Former Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell received 3 million Euros ($4.76 million) for running the company into the ground to leave the company last year. GameDaily reports Bonnell was apparently given the package by Infogrames -- which was a majority shareholder at the time -- without Atari's management receiving a copy of the agreement until two months after the deal was done.

Of course, this is a ghost from Atari's past, not the new incarnation we're slowly getting to know. We just like this story because, frankly, we're jealous. We want $4.76 million for throwing a company into financial ruin ... heck, we'll settle for a $100 bucks and a free round of drinks at the pub.

Our friends at Big Download took both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Alone in the Dark for a spin in an updated version of Big Versus. In their words, "Shying away from our original concept of which is better than the other, Big Versus has transformed to a comparison piece regarding our overall experiences." So which version left them with a more positive half-smile? Check it out here.

Early reviews of Atari's anticipated frightfest, Alone in The Dark, have generated quite a bit of controversy. A couple of 3/10s will do that, most of all when the publisher's scorn comes from the suspicion that said European articles were based on preview or pirated code. Though several other sites have now chimed in with their thoughts and less dire scores, Eden's efforts seem to have fallen just short of the game's ambition and promise. It seems everybody wanted to love Alone in The Dark, but had their feelings rebuked by clumsy controls and obvious padding to the game's length.

• Xbox World 360 (73/100): "As much as Alone In The Dark deserves to be criticised for its problems, it equally deserves to be lavished with praise for some outstanding ideas and set-pieces. A gracious failure, AITD should stand as a lesson for other developers to see what they should be striving for."
• Eurogamer (70/100): "The problem is that every time you get excited about Alone in the Dark, it shuts you down. At times it's akin to Atari's Boiling Point: Road To Hell of three years ago; throw any score on the ten-point scale and it will stick to something, but there's so much friction on the lower end that it's often impossible to pull away and remember when you brushed past genius. You want to love it, but it just keeps letting you down, and in the end that's the impression that sticks to the wall and stays there."
• Gamer.nl (50/100): "The game can be compared to an aggressive puppy without potty training. You want to keep him so badly, but every time it seems to go right, it bites, scratches and shits on your carpet." (Translation)
  

Dear hunter,

I am writing to you, with great difficulty I might add, about a matter very dear to my heart. I understand that not all members of the human race find us endearing, but I would greatly and truly appreciate it if you would be a dear and stop hunting my kind, the deer. Isn't that what your dearly beloved technology is for?

Why not purchase a copy of Atari's "most intense virtual hunting experience ever created," Deer Hunter Tournament? Set for release this Fall on Xbox 360 and PC, it promises "true-to-life animal behaviour," a variety of hunting modes, techniques and tools, and online multiplayer (though I'm sure you would prefer online mullet-player). And for only $19.99, or $39.99 for the Xbox 360 version, you'll get to hunt deer without forcing me to deal with all the painful repercussions.

Plus, you know, it'll help you with your dire aiming and embarrassing tracking abilities. I'm writing this with your stationery and making a complete mess of the study.

Yours truly,
John Deer

A fresh take on Waggletech® as Alone in the Dark for Wii developer, Hydravision Entertainment, proves its penchant for virtual charades in this new trailer. Seriously, the "flasher" maneuver? Brilliant! Who knew the Wiimote and Nunchuk could be used to mimic the parting of a trench coat? Still, there's nothing quite as immersifying as the overhand bludgeon. Classic.

Direct from our always hefty "Yeah, No Kidding" file, MTV Multiplayer was told last night by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell that he was "very thrilled and honored" to be portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in an upcoming biopic. Yeah Nolan, no kidding.

What we're sure is not quite as thrilling to Bushnell is the fact that it's currently unclear to what extent present-day Atari will let their property (like the three-pronged logo) be used. We're hopeful that the company will play ball if they throw Phil Harrison a bit role. (A Brit as a villainous Ralph Baer? You heard it here first.)

[Update: We've got Fernando's awesome take on Phil as Ralph right after the break!]

Atari has sent along word that its entry into the next-gen survival-horror action-survival fray is all wrapped up and ready to (*fingers crossed*) scare up retail bucks on June 24. (For every platform but PS3, that is.)

The oft-delayed Alone in the Dark series "restart" explores an even darker side of Silent Hill NYC's Central Park. Based on our recent hands-on with the Xbox 360 version of game, the unique "TV episode" style mission structure and varied gameplay situations (not to mention lots of pretty fire) should help it stand out during a relatively slow spot in the release calendar. PS3 owners will have to wait until "autumn" (we hear, November to be exact) for their share of scares.

A biopic about Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell has been picked up by Paramount Pictures, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star, reports Variety. Although we feel "attached to star" is indicative of DiCaprio taking on the role of Bushnell himself, we guess it's equally likely he could star as Atari co-founder Ted Dabney or a paddle from Pong!

Bushnell is also known for founding Chuck E. Cheese. The film, currently titled Atari, will be produced by DiCaprio's Appian Way.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Infogrames president Phil Harrison made some eyebrow-raising comments last week, claiming that following Alone in the Dark, his company would move away from "huge-budget, single-player games." Speaking to videogaming247, Harrison went into more detail on what he described as not just a shift in direction for Infogrames, but for the entire industry as well.

While suggesting once again that Infogrames will be moving away from single-player console titles, Harrison elaborates that those games will still have a place in the market, but will have to begin integrating connectivity and non-linearity to survive. We'll have to see if there's any truth in these sooth-saying words.

