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MagyarAtari buys Intellivision, acquiring brand and over 200 game rights from Intellivision Entertainment LLC
Atari has bought the Intellivision brand and over 200 game rights from Intellivision Entertainment LLC, the current intellectual property holder. Intellivision Entertainment LLC will rebrand itself as it continues to develop the Amico next-generation console and family-friendly games.
Atari was founded in 1972 and became a key leader in establishing the video game industry. Numerous arcade games including Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command have become classics. The company released the 8-bit Atari VCS (or 2600) in 1977 and dominated the early age of home video game consoles by selling over 30 million units.
Mattel Electronics saw the potential profits and released the 16-bit Intellivision in 1979, which went on to sell 5 million units. The Intellivision had optional expansion devices to add speech synthesis, downloadable games, computer programmability, and play Atari 2600 games. The Intellivision could emulate arcade games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong with higher fidelity than the Atari 2600. After the video game industry crash of 1983, both companies changed ownership numerous times and have not regained their prior glory despite releasing newer consoles and games.
Both platforms remain popular with gamers five decades later, so Atari has bought Intellivision to continue distributing and developing classic Intellivision and Atari VCS games while Intellivision Entertainment LLC continues developing next-generation Amico games.
New Intellivision t-shirts are now available for sale on Atari.com, and additional merchandise will be released later. Readers itching to jump into classic gaming can visit Amazon to pick up a refurbished, classic Atari 2600 console today, but those wanting a new console can pick up the Atari 2600+ console instead. Gamers who are also Lego fanatics can pick up a 2,532 piece Atari 2600 kit.
Source(s)
05.23.2024
ATARI ACQUIRES INTELLIVISION BRAND
Purchase of Intellivision Trademarks and Games Unites Competing Brands from the '70s and '80s
Atari® — one of the world's most iconic consumer brands and interactive entertainment producers — announced today it has purchased the Intellivision brand and certain games from Intellivision Entertainment LLC. Intellivision Entertainment LLC will rebrand and continue its business of developing and distributing the Amico brand game console with a license from Atari to continue to distribute new versions of the Intellivision games on the Amico console.
Atari will seek to expand digital and physical distribution of legacy Intellivision games, potentially create new games, and explore brand and licensing opportunities as part of a long-term plan to create value from the Intellivision properties.
“Uniting Atari and Intellivision after 45 years ends the longest running console war in history,” said Mike Mika, Studio Head at Digital Eclipse, an Atari-owned game studio.
The first Intellivision home video game console was released by Mattel Electronics in 1979 and the console platform sold an estimated 5 million units through 1990. Atari and Intellivision arguably fought the first console war of consequence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mattel went as far as enlisting the actor George Plimpton to appear in a series of ads comparing the two systems, as well as an eight-minute long video shown at the Gamescom trade show.
“This was a very rare opportunity to unite former competitors and bring together fans of Atari, Intellivision and the golden age of gaming,” said Wade Rosen, Chairman and CEO of Atari.
The purchase includes the rights to more than 200 titles from the Intellivision portfolio and the Intellivision trademarks.
“Atari has been a valuable partner and we have every confidence they will be a responsible steward of the storied Intellivision brand,” said Phil Adam, CEO of Intellivision Entertainment. “We look forward to our expanded collaboration and the prospect of bringing a broad array of new titles to the Amico family gaming platform.”
To mark the occasion new Intellivision t-shirts are available starting today on Atari.com, with more Intellivision apparel and collectibles to come. A press kit including the Atari and Intellivision logos, and new Intellivision t-shirts can be found here.
