History of retrogaming: Atari
Who never struggled on Pong? Wanted to beat their high score on Space invaders?
Atari is a big name in the video game world: the symbol of the 80’s retro gaming.
Atari, a success launched by the arcade
Atari is a pioneer in the video game industry.
It was created in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. The company contributed to the development of the arcade with Computer Space, the first arcade ever released, or with Pong, first big international commercial hit, that will reap a turnover of 40 million dollars in the 3 years after its release.
The home video game console market
Atari releases its first cartridge home video game console in 1977, the Atari 2600, a direct commercial hit. After 1983, Atari is divided in two distinct firms: Atari games, focused on the arcade market and Atari Corporation for consoles and computers.
The fall
Despite having consoles whose good quality has been asserted by many specialists (like the “Lynx“, for example), Atari just couldn’t compete with the overwhelming giants Nintendo and Sega . The company was sold twice: first to Hasbro interactive then to Infogrames.
Today, Atari only exists through an online casino platform: Atari Casino.
1
The computer ATARI ST contributed to the development of MAO thanks to its integrated MIDI jacks.
2
Atari’s logo represent two Pong players facing each other.
3
It’s on the Atari 2600 that we can find the first Easter egg! To counter Atari’s anonymity policy, that forbid to make the game developers’ names appear on their games, Warren Robinett, the developer of the game Adventure, created a secret room in his game and wrote his name in it.