A History of Tramel Technology / Atari

Information presented here is derived as directly as possible from sources published or produced in the original time period. While also consulted extensively, modern historical retrospectives (including books, oral histories, and especially websites) are utilized chiefly as pathways to primary sources.

1984
May 17: Tramel Technology, Ltd. was founded by Jack Tramiel (pronounced truh-MELL (source); born Idek Trzmiel), previously (until January 13, 1984) Commodore International Ltd. president and CEO (Tramiel had founded the company in Toronto Canada on October 10, 1958 as Commodore Portable Typewriter Co. Ltd.; the name had been changed to Commodore Business Machines (Canada) Ltd. on February 7, 1962; the company had been reincorporated in the Bahamas as Commodore International Ltd. as of August 17, 1976), with Schreiber & McBride partner Leonard I. Schreiber (Lee Schreiber), previously general counsel to Commodore International (until May 1984), "to design, manufacture, sell and service personal computers and related software and peripheral products." Tramiel had been approached by Lazard Frères & Co., investment banking firm for Warner Communications Inc., about a possible purchase of Atari. Discussions between Tramiel and Warner Communications commenced. (WashPost 7/3)

May: Tramel Technology rented a room at an apartment complex in Sunnyvale CA, and a small group including several former Commodore engineers led by Shiraz M. Shivji, who prior to May 1984 was director of research and development at Commodore International, would begin to plan a new 16/32-bit personal computer and to seek out a way to market it. (source; source 12:27)

June: Sam Tramiel (elder son of Jack Tramiel), previously Commodore International Ltd. Vice President - Japan and General Manager - Asia (from 1976 until 1977 he served as head of Commodore's Consumer Division from Toronto and as General Manager in Hong Kong, London and Santa Clara; from 1979 to 1981, he operated his own OEM manufacturing business in the Far East) joined Tramel Technology.

June: Samuel Wai Leung Chin (Samuel W.L. Chin or Sam Chin), previously Commodore International VP finance, Asia (Commodore Electronics Ltd), joined Tramel Technology.

June: Gregory A. Pratt, previously Commodore International VP operations, joined Tramel Technology.

June: Sam Tramiel and Samuel W.L. Chin were elected to the board of directors of Tramel Technology (joining Leonard Schreiber and chairman Jack Tramiel as directors).

June 29: An agreement to sell most of Atari was formally approved at a Warner Communications board of directors meeting, final details pending. (WashPost 7/3)

July 1: Date of Assets Purchase Agreement between Tramel Technology, Ltd. and Atari, Inc. and certain subsidiaries and affiliates of Atari, Inc.; date of Agreement among Tramel Technology, Atari, and Jack Tramiel; and date of Intellectual Property Rights Heads of Agreement between Tramel Technology and Atari.

July 2: Warner Communications Inc. and Tramel Technology, Ltd. (statement by chairman Jack Tramiel) jointly announced the acquisition by Tramel Technology of the Atari, Inc. home video game and computer businesses, in a deal finalized at 4 A.M. that morning in New York City. (UPI 7/3; NYT 7/3; WashPost 7/3)

Tramel Technology would gain ownership or exclusive use of many Atari intellectual properties including the "Atari" trademark itself. Consumer electronics manufacturing plants would include Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (ATMC) in Tam-Shui Taipei, controlling interest in the Atari plant in Limerick Ireland, Atari's 51% controlling interest in the Atari-Wong plant in Hong Kong, and Atari's 50% interest in the Atari-PCI plant in Singapore. Domestic Atari facilities would include 1265 Borregas Ave. and the leases for 1196 Borregas Ave., 360 Caribbean Ave., and 390 Caribbean Ave., all in Sunnyvale CA, and 601 Vista Way in Milpitas CA. The transaction would also include an inventory of 100,000 XL computers (Atari 600XL/800XL) (Current Notes Sept84p10), inventories of Atari XL computer peripherals and software, and Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari 7800 game systems, peripherals, and games, as well as incomplete production runs of various products that had been due to ship summer/fall 1984.

In addition to the Atari assets and liabilities (including $300 million in receivables -WSJ 9/4), Tramel Technology would acquire warrants/options (with 5-year life) for the right to purchase one million WCI shares (at $22/share). Tramel Technology would also receive $140 million in senior debt to WCI at 13% interest (due in installments from 1986-1994) and another $100 million in subordinated debt to WCI carrying 9% interest (due 1996), for a total valuation of $240 million in notes/loans from WCI in the form of debentures issued to WCI. In addition, WCI would receive warrants enabling it to purchase as much as a 32% stake (14,300,00 shares) in Tramel Technology at $2.08/share. Tramiel and his partners financed the transaction with $75 million. According to an analysis reported by the WSJ, Tramiel was effectively paying about $150 million for about $325 million of net assets. (WCI Annual Report; NYT, WashPost, WSJ)

Jack Tramiel and/or his associates would gain immediate administrative control over the home video game and home computer businesses of Atari International division subsidiaries including Atari International (U.K.) Inc., Atari Elektronik Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (in West Germany), Atari International (Benelux) B.V. (in the Netherlands), the Atari division of Productions et Editions Cinématographiques Françaises SARL (P.E.C.F. Atari, in France), and Atari International (Italy) Inc.

Via Atari International (Hong Kong) Limited, Warner Communications would acquire 49% minority interest in the Atari-Wong plant in Hong Kong by buying out the Wong's Industrial (Holdings) Limited share of that joint manufacturing venture.

By midday (Monday July 2), Tramel Technology chairman and CEO Jack Tramiel and more than 20 of his aides were reportedly already installed in the president's suite at Atari's Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters. (NYT 7/3; NYT 2/10/85) Sam Tramiel (with Tramel Technology since June 1984) was named president (LA Times via Wash Post 7/6) and would also be COO. Leonard Schreiber (with Tramel Technology since May 1984), while also remaining a partner of Schreiber & McBride (private law firm), would be VP, general counsel & secretary. Shiraz Shivji (with Tramel Technology since May 1984) would be VP research & development. Samuel W.L. Chin (with Tramel Technology since June 1984) would be Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Treasurer. Greg Pratt (with Tramel Technology since June 1984) would be General Manager. Physicist Leonard J. Tramiel (middle son of Jack Tramiel) would be VP Software Development (operating systems/software technology). Garry Tramiel (youngest son of Jack Tramiel), previously an account executive at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, & Smith, would be VP Administration, Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer (and was charged with collecting more than $100 million of outstanding payments previously owed to Atari, Inc. by its customers). David Harris, previously Commodore International VP and (domestic) national sales director (source), would be VP international sales (AdWeek 7/16/84; Globe & Mail 7/17). Taro Tokai (Tony Tokai), previously (until January 1984) Commodore International VP, Commodore Japan Ltd., would be VP, charged with setting up a subsidiary in Japan for purchasing and production engineering. Thomas B. Brightman, previously design manager at Commodore Business Machines (speech technology division in Dallas, which had just closed), would be VP engineering. (Electronic News 7/16) Joseph W. Spiteri, previously Commodore International VP manufacturing, would be VP manufacturing. Donald Richard (Don Richard), previously acting president of Commodore International's American operations division (and before that executive assistant to the Commodore CEO - Jack Tramiel), would be executive assistant to the CEO. John Feagans, previously Director of Technology at Commodore International, where he had been responsible for system software and operating systems for the PET, VIC-20, and C64, would be Director of Software Technology (reporting to Leonard Tramiel). Craig Suko, previously a software engineer at Commodore, would be a software design engineer (source). Other former Commodore engineers/engineering technicians would include Arthur S. Morgan (Art Morgan), John E. Hoenig and Douglas L. Renn. Ira L. Velinsky, previously Commodore industrial designer, would be director of industrial design. Mel Stevens, previously Commodore creative services, would join the company in marketing (communcations/creative services). (source)

"Both the home-computer and video-game marketplaces continue, in my view, to offer great opportunities," said Jack Tramiel, as quoted by the AP.

July 3: In France at P.E.C.F. Atari (Productions et Editions Cinématographiques Françaises SARL, the Warner Communications subsidiary), Guy Millant remained président-directeur général (PDG), and there were 65 employees. (Pix'n love #25)

July 4: Local radio in Texas reported that the Atari remanufacturing and software production facility in El Paso was not included in the Warner Communications sale of Atari assets to Tramel Technology, Ltd., and that the plant would be shut down. (source @10:10) The Atari remanufacturing operation in El Paso would be moved to Sunnyvale, and Atari software production in El Paso would be moved to Taiwan. (UPI 7/6; AP 7/6)

July 5: Tramel Technology notified the State of California of its new principal office address (69,000 ft²): 1265 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA. Sam Tramiel was president of Tramel Technology, Ltd.

July 5: Among products Tramel Technology chairman Jack Tramiel was expected to abandon were the 5200 video game machine, which went out of production in February, and the slow-selling model 600XL Atari computer. Mr. Tramiel also said, "We'll sell what we have (in inventory)," which included the model 800XL computer. But he wasn't expected to go ahead with Atari's previously announced plans for a new video game machine, the 7800 ProSystem, and a higher-priced computer that would run some software made for the International Business Machines Corp. personal computer. (WSJ 7/6)

July 5-6: Tramel Technology hired approximately 300 of the existing Atari, Inc. domestic consumer and home computer division employees. (InfoWorld July 30) Among key marketing and advertising executives, the lone holdovers were expected to be West Shell III (Atari, Inc. director of computer marketing) and Bryan Kerr (Atari, Inc. group product manager, AtariSoft product line). (AdWeek, July 9, 1984) Shell would be director of marketing; Kerr would be hardware product manager (reporting to Shell). Arnold Waldstein (Atari, Inc. production manager for Atari Connection magazine) would be hired in marketing (creative services). Claude Nahum (Atari, Inc. director of international business development) would be director of international sales (reporting to VP international sales David Harris). Systems engineer Phil Suen would be director of engineering - XL family computers. Additional engineers and technicians included: Jim Tittsler, Lane Winner, Jose Valdes, Vincent H. Wu, George Nishiura, Mike Barall, David Owen Sovey, Peter R. Ateshian, John Hinman, George Kulcher, John Honig, Michael Wooding, Songly Mu, Randy Hoopai, Gary Rubio, Dan H. Kramer. (source; source; source; source) Tim Chodera, previously operations manager at Atari, Inc., would be director of operations. Richard C. Frick (Atari, Inc. software development manager, AtariSoft product line) would be a software product manager. John Skruch (Atari, Inc. Senior Engineer in the Software Product Engineering Department and Operations Manager, AtariSoft Product Line) would also be a software product manager. Programmers - hired as systems software engineers: Jerome Domurat, Landon Dyer, Jim Eisenstein, David Getreu, Matthew Householder, Dan Oliver, David Staugas, Rob Zdybel. Artist/animator: Alan Murphy. Diana Goralczyk would remain as manager, customer relations. With the hires, total domestic employees would number about 325.

