Atari board axed, CEO believes Atari name means something good
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Oct 8th 2007 at 4:28PM }
Like Bartleby and Loki in the Mooby boardroom (video found after the break), Infogrames -- which owns Atari and rocks our world -- has ejected most of the Atari board. Five Atari directors were axed, three will remain, and new directors will join -- along with the creation of a "chief restructuring officer." The plan to overhaul Atari has been in the works for a while as the company continues to pathetically lose money during this time of financial fortitude in the industry.
Infogrames CEO Patrick Leleu says the new board is expected to improve finances, revive publishing initiatives, improve distribution and leverage the Atari name. Maybe we're not drinking the hallucinogenic high-end scotch that Leleu is, but fixing the Atari brand is like asking a leper to pull himself together. In the meantime Atari is sure to keep those delays coming. Maybe it's time to start fresh with a completely new name and stop running the company like it's still amateur hour in the video games industry circa 1983.
Infogrames CEO Patrick Leleu says the new board is expected to improve finances, revive publishing initiatives, improve distribution and leverage the Atari name. Maybe we're not drinking the hallucinogenic high-end scotch that Leleu is, but fixing the Atari brand is like asking a leper to pull himself together. In the meantime Atari is sure to keep those delays coming. Maybe it's time to start fresh with a completely new name and stop running the company like it's still amateur hour in the video games industry circa 1983.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DemonGSides @ Oct 8th 2007 4:38PM
Awesome Leprosy comment.
Post good for that alone. Atari has been dead since Pong's release.
Matt B @ Oct 8th 2007 5:00PM
I guess you never played Zaxxon.
Laner @ Oct 8th 2007 5:50PM
Uh.... Pong was released in 1972. Atari made money hand over fist for the next decade.
Platinum_Skeet @ Oct 8th 2007 4:45PM
LMAO!!! Great moment in movie history...
J-Guy @ Oct 8th 2007 4:45PM
"Atari's name means something good"
And how is crashing the video game industry a good thing?
J-Guy @ Oct 8th 2007 4:53PM
I'd also like to add that I have never seen that clip before (Dogma?) and I could not stop laughing.
mr nimblewick (SegaDF - Jogurt Ring) @ Oct 8th 2007 5:08PM
Doesn't it mean check or checkmate in japanese?
I guess that's good, if you're the one saying it.
Laner @ Oct 8th 2007 7:00PM
Atari didn't do the crashing. It was the influx of hundreds of crappy third party games - not E.T. as the popular meme goes.
Mr Khan @ Oct 8th 2007 6:18PM
If Atari had never crashed the game industry, the Western game industry NEVER would have intersected with the Japanese industry the way it so harmoniously did
J-Guy @ Oct 8th 2007 6:22PM
True dat.
Jamie @ Oct 8th 2007 4:46PM
sweet
MariosInferno @ Oct 8th 2007 5:19PM
Alright boys....time to ring in the Jaguar 2. Do it.
the_game_master @ Oct 8th 2007 5:50PM
I like how you refer to them still as Infrogames, but we really should refer to them as Atari since they technically are Atari since they did buy the naming rights and all the little assetts that remained from old Atari, Corp. from JTS and then renamed themselves from Infrogames to Atari, Inc.
No one refers AT&T as SBC (even though technically AT&T is SBC and not the same company that was monopoly was broken up in the 80s)
Khuffie @ Oct 8th 2007 10:29PM
Inforgrames still exists, and is the parent company of Atari:
http://corporate.infogrames.com/infogramesgb/2007/04/atari.php
Geist @ Oct 8th 2007 6:04PM
Ahaha leprosy is funny.
E.J. @ Oct 8th 2007 6:37PM
I can't predict improvement with Atari.
When you want to change for the better, the change needs to come from the top: the CEO. In order for REAL change, there needs to be a new head honcho.