News - Undated - V
From: Len Stys (aa399)
Date: 02/26/90-04:03:59 PM Z
From: aa399 (Len Stys)
Subject: News - Undated - V
Date: Mon Feb 26 16:03:59 1990
Undated Time Capsule
--------------------
Nintendo Is Sued by Atari
Atari Sues Federated; Claims...
FALCON Software Question & Answers
Lawsuits Against Nintendo
A Bit of Atari History
Secrets of Old Atari
Nintendo & Atari-Fierce Competition
Nintendo Is Sued By Atari
-------------------------
-Article #80 (156 is last):
-From: aa399
-Subject: Nintendo Is Sued by Atari
-Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 12:55:32 GMT
-From: LEN STYS (aa399)
-Indx: 051 Size: 1678 bytes
Recopied from: THE NEW YORK TIMES,
Thursday, February 2, 1989, D13.
Nintendo Is Sued by Atari
SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 1 (AP) -
The Atari Corporation has filed a $250
million lawsuit against the Nintendo
Company, accusing the Japanese video
game maker of monopolizing the market
with restrictions on its licensed game
creators.
The suit, filed Tuesday in United
States Distroict Court, contends that
Nintendo forbids its developers to sell
adaptions of their games to other video
game companies.
The restriction causes the creators
of video games "to yield to coercion
from Nintendo, so that Atari and other
manufacturers of video game consoles
are unable to obtain many popular
games for use on their own systems,"
the suit says.
Atari, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is
seeking to end Nintendo's purported
practice of prohibiting game developers
from writing video games for anyone
else, said Joshua Tropper, Atari's
general counsel.
The suit, which also names as
defendant Nintendo's United States
unit, Nintendo of America Inc., is the
latest development in a long dispute
between nintendo and American makers
and distributors of video games over
the $2.3 billion annual market.
In December, the Atari Games
Corporation of Milpitas, Calif., which
is not related to the Atari
Corporation, filed a $100 million
lawsuit against Nintendo, accusing the
company of unfair competition. Early
last month, Nintendo countersued,
accusing the company of making and
selling unauthorized cartridges for
video games.
Len Stys (aa399)
Phillip Chow (aa400)
Atari SIG-Sysops
Atari Sues Federated; Claims...
-------------------------------
-Article #81 (156 is last):
-From: aa399
-Subject: Atari Sues Federated; Claims...
-Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 12:55:43 GMT
-From: LEN STYS (aa399)
-Indx: 052 Size: 2504 bytes
Atari Sues Federated;
Claims Overstatement Of
Company Assets
PC WEEK, BUSINESS
Atari Corp. is back in court. The
Sunnyvale, Calif., microcomputer and
video-game manufacturer has filed a
federal lawsuit against the former
management of Federated Group Inc.
The lawsuit follows Atari's
acquisition last year of Federated, a
chain of 62 electronics stores in the
Southwest and California. Atari alleges
that former Federated executives
intentially overstated their company's
assets by more than $43 million to lure
Atari into the acquisition.
A post-acquisition audit uncovered
the alleged overstatement, according
to Atari, which reported the audit's
results in a post merger filing with
the Securities and Exchange Commision.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 26 in U.S.
District Court in San Jose, Calif.,
contends that the alleged overstatement
violates federal securities laws and
federal Racketeer Influenced, Corrupt
Organizations Act.
Named in the lawsuit are Wilfred
Schwartz, Federated's founder and chief
executive at the time of the tender
offer, and several other former
Federated executives and directors.
Also named in the lawsuit are Ernst &
Whinney, the auditing firm employed by
Federated before the acquisition, and
Goldman, Sachs & Co., the investment
bank for Federated's former management
during negotiations with Atari.
An Ernst & Whinney spokesman said the
accounting firm stands behind its work
on the audit. A spokesman for Goldman,
Sachs had no comment.
Atari paid $6.25 per share for all
of Federated's 10.8 million outstanding
shares last fall. The lawsuit alleges
that Federated's stock "was actually
worth much less at the time, and that
Atari would not have entered into the
merger agreement to pay $6.25 if it had
known Federated's true financial
condition."
Atari fired Federated's management
team after raising allegations over
Federated's stated assets.
Atari anticipates Federated will lose
$5 million to $10 million for the year.
Financial problems have prompted Atari
to lay off nearly 30 percent of
Federated's employees and close six
stores.
