series Atari had under their belt in the 2000's

Edited November 23 by PlutoniumPasta

[roots.genoa]

I don't think Atari should try too hard capturing a young audience, since they may alienate old fans (just look at how some of you reacted to the anime style of the new Yars game...). They should just focus on creating and publishing good games, and their audience will grow naturally. And in the end they might interest younger gamers as well; after all, there are kids who are interested in the history of video games, believe me. And they're actually a lot more curious than old farts that just play old classics because of nostalgia alone unfortunately.

[Austin]

Getting back to where they were in the PS2/XBOX/GC era. They published a ton of games back then that were desirable among audiences both young and old.

[+Sauron]

^^ I have to echo these same sentiments. As much as I love how Atari is looking back at their past, they'll need to start publishing games that younger audiences want to play if they want to ever have a chance of becoming a major publisher again. There's only so much room for growth in classic gaming. That said, I (mostly) like the direction they're heading in right now. They just need to make sure they shore up the execution. 

 

[MrMaddog]

9 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I don't think Atari should try too hard capturing a young audience, since they may alienate old fans (just look at how some of you reacted to the anime style of the new Yars game...). They should just focus on creating and publishing good games, and their audience will grow naturally. And in the end they might interest younger gamers as well; after all, there are kids who are interested in the history of video games, believe me. And they're actually a lot more curious than old farts that just play old classics because of nostalgia alone unfortunately.

 

Respectfully, I do believe Atari should reach out to the current younger generation of gamers because us old school Atarians need to pass the torch since not many of us will be around in many decades.

 

I agree that the "anime" thread was too much of a stretch. But Yars Rising was on the right track with using Synthwave aesthetics which the retro-futuristic 80's not only appeals to the Gen Z crowd as an idealistic version of the past (compared to the actual Reagan 80's) but also to us Generation X'ers who grew up in the 80's because....nostalgia!

 

I still like to see more Recharge games made but as long as the new reimagined titles still retains the core gameplay of the original IP, I'm fine with that.

 

 

[roots.genoa]

What I meant is trying too hard to cater to a young audience can be frustrating, because what becomes trendy can look a little random sometimes. For instance, I doubt that Epic Games knew Fortnite would be very popular with kids. And on the other hand, there are probably a lot of games that are made for young people that fail (Atari's new Fast Food game...). Kids usually don't want to be treated like kids, which is why they love shooters and GTA.

 

That being said, I agree they should try to create new, original games, and they still can link them to their IP when it's relevant like what Nintendo does sometimes. Yars Rising is a good example of that. But like Nintendo, they should try to make games for everyone, not just young audiences.

Edited November 24 by roots.genoa

[+Biff Burgertime]

They need to get back to naming their products after cats. The kids love memes, especially cat memes.

[Giles N]

The IP Atari owns now and which carries the greatest weight, are games that probably would come across to new or younger gamers as fairly minimalistic unless they get boosted in some way or another, which is precisely what the recharged- and reimagined series attempts.

 

I think these games sometimes succeed in updating old classic gameplay. 

But it may be that future games must do more than boost action and update visuals.

 

My guess is, the sweetspot would lie in creating fullfledged official sequels to their BigName IPs, which retains much of the original gameplay or gametasks or settings, then just adds lots more to every aspect that makes up the game. Then polishes all these aspect (particulary gameplay) to come as close to perfection as possible. And in all this, - in all their additions and expansions -, the thing they cannot do is to change the core-feel of the franchise.

 

Lets say, they can make an official $59.99 sequel to Asteroids. ‘Asteroids II’ and implement stuff like choice of ship/vessel, starting weaponry, and assets like shields, warp, antigravity- this or that. They should add lots and lots more to do, and several ways to complete the game. They should add as many cosmic obstacles to blow up or get rid of as possible. There should be many space-environments to master; too cold, too hot, too radioactive, too close to Black holes, too close to planets which will be hit by every Asteroid you don’t shoot down etc. They should add surprise moments, like; the player facing a giant asteroid having to land on it, lunar-lander style, shifting the screen to rotate not the ship, land, plant bomb, detatch, take off and blow it up, or even; suddenly shift to inside cockpit view, as you race across a rift in a giant asteroide to strike at its core, death-star trench run style. But they should never make it be something different than a space shooter being about shooting in space, shooting big, rocky things in space in particular. They should never compromise a core-Arcade-feel (fair enough ‘arcade gameplay type’ by 2024 standards).
They should try to find new ways to expand and explore the possibilities of the original gameplay types, but not add things that makes such games less of an arcade game or something totally different.

In that, they’d be free to open up games to be what they need to be in 2024++ , while avoiding that we end up with something turning Asteroids into something totally different, like a turn-based rpg or text-adventure or whatever.

Heck you could even add the pilot having to get out of the ship in a suit to blast away space-rocks and debris’ just for the fun of it, even have him run across thr surface of an Asteroid to plant a bomb, Major Havoc style , but you’d stlll have to design it by using the standard ‘it must be doable and understandable for the player by Arcade-standards’.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 24 by Giles N

[Giles N]

37 minutes ago, Biff Burgertime said:

They need to get back to naming their products after cats. The kids love memes, especially cat memes.

And seriously, what you say here is spot-on and why Nintendo, Sega, Taito and many others have major franchises with cute, charming or charismatic characters.

 

One of my* favourite chill-games** these days, is ‘Little Kitty, Big City’; its absolutely adorable and have that keen cat-personality-insight humor put into every fiber of the game. Character-design here is 10/10 both visually and as to written lines.
 

