Atari: Witchers, RPGs, Cooks, and ... Deer Hunters

E3 08 Instant Booth Tour

Win An Xbox 360 Easy Question Numero Three

Yes, yes we are giving away a modded Xbox 360 this week. You just might win it! Here's contest: Everyday at 12 noon Kotaku Time, we will ask one question for a grand total of five questions at the end of week. Each answer will be buried somewhere in Kotaku — yes, it's a scavenger hunt. (But, this contest will be cone hat/stormtropper leg free!) So simply answer each day's question and save them for Friday. Because on Friday, July 11th, we shall ask the last question. The 11th person to send kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom all the questions this Friday (with links) and all the correct answers (with links) will win. The questions will not be hard. Well, not that hard. First question goes up later today. Remember, you are only sending us your answers this Friday, not before and not after. FRIDAY.

Also, anyone who puts answers below in the comments or elsewhere will be banned and mocked. Hit the jump for the second easy question — and the first one, in case you missed it.

In case you missed our initial post, we are giving away an Xbox 360 this week. All you have to First question. Here's contest: Everyday at 12 noon Kotaku Time, we will ask one question for a grand total of five questions at the end of week. Each answer will be buried somewhere in Kotaku — yes, it's a scavenger hunt. (But, this contest will be cone hat/stormtropper leg free!) So simply answer each day's question and save them for Friday. Because on Friday, July 11th, we shall ask the last question. The 11th person to send kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom all the questions this Friday (with links) and all the correct answers (with links) will win. The questions will not be hard. Well, not that hard. First question goes up later today. Remember, you are only sending us your answers this Friday, not before and not after. FRIDAY.

Also, anyone who puts answers below in the comments or elsewhere will be banned and mocked. Hit the jump for the second easy question — and the first one, in case you missed it.

Nolan Bushnell's Opinion of Atari

While not running uWink restaurants or heading up an in-game ad firm, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell (pictured) likes to talk up the state of the game industry. Bushnell's been around, so his insights are often insightful! In an interview with game site Gamasutra, Bushnell talks about how the hardware wars are "probably over", saying that "it's ridiculous to talk about how my photorealism is better than your photorealism." He also offers on the modern incarnation of Atari:

Well, you know, I've always had a dream of architecting the reversal of fortune. The real problem that Atari has really had for the last 15 years is that it hasn't stood for anything. I think a name and a brand has to stand for something, otherwise it's not a brand. It's a logo. I think that the people who have been running it have never had a core vision.

I always had a core vision of what Atari was going to mean, and I believe that without that, you're just flopping around, and you will end up having a hit and then a miss, and you're not creating any value. So I strongly urge them to have some core values, hopefully, that are going to be important in the future.

Words of wisdom!

Nolan Bushnell: What The Game Industry Misses [Gamasutra]

First Easy Xbox 360 Question

In case you missed our initial post, we are giving away a modded Xbox 360 this week. All you have to First question. Here's contest: Everyday at 12 noon Kotaku Time, we will ask one question for a grand total of five questions at the end of week. Each answer will be buried somewhere in Kotaku — yes, it's a scavenger hunt. (But, this contest will be cone hat/stormtropper leg free!) So simply answer each day's question and save them for Friday. Because on Friday, July 11th, we shall ask the last question. The 11th person to send kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom all the questions this Friday (with links) and all the correct answers (with links) will win. The questions will not be hard. Well, not that hard. First question goes up later today. Remember, you are only sending us your answers this Friday, not before and not after. FRIDAY.

Also, anyone who puts answers below in the comments or elsewhere will be banned and mocked.

First question: What uncooked food can Weekend Editor Owen wolf down near his other job?

Answer Easy Questions, Win Xbox 360

Contest time! We are giving away an Xbox 360. This will be a one-week contest, and a very easy one. Here's contest: Everyday at 12 noon Kotaku Time, we will ask one question for a grand total of five questions at the end of week. Each answer will be buried somewhere in Kotaku — yes, it's a scavenger hunt. (But, this contest will be cone hat/stormtropper leg free!) So simply answer each day's question and save them for Friday. Because on Friday, July 11th, we shall ask the last question. The 11th person to send kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom all the questions this Friday (with links) and all the correct answers (with links) will win. The questions will not be hard. Well, not that hard. First question goes up later today.