It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that six months from now Warlords will be plenty eligible for delisting. Let's just say that deathmatches have come along way since 1980. But if you choose to respectfully disagree, you can pledge your feeble support to give this Atari classic a permanent home in the XBLA catalog by plunking down a five-spot (400 Microsoft Points). Just remember, some games are better left to memory -- and paddle controllers!

As for Buku Sudoku? Well, there's a reason this is the "first and only" Sudoku game on XBLA. Leave the number crunching to the pencil and paper, and go shoot some more hookers.

As much as we enjoy not paying for things, we here at Joystiq HQ are vehemently opposed to piracy. Partly because we think cheating music, film, and gaming companies out of their hard-earned recompense is a despicable act, but mostly because we don't like equating paltry key-cracking to the visceral thrill of high seas swashbuckling. Apparently, Nolan Bushnell shares our disdain for modern-day "pirates" as well -- in a recent speech to a Wedbush Morgan Securities conference, the Atari founder discussed a new encryption chip which will "absolutely stop piracy of gameplay."

The stealth encryption chip known as TPM will appear on the motherboards of many computers currently being produced, according to Bushnell, and will allow game developers to imbue their future titles with completely uncrackable, unsharable activation passwords. We've found that e-pirates are a resourceful lot, so the prolonged effectiveness of this measure is questionable -- still, it could rejuvenate PC gaming in areas of the world where piracy runs rampant. Lord knows the industry could use a booster shot in Tortuga.

Stopping short of calling Alone in the Dark his troubled (transitioning?) company's "swan song," Infogrames president and Atari legal guardian Phil Harrison has again proposed that the company (meaning Infogrames the parent and Atari the wholly owned US subsidiary) is focused on carving out its place in the budding online gaming business with a stress on social communication. "I don't see that we're going to be making huge-budget, single-player games in the future," Harrison told Gamasutra, adding, "Now, that doesn't mean that we won't have ambition to do really incredible games ... but they won't be one-player, narrative-driven, start-middle-end games."

Will we be hearing the same message if Alone in the Dark manages to answer CEO David Gardner's prayers (to the tune of 2-3 million units sold)? Sounds like it. Harrison has clearly set his sights on taking a "slightly aggressive, leading-edge role" in the online gaming movement where loneliness is the last motif he wants to cultivate and dark days are in the company's past. "We have plenty of titles in our pipeline, and we think [Alone in the Dark] will be an important part of our year, but it's by no means the only part of our year."

The dialog may sound cheesy, but Alone in the Dark looks like it could be good enough (and given our hands-on, maybe even 3 million units good enough) to try when it releases in late June. In the video above, Atari/Infogrames Directeur Général Délégué Phil Harrison speaks to 1Up about being impressed after seeing AitD for the first time and enjoying the narrative structure of the title.

The real highlight in the video is the impressive amount of gameplay footage shown, which gives us a much better idea of what the title will actually be like. We're not sure yet if Alone in the Dark will be "blow your mind" fantastic, but much like The Darkness last summer, it appears well suited in getting some attention from the consoles it'll launch on during a less-than-crowded release time. Don't fret PS3 owners, you should be way too busy with Solid Snake starting June 12 to care about little ol' Edward Carnby.

With some trepidation, I walked into Atari's offices today to check out the newest (and quite possibly final) build of Alone in the Dark. With controller in hand, I started a fresh save file ... only to have three hours blur by and be bombarded with a never-ending series of cinematic, adrenaline-pumping sequences. I was totally unprepared for Eden Studios' bold reimagining of the franchise. This is not your father's Alone in the Dark.

A key point that the Atari representative reiterated throughout my play session was the influence of serialized television in the design of the game. The game is broken up into a series of "episodes," each ending on a cliffhanger. Players are able to select levels and sequences via a menu that resembles something you'd find on a DVD. Not only can players jump to any level they want, but they can skip to specific "chapters" within each episode, as well. Each episode ends with credits, and each new episode starts with a very cute "Previously on Alone in the Dark" recap. (Interestingly, all the episodes are unlocked when a player starts the game. This means if you get stuck at a certain point, you can simply skip to the next chapter and use the recap to see what you missed. The reasoning behind this? Eden wants everyone to finish this game, no matter how challenging the puzzles may get.)

These trivial changes to the presentation are amusing, but the TV inspiration runs much deeper. One season of a great television show has a clear beginning, middle and end. However, each episode usually focuses on one specific issue in an overarching story arc. Alone in the Dark fully embraces the serialized narrative, and uses it to create stunning set pieces in every chapter of every episode we've had an opportunity to play. Alone in the Dark isn't survival horror like we've seen in Silent Hill and Resident Evil. No, it's also about platforming. It's about puzzle solving, first person shooting ... and even driving. Alone in the Dark really is a great season of 24, albeit one with a supernatural twist.

Little known fact: Bandai's NES "Power Pad" was known as "Family Trainer" in Japan. And so old is new again, as Atari has announced the European release of Namco Bandai's thoughtfully named Family Trainer for September (it's called Active Life in the US and hasn't been dated). These days, names like Family Trainer and Active Life certainly conjure a connection to Wii Fit, a "knockoff" if you will, though the new Family Trainer is more a resurrection of that mat from the 80s than another way to get weighed on your Wii.

This "new" Power Pad is bundled with zany feats, forgoing the track and field games that were packaged with the original peripheral for things like log jumping and mine karting in jungles and haunted mansions. Missing the mark? We think so. Price this pad at half the cost of Wii Fit, toss in a Pilates program, and Family Trainer will go platinum, like day one.

[Via Engadget]