A separate lawsuit brought by Atari
against Micron Technology Inc. was
settled out of court in June.
That suit alleged that Micron, a
semiconductor firm in Boise, Idaho, had
reneged on a contract with Atari.
Len Stys (aa399)
Phillip Chow (aa400)
Atari SIG-Sysops
FALCON Software Questions & Answers
-----------------------------------
-Article #82 (156 is last):
-From: aa399
-Subject: FALCON Software Questions & Answers
-Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 12:55:21 GMT
-From: LEN STYS (aa399)
-Indx: 050 Size: 2894 bytes
COMMON QUESTIONS: FALCON for the Atari ST
Q: What are the system requirements for FALCON?
A: Atari ST; 512k RAM (Additional features require 1 megabyte RAM);
color monitor; joystick optional.
Q: Can you make a backup of FALCON?
A: Although Disk 1 is copy protected, you can make a backup copy of Disk 2
(which is the disk that saves your pilot's name and score). You can use
a copy utility such as ProCopy to make a 10 sector backup.
Q: After I load the program, what do I type in when I see the screen with
two icons asking for a code?
A: After loading the program, you'll next need to enter a password to
continue. After the introductory screen has loaded, you'll see a
screen asking for a code. using the enclosed code wheel, line up outer
icons with the inner icon. Then look on the code wheel for the
corresponding key word (such as "Foxtrot") that is shown in the third
line called "Window." Look at the cut-out adjacent to the key word,
and type in that letter. If the code you enter is incorrect, you'll
be given a second chance. If your second attempt is incorrect,
however, you'll still be able to preview the game.
Q: Even though I'm flying at 1st Lieutenant rank, I still get shot down
by invisible missles.
A: You need to enter the correct code after the intro screen. Please read
the above message.
Q: When I insert Disk 2 after the intro screen, I get an error message of
"Exception 02" scrolling across the Duty Roster screen.
A: All you need to do is make a backup of Disk 2 and then boot with the
backup Disk 2 unlocked. Because the first 5,000 copies of Disk 2 were
shipped without the Duty Roster and the Sierra Hotel files, the game
crashes if you boot with Disk 2 locked.
Q: I tried playing FALCON head-to-head over the modem. Even at 2400 baud,
the game is very slow.
A: We are aware of the speed problem with modem play and hope to improve
it in the next version. We recommend playing head-to-head over direct
connect (which supports up to a speed of 19.2k baud).
Q: Is FALCON compatible with a monochrome monitor?
A: No, FALCON requires a color monitor.
Q: FALCON's mouse control is very difficult to fly with and control.
A: We hope to improve the mouse control in the next version of FALCON.
Q: When I quit FALCON and then return to the game, the points for my last
mission are not saved.
A: This problem will be fixed in the next update of the game. FALCON will
save your merit points if you quit from the cockpit, instead of at the
Duty Roster or Sierra Hotel screens.
Q: Which features are omitted if you have 512k or RAM?
A: The communications feature, the Black Box flight recorder, and certain
sounds and graphics.
Len Stys (aa399)
Atari SIG-SysOp
Lawsuits Against Nintendo
-------------------------
-Article #83 (156 is last):
-From: aa400
-Subject: Lawsuits Against Nintendo
-Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 12:55:55 GMT
-From: PHILLIP CHOW (aa400)
-Indx: 053 Size: 12245 bytes
+-------------------------------------+
|Lawsuits Against Nintendo Go to Heart|
+-----+of the Way Japan Competes+-----+
+-----+-------------------------+-----+
-Taken from the Los Angeles Times
Dateline: March 19, 1989
Its business is games, and its
primary customers are adolescent boys.
But don't be fooled. Nintendo is
treating its market as seriously as
NASA orchestrated the first lunar
landing.
No detail is too small, no issue
too trivial. Nothing is left to
chance.
New games, for example are
evaluated on a scale of zero to 40 long
before they are selected for
publication. All games developed by
outside authors are manufactured, along
with the in-house titles at Nintendo
headquarters in Hapan Toy store shelves
are checked weekly to monitor sales and
new products are introduced
deliberately and in limited supplies to
keep business flowing smoothly.
"Nintendo is very paternalistic
toward the industry...and without that
protection, the video game business
would already have gone through the
same spike and fall that ruined it in
the mid 1980s," said Gregory Fischbach,
chief executive of Acclaim, a Long
Island, N.Y. video game maker. "If
Nintendo hadn't provided this marketing
control, there would be no business
today."
