"Video game publisher Atari announced that it will seek approval from shareholders to effect a one-for-ten reverse stock split, in an attempt to raise the company's sagging $0.50 share price above the Nasdaq's $1 minimum requirement for continued listing.
In addition to the stock split, the company is also asking for shareholders' approval to reduce the company's outstanding shares to one-tenth their current number."
I must admit, I haven't given a hell about Atari's success since I sold off all my 2600 stuff way way back in the day (kicks self). I couldn't even tell you the name of any of the games they've released since than. Nevertheless, hearing that Atari my soon vanish off the face of the Earth is a little sad.
I owe an awful lot of myself to Atari and their humble 2600 system. Sure, I was standing on bar-stools to reach the controls of Gorf and Space Invaders before I ever had (or had heard of) Atari, but Atari were the first ones to bring video games into my bedroom. The arcade versions may have been bigger and louder and flashier, but nothing could compare to wrapping up in a blanket and playing Enduro late into the night on those long Minnesota winters. Atari (you were always "playing Atari" or "playing Nintendo" in those simpler days) was a much more personal experience than the loud and (back then) overcrowded arcades. It's no wonder button mashers like Mortal Kombat did so well in the mall while things like Zork had taken over the home computing scene. Simple could be beautiful if you just spent a little more time with it.
Now Nolan Bushnell (did you know he also started Chuck E. Cheese? Man...) is talking trash about Sony (Sony was an accident...) while his long-lost world-changing company is going down the tubes. Again, I couldn't care less about the man or the company. It's the fond memories of burning blocky dots and lines into the back of my eyeballs that I wonder about. Will I be able to hold on to them as the world moves on?
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