Author: The Paranoid (p5B17CE3C.dip0.t-ipconnect.de)
Date: 01-05-2013 14:18
Hi,
i'm not sure i know which term "Atari" you refer to.
So let's try an overview:
The "great gaming company" no longer exists. As a matter of fact, the brand name is still in use, mainly for classic remakes of Atari classics for browsers, facebook and iOS/Android.
That's all what remains of Atari today, after Infogrames acquired the brand name (and most of its gaming related assets) and screwed it up. Full stop.
That doesn't mean the products Atari stood for in the past have completely vanished. On the contrary:
There's more interest in the classic video computer system Atari VCS 2600 than ever before (e.g. http://www.atariage.com).
The Atari 5200 and 7800 are actually covered there, too, but lacking the fame of the 2600, they are not as lively as the 2600 (Same goes for the Lynx and the Jaguar).
The Atari 8-bit computers have their dedicated users mostly in Poland and Czechia and this scene still develops hardware add-ons, games, utilities and demos for this system.
The Atari 16/32-bit computers have their fans mainly in central europe (France, U.K., Germany, Sweden, Finland) and a bit of eastern europe (Poland, Czechia).
Naturally, it's a good amount of nostalgia that keeps these scenes going and as such, they hardly attract "newbies".
In case you plan to contact Atari directly, please do me a favour: I am trying to find out who owns the rights for Atari's 16/32-bit operating system "TOS". I tried contacting them but they keep ignoring me, so in case you actually manage to get a reply, please ask them for me :-)
Good luck with the research,
The Paranoid / Paradox
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