11.2) What is the History of Atari?

Subject: 11.2) What is the History of Atari?

Here is a very condensed history of Atari, centered around their 8-bit
computers.

1972
Atari Inc. is formed by Nolan Bushnell, incorporated on Tuesday, June 27.
Atari created the first coin-operated arcade video game with the introduction
of Pong. The video game industry was launched and has shaped pop culture ever
since.

1976
Warner Communications acquires Atari Inc.

1977
Atari launches the Video Computer System (VCS), later known as the 2600,
giving birth to home video game systems.

1978
In December, Atari announces the Atari 400 and 800 personal computers, using
the 6502 microprocessor.

1979
Atari files with the USPTO for a patent for a "Data processing system with
programmable graphics generator" (the 400/800 computer system) on January 8,
1979. Inventors listed:
Mayer, Steven T. (Auburn, CA);
Miner, Jay G. (Sunnyvale, CA);
Neubauer, Douglas G. (Santa Clara, CA);
Decuir, Joseph C. (Mountain View, CA)

The Atari 400 and Atari 800 Home Computers debut at the Winter Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) in early January.

Jerry Jessop writes:
"The first official small shipment of the 400/800 was on August 29th 1979.
These were hand-built pilot run units to Sears that needed to be in stock by
Sept. 1 so they could be placed in the big fall catalog. The units were
placed in the Sears warehouse and then immediatly returned to Atari after
the "in stock" requirement had been met.

The first "real" consumer units were shipped in Nov. of '79 and were 400s to
Sears followed very shortly by 800s."

All Atari computers are tested at the factory by a master computer called the
Atari Sentinel System.
1981
From Atari Connection magazine:
"At the National Computer Conference in Chicago on May 5, 1981 Atari announced
that the 8K Atari 400 was being discontinued and that the price on the 16K
version was being reduced to $399."

The USPTO grants U.S. Patent 4,296,476 to Atari on October 20, 1981 for the
400/800 computer system. Read the full text of the patent here:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?M2561456

November: 400/800's begin shipping with the new GTIA chip in place of CTIA,
increasing the palette of simultaneously displayable colors to 256 and adding
3 new graphics modes. CTIA is totally phased out by the end of the year.

Jerry Jessop adds:
"The very first proto systems did have the GTIA, but it had some
problems and was not released in the consumer version until 1981. The
GTIA was completed before the CTIA."

1982
The introduction of the 1200XL in late 1982 marks the single largest advance
in the 8-bit Atari system.

1983
In 1983 Atari replaced the 1200XL/800/400 line-up with the new 800XL and
600XL.

1984
Warner Communications sells the Consumer Electronics and Home Computer
divisions of Atari Inc. to Tramel Technology on Monday, July 2.

Atari Corporation is formed by Tramel Technology and its products marketed
under the Atari brand.

{ Warner sells the AtariTel division of the former Atari Inc. to Mitsubishi
Electric, and the former AtariTel becomes Luma Telecom.

A complete line of cutting-edge telecommunications products had been under
development at AtariTel since 1981, but no products had been released under
Atari.

However, the Atari Videophone was nearly completed, and the product
eventually surfaced as the Mitsubishi Luma Video Phone, aka Luma-Phone,
aka LumaPhone. "The Visual Telephone"

Mitsubishi has since shut down Luma.
}
(
Warner also initially retains the arcade division of the former Atari Inc.,
and renames it Atari Games Corporation. Soon thereafter, Atari Games is a
private, independent entity, though Warner remains a major investor.
Atari Games inherits Atari copyrights/trademarks/patents for use in the
coin-operated arcade video game market.

1987
Atari Games creates the Tengen label for the purpose of marketing games for
home game systems (potentially competing directly with Atari Corp.)

1993
Atari Games is (re-)purchased by Time Warner.

1994
Time Warner consolidates Atari Games into Time Warner Interactive. Use of
both the Atari Games and the Tengen brands are discontinued.