Remember, you are only sending us your answers this Friday, not before and not after. FRIDAY.
Alone in the Dark [Official Site]

Well, would you? Seriously. Reason we're asking is that last week Atari sought to have their name trademarked in association with “internet protocol phones” and “residential telephone apparatus composing telephones and telephone connecting units”. Before you ask, yes, that's the gaming Atari doing the trademarking, not some random, other Atari. This would be the part where we try and find a good reason the company would be bothering with this, but really, there's little salvation to be found amongst the thought of an Atari phone.

Atari [Trademork]

Alone in the Dark's got a pretty great physics engine! Everything breaks like it should, everything burns like it should...everything, that is, except this car. It's a little tougher than you'd expect in real life. And when the going gets tough, the tough...use the Benny Hill theme to take the piss.

Infogrames-Controlled Atari Gets 49 Percent Of Publishing Revenues From DBZ

For fiscal 2008, Atari reported net revenues of $80.1 million, as compared with $122.3 million for the year previous, the company's annual report revealed. This represents a steady year-over-year decline for the publisher since fiscal 2005, when its revenues were $343.8 million.

"We rely on borrowings to meet our operating needs," said Atari, now that it has no more substantially-valued IP to sell. Atari's majority shareholder, Infogrames SA, will preserve Atari through an acquisition and a $20 million loan, while BlueBay High Yield Investments has also loaned Atari $14 million.

Atari also relies heavily on publishing revenues from a single franchise - Dragon Ball Z, which it says generated 49.1 percent of its net publishing revenues in fiscal 2008. Godzilla accounts for 9.2 percent.

Atari now primarily acts as a North American publisher-distributor for Infogrames-licensed titles. In kind, Atari has licensed its Test Driver and Test Driver Unlimited properties for seven years to Infogrames, and the language in the annual report suggests a tense relationship:

Former CEO Of Struggling Atari Got One Hell Of A Golden Parachute

Atari's fiscal 2008 annual report shows just how dire the publisher's situation has become over the years. Beginning late in 2005, the company began a gradual and aggressive scale-back of its development activities, and by the end of 2007, it had sold away all of its development studios. The company now reveals that it's remained in debt just to sustain its operational costs.

Infogrames SA has long been a majority shareholder in Atari, and announced it would officially acquire the company (and loan it $20 million) in April 2008. One of Infogrames' founders, Bruno Bonnell, was Atari's chairman and CEO until April 2007, presiding over the company's decline.

On April 4, 2007, Bonnell was asked by Infogrames to resign, and the company agreed to pay him to step down. "Golden parachute" scenarios for corporate executives asked to resign during difficult times are not unusual. Yesterday, we reported that Activision chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick earned a $3,079,798 bonus for leading the company through a banner year. So how much did Bonnell receive in departure cash?

Friendly Dragon Ball Reminder!

Last minute rush! Don't forget! Those hoping to enter our make-dragon-balls contest need to get their entries in by midnight Kotaku Time tonight. Voting will be later this week. Need inspiration? Check out the jello dragon ball reader Caleb made — complete with fruit roll-up stars. To bring everyone up to speed: Make a Dragon Ball. The best damn Dragon Ball you can! It cannot be drawn or virtual — it must be an actual three dimension Dragon Balls. Now! If you don't know what Dragon Balls look like, you can click here. While the Dragon Balls you make should look like actual Dragon Balls, feel free to get creative with what you use to make them. The finalists will win either the PS3 version or Xbox 360 version of Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit. Be sure to send entries to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom and include a Kotaku sign. Losers get INTERNET FAME.

Another jello DB from reader wasabi32746 after the jump!