July? (early month?): Mike Schmal, who had previously been hired by Tramel Technology systems software manager John Feagans for a project at Commodore, joined Tramel Technology as a systems software engineer. (source; source; source)

July 10: Commodore (corporate counsel Nicholas Lefevre) filed a lawsuit in Chester County Court in Pennsylvania against four former employees, Shiraz Shivji, Arthur S. Morgan, John E. Hoenig and Douglas L. Renn, who had recently left Commodore for Tramel Technology, alleging they had stolen files containing trade secrets they intended to divulge at their new company. Chester County Judge M. Joseph Melody Jr. issued a preliminary injunction barring them from using or revealing any trade secrets.

July 11: Tramel Technology, Ltd. filed a Certificate of Amendment to its Articles of Incorporation changing the corporate name to: Atari, Corp. Leonard I. Schreiber was Atari VP and secretary (as well as general counsel).

July 11: Atari, Inc. (the Warner Communications subsidiary) filed a Certificate of Amendment with the Office of Secretary of State, State of Delaware, changing its corporate title to: Atari Games, Inc.

July 12: Tramel Technology Japan Corp., an affiliate of Atari Corp. of the U.S., had started negotiations with Japanese electric companies to purchase computer-related parts and equipment for Atari, planning to start production shortly of 8-bit new home-use computers in Hong Kong and Ireland for year-end sales in the United States and Europe. (Japan Economic Newswire Plus)

July 13: Judge M. Joseph Melody Jr. in Chester County PA temporarily extended an injunction issued July 10 that prevented four former employees of Commodore from revealing any Commodore trade secrets at their new jobs with Atari. Leonard I. Schreiber was Atari, Corp. general counsel. (AP)

July 13: Atari Games, Inc. transferred ownership of the three U.S. patents 4,112,422, 4,116,444, and 4,314,236 to Atari, Corp.

July: Digital Research and Atari software engineers together commenced work on ports of CP/M-68K, GEM, and Dr. Logo to a new computer hardware platform to be developed at Atari. The Digital Research team, led by engineering project manager Lou Tarnay, would include Steve Schmitt (Dr. Logo), Steve Cavender (GSX and operating systems), Lowell Webster (GEM services and the GEM desktop), and Rich Greco (project architect). (Digital Dialogue Feb85)

July: Simon Sze joined Atari as General Manager of Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (ATMC) (source), replacing managing director Gary D. Weaver who departed the company.

July: Steven M. Kawalick joined Atari as Director of Taxes. Kawalick was previously with Arthur Andersen.

July 16: Atari had asked the three U.S. networks to sell off all previous TV commitments for the third and fourth quarters -- including a $6-million Olympic buy with ABC. (AdWeek 7/16/84)

July 19: Klaus Ollmann, previously Atari Elektronik Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (in West Germany) managing director, would become Warner Home Video VP International for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Atari president/COO Sam Tramiel and Atari VP international sales David Harris had been appointed Atari Elektronik interim managing directors (together replacing Ollmann in the role). Detlev Driemeier, previously Atari Elektronik head of sales, would additionally be head of marketing, replacing Hans-Ueli Hasler who departed the company. A total of 42 of the 84 employees of Atari Elektronik departed the company. (source; source; Soft & Micro #4 Jan85 p27; source; source; source)

July 23: Business Week reported that Atari's Jack Tramiel had "axed several of Atari's current products, including the 7800 video game system and the $150 600XL home computer."

July 26/Aug 1: At Atari International (U.K.) Inc. (the Warner Communications Inc. subsidiary), Simon P. Westbrook, previously financial director for SPL (Computer Weekly 3/8/84 p3), had become managing director, replacing Graham Clark who departed the company along with a total of about 100 people in sales and management; about 30 would remain. (Atari User #11, 2011; source #2) Rob Harding remained sales & marketing manager, Robert Katz would be a product marketing manager, Jon Dean would be software marketing manager (Software Products Division), and Les Player remained technical manager. Brian Richards had become controller (replacing Westbrook in the role); Richards would also serve as Atari European controller. (source)

July 30: Atari had confirmed plans to run videogame spots on the Olympics on American television, as well as Alan Alda computer spots, though it was still trying to sell off as much of its Olympic commitments as possible. Atari had also said that it was "not getting out of the videogame business." West Shell was Atari marketing director. (AdWeek 7/30/84)

July/August?: In the UK, for Atari home computers the Atari Software Products Division shipped: The Pay-Off

July/August?: In the UK, for ZX Spectrum, the Atari Software Products Division released AtariSoft Pole Position

July/August?: In the UK, for BBC Model B, Atari released AtariSoft Pole Position

July/August?: In West Germany, Atari released Die Story der Final Legacy (audio cassette). (source; source; source)

August 1: West Shell remained Atari marketing director; Mel Stevens was communications/creative services manager (reporting to Shell). (Creative Services Project Status Report)

August 3: Date of State of Nevada certificate of corporate status for Atari "U.S." Corp. (original incorporation date needed). Atari, Corp. president/COO Sam Tramiel would additionally be Atari "U.S." Corp. chairman/CEO.

August 3: Date of State of Nevada certificate of corporate status for Atari Technology Corp. (original incorporation date needed). (research and development (source))

August 7: Tandon Corp. announced it had reached agreement in principle for the sale of up to $130.5 million in floppy disk drive and subsystem products to Atari, Corp. Deliveries, which were subject to definitive purchase orders from Atari, had begun and were scheduled to continue through the first half of calendar 1985.

August 13: Atari filed a suit for fraud against Amiga Corporation in Santa Clara, Calif., Superior Court. According to Leonard Schreiber, Atari's general counsel, Amiga signed an agreement in March 1984 to develop three microchips for Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. then advanced the company $500,000. In late June, days before Mr. Tramiel and fellow investors bought the Atari unit from Warner Communications, Amiga canceled the deal and returned the money, saying that the chips did not work. (NYT)

August 13: Atari had informed its advertising agencies of plans to "pursue the videogame market this Christmas with the long-awaited introduction of its 7800 model." (AdWeek 8/13/84)

August 13: Atari (Japan) Corp. (previously: Tramel Technology Japan Corp.) had been established for Atari purchasing and production engineering by Taro Tokai, Atari VP and General Manager, Atari (Japan), with production engineer Yuichi Okubo. (The Japan Economic Journal 11/6/84; source; source) Location: Toranomon Kiyoshi Building 3F, 4-3-10, Toranomon Minato-ku, Tokyo 105

August 14: Commodore International announced an agreement to acquire Amiga Corporation.

August?: Atari released AtariSoft Gremlins versions for Apple II, IBM PC, and for C-64.

August: James L. Copland (Jamie Copland), previously director of marketing and general manager of Commodore Business Machines (Canada) Ltd. of Toronto, joined Atari as (corporate) VP marketing, replacing marketing director West Shell who departed the company (to The Cooper Companies). (Reports to Copland would include: Bryan Kerr (hardware), Richard Frick (software), John Skruch (software), Mel Stevens (communications/creative services))

August?: Atari, Corp. established (by taking control of investment vehicles each established 5/9/1984) Atari Ireland Manufacturing Company Limited, Atari Ireland Distribution Company Limited, and Atari Corp. (Ireland) Limited. The new Atari, Corp. units in Ireland would collectively acquire controlling interest in the European Operations (Atari consumer products manufacturing) plant in the Raheen Industrial Estate on Ennis Road, Limerick from the Warner Communications Inc. (WCI) units, Atari Holdings Limited and Atari Ireland Limited, which would collectively retain minority interest in the plant.

August: In Italy, Atari, Corp. established Atari Italia S.p.A. Atari Italia would manage the business of Atari International (Italy) Inc. (the unit of Warner Communications Inc.), which would continue to operate at: Viale Della Liberazione, 18 - 20124 Milano. (source for date) Massimo Ruosi, general manager of Atari International (Italy) Inc., would be managing director of Atari Italia, and would also serve as Atari European general manager. Ernesto Zanzi, Direttore amministrativo (controller) for Atari International (Italy) Inc., would be procuratore generale for Atari Italia. Fiorenza Anelli, previously of Miwa Trading (Activision distributor in Italy), would be Atari Italia Marketing Manager (source), replacing Atari International (Italy) Inc. marketing manager Bennet R. Goldberg who departed the company. (source) Roberto Freggia would be Atari Italia Sales Manager (source), replacing Atari International (Italy) Inc. sales manager Vittorio Vitaletti who would depart the company.

August 16/22: At Atari International (U.K.) Inc. (the Warner Communications Inc. subsidiary), Rob Harding was marketing manager, and Simon Westbrook was managing director. (PopularComputingWeekly 16-22 Aug p1)

August 17: Atari "U.S." Corp. principal office: 1265 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA. Leonard I. Schreiber was Atari "U.S." Corp. VP.

August 17: Atari Technology Corp. principal office: 1265 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA. Leonard I. Schreiber was Atari Technology Corp. VP.

August 22: Date of Atari, Corp. OEM Software License Agreement with Digital Research (California) Inc.

August 22: In the UK, Atari, Corp. took control of Sellthings Limited, renaming it Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited. Atari Corp. (U.K.) would manage the home video game and home computer business of Atari International (U.K.) Inc. (the Warner Communications subsidiary).

August 24: Atari marketing manager Bryan Kerr was Atari's head of special events. (source)

August 25-26: TariCon '84, the first Atari-only computer fair, was held at Southfield Civic Centre near Detroit Michigan. Sponsored and organized by two User Groups - CHAOS (Ike Hudson of the Capitol Hill Atari Owners Society) and MACE (Mike Lechkun of the Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts). About 1800 attended. (Atari did not attend.)

August 26: Zayre ran a newspaper ad stating, "We're Sorry. In our 'Back-to-School Sale' Circular on page 32, we advertised Stargate and Track and Field Atari 2600 cartridges for $26.95. Due to a manufacturer's availability problem, these items will not be available. However, the other cartridges will be available as advertised. Sorry, we cannot offer rain checks on Stargate or Track and Field."

August 27: Atari, Corp. announced its manufacturing centers in Taiwan, Ireland, and Hong Kong, and stated the intention to be full line manufacturer of products in the video game, family computers and small business computers categories. According to VP marketing James Copland, "In the video game category, Atari will entrench itself and aggressively go after a larger share of the video game and related software market on a worldwide basis. Concurrently, Atari plans to manufacture and supply the Atari 800XL family computer, satisfying the overwhelming and increased demand for that product with aggressive, competitive pricing through the end of 1984." Atari said that it had already lowered the wholesale price for the 800XL (without providing specifics). "We will give to the retail markets of the world 8-, 16-, and 32-bit microcomputers, all at affordable RBPs [rock-bottom prices]," read a statement from Atari chairman Jack Tramiel. (PR 8/27; Globe&Mail 8/28; NYT 8/28; CE 9/84)

September 1: The new US retail price of the 2600 was $40; the new US retail price for the 800XL was $179. (AP 11/13; WashPost 11/13)

September 1: In the UK, Atari cut all prices, including the 600XL by £60, from £159.99 to £99.99, and the 800XL by £50, from £249.99 to £199.99. (PopularComputingWeekly 8/16; TheTimes 8/21p17; The Guardian (London) 9/6; PCN 8/25/84p3 and 9/1/84p3) In France, Atari would reduce the 800XL by 1 000 F to 2 199 F. (source; source)

September 6-8: UK Media reports that the Atari 600XL (PAL/UK) would remain available while supplies last. (PopularComputingWeekly 6-12Sept p1; PCN 9/8/84p3) (New 600XL units had not been manufactured since April 1984.)

