Wade Rosen, CEO of Atari, discusses Web3, preservation, and the future of retro gaming.

Did you play any Atari games lately?

One corporation that has almost always been beset by issues is Atari. Nolan Bushnell, the company's creator, sold the company to Warner Communications before the Atari VCS (2600) system ever released, and the company promptly dismissed him. It has changed ownership throughout the years, until ending up in the hands of Infogrames in 2000. Infogrames progressively changed their name to Atari before almost going bankrupt in 2013. They succeeded in escaping bankruptcy by restructuring and the sale of certain assets.

Whatever you think of the Jaguar and Lynx Atari platforms, nothing compares to Atari's post-bankruptcy protection. Tragic releases like \i>Asteroids: Outpost and were under their supervision. Also, Atari's business strategy significantly changed to focus on micro-monetizing mobile games.

When no one was looking in 2021, Wade Rosen became Atari's CEO. Even while it remains to be seen whether he can win back the support of gamers, this may be the first time in a long time that optimism about the company's future may be expressed. Inquiry from Ontario Online Casino was kindly provided by Rosen, who was accompanied by Larry Kuperman from Nightdive Studios, a newly acquired company by Atari.

Atari's new look

"Creating a clear strategy for the company that would serve as a strong foundation for our long-term success and stay true to our legacy was one of my main goals when I assumed the position of CEO," Rosen said. "We decided to divest companies that we did not believe were fundamental or made sense moving ahead as part of the shift we conducted. We made the decision to leave the casino industry, and we have effectively dissolved all of our connections in the industry.

Our company now focuses on four areas: web3, hardware, software, and licensing. Since Atari is and always will be a video game company, all four of our business divisions' endeavors are focused on enhancing that fundamental aspect of the gaming industry. We consciously decided to resume developing premium games, and we've been moving in the right direction ever since. In the last 18 months, we have released 12 new games, announced 4 more, and have many more in the works.

Web3, which is centered on blockchain technology, is a rather vague idea for the internet's future. To put it mildly, not many people in the video gaming community really like it. This is something Rosen admits to.

Rosen said, "We have assembled a very intelligent team that has prioritized development in the areas of gaming, utility, and, most importantly, community. We can't exactly predict how our web3 business will evolve." With sites like The Sandbox, where we debuted a large, immersive marketing experience, we have solid relationships in place. The group most recently released a beta version of the Atari Club, an online community focused on all things Atari. Making the community open and welcoming to all of our fans is the aim. It will thus be extended so that all of our followers may participate, gather, and work together around our brand efforts following its first introduction with our web3 audience.

"We acknowledge that web3 is still contentious, particularly in the gaming sector, but we believe the underlying technology has long-term potential for businesses that try to avoid short-term hype and concentrate on the long-term advantages it can offer."

Sales & Marketing Selling goods!

A few eyebrows were raised when Atari-themed hotels were announced for 2020. There hasn't been any update on the project since then. Atari may have given up on the gambling industry, but they are still developing hotels."We still have a healthy licensing business, and we only want to get into high-caliber alliances that will meaningfully please our fans and raise brand recognition. One of those license agreements is the Atari Hotel relationship that you highlighted, and we think it has a lot of promise. It will take several years before we witness its effects because of its very lengthy timeline.Along with our relationships with high-quality companies like LEGO, Cariuma, and New Wave Toys, we are also looking into prospects in the media, such as television and movies. Like many significant, well-known pop-culture businesses, we anticipate that licensing will always be a crucial component of our business strategy.It seems that licensing has always been a part of the Atari brand. I believe I was in possession of an Atari t-shirt prior to even handling a 2600. Their most recent actions, meanwhile, seem to be more targeted at video game enthusiasts than at brand aficionados. For instance, the collaboration with New Wave Toys includes the development of Replicade cabinets. These are miniature, playable reproductions of vintage arcade cabinets, and Missile Command is the most recent example.

