Atari could be considered the father of the home consoles. They even had classics in the arcades with cabinets like Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command. Starting the home gaming trend was good in all, but that couldn't absorb the boom of the video game market crash that they caused.
Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, was booted off the company by Warner Bros (who owned Atari at the time) due to the "hippy culture" he started at Atari. And Warner Bros didn't like that. Buisnessman Ray Kassar would become the replacement for Bushnell. Ray Kassar is a buttoned down, suit and tie kind of guy. Two noticable changes occured when Kassar took control. First, simple things like you have to wear socks in the office now. The major problem is that programmers aren't getting credit for thier work. They're like programming monkeys. In response some of the best game designers like David Crane decide to do something quite different.
Third party companies are common today, but a company called Activision took a different approach and created their own games on the Atari 2600. The million dollar question is who made the best games on the 2600. Pitfall, Stampede, River Raid, Kaboom, all those games were made by Activision. Activision stole the success! Then in 1983, Atari fell apart and video games were nearly dead for the next two to three years.
In 1986, Nintendo is dominating the gaming market and pretty much crushing every company in its path. Atari makes a comeback, but it's a little too late. The console that got released in 1986 was the Atari 7800, which was originally going to be released in 1984. This console would've have acually been a good console in '84, but in '86 Nintendo has moved gaming forward to a new level. And the games on the 7800 are arcade ports. Yeah, revolutinary stuff right. Don't get me wrong, those games are classics but in order to stay alive with a powerhouse like Nintendo, you must go forward. Once again, Atari can't show its potential.
Finally, the Atari Jaguar. That just spells out disaster already. The Jaguar was the first 64-bit console, but that couldn't do anything to help the lifespan. Most of the games were mediocre, and the controller was like no other. I mean that it was terrible. You know your console is a failure when many Jaguar consoles are now being used for dental equipment. No joke, look it up.
First, Atari should've have treated their designers better by giving them credit, then it was two years too late, and then they were trying to get back in it again, but they only hurt themself more. Atari seemed to never really show their true potential. So classic gamers, take a moment to remember what Atari did right while in their prime.
Third party companies are common today, but a company called Activision took a different approach and created their own games on the Atari 2600. The million dollar question is who made the best games on the 2600. Pitfall, Stampede, River Raid, Kaboom, all those games were made by Activision. Activision stole the success! Then in 1983, Atari fell apart and video games were nearly dead for the next two to three years.
In 1986, Nintendo is dominating the gaming market and pretty much crushing every company in its path. Atari makes a comeback, but it's a little too late. The console that got released in 1986 was the Atari 7800, which was originally going to be released in 1984. This console would've have acually been a good console in '84, but in '86 Nintendo has moved gaming forward to a new level. And the games on the 7800 are arcade ports. Yeah, revolutinary stuff right. Don't get me wrong, those games are classics but in order to stay alive with a powerhouse like Nintendo, you must go forward. Once again, Atari can't show its potential.
Finally, the Atari Jaguar. That just spells out disaster already. The Jaguar was the first 64-bit console, but that couldn't do anything to help the lifespan. Most of the games were mediocre, and the controller was like no other. I mean that it was terrible. You know your console is a failure when many Jaguar consoles are now being used for dental equipment. No joke, look it up.
First, Atari should've have treated their designers better by giving them credit, then it was two years too late, and then they were trying to get back in it again, but they only hurt themself more. Atari seemed to never really show their true potential. So classic gamers, take a moment to remember what Atari did right while in their prime.