September 7: Garry Tramiel remained Atari assistant secretary. The Atari, Corp. address remained: 1265 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale CA

September: Nicholas Lefevre, previously Corporate Counsel at Commodore, joined Atari as general counsel, tasked to establish an Atari subsidiary in Canada. (Leonard Schreiber remained Atari's primary general counsel.)

September: At Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp., Sr. Engineer, Engineering Eric Hoh departed the company.

September: Warner Communications repurchased certain accounts receivable from Atari, Corp. for $10.1 million in cash. (WCI Annal Rpt) The accounts were originally from a former Atari, Inc. unit currently in bankruptcy law proceedings (The Globe and Mail (Canada) 12/11/84) (probably?: Atari Sales Corp.). Specifically, the receivables were from Lionel Leisure Inc., Arkin-Medo, Inc. and HRT Industries, Inc. (source)

September: Under an agreement dated August 24, 1984, through subsidiary Atari Games, Inc., Warner Communications repurchased certain accounts receivable from Atari for $10.1 million in cash. (WCI Annal Rpt p33) The receivables were associated with a bankruptcy, but according to Warner Communications 'The bankruptcy court had indicated that "most, if not all" of the receivables would be paid by 1985.' (The Globe and Mail (Canada) 12/11/84) Specifically, the receivables transferred from Atari, Corp. to Atari Games, Inc. were owed by Lionel Leisure Inc., Arkin-Medo, Inc., and HRT Industries, Inc. (source)

September: Warner Communications issued 1 million WCI warrants/options (at $22/share) to Atari, Corp. in exchange for a $12.5 million Atari, Corp. 13% senior note (loan) due 9/30/87. Atari, Corp. had the right to cause WCI to repurchase the warrants for cash at a price of $12.50 per warrant. (WCI Annual Report)

September 20: Neil Harris, previously of Commodore International (software division), joined Atari as manager of publications. With marketing communications/creative services manager Mel Stevens, Harris would be responsible for launching a replacement for the former Atari, Inc. magazine, Atari Connection, to be called: Atari Explorer. Harris had been hired by Atari general manager Greg Pratt. (source; source 25:00, 27:00; source; source)

September 25: Rather than halt production of Atari's 800XL home computer and its 2600 video-game player, as many had expected, Atari has significantly expanded production of the two products, Atari president/COO Sam Tramiel said (interviewed in Taipei). Atari was manufacturing the 800XL in Taiwan, and the 2600 in both Taiwan and Ireland. Computer production was expected to commence in Ireland by the end of the year. Atari's Hong Kong plant was currently only operating test facilities. Operations [purchasing and production engineering] were also being established in Japan. Tramiel said Atari would introduce a 16-bit computer in January, to be followed by a 32-bit computer for professionals. Also, "In January, Atari will introduce a second low-priced computer that will run games and software made for the predecessor product." (WSJ 9/21p8; Financial Times 9/21p7; source)

September 30: Warner Communications valued its $252.5 million in loans to Atari, Corp. ($240 million in July and $12.5 million in September) at $150 million. (The Globe and Mail (Canada), 12/11/84; LATimes 2/15/85)

October 3: In Atari, Corp. vs. Amiga, in the depostion of David S. Morse, in the Superior Court in and for the County of Santa Clara, Atari was represented by Leonard I. Schreiber (Atari general counsel) and Josephine T. Druehl (attorney at law). (source)

October 4: In the Netherlands, Atari International (Benelux) B.V. (the Warner Communications subsidiary) was to be downsized from 30 to 15 people (source), as the unit was preparing for its business to be taken over by Atari, Corp. Peter Woodward remained managing director.

October: Atari facilities included: central headquarters at 1265 Borregas Ave, Sunnyvale CA (69,000 ft²), engineering and design at 1196 Borregas Ave, Sunnyvale CA (45,000 ft²), North American distribution at 601 Vista Way, Milpitas CA (125,000 ft²), Customer Services at 390 Caribbean Ave, Sunnyvale CA (86,000 ft²), returns processing at 360 Caribbean Ave, Sunnyvale CA (72,000 ft²), manufacturing of computers (800XL) for worldwide distribution and home video games (2600) for North American distribution in Tam-Shui Taiwan (168,000 ft²/80% dedicated to manufacturing), a "guesting house" in Tien-Mu, Teipei (2,880 ft²), manufacturing of home video games (2600) for European markets and European distribution center at Limerick Ireland (60,000 ft²/60% dedicated to manufacturing), purchasing and production engineering in Tokyo Japan (6,000 ft²), manufacturing of software cartridges in Hong Kong (100,000 ft²), and sales facilities in Slough England (20,000 ft²), Milan Italy (4,500 ft²), France (2,400 ft²), and Hamburg, West Germany (2,200 ft²) (source)

October 15: Atari began shipping products (existing inventories and new production) in quantity. (Jack Tramiel in LATimes 1/8/85) In the UK and Europe, in addition to new production 800XL computers and 1050 disk drives, Atari would ship the new 1029 printer, and Atari would ship new PAL I (UK) and PAL B/G (West Germany) versions of the 2600 in two packages: 2600JR console with two Super Controller joysticks (CX24) and Centipede cartridge, or 2600JT package with one Super Controller and no pack-in game, replacing the 2600GP package versions of the silver format 2600A series by Atari, Inc. In France, Atari would ship a new Péritel version of the new PAL 2600 (PAL console with permanent SCART cable connector with PAL composite video output) in one package, 2600 JR Péritel console with one Super Controller and no pack-in game, replacing the SECAM version of the 2600GP. In the U.S. and Canada Atari would supply 600XL/800XL systems and software, 2600 systems (2600A series console, 2600CR package) and games, and 5200 systems and games, largely from existing inventories. (In their Christmas catalogs, Montgomery Ward offered the 800XL and 2600; Sears offered the 2600 and 5200).

October 15-17: Semiconductor Industry Conference, Hotel Del Coronado, San Diego CA. Atari was respresented by the executive assistant to the CEO Donald Richard (Don Richard). (source)

October 17: Atari, Corp. exercised its right to require WCI to repurchase 640,000 of the 1 million warrants issued to Atari in 9/84, at $12.50 per warrant, for $8 million in cash from WCI. Atari also agreed to exercise its right to require WCI to repurchase the balance of the 9/84 warrants. (WCI Annual Report; source; The Globe and Mail (Canada), 12/11/84)

October 22: Atari software engineer (XL operating systems, including XL disk drive controller) Michael Barall had departed the company and established Invisible Software, Inc.

October 26: Commodore International VP software Sigmund Hartmann departed that company (to Atari). (source)

October 27: Datasoft had announced it had obtained license (previously held by Atari, Inc.) from Namco to ship titles including Dig Dug, Pac-Man, and Pole Position in versions for home computers including C-64 (for Christmas 1984), Atari XL (1985), and Apple II (1985) (Billboard 10/27/84) and perhaps PC/PCjr (CE 11/84).

October 31: In West Germany, Atari Elektronik Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH Public Relations Officer Renate Knüfer departed the company (to Apple). (source)

Fall: In the UK, for BBC Model B / Acorn Electron Atari released AtariSoft Robotron: 2084 (July85 review)

Fall: In the UK, Quicksilva released Battlezone, title by Atari, for 48K Spectrum.

Fall: Josephine T. Druehl (Josie), attorney at law and previously a trial lawyer for nine years (source) including recent representation of Atari (source), joined Atari as Corporate Counsel. (Leonard Schreiber remained Atari general counsel.)

November 1: In Canada, Irwin Toy ended its role as exclusive distributor of Atari computers, having been supplanted in the role by the newly-established Atari (Canada) Corp. The price of the 800XL was being cut to below C$200 (previously: C$400; the 600XL was to be priced at under C$100 (previously: C$250-C$300). Irwin Toy would continue to distribute the 2600 in Canada. (Winnipeg Free Press November 16, 1984; source #2)

November 3: Sigmund Hartmann, previously VP software for Commodore International, joined Atari as President of Software ("AtariSoft" division; publisher of software developed by third parties). (WSJ 11/14/84) Software managers Richard Frick and John Skruch would now report to Hartmann (previously: to VP marketing James Copland).

November 5: Atari would withdraw its Australian distribution rights (computers, game systems, software) from Futuretronics Australia Pty Ltd after the National Australia Bank appointed receiver-managers on the company. (CanberraTimes 12/3/84 p19)

November 5: Digital Research Inc. (DRI) announced the Graphics Environment Manager (GEM) for MS-DOS Version 2 or 3, or for Concurrent DOS Version 3.2.1 operating in DOS mode.

November 6: Walt Disney Productions filed a $68.8 million lawsuit in California state court against Atari, Corp., Atari Games, Inc., and Warner Communications Inc., alleging failure to live up to terms of a 1982 contract that licensed Atari to use Disney characters and stories in home video games, and that the license was not transferable.

November 8: Simon Westbrook remained Atari International (U.K.) Inc. managing director. (PopularComputingWeekly 11/8)

November 13: Atari held a press conference proclaiming "The New Atari Corp." at company headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA. The company currently offered two machines, the 2600 which remained available for $40, and the 800XL computer, price now reduced from $179 to $119. Two new 8-bit computers, compatible with the 800XL, and a new 16-bit computer were to be introduced at the January 1985 CES, with a new 32-bit computer to debut at the Hanover Trade Fair in April 1985. Atari also confirmed that GEM, a newly announced software operating environment from Digital Research, would be part of Atari's proprietary operating system in the new computers. The current 2600/800XL product line was manufactured in Taiwan and Ireland; the new machines were to be made [purchasing and production engineering] in Japan. Atari also said it planned to continue a division called AtariSoft, and Atari announced the new Atari Explorer magazine, published by manager of publications Neil Harris. Atari executives participating included: Jack Tramiel (chairman), Sam Tramiel (president/COO), James L. Copland (VP marketing), David Harris (VP international sales), Sigmund Hartmann (president, software division), Greg Pratt (general manager). (InfoWorld 12/10/84; Analog #26 p13-15; Analog #27p4; WSJ 11/14)

November 14-18: Computer Dealer Expo (COMDEX) Fall. Atari did not exhibit at the show, though reportedly Atari officials were there courting software developers for the new Atari computers in development.

November?: In the Netherlands, Atari, Corp. established Atari (Benelux) B.V., which would take over the business of Atari International (Benelux) B.V. (the Warner Communications Inc. subsidiary), including the headquarters location at Atoomweg 480, Utrecht. (source) 15 of the 30 former employees of Atari International (Benelux) B.V. would be hired by the new Atari (Benelux), including Pieter Norp as general manager, W.P. (Wilfried) de Graaf as sales and marketing manager, and Ruud Van Nispen as product and operations manager.