Indeed, Nintendo successfully
resuscitated the collapsed market for
video games in 1985 and patiently
nurtured it into a business expected to
generate sales of more than $3 billion
this year. But now the Japanese game
maker, which controls as much as 80% of
the market has been slapped by
disgruntled California competitors with
two million dollar antitrust lawsuits
that strike at the heart of Nintendo's
approach to reviving the industry.
Scheduled to go to trial later
this year, the suits have potentially
broad implications for personal
computer software publishers and other
technology concerns. Many technology
and legal experts also say the suits
challenge some of the basic business
tactics Japanese companies have
employed to build-and, in many cases,
dominate-markets in the United States.
The suits, filed separately by
Atari Games, and an unrelated company,
Atari Corp., over the last three
months, accuse Nintendo of monopolistic
practices.
Atari Games, which has developed
three video games for Nintendo,
maintains that the Japanese company has
competed unfairly in the game market by
doing two things: insisting on
manufacturing every cassette intended
for its players and unilaterally
deciding how many cassettes each of its
outside licensees will get. Taken
together, the suit says, those actions
essentially dictate the size of the
video game market and leave other game
and player developers at the mercy of
Nintendo.
In the other suit, Atari Corp.,
the video game maker that dominated the
market in the early 1980s, accused
Nintendo of monopolizing both the video
and player market by preventing game
developers from writing versions of
Nintendo-authorized games for rival
player makers.
Analysts say Nintendo's approach
to the video game market is tantamount
to a computer maker preventing software
developers from writing versions of a
computer program for competitors'
machines. But some U.S. experts also
say the company's overall strategy is
characteristic of the aggresive yet
methodical approach often taken by
Japanese comcerns to build their
businesses, though perhaps taken to an
exterme.
"The Japanese are into
monopolies," said Jeffery Tarter,
publisher of Soft Letter, a software
market report, "They really believe you
can have orderly markets, and they
believe the best way to have these
orderly markets is to minimize
competition.
The notion, accepted in Japan,
where the economy is tightly monitored
by the government, flies in the face of
the free market system, argues Trip
Hawkins, founder of Electronics Arts, a
San Mateo personal computer game
publisher.
Nintendo's response has been that
the suits are nothing more than "sour
grapes" from the companies that let the
original video game craze collapse and
then failed to jump back quickly enough
when it rebounded several years later.
"I'd hide under the American flag
too, if I were in their shoes," said
William White, advertising and
marketing director of Nintendo of
America, Nintendo Co.'s Redmond, Wash.,
U.S. subsidiary.
Still, White acknowledges that the
Japanese do business differently from
their American competitors. "American
companies don't play hardball like
this," he said. "There's more of a
sharing of the pie by American
companies. In Japan, it's different:
Winners win big and losers lose."
_Ample_Precedent_
But, as White added, in the United
States, the losers also are more than
willing to take their case to court.
The suit by Atari Games,
considered the more far-reaching of the
two cases, seeks $100 million based on
the claim that Nintendo's insistence on
manufacturing all cassettes intended
for its players has restricted Atari
Games' market.
At the crux of the suit is the
"lockout" chip that Nintendo installs
in each game cassette it manufactures.
The special chip allows the games to
operate in the Nintendo game players
and is designed to prevent all but
Nintendo authorized and manufactured
games from playing on the system.
Nintendo has steadfastly claimed
that the security chip is needed to
prevent inferior, low-quality games
from damaging the market as they did in
1982. Further, it argues that by
manufacturing all games with those
chips, it ensures that supply does not
exceed demand, creating a glut of the
ort that also occurred in 1982.
But critics charge that the
maneuvers are little more than
monopolistic practices to prevent a
proliferation of copycat games that
would cut into Nintendo's chokehold on
the market.
There is ample predecent for
technology firms, such as personal
computer markets, to protect their
patented and copyrighted inventions
from would-be copiers. But Nintendo is
the only company in recent years to try
to assert control over both the basic
machine as well as the material
developed by outsiders that is played
or run on it.
(Record company executives,
however, recall that more than three
decades ago, rival phonograph makers
RCA and CBS tried something similar.
RCA made players with a fat hole and 45
r.p.m. records to match it; CBS'
players had tiny holes and records made
by its in-house manufacturing arm
matched that size. Phonograph owners
who wanted to use both kinds of records
were forced to buy plastic inserts for
records or fat tubes for record
spindles as standard accessories.)
