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[SlimeGooGoo]

In the latest of a long line of corporate takeovers, this one is admittedly much smaller in scope, but significant nonetheless: Atari has acquired Mobygames for $1.5 million.

MobyGames is a highly regarded and renowned video game database that stores information on the medium spanning back to the 1950s. It's a time capsule with thousands upon thousands of resources, including data on just about every single Nintendo release ever along with releases across dozens of platforms.

Atari Acquires Video Game Database MobyGames For $1.5 Million

Hmm, what's the angle here, then?

www.nintendolife.com

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

 

[nush]

Who actually owns the Atari brand-name now?

 

[intbal]

Mobygames has always been a fantastic resource.
Guess I better start archiving the entire site before they screw it up.

 

[anthony2690]

I'm more surprised to see that atari has money to acquire something.
Have they even released a game or anything in the last few years?

 

[TransTrender]

I'm more surprised to see that atari has money to acquire something.
Have they even released a game or anything in the last few years?

They're going to hold the site hostage and then crowd source the ransom...probably with NFTs as the 'rewards'

 

[Oddvintagechap]

I'm more surprised to see that atari has money to acquire something.
Have they even released a game or anything in the last few years?

"Atari" is far removed from the Atari youre thinking about. Its just a brand name companies pass like a hooker.

 

[zeorhymer]

Why would Infogrames want a website of game data? Are they going to find which console is getting popular and make games/publish games towards them?

 

[Rentahamster]

Atari has money?

 

[The Pleasure]

I'm more surprised to see that atari has money to acquire something.
Have they even released a game or anything in the last few years?

They released that vcs thing like a year ago and are making games on it.

 

[anthony2690]

They released that vcs thing like a year ago and are making games on it.

But people have to actually own or care about that device. (This is probably the first time I've heard about it since it was announced) like no one even talks about it or acknowledges it.

"Atari" is far removed from the Atari youre thinking about. Its just a brand name companies pass like a hooker.

A cheap hooker that no one really wants.

 

[Craig of War]

 

[The Pleasure]

But people have to actually own or care about that device. (This is probably the first time I've heard about it since it was announced) like no one even talks about it or acknowledges it.



A cheap hooker that no one really wants.

You can put a ssd in it and it runs windows 10. It's a really small mini pc that has okay specs if used to play gog games and middle tier shit.

 

[lh032]

Perhaps Atari would like to venture into telemarketing insurance for gamers?

 

[SeraphJan]

But... Why?

 

[Rest]

So when Atari goes out of business again it's going to drag MobyGames to the bottom with it? This isn't good news.

 

[PuppetMaster]

 

[RAIDEN1]

Atari, a company always in the shadows that could never quite compete with the big boys, (that being said - once upon a time Sega took them as a BIG threat...)

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Fuck! Mobygames is an excellent resource that I use all the time. It's like the IMDb of videogames; I use the site to understand the history of a games development, the skillset of the developer, and how it affects the output of a team or studio.

For example, you could predict back in 2017 that we wouldn't be getting any new, New Super Mario Bros games anytime soon because that team got absorbed into the Zelda team for BotW. Ring Fit Adventure is so surprisingly great because it was the landing spot for many MK8, BotW, and Tomodachi Life developers.

Tldr: R.I.P. gaming history.

 

[nemiroff]

As a user of MobyGames for so many years I can't remember for how many I have this feeling they'd be safer without the Atari brand-name. With that said there might be tons of relevant information I don't have here.

 

[ReBurn]

Who actually owns the Atari brand-name now?

Infogrames bought it and uses it as their primary brand now, Atari SA

Atari has money?

Probably paid in crypto lol https://atarichain.com/

 

[Punished Miku]

I'm more surprised to see that atari has money to acquire something.
Have they even released a game or anything in the last few years?

They just put out a few $10 geometry wars-ish remakes of classic shooters that aren't bad.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Why would Infogrames want a website of game data? Are they going to find which console is getting popular and make games/publish games towards them?

Last year, Atari SA (Infogrames) invested in Antstream, a retro games streaming platform. Purchasing Mobygames echoes what Amazon did when they bought IMDb and the creation of Amazon Prime Video. I assume there will be links to various game streaming services like Antstream, Amazon Luna, Gamepass, ect., on the relevant pages for each game and developer, similar to what IMDb does now.

 

[zaanan]

They are going to memory-hole all ET game records until no one remembers the game crash of 83

 

[Rest]

Fuck! Mobygames is an excellent resource that I use all the time. It's like the IMDb of videogames; I use the site to understand the history of a games development, the skillset of the developer, and how it affects the output of a team or studio.

