Atari is fucked. Again.

http://gameological.com/2013/05/atari-et-excavation/

Legendary Atari E.T. dumping ground to be excavated for documentary

http://www.alistdaily.com/strategy/inside-ataris-brand-revival/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpSKPdOVYKg
um.

FINALLY A SPEAKERHAT

It turned to an old friend on Wednesday to rekindle some of the nostalgic marketing mojo when Atari announced a partnership with action figure and collectibles maker NECA to introduce wearable tech products and social audio experiences for the Ridley Scott-directed sequel Blade Runner 2049 .

Atari describes the smart baseball hat as a social synchronous broadcast application that enables multiple Speakerhat users to experience music and other programming simultaneously, and in perfect sync. The Audiowear-powered, Bluetooth-enabled Atari Speakerhat will be complemented with a limited-edition Blade Runner 2049 version, which can be experienced at San Diego Comic-Con this week.

Why is it important for Atari to position the brand in wearable tech products? What are you hoping to accomplish with the Atari Speakerhats in your quest to create next-generation social audio experiences?

Arzt: Atari has always been a company that’s about enjoying entertainment together. Social audio is a logical extension of other forms of shared media that a new generation of Atari fans are already interested in. Younger consumers are all about experiences—whether that’s online games, live events or travel—and sharing these experiences with their community. Wearables are a logical extension of this, enabling this collaborative enjoyment anywhere and anytime. Our new Speakerhats are the first of several active tech products in development that foster this “connected lifestyle.” In the case of the Speakerhats, our partners at Audiowear are working on synchronous technology that effectively evolves old “silent disco” private-listening tech to enable a shared experience. Atari has always been a pioneering brand. It’s about opening up new frontiers in which Atari delivers fun in innovative ways, rooted in the junction of tech and entertainment.

that whole interview is just a horrible, fawning tongue-bath

also, i hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but a lot of fondly-remembered atari 2600 games weren't actually very good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyA9JPh0A_o

That new Atari coffee table book encompasses the totality of Atari's amazingness (i.e. the design and box art).

i really need some help understanding the revolutionary concept of the speakerhat, which is clearly too disruptive for me to grasp right off the bat

are you supposed to get together with a group of friends and all listen to the same music via your speakerhat? cuz you can do that now without speakerhats via the medium of, um, just regular speakers. plus you don't all have to wear the same hat like you've joined a fucking cult

or are you supposed to be wearing a speakerhat and listening to the same thing as your bros, no matter where they are, safe in the knowledge your listening with them will be in perfect sync? cuz uh who the fuck wants to do that

"Social audio"

get fucked imo.

wait, the speakers are in the bill of the hat? so it's blasting tinny audio right into your eyes, which famously allow you to see, not hear? this is like a fucking silicon valley subplot

Thirteen-year-olds are going to be all over this thing for a week before it gets tossed on the pile with the fidget spinners and slap bracelets and dead tamagachis.

I'm reminded of this thing that I was so psyched to receive for Christmas and about which I remained psyched through at least the first couple weeks of January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFGrhrSHkEM

what the actual fuck is that

it's right on the edge of being a tim and eric sketch

Tim & Eric can only ever hope to approximate humankind's limitless capacity for absurdity.

Trying like crazy to remember the name of another thing I got probably the same year, like a giant hockey puck that you kicked around with your feet. I think I made my mom make a special trip to Toys R' Us so I could buy one. I kicked it around in the street for maybe ten minutes before I booted it directly into a storm drain.

stitch that, pennywise

ERIN
LUNCH
PIZZA
BE THERE

that atari coffee table book is the shiznit; loads of fun to page thru

old lunch, are you talking about a skipit?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3MbbQhZfq4

funny how you can feel nostalgic for something that even as a kid you recognised as totally ridiculous

Nah, there was no stick involved. It was literally just a big, puck-shaped chunk of garbage plastic. Even more ridiculous than a Skip-It, somehow.

Just picked up The Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino mentioned above from my local library - an amazing smorgasbord of art from the era, highly recommended!

Nah, there was no stick involved. It was literally just a big, puck-shaped chunk of (-garbage-) plastic. Even more ridiculous than a Skip-It, somehow.

I dunno, man, its apparent disappearance from the world is crazy. Looks like there was a thing called Hot Pucks that came out several years later and is similar but not quite the thing I had (for fifteen minutes).

hot... pucks?

lmao wtf

https://i.imgur.com/1BXCVN3.png

i hate to say it, but atari is fucked. again.

Man that brand name has been attached to do many terrible ideas

congratulations atari, you're the one brandname that's possibly managed to sink _lower_ after being owned by jack tramiel