Nintendo, critics charge, leaves
little room for choice by game
developers, "Nintendo is trying to
advance the principle that they must
control the software that is played on
their hardware, and that's patently
ridiculous," said Kenneth Wasch,
executive director of the Software
Publishers Assn., a trade group
supporting the lawsuits.
"It's like a manufacturer of
compact disc players saying that they
must judge the quality of the recording
artists. Suddenly we would have one
company saying that Madonna was OK, but
Prince was out. No one does business
that way," Wasch added.
_Security_Chip_Used_
If Nintendo's practices are upheld
in court, Wasch and others fear that
personal computer software publishers
could be left without much protecton
from huge computer makers.
Gary Reback's, a Silicon Valley
attorney specializing in patent and
copyright protection, says Nintendo's
use of a security chip to lock out
unauthorized software could be copied
by computer makers, as well, to prevent
unauthorized software from playing in
their machines.
"This is a much more important
issue to the personal computer business
than the game business," Reback said.
Wasch added, "Computer software
publishers would fight like hell if any
hardware manufacturer would even try to
do this. I can't imagine a computer
maker tring this now, but stranger
things have happened."
Although the practices may offend
some Americans, Yoshihito Sano,
president of the US Japan Business
News, a weekly Japanese-language
newspaper published in Los Angeles,
says they are quite common in Japan.
"The Japanese are very calculated
and planning oriented. That Nintendo
wants to control the entire
manufacturing process for their
products is typical for Japan," he
said. "The approach they have taken to
the U.S. market is a very Japanese way
of doing business. It's just extreme
for Americans."
The key to Nintendo's success in
the United States stems from its
accurate assessment of what went wrong
with the business in the early 1980s.
According to Peter Main, marketing vice
president for Nintendo of America, the
company dissected the first craze and
concluded that it died out because of
shoddy games that confused and angered
buyers--not because buyers suddenly
lost interest in the pastime.
Next, the U.S. subsidiary
carefully followed the path blazed
nearly three years earlier by its
Japanese parent, a 99 year-old company
that got started making cards for the
popular Japanese game Hanafuda. Since
introducing the Famicom in Japan in
1982, Nintendo has sold about 13
million systems there, the equivalent
of about one for every three
households.
In the United States, Nintendo has
sold about 11 million systems and
projects sales of another 8 million
units this year alone. Sales of
Nintendo-authorized and manufactured
game cassettes are expected to reach 50
million this year, about 50% higher
than last year's record high.
Although growth has been
spectacular, Main contends that the
key is ensuring the growth rate remains
manageable and customers are carefully
led through the buying cycle already
established in Japan.
For example, Main says, the
company is preparing to introduce a
new, more sophisticated and more
powerful version of its game player,
possible later this year. The machine
could be brought to market sooner, he
acknowledged, but "we need to get all
we can out of our current product"
before introducing its replacement.
The company takes the same
approach with video games themselves.
For example, one of the hottest games
on the Japanese market is Super Mario
Brothers III. But in the United
States, the company only recently
intoduced its immediate predecessor,
Super Mario Brothers II.
Although the game could easily be
exported to the United States, Main
says it is important to take players
through each version in proper order to
make sure that the players enjoy their
experience and stay in the fold.
Further, he argues, the progression
from one version to its successor
shouldn't be hurried, because the
market could become glutted.
_Unique_Approach_
By contrast, during the last video
craze, manufacturers made millions of
copies of popular titles in an attempt
to satisfy the hyper-inflated demand.
The result was a glut, thousands of
inferior products--and the market's
almost overnight collapse.
Nintendo's approach to quality
control also is novel. Rather than
enter into multi-year licensing
agreements with game developers for a
number of products, Nintendo signs
agreements covering only a single game.
If a developer has a sequel or a new
product, it must negotiate a new
contract.
"The name of the business is
selling games, of course. The second
sale is based on customers getting
satisfaction from the first," said
Main. "We're not controlling the
market, but we are saying that you
can't enjoy some games without having
first played earlier versions. It's
understanding that kind of progression
that makes sense."
To Nintendo allies such as
Acclaim's Fischbach, Nintendo's
approach is nothing other than prudent
managing for the long term. "Unless
it's grown slowly, the market won't
last any longer than it did the first
time," he said, adding that he's happy
to accept lower sales now in exchange
for a more lasting business.