—

*   and I’m not a kid 

** I usually have very few chill-games, as I fall easier for the adrenaline rush thing.

Edited November 24 by Giles N

[CharlesEChuck]

Literally no one here (me included) has ever heard of Bread & Fred - a game with about a phantastillion views on Tiktok. Maybe it's not Atari but us who are a little out of touch with younger audiences?

[Giles N]

1 hour ago, CharlesEChuck said:

Bread & Fred - a game with about a phantastillion views on Tiktok

Well, good then that Atari got a game so popular with ‘dem kidz …

 

I got it, and it was very wellmade, - very much a dexterity exercise…indeed!
 

I’m not sure its directly my taste as to platform games, but if it reaches ‘younger’ groups, then this is obviously one way of doing that.
 

— — —

 

I still feel: then why not design games with such aesthetics from older Atari IP(-characters/franchises), so as to bind things more together? Making games on that note ‘modern pixel games’ with classic Atari IP - either official sequel or spin-off -, would then have the chance to have graphics and gameplay that catches the eyes of kids, but IP and setting that makes long-time Atari fans interested. If gameplay is designed to cater both ways, why not?

 

— — 

 

An example: Its a 2D sideview gameplay-field. The protagonists are 2 mushroom-pixies - in green and red suit. They stand in a garden and tall grass, mushrooms grow above their heads, and above that we see tree-roots and branches. All these provide platforms - arched grass, mushroom hats, roots, branches. But from above comes Centipedes, Spiders and Beetles. In order to shoot them away fast enough, the 2 characters must help each other reach strategical platforms by taking turns having the other Puxie stand on your head. Platforms csn be devoured by the Insects, and the players must take turns being ‘gunner’ or ‘carrier’, and also other speedily make ad-hoc team-work set-up decisions for many other tasks put into the game. Centipede as combo platform-game/space-invader shooter & other genres. Of course with simplified 1P modes.

 

 

Why not make something that looks like akin to DonDokoDon (by Taito) aesthetically, but you’ve got to paint the floor, and with walk, stomp, run and slide-moves, Miner from Bounty Bob is back in the modern age, with cool looking game where you have use both your brains to discern shortest way to paint all floors and playforms, avoiding or taking out enemies, and avoiding frustrating ‘stiff’ platform action, one could make game that gets player hooked on the feeling they can win one more level by just getting ones grip and sharpen that focus. In that way - if done successfully, oldtimers could get more ‘Bounty Bob’ - less stiff and brutal, and younger gamers could find a fun ‘platform-puzzler’ with modern pixel-stylized vibes, containing an unknown idiot-miner as a protagonist they must control.

Edited November 24 by Giles N

[Video]

Bread and Fred might have zillions of views, but has thus far only sold like 300k units. No wonder so few of us know of it.

 

It indeed looks cool, right up my alley actually, (i like these weird tied together type platform games) but its not nearly as popular as views might make you believe.

[roots.genoa]

Absolutely. Once again, before catering to a younger audience, they should cater to a bigger audience, period. As the Game Awards showed it (again), Atari still doesn't have "big games" (or at least big mainstream hits like Balatro). The only "games" worthy of awards imho are the retro stuff Nightdive and Digital Eclipse make, but unfortunately there is no retro category yet... That being said, getting no award doesn't prevent them to be praised and successful fortunately.

 

I still think Atari could quickly become the number one publisher for retro stuff, which would be a great accomplishment already and they could easily grow even more from there.

[JPF997]

19 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

Absolutely. Once again, before catering to a younger audience, they should cater to a bigger audience, period. As the Game Awards showed it (again), Atari still doesn't have "big games" (or at least big mainstream hits like Balatro). The only "games" worthy of awards imho are the retro stuff Nightdive and Digital Eclipse make, but unfortunately there is no retro category yet... That being said, getting no award doesn't prevent them to be praised and successful fortunately.

 

I still think Atari could quickly become the number one publisher for retro stuff, which would be a great accomplishment already and they could easily grow even more from there.

There really should be a category for best Retro Style game, especially since they have so many fake awards like " Games for Impact" or " Best eSports Team ".

 

Also  that was the first and last time I'm ever going to be baited by Beefy into having one of my threads locked, next time he's  going to be yapping into the void with no response ever reaching him .

Edited November 26 by JPF997

[+Sauron]

2 minutes ago, JPF997 said:

There really should be a category for best Retro Style game, especially since they have so many fake awards like " Games for Impact" or " Best eSports Team ".

I doubt most gamers really care about the Game Awards. I've never heard anyone give two shits about them before. Like what had been said before, it's nothing more than a "games journalism" jerk-off fest with awards given to whichever publishers grease the monkey the most. In fact, it's best to simply ignore pretty much any gaming events related to journalism in any way. That whole industry has been a cesspit of corruption for decades now.

 

[JPF997]

10 minutes ago, Sauron said:

I doubt most gamers really care about the Game Awards. I've never heard anyone give two shits about them before. Like what had been said before, it's nothing more than a "games journalism" jerk-off fest with awards given to whichever publishers grease the monkey the most. In fact, it's best to simply ignore pretty much any gaming events related to journalism in any way. That whole industry has been a cesspit of corruption for decades now.

 

The most puzzling thing about the Game Awards is that every single year everyone complains about how much the show sucks and yet somehow the viewership numbers keep going up and up, from 103 million in 2022 to 118 million in 2023 ( and this year that number it probably going to go up even more ).

 

It wouldn't be  much of a surprise to learn that Geoff Keighley and his goons are  manipulating/inflating the numbers using some fake Metric ( kind of like what Xbox does with their "engagement" numbers instead of posting real sales data ) however no one has caught them in the act yet so who knows maybe the viewership growth is somewhat organic.

Edited November 26 by JPF997