The news that Atari are backing away from boxed product will be welcome by anyone who has had the misfortune to play any of their recent releases. I can't be the only one who is still suffering flashbacks about the Alone in the Dark controls?
So the move to online makes sense. After all, they have nothing to lose. And who knows, with focused teams working on smaller games built round a community that still has some attachment to the brand we could see some sort of return to the heady days of the late 70s/early 80s when the Atari ruled the gaming world. Well, that's the theory anyway. As always it depends on the quality of games – brand attachment only takes you so far. Sure, older gamers – if they ignore the last few years of Atari mediocrity – will have nostalgic memories of Pitfall and the rest. But does Atari still mean anything to today's gamers?