----------------------------------------
Phillip M. Chow_aa400_Atari Co-SIGOp
Len J. Stys_aa399_Atari SIGOp
Whew...
A Bit of Atari History
----------------------
-Article #84 (156 is last):
-From: aa399
-Subject: A Bit of Atari History
-Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 12:56:02 GMT
-From: LEN STYS (aa399)
-Indx: 054 Size: 6361 bytes
A BIT OF ATARI HISTORY
written: December 7, 1987.
By: Joanne Stys
With help from: Len Stys
What company originally was
centered on games, then changed to
handle microcomputers as well as the
games? If you guess Atari you are
right. Atari has been in existence for
over a decade with its eye on the
consumer needs.
Foremost Atari was known for its
ever so popular 2600 game system. This
fulfilled the consumer's need until the
public started looking for a computer.
Atari, moving with the flow of society,
started producing its computers. This
company, young and inexperienced, was
nearly destroyed in the home computer
price war of 1982-83 (Halhill 30).
In 1984, Atari was fighting
back. Atari chairman James Morgan
emphasizes that Atari's goal is not
just to produce computers, but to
"enhance consumers' lives through
interactive electronics" (Lock 6). At
this point in time Atari was just
existing between computers and games
until Jack Tramiel, along with other
investors, bought Atari (Antic 11).
Jack Tramiel was formerly heading
Commodore until he saw "everyone was
sitting around, being very greedy and
trying to get as much money as
possible" (Antic 11).
Tramiel, the man that made
Commodore a billion dollar company, had
many ideas for his new company--ATARI.
He pledged, "When a person buys a
computer, he shouldn't be left out in
the cold. We'll give him as much
support as we can if he needs help."
"We give the people what they want.
Our work ethic is to constantly strive
for improvement," Copland said,
echoeing Atari owner Jack Tramiel's
philosophy. Tramiel's idea for a
computer is "price point between $100
and $1000" aimed at individuals not
businesses (Antic 10 and 11).
Along with Tramiel, Hartmann
moved from Commodore to Atari. He was
put in command of Atari's software
division. At a computer show he
informed the public that Atari will be
a microcomputer company with its
concentration on computer technology,
software, and peripherals (Halfill 32).
Tramiel, truly having his eye
on the public demands, has increased
the computer's memory. At the 1985
Summer Consumer Electronics Show, in
which Atari was not going to
participate in until given a free
booth, the CD-ROM was shown. It had
the capacity to hold an entire 20
volume set of encyclopedias with cross
references and only taking up about a
quarter of the disk. At this show they
also showed off their latest 16-32 bit
520 ST computer and computer software
(Leyenberger and Pappas 4).
In January of 1987 there was a
great outlook for the future. "In
1987, we are declaring war on the
computer business of the United
States," said Atari president Sam
Tramiel. Atari Chairman, Jack Tramiel
said, "It seems that customers want to
buy the right product at the right
price. 1986 was a fantastic year and
1987 will be much, much, much better"
(Bell 22). They were talking about
Mega ST series, laser printer,
videogame system and an IBM PC
compatible (Bell 22).
To start off the wonderful line
is the Mega ST series. This series has
a choice of 1Mb, 2Mb, or 4Mb memory.
It contains a detached keyboard,
built-in double density 3 1/2 inch disk
drive, a battery-powered real-time
clock calendar and "blitter chip" for
extaordinary graphics (Bell 23).
The laser printer is estimated
at $1500. It contains near-typeset
quality printing with 300 dots-per-inch
resolution. Atari proposes this
printer with the 2Mb Mega ST for under
$3000 (Bell 23).
As for the video game market
Atari has released the new 7800
pro-system which is to have better
graphics and sound. They have also
kept the old 2600 going by repackaging
it with a lower price. Atari has done
something interesting by constructing a
new video game and keeping the old
8-bit computers alive. They have
repacked the 8-bit computer and changed
it to look like a video game, called
the XE Game System. Its design is a
small, squarish box with sharp angles
and round pastel buttons which give it
an unusual, almost art-deco appearance.
Though it can easily be transformed
back to the standard 8-bit XE computer
with its plug-in keyboard and disk
drive (Bell 23).
