In A World . . . where technology threatens to overtake society, one brand resurfaces to save our chaotic conscious and connect us for a more simple existence, yes Atari is back! If you are over 30 there's a chance that just hearing the name "Atari" brings warm nostalgic memories of fun and quite a few endeavors are under way to "cache" (pun intended) in on those memories. From media like books and music to gamification and the internet of things the Atari trademark is looking stronger than ever and is making an impressive statement on the power of branding.

Before we go any further if you aren't familiar with the background of the company that pioneered the video game industry by bringing to market the first successful home video game system to feature interchangeable cartridges, do a little internet search on the name. Here's a youtube video to get you started:

Okay now that we're all up to speed on the background of Atari the important things to note are the role it played in creating the multi-billion dollar video game industry and how it also was a part of nearly killing said industry back in 1984. Although it's arcade and home electronics divisions were split up and then sold, the brand endured existing in one form or another for four decades. At its inception Atari's founder Nolan Bushnell developed a corporate law that their games should be easy to learn and difficult to master. Other company's like Blizzard Entertainment known for its record breaking Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo games have tried to live up to this mantra creating a continuing connection to Atari and giving it credibility even during years when Atari's product sales waned. Bushnell's Law also plays well in the current mobile application market and as we become more connected as a society and look for distractions that reward us, Atari's strategy is quite compelling.

THE ARCHEOLOGY OF ATARI

The legend and legacy of Atari is best shown in the recent attempt to dig up old product that was rumored to have been buried in a landfill decades ago. This tale is told by The Atlantic magazine here:

You can see the documentary mentioned in the above article that was created to chronicle the effort to exhume Atari's history here:

In a way it is mesmerizing just taking in these stories about a company whose product engaged many of us as kids. Geeky gamers (like me) that still have their original Atari 2600 systems often get more enjoyment out of the memories that come rushing back while we struggle to connect ancient RF switches to modern HDMI ports then we do actually replaying the games. It's all a stroll down nostalgia lane. Still the simple graphics in these games allowed our imagination muscles to flex more than today's realistic games do and maybe that leaves a deeper mark on our psyche? Whatever it is that has kept Atari in the back of our minds new products are coming to bring the brand back into the mainstream.

HAVE YOU PLAYED ATARI TODAY?

That was the old Atari company jingle heard in ads and on some systems which acted like a pavlovian call to action for kids just hearing its electronic musical tones. Today though a visit to atari.com allows you to do just that, play new versions of classic Atari games. If the names Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Pong or Yar's Revenge have any meaning to you pay them a visit online and have your own reunion with the classics or you can download the Atari Vault onto your favorite mobile device. Okay before this post begins to read too much like an advertisement let's get to the meat. The latest news story about Atari is not a new video game, it's Hip Hop:

Former-ongoing-future (hard to tell with popular music) Wu-Tang Clan member RZA has cut a deal with Atari to produce an entire album based on the primitive yet memorable electronic music from Atari games. The Nerds and Nostalgists are already salivating. Video games have been a core inspiration for popular music as far back as Buckner & Garcia's Pac Man Fever and many artists have used video games as inspiration for their music. RZA's new endeavor promises an entire album of classic game sounds and songs bringing Atari back into the current cultural mainstream.

If Hip Hop music isn't your favorite form of art then how about, well..art? Formerly thought of as "marketing" the visuals for Atari's products are being compiled into a new book coming out later this year:

Earlier I mentioned that imagination may play a part in the staying power of Atari. While it's games were basic, the box art on Atari's product was as detailed as it was fantastic. In October this year the "Art of Atari" coffee table book will allow readers to reconnect with the images that gave definition to the spartan graphics shot onto cathode ray tubes (TV sets) by Atari's early machines. There was a strategy behind the art to fire up the users imagination and it worked.

ATARI INFLUENCING SOCIETY

More and more businesses are looking to empower and engage their workforce. Gamification or the practice of awarding points for progress and allowing participants to level up through rewards and status is becoming a motivator for private firms and government agencies alike. Just a few years ago Atari made an attempt to correct the "couch potato" image of the gamers they serve (or maybe it was to cash in on the market created by Nintendo's Wii Fit) by creating an application called "Atari Fit" to improve fitness:

Here Atari uses their iconic games as themes and rewards for progress. Atari Fit is the brand's only entry in the arena of gamification although this may be the venue for future growth for the brand. Opportunities exist omni-directionally for the gaming company to provide applications that can improve business and organizational development. Statistics show that there are nearly the same amount of women and men that play video games. By connecting to this group Atari could be a strong competitor in the workforce motivation market.

Another recent pursuit tied to the Atari brand is connecting smart household devices:

At it's surface this appears to be Atari licensing another manufacturer to slap the Atari logo on their product. If we take a deeper look and think about the gamification aspect just discussed we may see that chores and maintenance take on a new dimension. Time is needed for this to develop but one could imagine competing in "Chore Wars" and maybe getting patches like the ones Activision (the first independent developer for video game consoles that evolved into one of the most successful companies in the industry today) use to award to players who had high scores. Ok in the 80's I took crappy polaroid instant pics, mailed them to Activision and earned the Enduro Roadbusters and Megamaniacs patches.

Why am I still proud of this? C'mon you either had 'em too or wish you did, admit it!

ATARI DEFEATS THE TERMINATOR, SAVES HUMANITY

As Artificial Intelligence becomes mainline and promising graduate students entering the job market make more than NFL quarterbacks, fear that the technological singularity is just around the corner is not sounding so crazy anymore. How do we stop computers from taking over and destroying us like they did in James Cameron's "Terminator" movies? We teach them to play games. Not just ancient games like "Chess" or the Japanese strategy game "Go" we teach them to play Atari games! Then the digital development progress is shared openly so "evil" is kept at bay, or something like that. Wired Magazine does a better job of capturing what Elon Musk and his pals are doing with the new think tank company "Open AI" here:

Now that the looming threat of computers becoming our evil overlords is crushed its kind of fun to watch Google's AI learn to play the Atari classics like Montezuma's Revenge:

Ok last fun article on the topic just to drive home Atari's place in developing the future of thinking machines:

With computers learning to learn by playing Atari games and humans finding a better way to be fit and align and integrate themselves in their workplace with a gamified reward system the Atari brand has not only become relevant again its part of an evolution. Perhaps Atari's purpose has always been to connect intelligence through entertainment and that purpose is leveling up!

Believe it or not Atari is going mainstream again.

Have you Lived Atari today?

While playing his share of classic arcade and Atari games, the author makes every attempt to connect entertainment and the fields of engineering, planning and communication to integrate, resonate and evolve!