A trip down memory lane

But Atari's new emphasis on game preservation is what most intrigues me about their actions. They bought the gaming database MobyGames last year. Their Atari 50 compilation, meanwhile, has garnered praise as one of the greatest releases of vintage game compilations ever.Rosen said that "Atari prioritizes preservation, and more specifically, innovation in retro gaming." "I have a strong personal interest in this subject. Our DNA is rooted in the history of video games, and our main business is using vintage intellectual property in creative and forward-thinking ways. You may anticipate from us in the next years to provide fans with access to both the original and new material that builds upon the incredible historic content that is available.Atari is not alone in this strategy, however. GOG started up as an attempt to bring classic PC games to more contemporary platforms. I'm curious how profitable this endeavor will be. In particular, MobyGames has changed ownership a few times throughout the years. Prior proprietors Simon Carless and Jeremiah Freyholtz were upfront with the community about the challenges they had in maintaining the database and how they had to rely on Patreon to help support development. I thus had to ask myself what motivated Atari to prioritize preservation.Rosen informed me that the number of people who like older video games is enormous and seems to be increasing daily. It is, in my opinion, a very viable company with room to develop significantly. Retro design is beautiful because it is always being made and reproduced. With every year that goes by, more and more contemporary games are being reclassified, and the PS3 is beginning to be seen as antiquated. It is perpetually expanding in that sense, and people's methods of accessing and consuming material are always evolving.

Back catalog business

Furthermore, some businesses are quite hesitant to maintain their back catalogs accessible. One of the businesses I mention as an example of one of the worst is Electronic Arts. They have games like \i>The Sims and \i>Black and White that are regarded as historical classics, yet even though EA has their own digital shop, they won't release these titles.Larger companies often republish older games in a somewhat token manner when they decide to do so. DOSbox just comes with a ton of outdated PC games, and some Windows titles aren't upgraded huge run on newer hardware."Since I have no idea how other firms think, I am unable to comment on the choices they make. "I can say that re-releasing titles 'as-is' kind of worked for a while," Rosen said. It satisfied gamers' hunger and gave businesses a means to make their old inventory broadly accessible. However, developers like Nightdive have lifted the standard by rebuilding and refining the original games and adding contemporary features. They have also included comprehensive platform compatibility, social interaction, and dramatically improved visuals. All of this has been accomplished by utilizing their unique KEX engine.As a result of the shift in player expectations, businesses with significant gaming intellectual property are turning to organizations like Nightdive to relaunch their products in a manner that appeals to gamers. Nightdive has a substantial edge over more basic releases because of the devoted fan following it has amassed.That is, in fact, a rather sobering interpretation of the strategy. Even while I would want to see source ports for every game, it isn't always possible. In the end, it matters not how much work I have to put into setting it up as long as it functions well. Extra points for not being published in English at first.

Elevating the standardBut Nightdive wasn't the only one to set the standard for contemporary reissues. It's worth noting that since the 1990s, M2 and Digital Eclipse have been involved in several transitions from arcade to console or portable gaming."I believe talented studios like M2 and Digital Eclipse are starting to get the recognition they deserve for their incredible work," Wade Rosen continues. Both gamers and business experts acknowledged and applauded Digital Eclipse, our collaborator on Atari 50: the Anniversary Celebration, for their work.But Nightdive is something else entirely. Above all, it seems that the gaming community knows them better than M2 and Digital Eclipse, while people who are more familiar with the pastime are more likely to know them."Nightdive begins by working with retro titles that have an extremely strong fan base and following," said Rosen. These are viscerally engaging games for players. Additionally, Nightdive has evolved a distinctive and recognized remastering style for its material. The challenge is to create a game that is pleasing to new fans while recapturing the original experience for older fans, and to remaster a game so that it "plays the way you remember it playing." This creates a unique experience where fans can look at a game and almost immediately know "that came from Nightdive." Nightdive's goal is always to recapture the experience that people had when the game was new and "state of the art."At Nightdive, "Nightdive has always drawn our talent from the modding and support communities," said Larry Kuperman, director of business development. In the Doom community, Samuel Villarreal, often referred to as "Kaiser," was already a legend before he started working as our Lead Engine Developer at Nightdive. For many of our other developers, the same applied. That's among the causes. And Stephen Kick, who founded Nightdive, is still very active on social media, as am I, although to a lesser degree."We believe it is crucial to maintain that direct communication with our fans."

