Atari should perhaps look into making its own Resident Evil rip-off.  After all, much like a zombie, nothing seems to kill Atari.  Several failed consoles and different company banners, the name looks about ready to get another rebirth.

Infogrames is interested in changing its name to Atari.  CEO David Gardner said of the decision, “I’d like to consider that; I think that would be the final mark of the transformation from Infogrames to Atari.  We have a new board of directors, a new management team that’s less than a year old — so yes, it’s really continuing. We like to think of Infogrames, instead of being the tired, old company, we like to think of it as the best-funded, best-branded, most energetic start-up in the history of computer gaming.”

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If you happen to own Midway stock, now would be a good time to sell it. In fact, about a year ago probably would have been the best time. Despite a huge loss in 2006, Midway could not course correct in 2007 and bled another $97.4 million. Things do not look good for the house that Mortal Kombat built.

Things aren’t going to be getting any better anytime soon, either. Midway expects another loss for the first quarter of 2008. Yes, this is starting to get into Atari and Sega territory. But, despite all the doom and gloom, Midway is trying to put a positive spin on things. David F. Zucker, president and CEO, said of the future of the company (more…)

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Phil Harrison is no Peter Moore. He’s the quiet type who prefers to stay behind the scenes rather than show off his GTA 4 tattoo to thousands of attendees at gaming expos. Although, lately he’s been at the top of gaming news as the man who left Sony for the sinking ship known as Atari and left behind the platform he helped to succeed.

Though no specific reasons behind his departure have been indicated Harrison was very vocal at GDC recently publicly criticizing Sony Japan for not taking advantage of the booming casual games market. “It’s a very interesting and frustrating thing for me to experience because I have been banging the drum about social gaming for a long time, with SingStar, EyeToy and Buzz,” stated Harrison. “And our Japanese colleagues said that there is no such thing as social gaming in Japan — people do not play games on the same sofa together in each other’s homes. It will never happen. And then out comes the Wii.” (more…)

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Sony has announced that Phil Harrison, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, is leaving the company at the end of February. While an executive departure isn’t usually that big of news, it is when it’s such a high level executive. Such departures can cause quite a shakeup within a company, especially one like Sony which has seen itself rattled a bit over the past few years. The weirdest part of this story? That Harrison might be leaving Sony to take over at Atari.

First, the weird news. If Harrison is to head to Atari after leaving Sony it would surely have to involve a truckload of money and some true power in running the company. At this point Atari as both a company and a brand are pretty bruised. Many assumed the company would not make it through another year unless someone else purchased it. But a big name hire like Harrison might show some confidence in the company’s survival. Certainly a story to watch. (more…)

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