Atari, a name that spanned the golden age of video games.
In 1971, Nolan Bushnell witnessed a demonstration of billiards by the first-generation champion Miluohua Odyssey.
A good idea slowly rose in his mind.
Back then, no one could have imagined that a terrifying video game behemoth would one day rise from here.
At its peak, Atari's total value could reach as high as $2 billion.
The Golden Age of $2 Billion!
Unfortunately, he didn't get to sit on the throne for very long.
In 1976, Warner Bros., a financial giant, noticed this rising Nova and acquired it.
Warner. believed that Atari could become the next Disney, or even surpass Disney.
Therefore, Warner's top management issued a strict order.
We must achieve rapid growth, by any means necessary!
From Warner's perspective, video games were actually a very strange product. As the Legend Atari 2600 home console sold more and more, the sales of game copies also began to climb, and the profits from games increased.
It's like a highly profitable money-printing machine.
As long as the studio keeps producing games at a frenzy, it's an invincible cash cow.
In fact, this model worked very well until the early 1980s.
Everything went as Warner had predicted; Atari expanded wildly into a behemoth that dominated the entire United States.
The Atari 2600 entered every household, completely surpassing the PC.
Everything seemed to be thriving.
That vibrant scene of life, where everything flourishes, is still vivid in my mind.
Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous corner, Atari's engineers' request for salary adjustments was once again rejected.
Many engineers who contributed significantly to the nation's success were paid less than those who did odd jobs repairing televisions.
Disheartened, they left in large numbers.
Some banded together for mutual support, eventually becoming independent studios like Activision, carving out their own niche. Others... like Gerald, retired from the front lines, bidding farewell to the comforts of video games.
But for Warner, none of that mattered.
Because the Atari 2600 has achieved a terrifying scale effect.
Players would eat any kind of poop, no matter what it is.
Then the year was 1982.
Howard Scott Warshaw, the ultimate scapegoat, Gamenova's first third-party developer, Atari's destroyer, Warner.' fig leaf, has arrived.
This brilliant engineer, who had once made great contributions to Atari, received the most incomprehensible and absurd task of his life.
Just before the Christmas season began, they adapted the rights to " E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.," which Warner Bros. had acquired for a huge sum of money, into a game and released it on the market.
There are only five weeks between when he receives the mission and the Christmas season...
Within five weeks, he needed to design and program the game using purely handwritten assembly language, and complete basic initial debugging.
The remaining time is for Atari to find a way to quickly start production, press and load the goods into trucks for logistics, so that they can make it in time for the Christmas sales.
Warshaw knew it was almost impossible, Atari knew it too. But Warner was never one to back down easily.
Either get it done, or you're all fired.
As it turned out, Warshaw was indeed a genius.
In five weeks, he truly wrote a complete and playable Adventure game from scratch, complete with a puzzle-solving and item collection system, complex map loop structure, and multiple branching endings.
Considering the Atari 2600, the development conditions at the time, and the mere five weeks of development time, Warshaw pushed the limits of what ordinary humans could achieve.
After all, not all companies have a complete set of development tools and an industrial ecosystem like Gamenova.
In fact, Warshaw's "et" actually sold quite well.
The problem still lies with Warner.
Warner. had exceptionally high expectations for this game, demanding that Atari produce several warehouses' worth of copies.
Although Warshaw has now created many interesting little gems under Gamenova, clearing his name of the injustice.
But the massive collapse of that year still weighs heavily on his shoulders.
Or rather, the burden fell on the entire Atari company. Meanwhile, Warner., the true culprit, seemed to have vanished without a trace.
Looking back at the timeline.
Atari was a giant, a once incredibly powerful super-giant.
But like those small studios acquired and dissolved by EA, it was eaten by bigger fish in an era where Feeding Frenzy eat small fish.
We lost Nolan Bushnell, and we lost a host of excellent engineers.
Ultimately, all that remained of Atari was an empty shell.
Then- Atari CEO Tramiel got into the car, looking dejected.
Amidst the deafening cheers of gamers across the United States, Atari entered its final chapter.
These calls were loud and clear, but unfortunately, they weren't cheering for jaguar's final dance.
Instead, they cheered for Gamenova's new title, " Grand Theft Auto."
How he wished these voices were for Atari. Go to Bing search for the latest chapter!
For the Tramiel Family, Atari was not actually a direct descendant.
