{"id":38831,"date":"2013-10-17T21:10:26","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T20:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=38831"},"modified":"2013-10-18T17:45:57","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T16:45:57","slug":"38831","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/38831\/","title":{"rendered":"Atari with the Tramiels \u2013 Six Years of Loving Battles"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Game On<\/b><\/h2>\n

Not sure why, but I was recently asked to shed some light on the real gaming era \u2026 when Atari reemerged under JT (Jack Tramiel).<\/p>\n

You know, the period where game developers slept under their desks, survived on Twinkies and HoHos, wrote elegantly tight code and had to figure out which platform to develop for.<\/p>\n

First, the credentials:<\/p>\n

I hold the dubious honor of being the only PR person to have worked for the company for six years \u2026 two years starting in 1986, fired, brought back a year later for another two years, fired, brought back for another two years, fired, discussed\/passed on another engagement.<\/p>\n

JT and his sons (you can\u2019t separate them) \u2013 Sam, Leonard and Gary \u2013 bought Atari from Warner Bros (the gaming market was on its back at the time) probably so the boys \u2013 Sam, Gary, Leonard \u2013 could work with him to run a company.<\/p>\n

JT focused on two things \u2013 his family and winning in business. He enjoyed them both with relish.<\/p>\n

Any Atari and gaming fan knows the eight years covered the:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Atari 7800<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Atari ST<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Atari Portfolio<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Atari Lynx<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We passed on the Jaguar<\/p>\n

Today, I still have a virgin (still in the box) 7600, two Portfolios and two Lynx systems, plus a lot of game cartridges and accessories.<\/p>\n

JT, Sons<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"Untitled-1\"Family Team \u2013 <\/i><\/b>Jack Tramiel (standing center) like a lot of industry pioneers had stories around him that sometimes seemed bigger than life.\u00a0 Together with his sons; Sam (seated), Gary and Leonard launched a lot of Atari products that have a following even today.\u00a0 He was a brilliant businessman and devoted family man.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard a lot of stories about what an SOB JT was but that was never my experience with him or the family.<\/p>\n

Tough?\u00a0 Yes!<\/p>\n

Determined?\u00a0 Yeah!<\/p>\n

Opinionated?\u00a0\u00a0 Darn right, and you always hated to admit it but he was usually right.<\/p>\n

JT had no love for the company he founded and then resigned from because of a \u201cdisagreement\u201d with the board \u2013 Commodore.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t too happy about the brash young kid who started the fruit company either \u2026 something about him just ticked JT off.<\/p>\n

Jobs wanted products for \u201cthe rest of us\u201d and JT wanted products for \u201cthe masses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The truth is, JT just plain loved to win in business \u2026 ethically.<\/p>\n

As long as you didn\u2019t lie to him, stretch the truth, take credit for something you hadn\u2019t done, worked your butt to the bone and delivered \u2026 things were good.<\/p>\n

Of course, seeing him walking toward you in one of the Atari halls did get the adrenaline going because he just looked meaner than a junkyard dog. In the darkest reaches of your mind, you wondered what you had sc***ed up.<\/p>\n

Sales-Driven<\/b><\/h2>\n

At the time, Atari wasn\u2019t really a marketing company, just one that focused on the bottom line that allocated 10 percent for advertising, PR, whatever.<\/p>\n

JT and Sam, the CEO, hired some really brilliant marketing guys (they were always guys in those days) and about every six months, there would be a new brilliant marketing guy.<\/p>\n

On one occasion, I sat in the new \u201cboss\u2019s\u201d office as he outlined our new strategy and asked him if he had run the plans by JT and Sam.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t have to I was told because he was given full reign.<\/p>\n

My response was something to the effect of \u201cYeah, but final decisions are made by the two corner offices \u2013 <\/i>opposite sides of the building \u2013 and Friday night over family dinner.\u201d <\/i>(think Blue Bloods<\/b>).<\/p>\n

JT relished helping the new guy by bringing him into his office, reaching down his throat, tearing up his heart (ideas), ripping them up with logic, ramming them back down the throat and saying he was glad they had the little talk.<\/p>\n

At least that\u2019s the way one of the marketing types we got to know better than most (and who lasted longer) described the weekly results meetings.<\/p>\n