Back in 1992, Infogrames delivered unto PC gamers one of the scariest experiences they'd encountered to date in the form of Alone in the Dark, the first 3D survival horror game. I myself spent many a night playing the original title, guiding Edward Carnby through that haunted Louisiana mansion, scared out of my mind but unable to pull myself away, like a nightmare you can't wake up from.

Sixteen years and three lackluster sequels later, Infogrames subsidiary Atari and developer Eden Games attempt to breath new life (and new death) into the series with an all-new Alone in the Dark, featuring a strangely displaced Edward Carnby in a modern-day setting. New setting, new gameplay, and terrifying new enemies, none of which are more terrifying than your average game critic.

Sandy Dragon Balls, Yoke's On You!

Those aren't just any old Dragon Balls. Those are Dragon Balls from Kuwait! Looks like eggs on the sand, but we are not sure. Just guessing. Still, we thank reader RafiRAF fro that!! Er, them. To bring everyone up to speed: Make a Dragon Ball. The best damn Dragon Ball you can! It cannot be drawn or virtual — it must be an actual three dimension Dragon Balls. Now! If you don't know what Dragon Balls look like, you can click here. While the Dragon Balls you make should look like actual Dragon Balls, feel free to get creative with what you use to make them. The contest wraps up later this month. The finalists will win either the PS3 version or Xbox 360 version of Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit. Be sure to send entries to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom and include a Kotaku sign. Losers get INTERNET FAME.

Hit the jump for CONFIRMED DBZ BALL egg action! And not just any old eggs...

New Alone In The Dark Trailer Shows The Horror Of Forgetting Your Address

To say that I've personally paid little attention to Atari's resuscitation of Alone In The Dark would be an understatement. But with a trailer this oddball, featuring some curiously out of place stunt drivin' and an off the beaten path soundtrack — what, no nu metal? — I'm morbidly curious, despite the early poor reviews and current hubbub. Sure, it's a gray and brown mess that looks far too much like a Silent Hill B-side, but it has flying lamprey demons versus helicopters. This could be a disaster of delicious proportions.

Back when I was your age, we played games that sucked and were no fun and we liked it, because it built character, and building character was fun (it was an early form of achievement farming). In fact, we used a slide projector to create finger-shadow combatants for Mortal Kombat, and it was a hoot when granddad had to roll the dice correctly in the correct order to get a fatality.

So that's a big brown blip on the bullshit radar, isn't it. Yeah, thought so. Instead for you, GamesRadar has a comprehensive timeline of all of the video game consoles of the 1970s and I was surprised to learn just how many there were besides the 2600 and the Pong console. Oh, some family friends had the Fairchild (above), that made visiting their home like going to a foreign country where the toilets flushed backward. Except for the Odyssey (actually, we only saw the Odyssey II) I don't think anything other than the Atari retailed in my hometown. Then again, we didn't get a McDonald's until 1980. We had to have our birthday parties at a typewriter repair shop. And we liked it!

Consoles of the 70s [GamesRadar]

Big game hunters, the next big thing in virtual hunting is heading your way in the form of Deer Hunter Tournament. Since the release of the original Deer Hunter, one thing the developers at SouthLogic Studios noticed was that the community of hunters were banding together to create their own tournaments. Following their lead, SouthLogic has made this next iteration all about the tournaments. The tournament system is built right into the game and the PC version will get actual licensed sponsors with prizes. Each player will run the tournament gauntlet in their own private area so you won't have to be fighting other hunters for the big prize. Scouting missions can also be taken on, giving the player an opportunity to study a particular area and its animals eating habits before diving in. World wide tournament results will be accessible through the game so players can see how they stack up against other hunters.

Deer Hunter aims to be the most realistic hunting game on the market and from what I saw, they are certainly meeting their goal. The animal AI is extremely intelligent and a lot of work has gone into studying the various animals to get the most realistic response possible. Everything from sight distance to smell distance have been included so if you're downwind of a deer that catches a whiff of you, you may find your target heading for the hills. "Dangerous prey" is also present so be careful when tracking and shooting that grizzly bear or cougar. One wrong move could see you getting mauled or worse.