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'Retroism' heralds return of gaming classics from MicroProse, Accolade and others
Do you like video games? Have you been playing them for, like, 30 years? Well good news: that gum you like is going to come back in style! Okay, okay, we're just really excited that Twin Peaks is getting a third season. But also, classic games from the likes of MicroProse, Accolade and Infogrames are being brought back to life care of Tommo and Night Dive Studios under the name "Retroism." Starting today, Retroism is bringing back games from that trio of studios and "other iconic publishers," and the initiative kicks off with Sid Meier's Colonization, Pirates! Gold Plus and Covert Action.
Cult classic adventure Outcast rebooted for PC
Indie developer Fresh3D recently launched a Kickstarter project to fund a high-definition remake of Outcast, the 1999 Infogrames-published PC adventure game. The open-world game will feature re-designed objects, textures, environments and characters, each made from scratch to run in 1080p HD at 60 frames per second. The developer is targeting $600,000 by Wednesday, May 7, to fund the game. So far it's achieved more than $140,000. Fresh3D includes three designers from Appeal, the developer of the original cult classic adventure game: Yann Robert, Franck Sauer and Yves Grolet. Grolet is involved in the project as a gameplay advisor, while Robert and Sauer are technical and creative directors, respectively. The three designers purchased the rights to Outcast in July 2013. [Image: Fresh3D]
Outcast creators purchase IP from Atari
The founders of Appeal, the development studio responsible for 1999's sci-fi action game, Outcast, have purchased the intellectual property rights for that brand from holding company Atari, formerly known as Infogrames Entertainment. The original Appeal employees involved, Yann Robert, Franck Sauer and Yves Grolet, are starting a "revival of the franchise" according to the announcement of the rights acquisition – specifics as to what that means were not given. Outcast designer Bruno Bonnell's name was also not mentioned in the press release. Outcast concerns one Cutter Slade, an ex-Navy SEAL operative tasked with escorting a team of scientists into an alternate dimension, so that they may locate and recover a US government probe that is in danger of causing a black hole. All of this takes place in the distant future year of 2007, but here in 2013 the game itself can be purchased on GOG for $3.
Atari US files for bankruptcy, selling iconic logo and assets
Atari Inc. filed for chapter 11 (restructuring) bankruptcy this morning, as it aimed to detach itself from Atari SA, its French parent company, and acquire independent business. Atari Inc. said it plans to sell all of its assets in the next 90 to 120 days, including defining franchises such as Pong and Asteroids, and even its iconic logo. The company has already secured, pending approval, $5.25 million in debtor-in-possession investment from funds managed by investment advisory Tenor Capital Management.While Atari boasts a 40 year history, and is tied closely to the pioneering years of the arcade, its name has meant a number of different things across that time thanks to several changes of hands.The US-based company now called Atari. Inc was GT Interactive when it was founded in 1993. GT Interactive then became Infogrames Inc. in 1999 after French company Infogrames Entertainment acquired controlling interest in it. In 2001, Infogrames Entertainment bought Hasbro Interactive, who had acquired Atari Corporation and its Atari properties three years prior. In 2003, Infogrames Inc. became Atari Inc, now with license to use the Atari name and logo, and in 2008 Infogrames Entertainment completely acquired the company. Then, just to confuse everything that one step further, Infogrames Entertainment renamed itself as Atari, SA in 2009.
Alone in the Dark creator hopes for an HD remake one day
HD remakes are becoming more prevalent in the video games industry, as a means of introducing a new generation of gamers to something they may have otherwise never played. Frédérick Raynal, designer of the original survival-horror game, Alone in the Dark, said he's totally on board with an HD remake."I would love an HD remake one day and I hope it will happen, one day," Raynal responded when asked about the possibility at the conclusion of his GDC postmortem. "I think Infogrames holds the rights; I'm not sure about that."Atari published the last entry in the Alone in the Dark series back in 2008. If someone wants to get a remake out in time for the 20th Anniversary of the original game, they'll have to get it out within the next nine months.
The 'bullshot' dates back to Alone in the Dark
In the games industry, a 'bullshot' is a screenshot that's been manipulated to appear prettier and more exciting than the actual game. It happens more commonly than our tag would have you believe. The thing is, scientists have been trying to determine the genesis of this heinous act for quite some time now -- and we think we've found a prominent example of one of the earliest bullshots in Alone in the Dark.During his GDC postmortem, designer Frédérick Raynal admitted that he drew the back-of-the-box face for Alone in the Dark's protagonist in MS Paint, back in 1992. The main character doesn't look like he does above in the actual game, though the original packaging still shows the hand-drawn visage."We were in September 1992, master state, but we still had no head for the hero." Raynal said that Infrogrames was looking for screens to share at the time, and so Raynal was in a tough spot. He decided he was just going to draw the head in."It is funny because if you still look on the first box for the game, you an see those pictures with the fake head on it." Raynal said the bullshot even made it into the game -- if you don't touch the keys in the main menu, a slideshow featuring the touched-up image will start up. Nobody ever bothered to fix it.
