... this article was sent world-wide today over the Usenet - i thought that
people here might enjoy knowing what REALLY happened to us.

							Peter.



>This was taken off of Delphi by STReport, an Atari oriented newsletter:

> Ctsy Delphi

> 13361 14-FEB 01:33 General Information
>      Stoned
>      From: VGHOWARD     To: ALL

> (Miscellaneous mail to VG&CE that can't be answered in the magazine for
> various reasons -- usually legal -- will be done so here whenever time
> permits by MR. VIDEO GUY.  In this installment, MR. VIDEO GUY uncovers the
> Grand Video-Gaming Conspiracy.)

> Dear VG&CE:

>     I'm a 16-year-old video-game player and was wondering if you could
> shed light on the first "Golden Age" of video games, the time when Atari
> was king.  What ever happened to this company?  How did they lose their
> position in the business to what it is today? Thanks, and I also wanted
> to write to tell you what a fantastic job you guys are doing!

>                                        --Debbie Debs   Rainsalot, CA




> MR. VIDEO GUY RESPONDS:

>     Upon losing millions by the end of 1983, Atari was sold by its
> parent, Warner Communications, and, thus, the Golden Age of video games
> came to an abrupt end.  Supposedly, this "crash" came due to Americans'
> waning interest in playing video-games with blocky graphics and dinky
> sound.  Nintendo revived the industry in 1985, through careful marketing
> and keen observation of what went wrong the first time around.  This is
> the "truth" according to many, including VG&CE's Arnie "Mr. Video-Gaming
> Know-It-All" Katz.

>     Don't believe any of this for a second, Deb.  This textbook fairy tale
> is the biggest perpetrated lie in video-gaming today.  How could Atari
> Inc., one  of the top American corporations in the early 80's, be deemed a
> financial loser even though its losses didn't come close to overcoming its
> past profits, taking inflation into account as well?   Why did Warner act
> uncharacteristically jittery about these losses?  Couldn't one of the
> world's biggest media conglomerates absorb Atari's losses for a lot longer
> than they actually did?  Consider the smaller company NEC and their
> TurboGraphX-16.  In the book ZAP! -- THE RISE AND FALL OF ATARI,
> mismanagement is blamed for the video-game giant's demise.  But even if
> this were the case (which is dubious), why didn't Warner execs just ax the
> boneheads in charge of Atari and replace them?  And who says mismanagement
> itself justifies the dismantling of an entire industry?  Look at the
> American auto industry.  I know what you're thinking..."Whoa, Mr. Video
> Guy has gone off the deep end because of his bitterness from not getting a
> promotion where he works."  Yet before you write me off as another
> conspiracy paranoic, ask yourself these questions:

>          (1) Who would've benefited from Atari's death?
>          (2) Who could've pulled it off?
>          (3) Who could've covered it up?  Who?

>     Atari didn't die, Miss Debs.  It was killed -- by NINTENDO.  Some
> facts:  From the late 1970's to early 80's, Atari dominated the coin-op
> scene.  Clearly, the beginning of the video-game industry was not only
> American invented but influenced, too.  The only stride that the Japanese
> made during these times was Space Invaders, but they were still too busy
> hawking pachinko, their lame-o answer to pinball.  Eventually, it was
> clear to the Japanese entertainment industry that America, along with the
> rest of the world, would never be hip to Japanese pop music and Akira
> Kurosawa flicks.  Already the masters of consumer electronic gadgetry.,
> they, naturally, wanted to produce a cultural export.  After all,
> America's most profitable export is its culture, in the form of bad
> movies, dumb TV shows, and tone-deaf pop songs.  How else do you explain
> Jerry Lewis and the French?

>     There was only one avenue left for Japanese entertainment to try
> pervading; video-games.  But one thing stood in their way, Atari. Not eve
> n the American companies Mattel and Coleco could topple Atari's grip. 
> Competing coin-op game makers also failed to break the company's equally
> tight hold in the arcades, among them Sega.  So, you see, Debbie, lots of
> companies on both fronts wanted Atari dead.

>     Let us now SPECULATE the events that might have occurred leading up to
> that tragic day in 1983... 

> * - Japan's #1 cheesy LCD "card" game maker Nintendo (overconfident by the
>     success of their Donkey Kong coin-op and sequels) forms a secret
>     alliance with Japan's #1 coin-op game company Sega (producers of
>     pretty looking but quickly boring-to-play arcade games) to look at the
>     possibility of unseating Atari in the video-game marketplace.  

