Atari Takes a Trip Back to the Future

June 8, 2011 at 6:00 am PT

Atari SA, a onetime pace-setter in videogames, has a new plan to become relevant again.

The company, whose games have faded from prominence since their early ’80s heyday, is reinventing its classic software titles—like “Pong,” “Battlezone” and “Asteroids”—for new game platforms. Key targets include Apple Inc.’s iPhones and iPads and Facebook Inc.’s social-networking site.

It’s the latest in a series of zigs and zags for the company since the late 1970s, when Atari was known for arcade games and home game consoles. After exiting the console market in 1996 amid stiff competition and going through multiple changes in ownership, the company focused mainly on software but has found the going tough there, too.

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Tagged with: Apple, Asteroids, Atari, Battlezone, Facebook, iPad, iPhone, Pong

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