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare rated for PS3 by ESRB
If a recently published ESRB rating is any indication, Sony is getting ready to re-release Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare on PS3 -- which, considering the original came out in 2001, might need a new subtitle. The rating might indicate that the game is simply being ported over as a PSOne Classic on PSN; however, ESRB ratings for such releases usually include a PSP designation, as well. Should the generally well-received horror title be remade for PS3, it would make for an interesting cross-platform hat trick -- The New Nightmare's already appeared on PS1 and PS2. We get this bad boy on the PSP, NGP and Xperia Play, and all of a sudden, we might be looking at a new PlayStation brand mascot: Gun-Couple! The couple with guns.
No more confusion: Atari drops Infogrames name
Despite Infogrames standing for entertainment that rocks our world, the armadillo branding is gone and now only Atari remains. CEO Jim Wilson tells 1UP that the company is now officially doing away with the Infogrames branding to put focus on the more "popular target brand" of Atari.Well, hopefully the name change helps. Currently the company "moved" its president, shut down European operations, shifted publishing rights for a major title and couldn't afford won't make it to E3. We're sure there's more, but let's try to stay optimistic with the name change. For what's in a name?
Phil Harrison steps down as president of troubled Atari
Atari president Phil Harrison, who joined the company last year, has taken a position as "non-executive director." According to Eurogamer, the move is a result of Atari's new focus on North American operations, following the sale of its European distribution to Namco Bandai.Parent company Infogrames announced a loss of €226.1 million ($319.6m) for the last fiscal year, due in part to the loss of revenue that would have come in from the distribution business. As a result, Atari said it has canceled some of its projects to focus on "more cost-effective" games. The identity of the canceled projects is unknown, but Atari released a hint of what some of the new, cost-effective, mass-market games would be: Cryptic Studios will create "a series of new games based on Atari's existing and historically successful IPs."
Report: Atari finished in Europe, Namco taking over
And thus concludes Atari's European operations, reports MCV. Infogrames/Atari announced in March that it was selling its 66 percent stake in Distribution Partners, a retail distribution and marketing company, to Namco Bandai. MCV states Atari Europe will shut down in the coming weeks and the sales/marketing team will transition to the new company. This would also help explain why Sony is publishing Ghostbusters in Europe.Atari's US offices will now become the publisher's sole headquarters. So sad then that the company can only crash E3, the biggest party of the year. Just wait, there's still more to come from the disgraced, born again and ... well, whatever it's doing now, company.
Atari/Infogrames sells distribution business to Namco Bandai
Atari/Infogrames is selling its 66 percent stake in Distribution Partners, a retail distribution and marketing company. In a rather strange turn of events, those shares will be delivered to Namco Bandai. (Infogrames has traditionally published Namco Bandai's products in Europe.)The financial struggles of Infogrames are well-known, but the company has been making great strides in revitalizing its business. The sale of its majority stake in Distribution Partners will allow the company to further its "transformation into a content-led online game company." The money earned from this sale will be used to invest in further game development -- or, considering the company's track record, other orphaned game projects.
Jack Emmert weighs in on the Atari buyout announcement
The surprising news this morning that Infogrames, the parent company of Atari, would be purchasing Cryptic Studios prompted us to get in touch with Jack Emmert over at Cryptic Studios in order to shine a little more light on the current situation. Here's what he had to say:Massively: How will the Atari acquisition change or affect the 2k Games publishing agreement for Champions Online?Jack Emmert: I'm afraid I can't comment on this. I can only say that I enjoy working with 2k games; they're a great company and even better people.Can you give us a bit of background on Cryptic's relationship with Atari? Where did the idea for this collaboration emerge?This evolved after numerous discussions. John Needham, our CEO extraordinaire, had been doing the rounds to look for funding opportunities. We crossed paths with David Gardiner and Phil Harrison of Atari; all of us really hit it off. One thing led to another...and here were are!This is obviously a very positive step for Cryptic. Can you speak to what kind of benefits you see in your new relationship with Atari?Atari has a great pool of resources – PR, marketing, distribution, etc. Atari also has a number of terrific IP's that would make great MMO's. Mostly, this acquisition allows Cryptic to focus solely on the business of making great MMO's.Is this going to alter the beta and release schedules for any Cryptic projects?Not at all. We're still moving ahead with Champions – Q2 next year, and STO later in the year. Development priorities are the only thing that can shift those dates.