Source porting for curation

I also like that Nightdive introduced me to games I would not have otherwise played. Before they published \i>Strife: Veteran Edition, I had never heard of Strife, and it's possible that I never played PowerSlave without \i>PowerSlave: Exhumed. I'm not simply a coder; I also value Nightdive's curation.As Rosen more elegantly said, "I personally came to Nightdive through their work on \i>System Shock 2, so I'm not alone." After completing my exploration of the Von Braun, I quickly moved on to all of their other titles (I had never played Strife before, as well as Strife: Veteran Edition). It's likely that you'll like the other games if you enjoy one of theirs. The wide, intergenerational appeal of Nightdive's releases contributes to their discoverability."I can't tell you how often we hear similar stories," Larry Kuperman retorted. Hearing comments like "I didn't even know a certain game had ever existed until you brought it back" is really motivating.Surprisingly, Strife: Veteran Edition has a significant role in Nightdive's past. Unlike other games that we merely had to "make it work on modern systems," this one was able to be significantly improved. Recall that this was still extremely early in Nightdive's development. We added James Haley, another Doom community member, to help us improve on the original.Here, I sense a familial tie. I often explain that I started writing about video games to express my love for the pastime. Even if none of the games I discuss are mine, I still like sharing them as if they were a part of who I am. In a way, Kuperman's reasoning resembles what Nightdive attempts to do. By repackaging the games they love, they're spreading the love.The vintage boomReentering the world of actual hardware has been one of Atari's other recent directions. They attempted to create a contemporary console with the Atari VCS, which was launched in 2021. Development on the VCS began in 2018, prior to Wade Rosen becoming the company's CEO. We didn't really discuss this, but Axios reports that the platform has had trouble making a name for itself. But as part of their Atari XP lineup, they have also just begun to replicate genuine Atari 2600 cartridges.I inquired about future intentions for these cartridges, focusing on the possibility of additional games being produced in the format. Rosen said to me, "We started off small and experimental with our Atari XP cartridge business, and the response has been quite positive." Retro hardware and software are in demand because of their simplicity and skill-gating. We are thus looking at measures to increase the number of cartridges available on the market and facilitate the playing of such cartridges. Pay attention.This occurred prior to their announcement that Mr. On a 2600 cartridge, play Run and Jump. The remark that "those cartridges are easier to play" is still puzzling, however. He hinted at the possibility of new hardware being released in the Axios interview that was previously stated. I'm quite excited about the possibility that a new system with 2600 game compatibility is on the horizon.

Advancing with retro

Additionally, Atari has been moving toward acquiring other publishers' old libraries. These have mostly been titles that are related to Atari, some of which the business has even owned in the past.What games were even worth keeping, I questioned Rosen? "All games are worth preserving," he informed me. I believe that the degree of healing is what makes a difference. Will each game get an equally thorough restoration or the same amount of detail? Will every game have an interpretation in a new game? No. It would take too much time, effort, or desire to go over every game released in the last 50 years and make it compatible with current hardware. However, I believe that all of the older games should be accessible legally. Because they have the most financial potential, corporations these days are concentrating on games and brands that were well-liked or in some way innovative. However, I think there will be more opportunities in the future to go further into the last 50 years, and I'm excited about that.I probed a little further, asking what titles he would want to see reissued. "I could spend all day answering this question, but I'll stick to a few of the games in our library. We will definitely take action with \i>Frenzy and Berzerk. These games are just too influential to ignore. In addition to Mr. Both of the Nutz brands offer a good deal of creative depth and would be enjoyable to work on. We won't think twice about returning to Adventure when the perfect idea presents itself. And there are so many branches in the \i>Yars world. With Yars: Recharged, we increased the gameplay, and we want to develop that environment and tale in the future. Of course, there are also Asteroids, Missile Command, and Centipede. The nicest thing about this job is that there is a ton of stuff to deal with."It seems wrong that Bubsy doesn't have a collection of some kind to honor his colorful past, which includes both the very high and very low points."

Aspire to dreamIf I could had one wish, it would be that Atari acquired the back library of both Midway and Atari Games (the independent firm). Warner Bros. presently owns the rights, if my memory serves me well, and they haven't done anything with them apart from Mortal Kombat. Within WB's assets, Rampage, Ramparts, and Smash TV are all dormant. It is repulsive.I never would have guessed that one day I would become an Atari fan. As I said at the beginning, the business has had problems for almost its whole history, and some really horrible things have happened under its name. Wade Rosen doesn't seem to be attempting to downplay it, however. Instead of acting as if Atari has always been a single, elite brand, he's trying to win back the trust of players.Furthermore, his objectives appear to coincide with my priorities. I can see why Nightdive made the decision to join. There's a very real possibility that none of this will work out and that Atari will once again switch places and look for work elsewhere, but ideally that won't happen.That is hardly to argue that Atari is flawless under Wade Rosen. I still have a lot of issues and there is still a lot that has to be demonstrated. But anything beats \i>Asteroids: Outpost, however.