For JT, it was all about sales \u2026 not elaborate strategies, plans.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, most of my time was spent with Sam, Gary and the rest of the team.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

7800<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"Atari7800\"<\/a>2nd<\/sup> Generation \u2013 <\/i><\/b>The Atari 7800 was often called the second generation Atari 2600 which actually jumpstarted the home videogame industry.\u00a0 Because of the limited storage capacity, game development back in those days was tight, elegant, precise.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

My first shot in the golden age of video gaming was with the introduction of the Atari 7800.<\/p>\n

True, it looked a whole lot like the very popular Atari 2600, but there were some neat hardware things done that were probably designed in by Leonard \u2013 an astrophysicist by education and computer designer by love \u2013 and Antonio (Tony Salerno, VP of apps).<\/p>\n

The 7800 was a good game system but the GCC (General Computer Corp.) contract\u2013they produced the game cartridges\u2013held it up.<\/p>\n

Then too, the generally sluggish sales of game machines didn\u2019t give the system much of a chance against the NES, Sega and fledgling Sony PS systems.<\/p>\n

Especially when \u2013 as now \u2013 you need titles to sell systems and you need to sell systems to attract title developers.<\/p>\n

Some things will never change.<\/p>\n

Atari ST<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"Untitled-3\"Special System \u2013\u00a0 <\/i><\/b>Leonard Tramiel (seated) was instrumental in developing the breakthrough Atari ST computer and was just as happy to let his brother Sam be the business face (and voice) of Atari.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

While the 7800 did \u2018O.K., the Tramiel team focused on something they really knew\/loved \u2026 computers for the masses and Commodore.<\/p>\n

The ST was a home computer that got computer scientists, engineers, musicians excited:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MIDI port<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Powerful Motorola MC68000 CPU<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sophisticated GUI (Graphical User Interface)<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ROM-based TOS that was remarkably bug free with only one patch in its history (no one even knew it was needed)<\/p>\n

The ST was the \u201cgo-to\u201d system for CAD and desktop publishing folks.<\/p>\n

Amateur and professional musicians loved the system.<\/p>\n

With Sam and the team, the ST introduced me to folks like:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fleetwood Mac<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mike Oldfield<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jean-Michel Jarr\u00e9<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Madonna<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tangerine Dream<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fatboy Slim<\/p>\n

And a whole lot of other folks most of today\u2019s smartphone game players have to run to Wikipedia to learn about.<\/p>\n

When it came to real-time 3D role-playing computer games, the ST and its advanced graphics opened up new vistas.<\/p>\n

Lots of folks still think it\u2019s a helluva\u2019 system!<\/p>\n

Portfolio<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"Untitled-4\"Compact Computing \u2013 <\/i><\/b>The Atari Portfolio was a subnotebook computer before there was even a category.\u00a0 It packed a lot of power and usability into a small package.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

The Atari Portfolio was a subnotebook even before there was a category.<\/p>\n

To get people to understand it, we tried to create a new category \u2013 palmtop \u2013 but most just called it the Portfolio.<\/p>\n

Powered by three AA batteries (AC adapter optional), it was an Intel 80C88-based system running the DIP OS with a whopping 128KB RAM and 256KB ROM.<\/p>\n

It had an expansion port for parallel, serial, modem or MIDI expansion slots.<\/p>\n

If you were lazy, forgetful or a show-off, you could put the speaker to a phone and automatically dial a phone number \u2026 cool.<\/p>\n

The eight-line, 40-character screen was about as easy to read as emails on my smartphone today.<\/p>\n

It was originally developed by DIP Research in England and came with a text editor, spreadsheet (Lotus 1-2-3 compatible), phone book and time manager.<\/p>\n

What more did you need?\u00a0 Everything in one compact unit that could fit in your back pocket.<\/p>\n

With the shrunken QWERTY keyboard we saw any number of people typing at 20-30 wpm and were sure they were going to throw their thumb joints out.<\/p>\n

Reporters at the time found it a great system for taking notes and tracking stuff.<\/p>\n

Long-time friend Dick DeBartolo, better known as the Giz Wiz \u2013 and perhaps most famous for writing for Mad <\/i><\/b>magazine as well as years guesting on Computer America<\/i><\/b> and Leo Laporte\u2019s The Tech Guy<\/i><\/b> \u2013 still tells us how much he liked the Portfolio.<\/p>\n