November: In France, Peter Brookhouse Richards, previously P.E.C.F. Atari financial controller (CFO), became interim general manager, replacing Guy Millant who departed the company, along with sales director Antoine Gallozzi; in total, about 25 departed the company, as the number of employees was reduced from 60 to 35. (Science & Vie Micro #14 Feb85 p14) Millant and Gallozzi would establish Galaxie, a consumer and professional computer product distributor planning to do half of its business with Atari; a total of 14 former P.E.C.F. Atari employees would join Galaxie. (Tilt #19 Mar85 p16) P.E.C.F. Atari would discontinue its direct sales/distribution activities, replying on distributors such as Galaxie instead. (Jean Richen remained P.E.C.F. Atari director of marketing.)

November: In France, Atari shipped the 800XL SECAM version (2 499 F). Also remaining available: 800XL PAL version (2 199 F), 600XL PAL version (1 599 F). (L'Atarien #5 p19; L'Atarien #7 p33 for date; another source)

November 19: In the US, Atari had launched a print campaign in major market newspapers to support holiday price cuts on the 800XL. Full-page ads carried the theme, "The powerful personal computer so affordable even Scrooge would have given it." Bryan Kerr was Atari marketing manager. (AdWeek)

November 20: In West Germany, Atari, Corp. took control of "Alter Pferdemarkt" Verwaltungsgesellschaft für Beteiligungen m.b.H., renaming it Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH. Atari Corp. (Deutschland) would manage the business of Atari Elektronik Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (the Warner Communications subsidiary), which would continue to operate at Bebelallee 10, D-2000 Hamburg 60. Departures from Atari Elektronik included: sales and marketing director Detlev Driemeier (to Thomson Electronic GmbH) and advertising director Wolfgang Blödorn (to Apple). The Atari Corp. (Deutschland) managing directors became Atari president/COO Sam Tramiel and Atari VP international sales David Harris; prokurists became Atari chairman Jack Tramiel, Massimo Ruosi (Atari European general manager), Brian Richards (Atari UK and European controller), and Irma Obersteiner (business manager) (source; source; source)

November 22/28: Simon Westbrook remained Atari International (U.K.) Inc. managing director (PopularComputingWeekly 22-28 Nov p5)

November 29: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited had taken legal action against MRM Software over MRM's Castle of Gems game for the BBC, and the dispute was resolved out of court. The AtariSoft Crystal Castles for BBC was scheduled to ship in December (never shipped). Jon Dean was Atari product manager (Software Products Division). (PopularComputingWeekly 11/29 p5)

November/December: Ongoing production of the Atari 1050 disk drive was shifted from Atari-PCI Enterprises Pte. Ltd. in Singapore to Atari's plant in Hong Kong.

December 4: Futuretronics Australia Pty Ltd receiver-manager Deloitte, Haskins & Sell said Atari planned to market its products through either a subsidiary or a new distributor in Australia, to replace Futuretronics in the role, in 1985. (TheAge 12/4/84p45)

December 6: Atari had held an early December press conference in Frankfurt, West Germany proclaiming "The New Atari Corp." to the UK and Europe. Atari announced the price of its 800XL home computer in West Germany was reduced from DM 648 to DM 499, with similar cuts in the UK (from £169 to £129) and across Europe. The new Atari product line was to include the 2600, a 65XE (to be equivalent to the 800XL), a 128K version of the 65XE (would ship as: 130XE), a "strong music" version of the 65XE (65XEM; never introduced), a version of the 65XE with built-in floppy disk drive and monitor (65XEP; never shipped), a 16-bit computer, the 130ST (never shipped; the 520ST would also be introduced and would be shipped), and a 32-bit computer. The 16-bit computer, to run GEM from Digital Research, was to be introduced in January 1985 at the Consumer Electronics Show in the US; the 32-bit computer was to be introduced in April 1985 at the Hannover Messe (Hanover Trade Fair) in West Germany. Atari also planned to continue the AtariSoft product line for all major computer types. Atari had manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Ireland. Atari employed 500 people worldwide. Atari executives participating included: Jack Tramiel (chairman), David Harris (VP international sales), Massimo Ruosi (Atari European general manager), Brian Richards (Atari UK and European controller). The position of managing director of Atari Corp. (Deutschland) had not yet been filled. (PopularComputingWeekly 12/6; source)

December 8: Atari's James Copland, John Skruch, and Bryan Kerr participated in the Children's Holiday Celebration, a fund raising event for the Scholarship Fund of the Children's Health Council (CHC). Atari loaned 24 800XL computers to the event's coordinators. The systems were then rented to participants, proceeds to the Scholarship Fund. Two of the 800XLs and 1,000 T-shirts were donated by Atari to the organization.

December 20: Atari announced the permanent shutdown of its plant in Limerick, Ireland. Atari Ireland Manufacturing Company Limited, Atari Ireland Distribution Company Limited, and Atari Corp. (Ireland) Limited would be shut down. About 250 workers lost their jobs. Atari chairman Jack Tramiel said Atari now was hoping to build a new, automated plant in Europe. In the meantime, European production would be shifted to Atari's plant in Taiwan. (SJMNews 12/22)

December 22: Atari had laid off between 30 and 40 workers at its Sunnyvale headquarters, and was in the process of closing its main headquarters building, one of two remaining facilities in Sunnyvale. The cut positions were mostly in management information services. Atari now had a local staff of less than 300. James J. Copland remained Atari VP marketing. (SJMNews) Departures included executive assistant to the CEO Donald Richard (Don Richard). Corporate offices would be consolidated at 1196 Borregas Ave. (46,000 ft²), and Atari would vacate and sell the larger 1265 Borregas Ave. building.

1985
January 5-8: At the International Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, under the banner 'Power Without the Price' Atari introduced four new personal computers: the 65XE ("under $120"), 130XE ("well under $200"), 130ST ("under $400" with STM1 mouse; never shipped), and 520ST ("under $600" with STM1 mouse). Previewed: 65XEP ("under $400"; never shipped). (A 65XEM computer was not introduced as promised in advance of the show.) The ST computers were to run Digital Research GEM on Atari TOS (The Operating System version of either Digital Research CP/M-68K or Digital Research GEM DOS, final decision to be determined later) included on ROM; ROM was also to include either Atari Logo (Atari/Digital Research) or Atari BASIC (by MetaComCo for Atari; would ship as: ST BASIC) (final Logo vs. BASIC decision to be determined later). For the ST Atari introduced or announced: SM124 High-Resolution Monochrome Monitor ("under $100"), SC1224 color monitor ("under $200"), SF324 MicroFloppy disk drive (3.5" SSSD 250K unformatted; never shipped), SF354 MicroFloppy disk drive (3.5" SSDD 500K unformatted/360K formatted, "under $150"), SH317 10MB hard disk drive ("under $600"; not shown; never shipped), STC204 printer ("under $100"; not shown?; never shipped), STC504 printer (some literature: "ST504"; "under $150"; never shipped), SDM124 printer ("under $200"; never shipped), SMM804 printer ("under $200"). ST software announced: Infinity (by Matrix Software; never shipped). The in/out MIDI ports on the ST computers were demonstrated driving the new Casio CZ-101 $499 synthesizer. The XE computers would run the Atari OS as found in the Atari 800XL which would be phased out. For XL/XE Atari introduced the XM128 80 column monitor/adapter (some literature: "XM148"; "about $150" or "under $100"; monitor never shipped; adapter would ship as: XEP80), XC1411 color monitor (some literature: "XC141"; "under $300"; never shipped), XTM201 printer ("under $100"; never shipped), XTC201 printer ("under $100"; never shipped), XMM801 printer ("under $200"), XDM121 printer ("under $200"), featured the 1025 and 1027 printers, 1010 program recorder, and the 1050 disk drive with DOS 2.5, and introduced the XM301 modem ("under $50"). Previewed for XL/XE: XF521 5.25" disk drive (130KiB; expected to eventually replace the 1050; never shipped). XL/XE software introduced: AtariWriter Plus, Silent Butler (by Atari/Silent Butler Software), Proofreader (previously introduced by Atari, Inc.), Infinity (by Matrix Software; never shipped), Music Painter (by Atari/Carousel Software), The Learning Phone (access software for the PLATO Homelink Service; previously introduced by Atari, Inc.), AtariLab Light Module (previously introduced by Atari, Inc.). Announced for XL/XE (but not shown): Shopkeeper (6 module series by CodeWriter; never shipped), Atari Tutorial (never shipped), and two games previously introduced by Atari, Inc.: Crystal Castles, Mario Bros. Several XL/XE games previously introduced by Atari, Inc. were featured: Moon Patrol, Millipede, Sky Writer, Final Legacy, Track & Field. Atari also featured the 2600 (2600A version), with 12 units on display featuring games including Track & Field, and Atari featured legacy AtariSoft titles (C-64, Apple II, and IBM PC lines). (HappyComputer 4/85; Antic Online 1/2/85 Pre-CES Preview; source; Compute4/85p25; SPACE 1/85; Analog #28; Analog #29; InfoWorld 1/28/85; Antic 4/85; WeLoveAtariV2p61; Antic Online CES Final Wrap-Up; video #1; video #2; Page 6 #14 p20-21)

Representatives from Atari's five international subsidiaries, headquartered in West Germany, France, Italy, the UK, and Holland (the Netherlands), were present at the show. Irma Obersteiner was business manager for Atari in West Germany; Massimo Ruosi was Atari European general manager; Claude Nahum was director of Atari's international distribution. (Atari Explorer Apr/May85p69)

January 7: Warner Communications reportedly had paid off Alan Alda's $10-million spokescontract, which expired in 1988, for Atari. (AdWeek 1/7/85)

January: Atari (Canada) Corp. commenced operations. Atari general counsel Nicholas Lefevre was interim general manager; Ian Kennedy, previously of Commodore, would be director of sales and marketing. (source)

January 17/23: Rob Harding remained Atari International (U.K.) Inc. marketing manager. (PopularComputingWeekly Jan 17/23 p4)

January 30: Official date of incorporation for Atari (Benelux) B.V., the wholly owned subsidiary of Atari, Corp. in the Netherlands (as mc believes was executed in about November 1984). Directors: Sam Tramiel (Atari president/COO), Leonard Schreiber (Atari VP, general counsel & secretary), Samuel W.L. Chin (Atari VP). Prokurist: Pieter Norp (general manager). (source)

Winter: In France, for the 800/800XL, Atari released La Chasse aux Fautes et La Course aux Hapax, and released Calcul Algébrique.

Winter: Atari VLSI design engineer Peter Ateshian departed the company (to Silicon Design Labs).

