The company that currently owns the Atari name and trademarks has decided to give owners of the old Atari Video Computer System (aka the Atari 2600) something new to do. Mr. Run and Jump is a new Atari-published platformer that is coming to vintage Atari consoles in cartridge form, complete with a box and instruction manual. Preorders for the cartridge begin on July 31 for $59.99.

of note on why the headline specifies “A company called Atari”, for the unfamiliar. it’s both a bit of snark but also an actual thing because Atari’s history is not unlike the Ship of Theseus:

[…]Today’s Atari has absolutely nothing to do with the company that launched the Atari VCS in 1977, and the brand’s history and ownership defies an easy summary. After the video game crash in 1983, the old Atari was split into two divisions by parent company Warner Communications and sold. Atari Games continued the arcade business, and Atari Corporation controlled home console releases. Atari Corporation took a few unsuccessful stabs at the console market in the late '80s and early '90s with consoles like the Jaguar and the Lynx. It ultimately merged with a now-defunct manufacturer of unreliable hard drives in 1996 before being sold to Hasbro Interactive in 1998. Hasbro was bought by Infogrames Entertainment in 2001, which dropped the “Infogrames” name in favor of “Atari” in 2009. That company’s US operations, already many degrees removed from the original Atari, filed for bankruptcy in 2013. The company that emerged is the one that’s still operating as “Atari” today, and it’s linked to the old company by its name and its trademarks and not much else.

You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments
10 points

in 50 years: A company called microsoft is releasing a brand new Xbox S game this year.

permalink
report
reply
2 points
*

It will also release on PC and PS12, as Xbox exclusives are apparently forbidden.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

The wording is spot-on because it’s not the same Atari that made the 2600, but it is in fact a company called Atari.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

There’s some justification with this, considering how many times Atari has been bought out

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

I have a feeling we will get Nintendo Wii Games to court what will become “retro nostalgia”.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Gaming

!gaming@beehaw.org

Create post

From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it’s gaming you can probably discuss it here!

Please Note: Gaming memes are permitted to be posted on Meme Mondays, but will otherwise be removed in an effort to allow other discussions to take place.

See also Gaming’s sister community Tabletop Gaming.


This community’s icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Community stats

  • 2.7K

    Monthly active users

  • 2.8K

    Posts

  • 52K

    Comments