> * - Atari sells over five million units of Pac-Man for their 2600 unit.  
>     Sears declares the cartridge the second fastest selling item they've
>     ever carried.  Seeing how Atari is so powerful that it can literally
>     slap together an atrociously bad arcade translation and make nearly a
>     billion dollars unsettles the Nintendo/Sega alliance.  Prompted also
>     by the fact that Mattel's superior Intellivision still isn't taking
>     off (despite TV endorsements by boring George Plimpton and what
>     Nintendo/Sega feels is its excellent pad controllers), they decide to
>     back off for now.

> * - (Late 1982)  Nintendo cohorts with Coleco to bring Donkey Kong to the
>     former leather company's new ColecoVision system, and Sega 
>     contributes their equally bland Turbo.  Despite much fanfare and 
>     moderate consumer interest, the system only does slightly better than 
>     mediocre.  The Atari 2600, primitive as it is, still manages to 
>     maintain its majority share in the industry.  The Nintendo/Sega 
>     alliance seems to be going nowhere.

> * - (Middle 1983)  Atari reports losses in the millions since its
>     ownership under Warner Communications.  This is not unusual
>     considering that the early years of the Reagan era were a time of
>     recession for most American businesses.  To bring them out of this
>     slump, Atari has big plans for the 5200 and even bigger ones for the
>     still-on-the-drawing-board 7800, which promises to outperform all
>     video-game systems.

> * - In a desperate move, the Nintendo/Sega alliance makes a deal with
>     Warner Communications:  Sell off the consumer division of Atari to an
>     idiot who would likely run it to the ground.  In return, the alliance
>     would insure that its powerful lobbyists would petition Congressmen to
>     lighten up on antitrust laws barring Warner from acquiring or merging
>     with other media companies.  This should be a cinch to do, considering
>     the Reagan administration's "free trade" and "hands off" policy
>     regarding business.  Executives at Warner, preferring to control one
>     big pie rather than having to worry about several pies, accepts the
>     deal.

> * - (Late 1983) Warner publicly announces the financial losses of Atari 
>     for the year and states misgivings about the video-game business. 
>     Among their statements is that America is tiring of video games.  The
>     mass media jumps on the bandwagon, adding that Atari's games are
>     "blocky looking" and "dinky sounding", too. Atari stock plummets.

> * - Warner announces the sale of Atari's home division to Jack "The Patsy"
>     Tramiel.  Tramiel, the mastermind behind the Commodore Vic-20 fiasco,
>     declares that the new Atari, Atari Corp., will be in the business of
>     selling computers which everyone can afford.  He fails to add,
>     however, that hardly anyone will want them.

> * - Warner retains the coin-op division of Atari, renaming it Atari Games. 
>     Two years later, in keeping to their agreement with the Nintendo/Sega
>     alliance , they sell it for a killing to the Japanese company Namco,
>     the inventors of Pac-Man.

> * - In the same year, Nintendo introduces the NES.  After "careful
>     evaluation of the previous market", they state that the time is right
>     for a new generation of video games.  Among the NES' selling points
>     are Robbie the Robot and its pad controllers, which are essentially
>     improved versions of the Intellivision's.

> * - Having accomplished their mutual goal, Nintendo and Sega cease their
>     alliance.  It's agreed that Sega will stick to the arcade coin-op
>     industry , where it has become #1 after Atari's demise, and stay out
>     of the consumer market.  Likewise, Nintendo promises to concentrate
>     only on home video-gaming and keep out of the arcade scene, except for
>     an occasional, badly produced coin-op such as Super Mario Bros. and
>     Rad Racer that will only be available for play in kiddie "pizza-time
>     theater" restaurants.

> * - Jack Tramiel nearly runs Atari Corp. into the ground, thanks to his
>     purchase of the Federated electronic stores and saying stupid, already
>     known facts such as Apple computers being "too expensive" and IBM
>     systems as "inefficient".

> * - The temptation for Sega is too strong, and so they ally themselves
>     with Tonka Toys and jointly enter the home market with the Sega Master
>     System, sparking a blood feud with their former ally that continues to
>     this day.  This venture fails, but Sega is even more determined to "do
>     it all".

> * - (1988)  Warner Communications merges with Time Inc., forming the Time
>     Warner company.  The new company acquires controlling interest in
>     Atlantic Records.  Time Warner is responsible for the Batman motion
>     picture and its inevitable, upcoming sequels.

> * - In the January 9th, 1992 issue of Rolling Stone (with Michael Jackson
>     on the cover trying to look like a man) there's an article on Sigeru
>     Miyamoto, the twisted genius behind Nintendo's "Mario" games.  David
>     Sheff writes, "...Japanese software, such as books, movies and
>     recordings, has had little impact outside Japan.  The exception is
>     video games.  One Japanese writer. ..has noted that Nintendo is
>     Japan's largest cultural export, 'bigger than Akira Kurosawa.'"