February 1: In the US, the suggested retail price for the Atari 800XL was reduced to $99 (previously: $119). (WSJ 2/19/85)

February 8: Atari (corporate) VP marketing James Copland was additionally VP marketing for Atari U.S. (source)

February 10: Atari domestic staff numbered 250, and the company occupied 5 buildings in and around Silicon Valley in CA. (NYT 2/10/85)

February 14: Warner Communications Inc. (WCI) disclosed that it would no longer attach any balance-sheet value to the notes received from Atari, Corp. for $252.5 million in loans from WCI to Atari in 7/84 and 9/84 (previously collectively valued by WCI at $150 million as of 9/30/84). Rather, WCI now intended to recognize any interest and principal payments from Atari, Corp. as income when received. (LATimes 2/15; WSJ 2/15)

February 14-15: A GEM seminar was conducted for software developers at Digital Research headquarters in Monterey CA. 200 attended; most committed to developing software for the Atari ST. (CN 4/85 p18)

February: Atari committed to Digital Research GEM DOS (later: GEMDOS) as the foundation for the Atari ST computer TOS operating system (rather than Digital Research CP/M-68K). (source)

February?: Conclusion of a production run of the Atari 1050 disk drive at the Atari plant in Hong Kong, which would be operationally shut down.

February: First issue of Atari Explorer magazine, published by Atari manager of publications Neil Harris. Atari (corporate) executives listed/profiled: Jack Tramiel (chairman), Sam Tramiel (president), Sigmund Hartmann (president, software division), David Harris (vice president, international sales), Leonard Tramiel (vice president, software development), Tom Brightman (vice president, engineering), Joe Spiteri (vice president, manufacturing). For Atari U.S. operations, Greg Pratt (corporate general manager) was president and James Copland (corporate VP marketing) was VP marketing. (source)

February: Samuel W.L. Chin, previously Atari VP, CFO and Treasurer, became Atari VP and General Manager of Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (ATMC), replacing Simon Sze who departed the company. Greg Pratt, previously Atari general manager and president of Atari U.S., became Atari VP finance, CFO and treasurer (replacing Chin in the role). James Copland, previously Atari (corporate) VP marketing and VP marketing for Atari U.S., would remain (corporate) VP marketing while additionally serving as general manager for U.S. operations (replacing Pratt in the role) on an interim basis. (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

February: In France, Atari, Corp. established Atari France S.A. Atari France would manage the business of P.E.C.F. Atari (the unit of Warner Communications Inc.), which would continue to operate at 9-11 rue Georges Enesco, Créteil (near Paris). (for date/timing: Hebdogiciel #124 Feb86; L'Atarien #7-#8 front-matter) Massimo Ruosi (Atari European general manager) would be supervisione commerciale (pro-tempore) of Atari France S.A. (Peter Richards remained P.E.C.F. Atari Interim General Manager.)

March 5: At the San Leandro Computer Club, a panel of eight Atari executives (president of the software division Sig Hartmann, software product manager for the 8-bit line John Skruch, head of TOS/GEM development John Feagans, VP R&D Shiraz Shivji, director of the 16-bit (software) product line Richard Frick, editor of Atari Explorer Neil Harris, VP finance Garry Tramiel, general counsel Nick Lefevre) answered questions from the audience of 200 for over two hours. Atari pledged both the XE and ST would ship in April. Regarding the 65XEP, Atari had "postponed plans to produce an 8-bit portable computer, due to lack of interest." Regarding the 65XEM, "plans for an XEM 8-bit music computer have been postponed indefinitely due to problems with finalizing the AMY sound chip." The 520ST professional development package was available for $4,500. In the U.S., as previously announced, the 520ST was to retail for $599; the 130ST was to retail for $399. Also, Atari again promised to introduce a new 32-bit computer at the Hanover Trade Fair in West Germany in April. (SLCC Apr85; CN Apr85 p19; SPACE Apr85)

March 15: Atari Games, Inc. (the Warner Communications subsidiary) filed a certificate of amendment with the office of Secretary of State, State of Delaware, changing its corporate title to Atari Holdings, Inc.

March: The protracted closure of Atari's plant in Limerick, Ireland, initiated December 1984, was completed. (The workers had won significantly improved severance payments by occupying the plant for two months.) (source; source for date)

March: Having largely exhausted existing inventories of 5200 systems, 5200 games, and some 2600 games, Atari commenced utilization of existing parts inventories for production of new Atari 5200 game systems (source).

March?: In Italy, Atari Italia S.p.A. launched operations at its new headquarters: Via dei Lavoratori, 19, 20092 Cinisello Balsamo (MI). (source) Massimo Ruosi was Atari Italia managing director (and also Atari European general manager); Ernesto Zanzi was procuratore generale; Roberto Freggia was Sales Manager; Fiorenza Anelli was Marketing Manager. (source) Atari operations were discontinued at Viale Della Liberazione, 18 - 20124 Milano MI, and Atari International (Italy) Inc. (the unit of Warner Communications Inc.) was operationally shut down.

March 18: Leonard Tramiel remained Atari VP software (InfoWorld) (actually: VP software development: operating systems/software technology).

March 19: In West Germany, Alwin R. Stumpf, previously head of Commodore in West Germany, joined Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH as its first general manager. (source) (Irma Obersteiner would remain business manager, now reporting to Stumpf.)

March 23: Atari launched the Atari Base BBS. (source) Atari manager of publications Neil Harris was the systems operator. (source)

March 25: Atari, Corp. notified the State of California of its new principal office address (46,000 ft²): 1196 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale, CA. Garry Tramiel remained assistant secretary.

March 25: In West Germany regarding Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH, the changes executed on November 20, 1984 were registered, including the new name of the company, Atari president/COO Sam Tramiel and Atari VP international sales David Harris as managing directors (replacing the departed Claus Birk and Claus Arved Bolle), and Atari chairman Jack Tramiel, Massimo Ruosi (Atari European general manager), Brian Richards (Atari UK and European controller), and Irma Obersteiner (business manager) as prokurists. (Helga Weise and Gabriele Tanger geb.Pien remained prokurists as well.)

March 27: The Boston Computer Society General Meeting featured Leonard Tramiel of Atari (VP software development: operating systems/software technology), as well as Digital Research's Bruce Cohen, and Bill Bowman from Spinnaker, and marked the east coast unveiling of the new 520ST Computer. The meeting filled Boston's New England Life Hall to capacity. (source)

March 28/April 3: Jamie Copland remained "vice president of marketing at Atari Worldwide". (PopularComputingWeekly p4)

March 30: At the first meeting of the Atari Worldwide User Network (WUN), held at the office of Antic magazine in San Francisco, Atari announced that the 130XE had just shipped in the U.S. ($149), the 65XE was currently being shipped in Canada, and that DOS 2.5 (OSS) was now shipping with 1050 disk drives (replacing DOS 3) and would be also be distributed as freeware. Richard Frick was Atari ST software development director; John Skruch was Atari XE software development director; Tom Brightman was Atari engineering VP; Sam Tramiel was president/COO of Atari; Sig Hartmann was president of AtariSoft division. (source)

March 30-April 2: At the 10th West Coast Computer Faire at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, The San Leandro Computer Club (SLCC) and the Atari Bay Area User's Computer Society (ABACUS) both displayed 520ST and 130XE units supplied by Atari, their first showing to the general public.

March 31: In West Germany, as Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH was launching its new headquarters the next day, operations at Atari Elektronik Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (the Warner Communications subsidiary) at Bebelallee 10, D-2000 Hamburg 60 were discontinued, and 33 of the approximately 47 that were employed there departed the company. (source, source)

Winter/Spring: For the 2600 Atari released: Stargate, Track & Field (GCC; with Arcade Controller) (AtariExplorer Sum85 p43)

Winter/Spring: For the XL/XE Atari released: Millipede, Moon Patrol, Sky Writer, Final Legacy, Track & Field (with Arcade Controller), AtariLab Light Module (AtariExplorer Sum85 p41)

Winter/Spring?: Atari released AtariSoft Track & Field (with Arcade Controller) versions for Apple II and for IBM PC.

April 1: Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH launched operations at Frankfurter Straße 89-91, D-6096 Raunheim, with about 14 employees. (source, source) Alwin R. Stumpf was general manager; Irma Obersteiner was Business manager; Klaus-Peter Kuschke would join the company as sales manager.

April 5: Nicholas Lefevre, previously Atari general counsel and interim general manager of Atari (Canada) Corp., would remain with Atari as corporate counsel. (Josephine Druehl remained corporate counsel as well.) Ian Kennedy, previously Atari (Canada) Corp. director of sales and marketing, was now Atari (Canada) Corp. general manager (source) (replacing Lefevre in the role).

April 11: Atari and the state of Nevada said Atari planned to build a manufacturing plant in Nevada, and possibly a new headquarters as well. The new facility was expected to employ 200; Atari currently employed about 210 at its Sunnyvale headquarters location. (UPI)

April 11/17: Simon Westbrook remained Atari International (U.K.) Inc. managing director. (PopularComputingWeekly Apr 11/17 p1)

April 12: Leonard Tramiel was Atari VP Software Development. (source) (operating systems/software technology)

April: For the XL/XE, Atari released DOS 2.5 as freeware via the CompuServe Atari SIG.

April: Atari discontinued production of the 800XL computer. (source) (There would be one more production run in winter 1987.)

April: Leonard Tramiel was Atari VP software (software development: operating systems/software technology); Sigmund Hartmann was president, software (AtariSoft division, publisher of software developed by third parties); Richard Frick was software product manager, ST line; John Skruch was software product manager, XL/XE line. (AtariExplorer Sum85 p32-33)

April?: Atari announced that European distribution, warehousing and administration operations were being centralized in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. (Atari User May85 p19; Page 6 #15 My/Jn85 p5) (European distribution and warehousing were previously centralized at Limerick, Ireland; this plan for centralized operations in Rotterdam would shortly be abandonded, but essentially finally carried out in 1993.)

April 17-24: Atari introduced the 520ST and 130XE to West Germany and featured the 800XL at the Hannover Messe (Hanover Trade Fair). Atari proclaimed a May 1st marketing launch for the 520ST, with production ramping up to maximum by July 1st. (NewsBytes) (No 32-bit workstation, 65XE, 65XEM, 130ST or 260ST were shown. (source)) For the ST, Atari introduced the SF314 MicroFloppy Disk Drive (3.5" DSDD) and the PS3000 Color Monitor-Disk Drive, and featured the SF354 disk drive, SC1224 and SM124 monitors, SMM804 and SDM124 printers, promised a 10MB hard disk drive (SH317) and Infinity, and announced The Silent Butler (never shipped). For the 130XE/800XL Atari introduced the XMM801 and XDM121 printers to West Germany (220V AC versions for Europe never shipped) and featured the 1050 disk drive, 1027 printer, and 1029 printer. Also, Atari did not plan to attend June's Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago (they would change their minds in time to attend). (PopularComputingWeekly 4/25; source; WSJ 4/18; source; source; source; source; source; source; source)

April 18: Commodore International had filed a lawsuit in Chicago against its ex-vice president of sales, David Harris, who now was at Atari (VP international sales), charging he was "involved in subverting the room arrangements" of Commodore during the January electronics show, when space was scarce. (WSJ 4/18)

April 19: Atari Holdings, Inc. transferred ownership of the four U.S. Patents 4,296,476, 4,435,779, 4,471,463, 4,471,464 (collectively, the Atari 400/800 hardware platform) to Atari, Corp.

