Atari SA is a French holding company and the current owner of the Atari brand name. The company was founded as Infogrames Entertainment SA in June 1983 in France by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet. As Infogrames, the company quickly became the major French developer, with many acquisitions - both developers and distributors - first in Europe, later all over the world, and creating various subsidiary companies.
Infogrames would start publishing Test Drive games upon the purchase of Accolade in 1999 as part of its strategy to become more global. Infogrames would transform Accolade into a subsidiary called "Infogrames North America".
In 2013 Atari SA's North American subsidiaries entered bankruptcy and would begin to sell its game assets and developers. The rights to the Test Drive intellectual property would be sold to Bigben Interactive (later renamed Nacon) - in December 2016.[1]
The Original Atari[]
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception. The original Atari, Inc was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in California, United States of America. The original company was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles and computers, with their products such as Pong and the Atari 2600 helping define the computer entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.
They quickly became one of the biggest players in the US arcade industry and was bought by Warner Communications, Inc. in 1976, continuing with the introduction of its VCS console in 1977 and their 8-Bit home computer systems in 1979, but were hit hard by the videogame crash of 1983. In 1984 the consumer electronics division and the arcade division would be split - The arcade division was split into Atari Games Inc. and would eventually become a subsidiary of Time Warner Interactive in 1992, and the Consumer Electronics Division was sold to Tramel Technology Ltd. and renamed Atari Corporation.
In 1996 Atari Corporation reverse merged with disk drive manufacturer JT Storage (JTS), and was folded. Atari assets would then be acquired by Hasbro Interactive in 1998, forming a division called Atari Interactive, Inc. as the holder of the Atari properties, and using the brand for publishing retro themed arcade game remakes.
Rebranding of Infogrames into Atari[]
Logo used as Infogrames
In January 2001, Infogrames Entertainment, SA - which at the time was the publisher of Test Drive games, among other series - fully acquired Hasbro Interactive and along with it, the Atari brand name.
Following the purchase, Infogrames began to use the Atari brand for a number of games (Including Test Drive: Overdrive), and then in May 2003, Infogrames would completely re-brand all it's subsidiaries under the Atari brand, taking on the famed gaming mantle, and became a holding company. In 2009, Infogrames' board decided to unify the group under the Atari brand and Infogrames Entertainment SA was renamed Atari SA, which effectively retired the company's armadillo logo in the process.[2][3]
Games[]
Test Drive games developed by Infogrames North America (former Accolade)[]
| Game | Release | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Test Drive Off-Road 3 | 1999 | PlayStation, Microsoft Windows |
| Test Drive Cycles | Cancelled | PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast |
Test Drive games published[]
As Infogrames[]
| Game | Release | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Test Drive 6 | 1999 | PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color |
| Test Drive Off-Road 3 | 1999 | PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Color |
| Test Drive Le Mans | 1999 | PlayStation |
| 2000 | Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | PlayStation 2 | |
| 2002 | Microsoft Windows | |
| Test Drive Cycles | 2000 | Game Boy Color |
| Test Drive 2001 | 2000 | Game Boy Color |
| Test Drive Off-Road Wide Open | 2001 | Xbox, PlayStation 2 |
| TD Overdrive: The Brotherhood of Speed | 2002 | PlayStation 2, Xbox, Microsoft Windows |
As Atari[]
| Game | Release | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Test Drive: Eve of Destruction | 2004 | PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| Test Drive Unlimited | 2006 | Xbox 360 |
| 2007 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable | |
| Test Drive Unlimited 2 | 2011 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends | 2012 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows |
Games published in association with the Test Drive brand[]
As Infogrames[]
| Game | Release | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Test Drive V-Rally | 2000 | Dreamcast |
References[]
- ↑ Website: MCV/DEVELOP (2016). Available at: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/bigben-has-acquired-the-test-drive-brand/0176762
- ↑ Website: Mobygames. Available at: https://www.mobygames.com/company/atari-holdings-inc
- ↑ Website: Mobygames. Available at: https://www.mobygames.com/company/atari-inc