It was purchased after Tramiel left Commodore.
But for Tramiel, he truly treated Atari as his own flesh and blood.
Atari ST computers, Atari Americas Leopard...
He tried all sorts of things.
But apart from the computer itself, all of these attempts failed completely.
It's as if... as if the world has already rejected Atari.
The confidence that crumbled during the Great Collapse has yet to be restored.
There will be no place for Atari in the gaming world anymore.
Even more frightening is that they've now lost their foothold in the PC market as well.
The Wintel Alliance was unstoppable, Apple was making great strides, and even Gamenova, with its seemingly powerful presence, had quietly taken over the server market. Now, it's all over.
Today he received an invitation from Gamenova.
From any perspective, he had no choice but to keep the appointment.
"Cheer up, Father. I think this is a kind of relief."
As the current de facto leader of Atari, Sam Tramiel is much more optimistic about the situation than his father, Jack Tramiel.
In his view, the Tramiel Family's involvement in these matters was a terrible move from the start.
Being able to dispose of more than half of their shares as soon as possible would be a relief for them.
Otherwise, you'll just watch your assets shrink at lightning speed every day, and no matter how much hair you have, it won't be enough to keep falling out.
"While Atari still has some value, and we can recoup some funds, we can do what we want to do."
This is what they call "selling one's father's land without a care in the world."
Sam only took the helm in the last two years, so he didn't have the sunk costs left by his father's years of hard work. "One should be kinder to oneself."
Jack sighed, finally managing to compose himself.
There was absolutely no need to consult the board of directors when discussing the acquisition with Atari.
Because the father and son sitting in the car held the majority of the shares and had absolute control.
As Sam started the car, the two set off from Silicon Valley, heading straight for Gamenova headquarters.
Welcome, both of you.
Sam (this time from the Lin family) led the two inside.
"This is Gamenova..."
Little Tramiel swallowed hard, his eyes unconsciously scanning the entire floor with greed.
Compared to their assembly line workshop, which felt like a factory, this place seemed more like a place for game developers.
The place is filled with game consoles and arcade machines, and various game cartridges and discs. Posters and related merchandise are piled up everywhere, but they are neatly organized and do not give people a messy feeling.
Even among that vast collection, Tramiel Jr. saw many Atari products.
To him, this was nothing short of a show of force.
I've been to Old Tramiel a few times because of our chip collaboration, so I've gotten used to it.
"Mr. Lin, he..."
"The usual place."
After a quick tour, the three of them hurried upstairs to the reception room.
"Forest."
Old Tramiel first offered his greetings.
He had actually been here many times before and was quite familiar with Lin Lixin.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that from the very beginning, Lin Lixin had been earnestly advising him against getting involved with that damned jaguar stuff.
As Jaguar's progress became increasingly promising, for a time Old Tramiel even wondered if Lin Lixin was saying those things out of concern that Jaguar would steal their market share. But as it turned out, these were just unfounded worries.
They genuinely meant well in reminding me.
Let alone the fifth-generation consoles that haven't been officially announced yet, Gamenova can easily crush Jaguar's games released at the same time with a single release.
In the crowded game stores, consumers would rather huddle together all day to snap up " Grand Theft Auto " than try out Jaguar, let alone buy it.
"Oh, you've arrived?"
Lin Lixin looked up, then casually slammed a document onto the table.
"Revenue in 1991 decreased by 51% year-on-year, leaving only $110 million, with a total net loss of $73.6 million. Cash balance was no more than $40 million, and including securities and debt, it was approximately $53.9 million. R&D expenses for the year were only $9.2 million..."
Based on this year's stock price, the entire Atari is now worth less than $50 million.
This figure is truly appalling for this former industry giant, which was once worth billions of dollars.
"$1.25 per share, to acquire all common stock. Any objections?"
He didn't waste any time and directly explained the current situation and prices of Atari.
In fact, there's not much to say. Let alone $1.25 a share, even at one dollar a share, we could try and get them all.
Offering an extra ten or twenty million dollars in premium is entirely a gesture to the outside world.
It is also a tribute to Jack, the successor who dedicated himself to Atari.
He did indeed give everything he had to save Atari from its precarious state, including all the capital Commodore.
Starting today, Gamenova has finally achieved that final 1% of authenticity.
From this moment on, Gamenova officially ascended the throne, becoming the undisputed and only emperor of North America.