April 22: Atari shipped the 130XE in the UK (£169.90). (NewsBytes for date; PopularComputingWeekly 4/25 for price)

April 24: In Switzerland, the name of Montebarro SA was changed to SAMA electronics A.G., and the company moved to: Bahnhofstrasse 7, CH-5400 Baden. Jean-Pierre Jordan would remain chairman, and general manager Marco Guerra (previously of XMIT AG; before that with Commodore in Italy) additionally became a director. New prokurist: Sijtje Guerra. (source)

Spring: David Duberman, previously of Synapse (and before that, of Antic magazine), joined Atari as User Group Coordinator (new position). Duberman would report to manager of publications Neil Harris. (Duberman would later report to VP marketing James Copland. (source 31:35) )

Spring: In France, using the AtariSoft label, Atari released for the XL/XE: Nostradamus, L'Enigme du Triangle

Spring: In the UK, Superior Software released Tempest, title by Atari, for the Acorn Electron/BBC Micro. (May85 ad)

May 1: James Copland, previously Atari (corporate) VP marketing and interim general manager for Atari U.S., would remain (corporate) VP marketing. Sig Schreyer joined Atari as VP and general manager for U.S. operations (sales, marketing, and general administration; assuming the role from Copland). Schreyer was previously vice president for computer peripherals at Silver Reed. (AE Sum85 p2 for date; PR 5/28 as found here) (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

May 6: Atari confirmed its European structure. Subsidiaries of Atari operated in West Germany, England, France, the Netherlands, and Italy, each reporting to Atari president/COO Sam Tramiel. Independent distributors would operate in other European countries. European marketing, finance, administration and logistics activities would be coordinated from London at Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited. Massimo Ruosi was Europe General Manager and managing director of Atari Italia S.p.A.; Ruosi was also currently serving as supervisione commerciale (pro-tempore) for Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited and for Atari France S.A. Also at Atari Italia S.p.A.: Ernesto Zanzi was procuratore generale, Roberto Freggia was Sales Manager; Fiorenza Anelli was Marketing Manager; and the position of Technical Manager was vacant. (source)

May 6-9: Atari had 4 ST and 2 XE computers on display, and primarily highlighted upcoming 3rd-party software for the ST (which had not yet shipped) and the XE at the Spring COMDEX show at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta GA. In a joint announcement, Atari and Rising Star Industries, of North Hollywood, CA, intended for Atari to market Rising Star's Valdocs software products (Valdraw, Valpaint, others) for the ST. Atari said the first ST computers would ship to Atari user groups for beta testing later in the month, with machines for the general public to ship in July. While the previously-announced 130ST was now canceled, Atari still planned two different versions of the ST: a $799 520ST package for specialty retailers with disk drive and monochrome monitor to ship imminently, and a scaled down model (later: 260ST) for mass mechandisers to ship in September. Atari said the 800XL and 130XE were available for mass retailers in the meantime and that they expected the 800XL to sell widely through toy retailers for Christmas 1985. Atari said they were working on a CD-ROM drive for the ST, developed in conjunction with North American Philips. Atari said they intended to release a 32-bit "graphics workstation" "late this year or possibly early 1986". Richard Frick was Atari ST line (software) product manager. (WSJ 5/9)

May: Atari shipped the 520ST in Canada and West Germany (interim version with TOS on disk). (source)

May: In the UK Atari had released the 800XL 64K Personal Computer Pack (800XL + 1010 + An Invitation to Programming 1 cassette + Pole Position/Atari Demo cassette; £129.99) and also offered a £249.99 (earlier/Atari's own ad: £269.99) system bundle consisting of: 800XL + 1050 + DX1002 Diskette Pack (Home Filing Manager + The Pay-Off/Atari Demonstration). (Personal Computer News 2/16/85 p2; source; source; Atari User #1 May85 p2-3 ad, p19 article; source)

May 16/22: Simon Westbrook remained Atari International (U.K.) Inc. general manager; Rob Harding remained sales and marketing manager. (PopularComputingWeekly 16-22May)

May 21: In Switzerland, the changes to SAMA electronics A.G. executed on April 24, 1985 were registered.

May 28: Atari named Sig Schreyer, former vice president for Computer Peripherals at Silver Reed, as vice president and general manager, responsible for the U.S. operation's sales, marketing, and general administration. (He had started May 1.) (AE Sum85 p2 for date; PR 5/28 as found here)

May 30: In Italy, Atari Italia S.p.A. launched the 130XE (L. 380.000), and also offered the 600XL (L. 149.000) and 800XL (L. 299.000). (source; MCmicrocomputer #42p105)

June 2-5: At the Summer CES in Chicago, Atari and Activenture, a California optical media company formed in 1984 by Gary A. Kildall, founder/chairman of Digital Research, demonstrated a prototype CD-ROM drive (CDAR500; 550MB capacity; never shipped) for the 520ST, along with a CD-ROM with Grolier's Encyclopedia (unnamed at the show) and Facts and Figures retrieval software for the ST. Atari introduced the 260STD ($499; later: 260ST^FM; never shipped) and announced (but did not show) the 260ST ($399; later: 260ST^M; never shipped) as the new low-end, "mass market" complements to the 520ST, which was now only to be sold through computer specialty stores. Atari announced that the 520ST was shipping in Canada and Europe, and that the 520ST would ship in large-volume in the U.S. by July 8. While the 260ST/260STD were to include TOS on ROM, 520ST computers were shipping with TOS on disk, with a TOS ROM chip upgrade to be released later. For the XL/XE Atari featured the XM301 modem, introduced The Professional (VIP Software; never shipped), GEM Desktop (VIP Software; never shipped), and Home Astronomer (by Atari/Deltron; would ship as: Atari Planetarium), and featured AtariWriter Plus and Silent Butler. Atari also featured the 2600 (2600A series) and 5200 at the show (showing no new games for either system). New-production Atari 2600 systems would be very similar to the latest 2600CR package by Atari, Inc., including essentially the same silver format square box containing the 4-switch black/no woodgrain 2600A series console, but would include only one CX40 joystick and no game. New 5200 units would ship with the original pack-in game, Super Breakout, and in a new, smaller "narrow" or "square" box.

June?: Claude Nahum, previously Atari director of international distribution, was promoted to Director of International Sales, replacing David Harris who departed the company.

June: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited launched direct operations at Atari House, Railway Terrace, Slough, Berkshire, England (33,600 ft²; formerly the home of Atari International (U.K.) Inc., the Warner Communications subsidiary). Max Bambridge would be general manager (replacing supervisione commerciale (pro-tempore) Massimo Ruosi in the role), and would also serve as Atari's head of European sales and marketing. (Atari User June85 p7,8,9) (Massimo Ruosi remained Atari's European General Manager.) Simon Westbrook, previously Atari International (U.K.) Inc. managing director, would be Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited controller, and would also serve as Atari European controller, replacing Atari UK and European controller Brian Richards who departed the company. Rob Harding remained sales & marketing manager, Robert Katz was ST product manager, Jon Dean was product manager, Software Products Division, and Les Player remained technical manager. (The name of Atari International (U.K.) Inc., the Warner Communications subsidiary, would be changed to: Atari Games International (UK) Inc., and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Atari Games Corporation.)

June: Atari shipped the 520ST (first systems to the UK; £750 monochrome system; TOS on disk; volume supplies to ship in August). (NewsBytes for month)

June: Atari announced an agreement with Mosaic Software to bundle an ST version of their Lotus 1-2-3 clone, The Twin (ST version never shipped), with the 520ST.

June 17: In the UK, the name of Tryright Limited was changed to: Crushproof Software Limited.

June 19: In a resolution to the legal case initiated by Commodore on July 10, 1984, a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled that while four engineers who left Commodore to join Jack Tramiel at Atari did take some classified documents with them, the documents weren't "crucial" information and had nothing to do with trade secrets. (NewsBytes; WSJ 6/20)

July 1: Donald R. Thompson (Don Thompson), previously of American Educational Computer, Inc. since 1983 (and before that with Atari (Consumer) from 1976-1978 and with Starpath Corporation from 1982-1983), joined Atari (U.S.) as national sales manager (AE Sum85 p2) (reporting to general manager Sig Schreyer).

July 3: Date of State of Nevada certificate of corporate status for Tramel Trading Limited. (original incorporation date needed) (for the purpose of importing products manufactured outside of the U.S. into the U.S.)

July 11/17: Atari's XE computer range included the 130XE, available in the UK, Europe, and North America, and the 65XE, available in Canada. (PopularComputingWeekly p5)

July: Atari shipped the 520ST in the U.S., with: STM1 mouse, SF354 disk drive, TOS System Disk, Atari Logo Language Disk, and SM124 monitor ($799 system package) or SC1224 monitor ($999 system package).

July 15: Digital Research (DRI) introduced GEM DOS. (Atari TOS for Atari ST computers was the first implementation of GEM DOS.) (source)

July 19: The address of the principal executive office for Tramel Trading Limited was: 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA. Atari VP administration Garry Tramiel was president of Tramel Trading Limited.

Month?: Joseph Ferrari, previously a Commodore product manager, joined Atari (Canada) Corp. as Director of Software Development

Month?: Atari systems software engineer Matthew Householder departed the company (to Epyx).

Month?: Atari (Japan) Corp. engineer Yuichi Okubo departed the company (to head research & development at Commodore Japan Ltd.). (source) (Taro Tokai remained Atari VP and General Manager, Atari (Japan).)

Summer: For the XL/XE, in place of the canceled 6-module Shopkeeper series, Atari had acquired distribution rights from CodeWriter for: FileWriter, ReportWriter, MenuWriter, CodeWriter (FileWriter + ReportWriter + MenuWriter), Home Integrator, Small Business Inventory, Salesmans Expense, Retail Invoice, Accounts Receivable System / Accounts Payable System (two packages in one), AdventureWriter, Star Voyage Series: Star Voyage 1 - Star Voyage 2. (AtariExplorer Sum85 p41)

Summer?: Atari released an ST demo disk that included: Dr Doodle (Digital Research)

Summer: In France, using the AtariSoft label, Atari released for the XL/XE: Caméléon, Promoteur

September 4-8: Atari featured the 520ST (£749.99 monochrome system) and 130XE at the 8th Personal Computer World (PCW) show at London's Olympia Hall. Atari also previewed the 260ST^FM (earlier name: 260STD; "around £450" to ship by the end of the year; never shipped) and previewed the SH317 10MB hard disk drive for the ST ("around £650" to ship by the end of the year; never shipped). (Not shown: CD-ROM drive.) Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited representatives at the show included sales and marketing manager Rob Harding, technical manager Les Player, ST product manager Robert Katz, and product manager (Software Products Division) Jon Dean. (source; source)

September: At Atari (Benelux) B.V., Pieter Norp was general manager, Wilfried de Graaf was sales and marketing manager, and Ruud van Nispen was product and operations manager. Massimo Ruosi remained Atari's European general manager. (PCM 9/85 p4)

September: Mobex Pty Ltd would become the first and exclusive Atari ST distributor in Australia (Courier-Mail 9/10/85) (replacing Atari's former distributor, Futuretronics Australia Pty Ltd).

September 16: Leonard Tramiel was Atari VP software development (operating systems/software technology).

