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In March of 1998, Hasbro Interactive purchased all of the
intellectual property and remaining assets owned by Atari Corp.
for a mere $5 million. Most industry followers (ourselves
included) predicted that Hasbro would take advantage of the
epic back catalog of classic Atari games and revamp them for
contemporary game consoles and PC. Little did we know,
however, that Atari's new owner was planning a massive
re-launch of the Atari name. Says Richard Cleveland,
Hasbro Interactive's director of marketing, "We want to
take all these wonderful Atari components -- wonderful
titles, wonderful gameplay, wonderful history -- and
rebuild the brand to be the preeminent action-games brand."
And lest any diehard Atari aficionados have any worries that
quality will suffer, Cleveland asserts, "we're taking ownership
of the Atari brand seriously, we know there are a lot of
dedicated Atari fans, and we don't want to disappoint them."
At the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Atari Gaming Headquarters took a tour through Hasbro's booth to see if Hasbro's mission was accomplished. We're glad to report that they're on the right track. We've provided a sneak preview of Q*Bert, Missile Command, Pong, Centipede and The Next Tetris -- the first titles that will be using the Atari name. Star Raiders, Breakout are next in line to go under the knife. We can hardly wait...
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