Save Atari! -- Xiomy Sam

Save Atari

Xiomy Sam DIG 3043 | Professor Madeline

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Company Background

Quick refresher! Atari originally started as a small company from California. It was made in the radical year of 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Over the course of five decades, it exploded in a massive gaming company, and eventually became acquired by Nintendo. They were responsible for games like what some called the world’s first video game called Pong, along with the infamous Centipede. They were also responsible for the Atari 2600 gaming console, which was one of the first home video gaming consoles. They also had Steve Jobs as an employee at one point.

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The Problem

Picture this: it’s the summer of 1982, and Steven Spielberg is about to release a movie about a peculiar space alien that wants to come home, complete with flying bikes and a lovely shot of the moon. Spielberg wanted a tie-in game for his movie, but due to fights over rights and money, the programmer Howard Scott Warshaw only had five weeks to make the game a reality. Warshaw didn’t turn down the offer, and tried his best. Then the 1982 holiday season comes around, and Atari releases a game called “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”. The hype around the game was only exacerbated by the movie about to release with it. People rushed in droves to buy the game, not knowing that the game wasn’t tested for any defects lingering in the levels. Within weeks, “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial” video game caused a lot of players frustration, and within in a year, nearly caused the gaming industry to crash.

Scope of the Downfall

The financial losses were huge, and the E.T. game only added more fuel to the fire.

Layoffs

Cost of Production

Market Saturation

Company Focus Shift

CEO Ray Kassar focused more of his efforts into marketing for Atari versus creating high quality games.

Several companies jumping into video game development, some with their own takes on preexisting games.

It cost roughly 20-25 million dollars to license and there were millions spent on making cartridges for the game.

The CEO was fired, hundreds of employees were laid off, programmers were making horrible games.

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The Revival Strategy

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So What Can We Do?

Atari only has so much money, and our competitors are fierce. We can’t compete against Nintendo's Super Mario Bros or Sega's Zaxxon...Or can we? Firstly, Atari should go back to their roots and embrace ones of their strengths: their innovative and creative side. With this, they create more games that we're passionate about. Most of the best games that Atari has ever made came from a place of passion, so let's use it! And while we're at it, Atari should try to differentiate itself by making new games that other's haven't dared tried yet. Yes, I am advocating for changing from a red ocean to blue ocean. Atari shouldn't be known for making duplicate games and hoping one sticks. Atari should be known for branching out, trying new game genres, and expanding the market. We do not need another version of Pac-Man, no matter how tempting that idea might seem.

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So What Can We Do? (Continued)

Secondly, we utilize the full power of our new marketing skills. I know the shift from game quality to marketing wasn't the best, but we can turn it around and use it to our benefit. We rely heavily on televisions. Get our commercials on more channels, especially ones based around leisure outside of gaming. Maybe sprinkle some in between sports game breaks, even! Get some spots on the radio, too! And when all else fails, rely on printing: flyers, and even billboards too. Outside of that, we should also do promotional events, like little pop-up stores that offer free trials of upcoming Atari games, competitions where you can win merchandise, and throw in some arcade offers too. We can even take a big risk and get celebrity endorsements. Granted, we don't know which celebrities our audience likes, but we can still try to get someone like Robert De Niro to say something about Atari.

What Else?

Lastly, we need a more dominant way to engage with our community. We can hire better talent for customer service, engage directly with our community in gaming forums, and even use the classic arcade promotions to get more people engaged, and strengthen community. I also suggest that we create more gaming clubs, and have some staff from our company moderate them and foster a more open and enjoyable community. Doing all of these actions will make Atari more welcoming, proactive, and most importantly, enjoyable for our precious community.

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Conclusion

Therefore, the way we can save Atari is by first, going back to our roots. Engage in more creative and innovative pursuits when it comes to creating games. Atari should also try to differentiate itself among its competitors instead of coping what everyone else is doing so they don't get lost among other companies or titles. Secondly, Atari should embrace the new changes that the Warner Communications has brought them, and employ their robust marketing department. Advertise on TV, radios, do pop up shops, host competitions, even send out flyers if the need be. We also should strengthen aspects of our community and customer engagement with better customer service, engage in forums posted online, use arcade promotions, and create and moderate more gaming clubs to make Atari better outside of our games and consoles.

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Call to Action

By following this revival plan, Atari will become the powerhouse we know it can become. Our defining features will not be limited to E.T. and the programmer associated with it. Atari will be able to push through, reinvent some aspects of itself, and become triumphant despite living in a heavily saturated market, or sudden leadership changes due to our acquisition. Atari is built with passion being one its core fundamentals. Passion is what made Atari become what it is today. And I ardently believe that passion is what will save us from this tough spot that we're in, just like it did Indiana in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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Sources

https://www.npr.org/2017/05/31/530235165/total-failure-the-worlds-worst-video-game https://atari.com/pages/history?srsltid=AfmBOop9LvDereEJmBaqkRrzQqF3oMLafGd4layJVftwjaj9Yllom5LB The E T. game on atari 2600 wasnt a flop - GameFAQsGameFAQshttps://gamefaqs.gamespot.com › 204-classic-gaming https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1978tvsets.pdf https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marketing-1980s-today-differs-several-ways-stephan-le-roux#:~:text=In%20the%201980s%2C%20marketing%20was,size%2Dfits%2Dall%20approach. https://medium.com/@Nathans_Tweets/what-we-can-learn-from-the-rise-and-fall-of-atari-5a6bedffe381