Harrison: Atari to focus on downloadable PSP titles
Monsieur Phil Harrison, AKA directeur général délégué des Infogrames, had some words of praise for the PSP at Atari's global showcase last week in London as he called it a "vibrant platform." However, the praise falls short of software support as Phil said the company currently wasn't going to make any new game announcements for the system. Harrison noted, while not having anything specific to speak of, that Atari does have interest in going the route of e-distribution titles. Said Harrison: "There is no doubt that PSP is a very vibrant platform from a hardware perspective and I think Sony has recently made some good moves into opening up online distribution for software on PSP, so I'm looking to explore that." A downloadable version of N+ would be a great start, Phil!
Phil Harrison still <3 Home
Looks like Phil Harrison hasn't forgotten his roots after leaving Sony earlier this year. Speaking to Eurogamer at an event earlier this week, the President of Infogrames said that Home will be "a very successful platform" and that Sony will have "brilliantly realized their ambitions."Harrison has also been checking out his former employer's competition. The ex-Sony exec had this to say about the Xbox 360's newly launched system software, the New Xbox Experience: "I was quite impressed .. they're just scratching the surface of what the whole industry recognizes ... that customization, socialization and community platforms are going to be just as important as the games themselves."Darn it, Harrison -- so which side are you on? Kidding, just kidding.
Atari reveals plans to revisit Baldur's Gate, others
Infogrames President Phil Harrison announced today at a publisher event that the company plans to revisit Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, Neverwinter Nights and Test Drive Unlimited -- but not until after 2009 (via Eurogamer). Three of those franchises have had recent releases (NWN2: Storm of the Zehir last month, TDU and D&D Tactics in February 2007). As for Baldur's Gate, a follow-up to BG2: Throne of Bhaal has been rumored since 2001 from now-defunct Black Isle Studios. It was reportedly mentioned again by a PC Gamer UK editor as recently as January 2008.
Revenue results show Infogrames/Atari continuing its comeback
Although Infogrames won't announce profit/loss figures for a couple of weeks (it's a French thing), the company's sales figures show that it's surviving. The half-year fiscal results show that net revenues are up by 44.5%, with Atari seeing the largest growth of 145% to $46 million. CEO David Gardner thinks that the economic climate will make the holiday season competitive, but he still projects revenue percentage growth of mid- to high-teens and a "return to profitability" by the second half of the next fiscal year. He reiterates that the company's new distribution deals and recent title acquisitions show the path to profitability.
It is done: Infogrames now fully owns Atari
Infogrames has completed its $11 million stock purchase of Atari, making it a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher now. Infogrames CEO David Gardner stated the full buyout (it previously owned 51.4%) was another key part of the company's extreme makeover, which has seen the shocking revelation of profits show up in the publisher's coffers.We wonder if this is the key step needed for us to bid adieu to Infogrames and see its name changed to Atari?
Atari outlines more of its extreme makeover
Atari's reinvention continues as CEO David Gardner and President Phil Harrison delve into the company's strategy to fully embrace an online business model. Speaking to Develop, the pair expresses the company's necessary geographic expansion outside of France (home of Atari parent, Infogrames), which we're starting to see in the establishment of a UK studio and the hiring of SingStar guru Paulina Bozek.Atari also plans to produce a variety of games for PSN, iTunes, Facebook, Xbox Live Arcade, and to stay, as Harrison puts it, "broadly online distribution agnostic." Gardner quips that he has no programming skills and Harrison says he's not a good graphic artist, so they expect to hire more top talent who believe the future of the industry lies online.
Atari plans to make billions off distribution
The amalgam of Infogrames/Atari apparently has a plan in place to make billions off game distribution. The strategy came to light earlier last week when Infogrames struck a distribution deal with Namco Bandai. Now Infogrames CEO David Gardner gives a little more detail about the scheme to MCV.Gardner states that the company's main focus will still be "online social games," but that distribution in the European market holds a lot of financial potential. He explains that EA, Activision and Ubisoft have a firm grip on distribution in the region, but that other publishers are struggling to get product to retail. Gardner states that if Atari can get 25% of the business it should become a "billion dollar distribution force" on the continent.
Infogrames, Namco Bandai strike distribution deal
After getting the unfamiliar taste of profit out of its mouth, Infogrames is hungry for more. To this end, the parent of oft-addled Atari announced that it has cozied up to fellow publisher Namco Bandai to handle distribution of the latter's titles in both Europe and Asia. GI.biz writes that Infogrames' distribution activities in those regions will be consolidated as a result of the agreement, with Namco Bandai taking ownership of some 34 percent while leaving the remainder in the hands of Infogrames itself.According to the report, Infogrames expects to find its wallet pleasantly filled with added revenue as a result of the deal thanks to added efficiency and every Economics major's favorite phrase -- economies of scale. The report further notes that Infogrames is also open to partnering with other companies over similar deals in the pursuit of greater profitability, no doubt helped when not weighed down by any pesky big budget monkeyshines.