September 26: Atari announced that VP and general manager for U.S. operations Sig Schreyer was no longer with the company, and that (corporate) VP marketing James L. Copland was resigning from the company. (Copland had established Shanner International Corporation on 9/16/85.) (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

September 30: Atari had shipped over 50,000 units of the 520ST. (InfoWorld 12/9/85 p19)

September/October?: For the ST Atari released (for free distribution): ST Writer, NEOchrome (preview version)

October: In the UK Atari had launched four new XL/XE system bundles: 800XL + joystick + Qix cartridge for £70; 800XL + 1010 + joystick + software pack (ACC1001 cassette: Computer Chess + European Countries and Capitals) for £99; 130XE + 1050 + four pieces of software: DOS 3 + DOS 2.5 + DX1002 Diskette Pack (Home Filing Manager + The Pay-Off/Atari Demonstration) for £231; 130XE + 1027 + AtariWriter Plus (disk) + three other pieces of software: DOS 2.5 + DX1002 Diskette Pack (Home Filing Manager + The Pay-Off/Atari Demonstration) for £305. (Atari User v1n6 10/85 p7)

October?: A new production run of the Atari 1050 disk drive commenced in Singapore by Atari-PCI Enterprises Pte. Ltd. (This instead of Atari producing the announced XF521.)

October 21: Computer Systems News reported that Atari had signed a license for the UNIX System V operating system from AT&T. (confirmed in InfoWorld 3/16/86)

October 28: Atari had shipped 10,000 520ST systems in the U.S. (InfoWorld 10/28/85 p8), and had shipped 10,000 520ST systems in West Germamy. (source)

October 28-November 1: Atari launched the "mega-Atari" 520ST+ (DM 2.998,- with monitor, disk drive, mouse; TOS on disk) and introduced the 260ST (DM 1.298 without monitor, disk drive, or mouse; TOS on disk) at Systems '85 in Munich, West Germany (which was attended by about 126,000 people). Also promoted for the 520ST/520ST+/260ST: SF354, SF314, SC1224, SM124, SDM124. Atari also featured the 800XL/130XE, and for the XL/XE: 1010, 1050, 1027, 1029, and Touch Tablet (CX77). (source; source; source; source)

Fall: For the XL/XE, using the AtariSoft label, the Atari Software Products Division of Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited re-released on cassette: The Lone Raider, Chess (Computer Chess), Eastern Front (1941), European Countries and Capitals, An Invitation to Programming (An Invitation to Programming 1) (10/85 printing dates)

November 9: AtariFest '85, co-sponsored by the Northern Virginia Atari Users Group (NOVATARI) and Fairfax County Adult and Commuity Education, was held at Fairfax High School (Virginia). The first such event, with participation by additional Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts (WAACE) groups NCAUG, WACUG, AURA, and SMAUG, drew 2,000 people. (Atari did not attend.) (source; CN 12/85 p6-8)

November: For the XL/XE Atari shipped AtariWriter Plus (Micro Fantasy / R. Stanley Kistler).

November: Atari director of operations Tim Chodera departed the company (to Wyse Technology).

November 15: Atari announced that Michael V. Katz, former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Epyx Inc., had joined the company as executive vice president of marketing, responsible for the management of the sales and marketing functions for Atari's domestic lines of computer hardware and software (replacement for the departed James Copland in the role), and responsible for the initiation, development and management of a new division offering entertainment electronics products. In addition, Katz would be on the board of directors of Atari. (PR; Atari Dealer News 11/85) Atari also announced that Albert E. Montross (Al Montross), founder and president of Compco Computer Centers Inc., had joined the company as VP and general manager for U.S. operations (see AdWeek 11/18/85; Atari Dealer News 11/85) (replacement for the departed Sig Schreyer). (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

November 20-24: At the 7th annual Computer Dealers Exposition (COMDEX/Fall) in Las Vegas, Atari featured the 520ST and the 130XE, primarily showcasing 3rd party software for the ST. 520ST banner: "It's better...It's less money...The critics love it...and it's selling!" Notably, Atari presented a display consisting of an Atari 520ST, a Commodore Amiga, an Apple Macintosh, and an Atari 130XE, all running versions of the famous Amiga Boing Ball demo program. Software featured/announced from Atari for the ST: ST Writer, NEOchrome, 3-D Interiors, DB Master (Stoneware; would ship as: DB Master One), 2-Key Accounting System (never shipped), GEM Write (Atari/Digital Research; never shipped), GEM Paint (Atari/Digital Research; never shipped), NEO Images (Atari/Imagebank), ViCom (AM Software/Atari; would ship as: FaSTcom), The Manager (BMB Compuscience/Atari; would ship from BMB), Atari Planetarium, ST BASIC, Atari Logo, K-RAM (Kuma/Atari; would ship from Kuma), K-Seka (Kuma/Atari; would ship from Kuma), CP/M Emulator (Softronics/Atari; never shipped), Modula-2 (TDI/Atari; would ship from TDI), Joust, Star Raiders, Music (Atari/Rising Star Industries; never shipped). For the holiday season each 520ST system would ship with 5 free software programs: ST Writer, DB Master One, Megaroids (Megamax), Atari Logo, ST BASIC. Not shown: Atari CD-ROM drive; Atari had reportedly determined not to market a color printer for the ST (STC504); the SH317 (10MB hard disk drive) was reported canceled, with a 20MB drive to be released within weeks (SH324 developer units; would ship as: SH204). For the XL/XE Atari promoted: XM301 modem, The Learning Phone, AtariWriter Plus, Proofreader, Silent Butler, Music Painter (previously: Song Painter). Dave Duberman remained Atari user group coordinator. (source; CN 12/85p16; CN Feb86p22)

November/December: Atari software division president Sig Hartmann, previously responsible for AtariSoft (publisher of software developed by third parties), would now be responsible for third-party as well as in-house software application development. Denis Friedman, previously Software Manager at Atari France, became Atari Head of Third Party Software (source; source) (reporting to Hartmann). John Skruch, previously software product manager, XL/XE line, would be manager of in-house software development (reporting to Hartmann). Richard Frick, previously software product manager, ST line, became director of product development, 2600/7800 lines (reporting to entertainment electronics division head Mike Katz). (Separately, Atari VP software development Leonard Tramiel remained responsible for operating systems/software technology.)

December 9: Michael Katz was Atari EVP marketing; Tom Brightman was VP in charge of planning and procurement; Bryan Kerr was marketing manager. (InfoWorld) Shiraz Shivji, previously Atari VP research & development, had become VP advanced technology, assuming engineering from Brightman.

December?: Bryan Kerr, previously Atari marketing manager (hardware products; reporting to EVP marketing and entertainment electronics Michael Katz) was promoted to director of marketing/computer products (strategic product marketing; still reporting to Katz). Mel Stevens, previously marketing communications/creative services manager, would would be promoted to director of creative services (reporting to Katz). (source) Neil Harris, previously manager of publications (Atari Explorer magazine), would become Director of Communications, Marketing Dept. (reporting to Katz; also still responsible for Atari Explorer), and would also serve as hardware products manager (replacing Kerr in the role).

December: David Navarro, former Commodore Business Machines, Inc. (Commodore International U.S. operations) national sales manager (1980; source; source), joined Atari as vice president of U.S. sales/entertainment electronics. (source) Donald Thompson, previously national sales manager, would remain national sales manager/entertainment electronics, now reporting to Navarro. (Michael Katz remained Atari EVP marketing and entertainment electronics.)

December: Larry Samuels (Lawrence K. Samuels), previously president of Vicom Distribution, joined Atari U.S. as director of computer sales (domestic sales and marketing, including marketing communications, channel development, and sales force management). (Al Montross remained Atari VP and general manager for U.S. operations.)

December: In the UK, Atari had sold their entire remaining stock of 800XL computers (PAL I units; approximately 100,000 units) to Dixons (including Currys), who offered two exclusive Atari-sponsored 800XL system bundles for the holiday season: 800XL + 1010 + joystick + 5 cassettes (new re-releases by Atari): The Lone Raider, Chess (Computer Chess), Eastern Front (1941), European Countries and Capitals, An Invitation to Programming (An Invitation to Programming 1) for £99.99 (reported) / £79.99 (advertised); 800XL + 1050 + DX1003 Software Pack (The Home Filing Manager disk + The Pay-Off/Paint disk) for £169.99. (Atari User #8 12/85 p9; source)

December: For the ST Atari announced DB Master One (Stoneware) and FaSTcom (AM Software/Atari)

December 19: In West Germany regarding Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH, Alwin Stumpf (general manager since March 19, 1985) was registered as a managing director, and former Atari VP international sales David Harris was registered to no longer be a managing director (Atari president/COO Sam Tramiel would also no longer be a managing director); Helga Weise, Gabriele Tanger geb.Pien, Massimo Ruosi, and Brian Richards were registered to no longer be prokurists. (Atari, Corp. chairman Jack Tramiel and business manager Irma Obersteiner also remained prokurists.)

Atari sold about 100,000 ST computers (50,000 within the U.S.), and over 1 million 2600 game systems, worldwide in 1985. (Compute! Apr86 p31,34; CN Feb86p10,21)

Atari's 8-bit user base in the UK has now reached 400,000...close to 100,000 of the [discontinued 800XL] are believed to have been sold during the run up to Christmas alone. (Atari User Feb 1986 p.9)

1986
January 9-12: At the Winter CES in Las Vegas Atari announced (but did not show) the 1040ST^FM, introduced the 520ST^M, featured the 130XE ($149) and again promised the 65XE ("under $100"), reintroduced the (yet to ship) 7800, and introduced the 2600JR version of the Atari 2600 to the U.S. The 1040ST^FM would be distributed in the U.S. exclusively by computer dealers (replacing the original 520ST in that respect), in two packages: $999 with SM124 or $1,199 with SC1224. The 520ST^M would be available in the U.S. through mass merchandisers and sold in 3 packages: $399 without disk drive or monitor, $699 with SF354 and SM124, or $899 with SF354 and SC1224. All new ST computers would include TOS 1.0 on ROM (rev. 20-Nov-85), were to ship with 1st Word (by GST), and would ship with a new ST Language Disk which would include: ST BASIC, Atari Logo, NEOchrome (preview version v0.5), VT52 Terminal Emulator. For the ST Atari announced the SH204 20MB hard disk drive to ship within 4 weeks for $800. Atari also announced the SC1424 14" replacement for the SC1224 (to be ready 3/1/86; never shipped) and previewed ST Star Raiders. For the 130XE ($149) and 65XE ("under $100") Atari announced (but did not show) the XC11 program recorder, previewed Star Raiders II (disk), and featured: Silent Butler, Music Painter, Home Astronomer (to ship as: Atari Planetarium), AtariWriter Plus. Atari also announced a $399 130XE bundle to include: printer (1027), disk drive (1050) and five software titles: Silent Butler, Star Raiders, Music Painter, Paint, AtariWriter; there was to be a similar 65XE bundle ("$300-$350") as well. The 7800 (previously introduced by Atari, Inc. on May 21, 1984) now promised to ship March 1986, would list for $79 and ship with two Pro-Line Joystick controllers (CX24) and Pole Position II cartridge. Atari also featured 9 additional game titles for the 7800 (all titles previously introduced by Atari, Inc.): Deluxe Asteroids (previously: 3-D Asteroids; would ship as: Asteroids), Centipede, Dig Dug, Food Fight, Galaga, Joust, Ms. Pac-Man, Robotron: 2084, Xevious. Rescue on Fractalus! (never shipped) and Ballblazer were promised by Atari for the 7800 as well. The "cosmetically re-designed" 2600 (unofficially, "2600 Jr.") had been shipping in Europe since fall 1984. The 2600 would list for $49 and ship with one Standard Joystick (CX40) (and no game), and was expected to ship February 1. For the 2600 Atari showed: Dig Dug, Pole Position, Stargate, Moon Patrol, Joust. Michael Katz remained Atari EVP and head of the entertainment electronics division; Neil Harris was Atari hardware products manager (and Director of Communications, marketing dept.); Al Montross remained Atari VP and general manager for U.S. operations. (source; CE 2/86 p12; CN 2/86 p17, 21, 23, 26-27; InfoWorld Jan13; Compute#71)

January 13: Atari VP and general manager for U.S. operations Al Montross had departed the company (to Shanner International). (source; source) (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

January: Atari user group coodinator Dave Duberman had departed the company (to Shanner International).