For example, you could predict back in 2017 that we wouldn't be getting any new, New Super Mario Bros games anytime soon because that team got absorbed into the Zelda team for BotW. Ring Fit Adventure is so surprisingly great because it was the landing spot for many MK8, BotW, and Tomodachi Life developers.

Tldr: R.I.P. gaming history.

Check out HTTrack, it will let you archive many webpages and back them up on your computer. Seems like a good time to back up MobyGames.

HTTrack Website Copier - Free Software Offline Browser (GNU GPL)

HTTrack is a free (GPL, libre/free software) and easy-to-use offline browser utility. It allows you to download a World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer. HTTrack...

www.httrack.com

 

[Captain Toad]

Who actually owns the Atari brand-name now?

I know. I thought there were a few seperate Ataris.

 

[Havoc2049]

This latest reboot of Atari has been making some moves. They switched gears from focusing on licensing and merchandising (t-shirts, hotels, etc.), to the VCS and games. They bought Antstream back in November of last year and also a steak in Moby Games, with an option to buy the whole company, which they just did. The VCS has a steady flow of games and they have been releasing quite a few multi-platform games here of late.

 

[stranno]

There's plenty of room for improvements on Mobygames. I'd include the concepts/characters/locations/objects feature of Giantbomb.

Third-Person Perspective (Concept) - Giant Bomb

The player character is seen at a distance from a number of different possible perspective angles. There is generally a movable camera but it can also be in a fixed position. It most commonly refers to a viewpoint behind the player character.

www.giantbomb.com

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Mobygames has always been a fantastic resource.
Guess I better start archiving the entire site before they screw it up.

Yep. This sucks; they're gonna gut it for crypto and NFT BS. Pay Atari crypto coins to access pages faster.

This brand's been more or less a joke since the end of the Jaguar (aside from a few decent published games during PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era, and the classic emulator consoles I suppose).

This latest reboot of Atari has been making some moves. They switched gears from focusing on licensing and merchandising (t-shirts, hotels, etc.), to the VCS and games. They bought Antstream back in November of last year and also a steak in Moby Games, with an option to buy the whole company, which they just did. The VCS has a steady flow of games and they have been releasing quite a few multi-platform games here of late.

I don't think any of this makes up for the shitshow that was the VCS development prior to release. I followed that stuff and it was a disaster with tons of mistakes along the way. Commend them for getting a product on store shelves (can't say that about the Amico) but it did not live up to the initial concept.

Also I don't really see the point in streaming 2600 games; they're ridiculously small in terms of file size and you'd actually spend more bandwidth streaming it than just downloading it and playing on a device natively. It's not like streaming a RDR2 or GTA V-sized game.

 

[Rat Rage]

What?! This must be money laundering...

 

[Havoc2049]

I don't think any of this makes up for the shitshow that was the VCS development prior to release. I followed that stuff and it was a disaster with tons of mistakes along the way. Commend them for getting a product on store shelves (can't say that about the Amico) but it did not live up to the initial concept.

Also I don't really see the point in streaming 2600 games; they're ridiculously small in terms of file size and you'd actually spend more bandwidth streaming it than just downloading it and playing on a device natively. It's not like streaming a RDR2 or GTA V-sized game.

The Atari Vault collection is included with the VCS and isn't streamed. Antstream has various classic console, computer and arcade games in its streaming service.

I was an Atari console and computer user back in the day during the Warner Comm and Tramiel days and a current retro Atari console and computer gamer. Ya, the real Atari died in 1996. I had zero interest in the VCS and didn't follow its development and the drama. I don't own a VCS, but I am considering buying one this year. Atari has a new CEO and I guess he is a Phil Spencer type guy and a hardcore gamer himself. Atari has a decent amount of games slated for 2022 on both the VCS and multi-platform. I recently bought Asteroids Recharged for the Xbox Series X and it is a legit fun game with a great soundtrack and has me hooked.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

The Atari Vault collection is included with the VCS and isn't streamed. Antstream has various classic console, computer and arcade games in its streaming service.

I was an Atari console and computer user back in the day during the Warner Comm and Tramiel days and a current retro Atari console and computer gamer. Ya, the real Atari died in 1996. I had zero interest in the VCS and didn't follow its development and the drama. I don't own a VCS, but I am considering buying one this year. Atari has a new CEO and I guess he is a Phil Spencer type guy and a hardcore gamer himself. Atari has a decent amount of games slated for 2022 on both the VCS and multi-platform. I recently bought Asteroids Recharged for the Xbox Series X and it is a legit fun game with a great soundtrack and has me hooked.

Well, here's hoping their future prospects are better than what they did in the build-up for the VCS. It's still going to take more time for the wider market to actually respect the brand IMO, but if they're doing honest-to-goodness releases like Asteroids Recharged, they have a chance to redeem their reputation in due time.