The last thing on the Atari line
is the Atari IBM PC compatible. There
are two versions. One version that is
selling for $499 has a detachable
keyboard and CPU. The other type is
selling for $699 includes the same as
the $499 mode with an "EGA monochrome"
monitor. Both computers do include
standards such as the mouse, mouse
ports and a built in disk drive. Sam
Tramiel tells that the significance of
the PC "is that someone can take it
home, open the box, and it's ready to
run. You don't have to plug in cards
or extra things; you have everything
you need, right off the bat" (Bell 24).
As for the future, Atari plans
on concentrating heavily on sales in
the United States, having broader
distribution, and introducing several
new, exciting products using the most
recent technology. The basic
principles that Atari attributes to its
success now and in the future are:
"We offer the latest technology at an
affordable price.
We believe in in a fair profit for
ourselves, our suppliers and our
dealers.
We sell and buy from the world-we
take a global view of the market.
We believe in maintaining a
horizontal management style and a lean
overhead.
We sell to the mass not the classes.
Business is war." (Tramiel 6)
Atari has had a long struggle to
be a significant competitor in the
computer industry. It has transformed
from solely games to a mixture of games
and microcomputers. Atari can be
considered moderately successful due to
Mr. Tramiel's efforts.
Bibliography
Bell, Jon. "Atari's New Computers."
Antic. May 1987:22-24.
Halfhill, Tom. "The New Atari: Q & A
With Sigmund Hartmann." Compute!
February 1987:30-36.
Leyenberger, Arthur and Pappas, Lee. "A
Visit to Chicago The Summer Consumer
Electronics Show." Analog Computing.
August 1985:4-5.
Lock, Robert. "Editor's Notes" Compute!
August 1984:6.
Tramiel, Sam. Atari 1986 Annual Report.
Antic Magazine Special Report 11/13/84
The New Atari Corp. PP. 10 and 11.
Len Stys (aa399)
Secrets of Old Atari
--------------------
-Article #86 (156 is last):
-From: aa384
-Subject: Secrets of the old Atari
-Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 12:56:25 GMT
-From: DOUG WOKOUN (aa384)
-Indx: 056 Size: 3245 bytes
>From ZMagazine #59
10 Secrets of the old Atari
1.) Nolan Bushnell, Atari's founding
father, originally named the
company Syzygy (the sun, moon, and
earth in total eclispse). He
renamed it to Atari because another
company already owned the name
Syzygy.
2.) Bushnell is generally believed to
be the author of Pong, Atari's
first game. Actually, Magnavox
released the Odyssey 100, the first
home video game system, which
included a game remarkably similar
to Pong, several months before
Pong's debut in the arcades in
1972. Years later, Bushnell
admitted in court that he had seen
an Odyssey prototype on display
earlier in 1972. The Odyssey 100
was designed by Ralph Baer.
3.) Bally/Midway rejected Bushnell's
Pong when he demonstrated the game
in its Chicago officed in 1972.
Bushnell went back to California
and started Atari.
4.) Given a choice between Mappy and
Pole Position, two arcade creations
by Japanese firm Namco, Bally/Midway
amazingly opted for Mappy. Atari
had to settle for Pole Position,
which went on to become the biggest
games of 1983.
5.) Gravitar was one of Atari's worst-
selling arcade games. So they took
the game out of the cabinets and
converted them all to Black Widow.
6.) Mike Hally designed Gravitar. He
recently redeemed himself as the
project leader for Atari's
spectacular Star Wars game.
7.) Rick Mauer never programmed another
game for Atari after he did Space
Invaders for the VCS. He is said
to have earned only $11,000 for a
game that grossed more than $100
million.
8.) Todd Fry, on the other hand, has
collected close to $1 million in
royalties for his widely criticized
VCS Pac-Man.
9.) The man for bringing Pac-Man home
to Atari-Joe Robbins, former
president of coin-op, was severly
reprimanded by the chairman of the
board Ray Kassar for making the
deal with Namco without consulting
him. It seems Robbins was in Japan
negotiating a lagal matter with
Namco at the time, and Namco
demanded that Atari buy the home
rights to Pac-Man as part of the
settlement. Pac-Man had yet to take
off, but when it did, Robbin's
gutsy decision paid off as Pac-Man
went on to become the company's
best selling cartridge ever.
10.) The man for bringing E.T. to
Atari? None other than Warner
Communications chairman, Steve
Ross. So convinced was he that
E.T. possessed video game star
quality, Ross paid Steven Spielberg
an enormous sum (did I hear $21
million?) for the rights to the
little extraterrestrial bugger.