1996
On March 29, 1996 WMS Industries (Williams, Bally and Midway) completes its
purchase of Time Warner Interactive. Upon the sale, Time Warner
Interactive adopts the Atari Games name and logo, and Atari Games is made a
division of Midway Games.

1998
In April of 1998 WMS spins off to shareholders its entire stake of Midway
Games, making Midway Games essentially an independent entity. Atari Games
remains a division of Midway Games.

1999
Atari Games releases San Francisco Rush 2049. This turns out to be the
last coin-operated arcade game sporting the Atari Games name and logo.

January 2000: Atari Games is renamed Midway Games West, and games produced
by the group will sport the Midway Games brand.

June 22, 2001: Midway Games announces it is exiting the coin-operated
arcade video game market; its game development efforts will now be focused
on games for home game platforms. The Midway Games West division lives on,
developing games for home systems for Midway Games.

February 7, 2003: Midway Games shuts down their Midway Games West division.
)
1985
The new Atari Corp. delivered on its promise to advance the 8-bit Atari system
by replacing the 800XL/600XL with the new 130XE and 65XE in 1985.

According to Atari Explorer magazine, the 130XE was engineered by Jose Valdes.

1987
In a change of marketing strategy, Atari introduced the new XE Game System in
1987. Despite its label, the XEGS is a true 8-bit Atari computer system.

1992
Atari (US) officially dropped all remaining support of their 8-bit computer
line on January 1, 1992. (Some 800XE's were still being manufactured in China
in 1992.)

1996
On July 31, 1996, in a "reverse merger," Atari Corp. purchased JTS, with the
new parent company taking the JTS name while Atari was immediately designated
a JTS subsidiary. JTS Corp., with headquarters in San Jose, Calif., was
founded in 1994 to design, manufacture and supply enhanced-capacity hard disk
drives for the notebook and desktop personal computer markets.

1998
On February 23, 1998, JTS sold its Atari Division to HIACXI Corp., a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive, Inc., which was a subsidiary of
Hasbro, Inc., for $5 million in cash.

(JTS filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection on December 11, 1998, and then
converted it to Chapter 7 on February 28, 1999)

Hasbro Interactive produced games for several platforms, including PCs running
MS-Windows. Some of Hasbro Interactive's games, including several re-makes of
classic Atari titles, were marketed under the Atari Interactive name and logo.
Atari Interactive was termed "a Hasbro Affiliate."

Games produced by "Atari" under Hasbro ownership included:
Atari Arcade Hits 1 & 2, Breakout, Centipede, Missile Command,
Nerf ArenaBlast, Pong, Q*Bert, The Next Tetris, Atari Greatest Hits
2001
On January 29, 2001 Infogrames Entertainment announced completion of its
acquisition of Hasbro Interactive from Hasbro, renaming the subsidiary
"Infogrames Interactive." The purchase included the Atari titles and
intellectual properties (known at Hasbro as "Atari Interactive").

Between 2001 and 2003 Infogrames placed the Atari brand on some of its
"premiere" gaming titles.

2003
Beginning May 7, 2003 Infogrames Entertainment adopts the Atari brand and
registered trademark for all operations, effectively changing the name of the
entire company to Atari.

Additionally, the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Infogrames Interactive,
Inc., which develops many of the game derived from the Hasbro line of board
games, changes its name to Atari Interactive, Inc.

TODAY = http://www.atari.com/

Infogrames Entertainment
========================
Founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet, Infogrames
Entertainment SA today has more than 1,800 employees worldwide (approximately
60% in Europe and 40% in the U.S.). A publicly traded company, Infogrames
Entertainment SA (Euronext: 5257) is one of the top five publishers of
interactive entertainment software in the world and is widely regarded for
developing and distributing quality games for the mass entertainment audience.

Infogrames SA comprises two main subsidiaries: 1) the U.S. based, publicly
traded Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR); and 2) Atari Europe, which represents the
Company's original operations. Atari, Inc. includes the former GT
Interactive; Atari, Inc. also manages Atari Interactive, Inc. (the former
Hasbro Interactive) on behalf of its parent company.