# Atari US files for bankruptcy



## sim667 (Jan 21, 2013)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21124214

Just noticed this on BBC news, whilst I'm a bit young for an Atari, I'm sure they must have been a gateway for gaming to some people on here.

RIP Pong


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## Dead Cat Bounce (Jan 21, 2013)

A shame but it's been a long time coming.

I've still got my STE at my parents, I'll have to fire it up next time I visit.

A friend and I used to run a small disk copying business at college selling Atari demo disks for a pound or two, we even got a mention on one of the Pompey Pirate crack disks


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## Fez909 (Jan 22, 2013)

sim667 said:


> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21124214
> 
> Just noticed this on BBC news, whilst I'm a bit young for an Atari, I'm sure they must have been a gateway for gaming to some people on here.
> 
> RIP Pong


 
Hey, I'm only a year older than you and my first gaming system was an Atari!

Arkanoid and Frostbite were my favourites on the 2600.

edit: Apparently Arkanoid was not an Atari game.  I must have played that on the Spectrum. In fact, I'm pretty sure I did.


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## sim667 (Jan 22, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Hey, I'm only a year older than you and my first gaming system was an Atari!
> 
> Arkanoid and Frostbite were my favourites on the 2600.
> 
> edit: Apparently Arkanoid was not an Atari game. I must have played that on the Spectrum. In fact, I'm pretty sure I did.


 
Maybe I got into gaming later than most 

My first computer was a BBC


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## Moronik (Jan 23, 2013)

I had an acorn electron


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## mwgdrwg (Jan 23, 2013)

Moronik said:


> I had an acorn electron


 
Me too. Spynx Adventure and that Frogger clone, spent hours on them.


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## Moronik (Jan 23, 2013)

Frogger
Escape from Moonbase Alpha

.... can't remember any others!


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 23, 2013)

sim667 said:


> Maybe I got into gaming later than most
> 
> My first computer was a BBC


 
The ST came after them...of course most people bought an Amiga instead!


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## mwgdrwg (Jan 23, 2013)

Moronik said:


> Frogger
> Escape from Moonbase Alpha
> 
> .... can't remember any others!


 
Deathstar/Sinistar on the Acorn Electron. Great!


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## elbows (Jan 23, 2013)

I wouldn't get too nostalgic. The name Atari has referred to many different companies over the years as it got into trouble, merged, split, got sold, sold again, etc over the years.

Just check out the Wikipedia page for an idea of its bewildering corporate history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari


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## elbows (Jan 23, 2013)

So for example the company that made the arcade machines and home console systems with "attractive" wooden finish isn't really the same thing as the one that made the Atari ST.


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## Citizen66 (Jan 23, 2013)

Global Stoner said:
			
		

> The ST came after them...of course most people bought an Amiga instead!



Unless you were into music production. The ST made a solid sequencer.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 24, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


> Unless you were into music production. The ST made a solid sequencer.


 
True, commodore messed that up, the midi port would have cost them very little to add. Still I suspect most were just used to play games.


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## xenon (Jan 24, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


> Unless you were into music production. The ST made a solid sequencer.




Yeah, due to the built in midi ports. 


Global Stoner said:


> True, commodore messed that up, the midi port would have cost them very little to add. Still I suspect most were just used to play games.




Used Atari ST (or was it STE) with C Lab music sequencer at college. But I was an Amiga owner who bought a MIDI interface. Though in the end I used Protracker more. And games of course... And Deluxe Paint etc.

Anyway it seemed the Amiga actually had better soundchips than the Atari ST> Least, I remember the game music being a lot better on Amiga. Turrican II springs to mind.


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## Citizen66 (Jan 25, 2013)

Global Stoner said:


> True, commodore messed that up, the midi port would have cost them very little to add. Still I suspect most were just used to play games.


 
Well yeah, due to the gamer market being greater than the music production one. I knew a Producer (with awards under his belt, no bedroom enthusiast) who was still using an Atari ST after the year 2000; perhaps 2003/4. Just prior to him going full on pro tools.


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## Citizen66 (Jan 25, 2013)

xenon said:


> Yeah, due to the built in midi ports.


 
And the fact that music was set as a higher priority than any other running application than it has been in any OS since, IIRC. Macs come close though.


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## Citizen66 (Jan 25, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


> And the fact that music was set as a higher priority than any other running application than it has been in any OS since, IIRC. Macs come close though.


 
Although that shit doesn't even matter any more if you're running a fast enough PC nowadays. It did then though.


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## DexterTCN (Jan 25, 2013)

clr.w, -(a7)
trap #1


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