In these modern times, we make fun of Pong, but it was a cutting edge game in its day. There are those of a certain age who played the game, who sat in front of a television for hours moving a cursor up and down to hit a bouncing ball of light, and they were having fun.
Atari fell on hard times as the competition for home video games exploded. Pong just didn't cut it after a while.
Then along came more complex games like Centipede....and Missile Command.
They, too, fell by the wayside as Nintendo and Sega created better graphics and more complex games. Atari couldn't keep up. Everyone figured they were dead.
The resurrection is coming. The new and improved Atari game company is bringing back Missile Command, to introduce a simple yet amusing game to a younger generation.
The plan of CEO Jeff Lapin is to create games for online play at sites like Facebook, where gaming is popular. If you're already wasting time on your social networking, just wait. Missile Command is strangely addictive. You'll get no work done and lose your job before long.
Modern video games are expensive to produce and the money isn't there. By going with online distribution, Atari has a chance of carving out a niche for itself, and if it can turn a profit, it might grow itself back into the big leagues.
But wait, there's more.
Atari is represented by International Creative Management, which is working on a deal to make the video game Asteroids into a movie. Tron was cutting edge in its day and that was based on the notion of the video game. Don't laugh.
Let the games begin.
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