Does Atari Hold The Key to the Soul of Video Games?

Atari is in some financial trouble. In fact, Atari is in a lot of financial trouble. With limited success over the last several years Atari's back may be against the wall. Driver 3 was a massive flop for the company. Obviously there were some poor management decisions going on behind this game because they spent all of their money paying Ridley Scott to direct the commercials for the game rather than putting money into the game's development. But what does Atari mean to modern game development and to the gaming consciousness in general?

I grew up with Atari being a major gaming pioneer. Atari were one of the primary gaming pioneers. They introduced one of the most successful gaming consoles in to the marketplace and had a massive number of arcade machines which were massively successful. Atari made video games a world wide gaming phenomenon. However, as seems to be the way in gaming no one company can hold the crown for gaming development indefinitely and through the nineties Atari's gaming reputation and success was on the decline. During this time a new generation of gamers were coming in to the marketplace and Atari no longer held the mantle as being one of the power houses behind gaming. A sure sign that Atari was on the decline was the sale of the company to Infogrames. Finally, the ride was over for the company which had helped to pioneer the video games industry. With a limited number of titles under development Atari has seen some success with a rebirth in retro as gamers go searching for their own roots and turn some of their gaming focus to the games which helped to create the industry.

It would be dissappointing to me to see Atari go out of business. Atari is a name which I have associated with video games for most of my life. Without Atari it would feel as though something was missing from the gaming industry. As though a part of the gaming psyche would be lost never to be returned. Obviously, the businesses within the gaming industry can't survive if they release sub standard games and Atari, in this respect, is no different than any other company. However, I would feel a sense of loss if Atari went out of business more than any other company. If EA went out of business I wouldn't be overly concerned, in fact, in some ways I may even be happy, but if Atari went out of business I would feel as though a little something had gone and would never come back.

There are a few Atari games which I still rate as some of my all time favourites. River Raid and the original Pitfall. However, it was the Atari 2600 console which formed an important part of my childhood. It is a very happy part of my childhood with hours spent playing it with my brother and my old man. Always trying to get a little bit further. One game which we spent hours playing together was Miner 2049er. We would all sit together trying to beat this simple, platform game for hours. It is these things which remind me of the Atari more than anything else. Happy memories from my childhood.