Designed Howie Warshaw spun the
game out in four months, only
three million cartridges were sold
and Atari began to announce million
dollar losses. E.T. is now selling
for as little as $5 in some stores.
|Doug Wokoun|aa384|Atari SigOp|
Note: please keep in mind that this
was published SEVERAL years ago, which
is why some of the information is a
little out-of-date...
Nintendo & Atari-Fierce Competition
-----------------------------------
-Article #87 (156 is last):
-From: aa399
-Subject: Nintendo and Atari.. Fierce competition
-Date: Tue, 15 Aug 89 12:56:33 GMT
-From: LEN STYS (aa399)
-Indx: 057 Size: 4025 bytes
Atari and Nintendo are at it again!
Competition is fierce and
it is only getting worse...
Nintendo has just recently
released their new portable game system
here in the United States.
It is a handheld, battery-powered
video game system. It works with
special cartridges the size of a credit
card, so you can play many different
games on the same machine. It has
true stereo sound and comes with ear
phones.
This remarkable video game system
is called the Game Boy.
Nintendo promises it to be one
of the most popular game systems around
and most importantly, you can take
it with you, anywhere you go...
"In fact, we've seen only one
handheld videogame system that
outshines the Game Boy - the new Atari
Portable Color Entertainment System.
It can do anything the Game Boy can,
but instead of the Game Boy's 2.5-
inch black-and-white LCD screen, the
Atari has a 3.5-inch screen in full
color. We've played both portables,
and the Atari comes closest to
duplicating the experience of playing
a full-size videogame."1
Yes, Atari is the one thing that
is stopping Nintendo from producing
another monopolizing video game system.
"Nintendo's new handheld videogame
machine, the Game Boy, is getting lots
of attention this summer. It's due
in stores this fall. But while
Nintendo is introuducing the Game Boy
at the Summer Consumer Electronic Show
this June, there was a colorful
surprise at the nearby Atari booth -
the world's first handheld videogame
machine with a full-color screen."2
The Game Boy and the Atari
Portable Color Entertainment System
are both battery-powered, both can
fit into a book bag or briefcase,
and both use game cartridges the size
of credit cards. But Nintendo only
has a 2.5-inch black-and-white LCD
screen and Atari has a 3.5-inch LCD
capable of dispaying an amazing 4,096
colors!
"This Atari game machine was
actually developed by Epyx, a software
company that employs several people who
helped produce the Commodore Amiga
personal computer. Atari is marketing
the game machine for Epyx, and Epyx
(among others) is providing game
software."3
Among the great colors, stereo
sound, and the large LCD screen, this
Atari game machine also includes
another great feature. You can hook
up to eight machines together so that
everyone can play from the same card
but each play a different game or
play the same game but against each
other!
"Although at $149.95 the Atari is
priced significantly higher than the
$89.95 Game Boy, the Nintendo machine
does not include a carrying case
($9.95) or AC adaptor ($27.95) - or,
of course, a color screen. Atari
is clearly hoping that avid game
players are willing to pay more for the
extra features."4
Not only is Atari and Nintendo
competing highly in the portable
video game market but they are also
competing highly in the 16-bit game
market.
Sega is the first of the three
major video game manufactures to
produce the 16-bit video game system
but Atari and Nintendo are not far
behind. Rumors have it that both
companies are trying to come up with
something that will out do the other.
All three will have stereo sound,
quality graphics and impressive
features. Sega is hoping that modem
games will pull their system to the
top of the other 16-bits. But
both Nintendo and Atari are keeping
everything a secret.
Atari is expected to be the
better of the machines since they
have been producing 16-bit computers
for a long time and have much more
experience with them. Nintendo,
however, still controls 80% of the
market with their current 8-bit
entertainment system.
1. Nintendo News, p.26, GAME PLAYER'S,
Vol.1, No.3.
2. Atari Safari, p.41, GAME PLAYER'S,
Vol.1, No.3.
3. Atari Safari, p.41, GAME PLAYER'S,
Vol.1, No.3.
4. Atari Safari, p.41, GAME PLAYER's,
Vol.1, No.3.
Len Stys (aa399)
Atari SIG - Operator
____-______-______-______-______-______
This Time Capsule file was produced by
Len Stys. It may only be reposted with
the following information included:
REPOSTED FROM: The Cleveland Free-Net
Atari-SIG
(216)/368-3888
type 'Go Atari' at
any menu
(C.A.I.N.)
____-______-______-______-______-______
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