>     Ever wondered how Nintendo got off so easily in their recent court
> settlement with California's Attorney General?  Killing off Atari was by
> no means easy for Nintendo, but they did it.  Thus, having their sentence
> reduced to a paltry $5 rebate plan couldn't have been that difficult for
> them to do.  And look at their past court cases against Tengen, the home
> division of Atari Games, and their attempts to acquire the Seattle
> Mariners.

>     Also, why has Sega -- like their trademark mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog 
> been such an annoying, arrogant pest to Nintendo?  Because they're
> aggressive competitors?  Right.  They're still resentful over their former
> pact because they felt they got the raw end of the deal.

>     The one thing that didn't go as planned for Nintendo and Sega was that
> Atari didn't die completely.  Today, Atari Corp. would probably be
> nonexistant if it weren't for the Lynx, originally designed by Epyx, which
> has turned out to be their lifesaver for the time being.  Otherwise, the
> Nintendo/Sega alliance pulled off the perfect coup.  Software support has
> always been a problem for Atari Corp.'s hardware since the company doesn't
> have the resources of an arcade division.  "Divide and conquer" as the
> saying goes.

>     I'm not the only one who knows of this insidious plot.  I suspect that
> Arnie Katz and the Game "Bill Kunkel" Doctor know it as well, have known
> about it all along, and are keeping mum.  However, I doubt they're doing
> this because they're covering up for Nintendo and Sega.  Rather, they
> might've been warned to keep their mouths shut by the perpetrators.  You
> have to remember that in the latter years of Electronic Games (just before
> the magazine was retitled Computer Entertainment), Katz and the Doc were
> mysteriously absent from its pages, for reasons they care not to
> elaborate.  Had they discovered the truth and already knew of Nintendo's
> plans as early as 1984?

>     I'll bet Steve "Arnie Katz Lookalike-and-Wannabee" Harris of
> Electronic Gaming Monthly knows a lot about all of this, too.  His
> magazine has been bankrolled by Japanese investment from the very start
> (when it was originally Electronic Game Player).  Ever noticed how Harris
> and Quarterman are a lot like Katz and the Doc in terms of concept, though
> radically different in style?  I doubt this is coincidence rather than by
> design.

>     Another whom I believe knows a lot more than he's willing to tell is
> Howard "TV Weatherman Dress-Alike" Phillips, the former Nintendo
> spokesperson who left his position for a conspiciously ambiguous role with
> Lucasfilm Games.  Did he learn the truth, too, and decide to get out for
> his own safety, thus, depriving Nester someone to be a sidekick for?  A
> while ago, I got a phone call from someone who sounded suspiciously
> familiar:

>     "V-Video Guy!  Listen -- you've got to get out!  You're way over your
>     head!"

>     "Who is this?  Howard??  Is this Howard Phillips?!"

>     "Didn't you read the ***damn business section today??  They got the
>     ****ing California Attorney General?!  The ****ing Attorney General of
>     California!!  Not even Larry Flynt's ****ing lawyers can protect you! 
>     I'm warning you as a colleague -- just drop it if you know what's
>     ***damn ****ing good for you!!"

>     Well, I'm not going to drop it, Howard (or whoever you are).  The
> assassination of Atari was the single most horrible event for an entire
> generation of video-gaming.  It tore the heart out from what promised to
> be a new age of electronic entertainment - - never mind that it had
> primitive graphics and anemic sound.  It robbed the dreams of those who
> were the first to put their hands around a joystick.  And, by golly, you
> can be sure that I'm going to keep at it -- till all the files and other
> relevant papers that are locked away in some big government building
> sort-of-place are released so that the video-gaming public can decide for
> themselves what really happened on that fateful day in 1983.

>     So there you have it, Debbie.  The TRUTH.  Now you know why
> video-gaming is in the state it is.  And why movies and pop music have
> especially sucked lately.  I'll tell you, every day I wonder how safe it
> is to live in the U.S. of A. when even our own video games are dripping
> with corruption and greed.  Oh, and thanks for the kind words.  We at
> VG&CE always strive to do our best for readers like you!
>*********
>end included text
>*********


>Anyone else know anything about this?

>-- 
>Christopher A. Joseph (Chris)
> [email protected] 

>                Waiting impatiently for nanotechnology...
-- 
Do not adjust your mind, it is reality that is malfunctioning.