In fact, there are a lot of folks who still do.<\/p>\n

It had all the features, capabilities you needed without all the frufru stuff.<\/p>\n

Lynx<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"Untitled-5\"Living Color \u2013 <\/i><\/b>The Atari Lynx was the portable that game systems drooled over in its day with a brilliant LCD screen and solid feel.\u00a0 It still has a solid following among discerning gamers.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

This was the<\/i><\/b> portable game system to have (and I was\/am a lousy gamer)!<\/p>\n

Sure, the dumb little Nintendo GameBoy had 80 percent of the market, but JT wouldn\u2019t shy away from a good fight in the marketplace and beside \u2026 OMG the Lynx:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brilliant color<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Superb graphics<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ambidextrous layout<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A decent selection of quality image games<\/p>\n

Developed by Epyx, Atari unveiled the Lynx at the Summer CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Chicago.<\/p>\n

I flew with Sam to Chicago with the media ready to see what we were going to introduce.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t really matter that the deal between the two firms was still a work-in-progress.<\/p>\n

The night before the big unveiling, I took a cab to O\u2019Hare airport and picked up what we hoped would be the final manufacturing\/marketing contract and delivered it to Sam\u2019s room at 5:00 a.m.<\/p>\n

Wanting to sleep but also wanting to rock-n-roll, I asked Sam if we were ready to go.<\/p>\n

He answered that he\u2019d let me know at 7:45 (the press conference was at 8).<\/p>\n

He said if the contract was okay, everything would be great.\u00a0 If it wasn\u2019t, it was going to be one of the shortest press conferences in history and I\u2019d look like a damn fool.<\/p>\n

Just the kind of pep talk I needed!<\/p>\n

Sam signed the contract, we had a fantastic press conference and reviewers were begging to get on the first look list.<\/p>\n

The problem was it was priced at $179 against the anemic \u2013 dumb monocolor screen – GameBoy\u2019s $75-$90 price.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the LCD manufacturer wouldn\u2019t pass through any manufacturing savings so it was a tough up-sell (not for kids but for parents).<\/p>\n

JT wasn\u2019t lawsuit happy but he took the LCD manufacturer to court \u2026 and won!<\/p>\n

While this was going on Sam, Gary, Leonard and the team were busy developing a second-generation, more cost-effective Lynx.<\/p>\n

Just before the following Thanksgiving, we introduced the Lynx II that had a better \u201cfeel\u201d, better way of handling the cartridges, better battery life and a lower price, at the Marriot Marques in NYC overlooking the Times Square digital sign we rented for the occasion.<\/p>\n

While a young lady on our team trudged through the slush delivering seed review systems to radio, TV and print folks; Sam, other team members and I had back-to-back interviews.<\/p>\n

Most reviewers wouldn\u2019t let the beauty go, so Sam was happy to offer them a special editorial discount and have the unit overnighted to them.<\/p>\n

Everyone was happy\u2026except the gal with the wet, cold feet.<\/p>\n

The Lynx only had two shortcomings \u2013 a lack of widespread retail distribution and an unlimited selection of games. Before the evolution of online sales, not having product in every outlet hurt big time.<\/p>\n

There were plenty of games, just not every one of the big hits that were available on other platforms (platform folks played hardball with their developers, keeping games off competitor\u2019s systems).<\/p>\n

Even today though, the Lynx has cleaner, fresher colors than the lousy Gameboy.<\/p>\n

It was so good, the company was recognized for pioneering the development of handheld games at the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards a few years ago.<\/p>\n

In spite of that, sales didn\u2019t take off and we were fired \u2026 again.<\/p>\n

Then, when Sam was ready to kick-off the Jaguar, we got another call.<\/p>\n

It was just a few months before the roll-out, but that didn\u2019t deter us and we said sure, we could do it, named a price for the scramble and JT said okay.<\/p>\n

But we added that we also wanted a one-year, no-cut contract and he said no way!<\/p>\n

It was probably just as well because as much as we respected JT and liked Sam, Gary, Leonard, trying to build as much excitement for the Jaguar as we had for the Lynx would have been tough.<\/p>\n

Still might have been fun to try\u2026<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

G.A. \u201cAndy\u201d Marken<\/h1>\n

President<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marken Communications, Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andy@markencom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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