January?: Production of the Atari 1050 disk drive (late units by Atari-PCI Enterprises Pte. Ltd. in Singapore) ended. Atari would withdraw from the Atari-PCI Enterprises joint manufacturing venture, ceding ownership of the plant to PCI Inc.

January: Chris Hall, previously Acorn national sales manager, had joined Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited in sales (reporting to sales manager Rob Harding). Max Bambridge remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited general manager. (Atari User Jan86 p9)

January: (January 1?) Atari France S.A. launched operations at 9, rue Sentou, Suresnes (near Paris; the site was previously the headquarters of Procep ("Commodore France" until 1985, when Commodore launched a direct subsidiary in France). Elie Kenan, previously président-directeur général (PDG) of Procep, became Atari France PDG (replacing supervisione commerciale (pro-tempore) Massimo Ruosi in the role). Daniel Hammaoui, also previously of Procep, would be Atari France directeur commercial, as Atari France launched direct sales/distribution activities (taking over from distributors such as Galaxie). Jean Richen, previously P.E.C.F. Atari director of marketing, would be Atari France director of communications. Atari-related operations at 9-11 rue Georges Enesco, Créteil were discontinued, and the P.E.C.F. Atari division (the unit of Warner Communications Inc.) was shut down. P.E.C.F. Atari Interim Country General Manager Peter Richards would depart the company (to Metrologie International/Metroservice). (L'Atarien #10 p45; Hebdogiciel #124 Feb86; source; source)

January 20: In the Netherlands, a new 19,400 ft² location for Atari (Benelux) B.V. (previously: Atoomweg 480, Utrecht): Hagenweg 7B, Vianen (not far from Rotterdam). (source for date)

January 17: Atari planned to begin promoting its 2600 model and its newly introduced 7800 model (priced at less than $80) as early as March. (Advertising Age)

Winter: For the XL/XE Atari shipped The Learning Phone (Access Software cartridge for the PLATO Homelink Service from Control Data Corporation (CDC)), and in the UK Atari shipped the XC11 program recorder. (Atari User 3/86 p7)

Winter: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited product manager (Software Products Division) Jon Dean departed the company. (Robert Katz remained a product manager.)

Winter: The name of Activenture, Atari's CD-ROM developer partner, was changed to: KnowledgeSet

Febraury 10: Atari claimed at least 80 programs were available for the 520ST/1040ST computers, including more than 30 games, and that about 1,200 developers had purchase Atari's ST developers kit. Sigmund Hartmann was Atari's "director of software development" (InfoWorld) (actually: software division president).

February 10: All new production ST computers were shipping with TOS on ROM. Atari had shipped the TOS ROM chip upgrade ($25) for ST computers that had shipped with TOS on disk (which included all 520ST+, all 260ST, and all but the earliest 520ST systems). Neil Harris was hardware products manager (and director of communications, marketing dept.) for Atari. (InfoWorld) (actually: Director of Communications, Marketing Dept.)

February 14: Neil Harris, Atari Director of Communications, Marketing Dept., remained responsible for Atari's Atari Explorer magazine. (2/14/86 Harris Usenet post)

February: John Feagans was Atari director of software technology (source) (reporting to VP software development Leonard Tramiel).

February 18: Neil Harris remained Atari Director of Communications, Marketing Dept. (source)

March 1: Atari France S.A. launched the 520ST^F and 1040ST^F computers. Pricing: 520ST^F with Peritel cable: 5 990,-; 1040ST^F with SM124 ("1040STFM" package): 9 990,-; 1040ST^F with SC1224 ("1040STFC" package): 11 990,-. ST peripherals offered: SF354, SF314, SM124, SC1424 (never shipped; the replacement SC1425 would ship in 1987). (source; source; source)

March 7-9: At the (first) Atari Computer Show (ACE), in the Champagne Suite at the Novotel, Hammersmith, London (the first Atari-specific exhibition to be held anywhere in the world), Atari introduced the 1040ST^F (£799 with SM124 or £999 with SC1224), introduced the 520ST^M (£399) to the UK, announced the 520ST^FM (£499) which was to ship in a "few months," previewed the 7800 for the UK (£70; would not ship in the UK until 1989), and featured the 2600 and the 130XE. Again promised: SMM804 printer. For the ST Atari previewed the "MS-DOS Box" (NEC V20/Intel 8088 + socket for 8087 + 512K RAM; never shipped). For the XL/XE Atari previewed an "80-column adapter" (previously: video adapter component of the XM128 monitor/adapter; would ship as: XEP80) and introduced the XC11 program recorder. Close to 15,000 attended the event. (AtariUser 5/85; source; CN 5/86p26; source)

March 12-19: At CeBIT '86 (Centrum für Büro und Informationstechnik) in Hanover, West Germany (this was the first year that CeBIT was held separately from the Hannover Messe (Hanover Trade Fair)), Atari introduced the 1040ST^F to West Germany (3298 Mark), featured the 520ST+ (2698 Mark; new units shipping with TOS in ROM) and featured the 260ST (998 Mark; new units shipping with TOS in ROM). For the 1040ST^F/520ST+/260ST Atari featured the SF354 and SF314 floppy disk drives, SC1224 and SM124 monitors, SMM804 printer, and SH324 20MB hard drive (developer unit designation; would ship as: SH204). Previewed: the "MS-DOS Box" for the ST. For the XL/XE Atari again previewed an 80 column card (XEP80), previewed a 3.5" floppy disk drive (XF351; never shipped), and previewed a new DOS (later: ADOS; would ship as: DOS XE). W.D. Warren Ges. m.b.H. was the Atari importer in Austria; SAMA electronics A.G. was the Atari importer in Switzerland. Alwin Stumpf was Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH general manager. (source; source; source; source; InfoWorld 4/7)

March: Atari shipped the 1040ST^F and 520ST^M (U.S. and UK), shipped the 65XE (U.S. release), and for the XL/XE shipped: Proofreader, Silent Butler (Ted A. Goldstone; shipped with order form for Silent Butler Checkholder from Silent Butler Software), Music Painter

March: There were about 500 Atari computer dealers in the U.S. (CN Jul/Aug91 p66)

March: In the U.S., Atari instituted an educational discount backed up by a 7% kickback from Atari to the Atari computer dealer on submission of proof of educational status for the customer. (CN Jul/Aug91 p67)

March: Atari Engineer/Manager David Getreu departed the company (to Circadian).

March 27: Atari (Benelux) B.V. established sales/marketing operations in Belgium, at: Boomsesteenweg 28, Schelle (source; source)

April 3: In the UK, the name of Atari International (U.K.) Inc. (country of origin: US), was registered changed to: Atari Games International (UK) Inc.

April: Sandi Austin was the new Atari User Group Coordinator (replacing the departed Dave Duberman).

April: Atari's Michael Katz (EVP marketing and entertainment electronics) announced that Toys "R" Us would be the first mass merchandiser to offer the ST in the U.S., starting in May. (NewsBytes)

April: August J. Liguori (Augie Liguori), previously VP Finance at Knickerbocker Toy Co., joined Atari as VP Administration, Atari U.S. (essentially replacing departed general manager Al Montross in the role). (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

April 20: Don Reisinger was Western regional sales manager for Commodore-Amiga. (SanJoseMercuryNews 4/20/86 p15F)

April 28-May 1: At the Spring COMDEX show in Atlanta, Atari featured the 1040ST and the 130XE, showed/again promised the 20MB hard disk drive for the ST (SH204), showed the SMM804 printer for the ST, previewed the "MS-DOS Box" for the ST, and primarily showcased 3rd party software for the ST (replicating their approach to the 1985 fall Comdex show). For the XL/XE Atari featured software including Atari Planetarium and Star Raiders II. (source; Analog Aug86p113-114; CN 6/86p26; source)

April 29: A Certificate of Incorporation of Atari Explorer Publications, Corp. (for publishing Atari Explorer magazine) was executed on behalf of the company's initial board of directors: Jack Tramiel, Sam Tramiel, Gregory A. Pratt

Spring: For the ST Atari shipped the SMM804 printer, and for the XL/XE Atari shipped the XMM801 printer and Atari Planetarium

May 5: The Certificate of Incorporation of Atari Explorer Publications, Corp. that had been executed on April 29, 1986 was filed with the state of New Jersey.

May 10: Date of Atari, Corp. Industrial Lease Agreement for Warehouse at 360 Caribbean Drive, Sunnyvale, California.

May 14: Atari had cancelled the announced SC1424 monitor for the ST; instead, an SC1425 was planned. (source) (The SC1425 would ship (in France only?) in 1987).

May: Geoffrey Earle (Geoff Earle) joined Atari (Canada) Corp. (as national sales manager?).

May: Thomas Gillen, previously of Dryden Engineering (and with Atari, Inc. from 1981-1984), joined Atari in software testing.

May 27: In the UK, the name of Feudos Limited was changed to, Flare Technology Limited.

May 30: Atari had announced the hire of David Ahl and Betsy Staples, both formerly of Creative Computing, to take over publication of Atari Explorer magazine. The first issue from the new team was expected in July. (source) The last issue from Atari's in-house team, including director of publications Neil Harris and editor David Duberman, had been dated Winter 1986.

June 1-4: Atari primarily featured the 2600 and 7800 at the Summer CES in Chicago, under the banner, "Where The Action Is". The 7800 (with Pole Position II cartridge) was now shipping, along with Asteroids, Joust, and Ms. Pac-Man. Also to ship imminently for the 7800: Centipede, Dig Dug, Food Fight, and Robotron: 2084. Again promised for the 7800: Galaga, Xevious, Ballblazer, Rescue on Fractalus!, Desert Falcon (title introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1984). New 7800 titles announced (to ship starting in October): Choplifter! (title by Brøderbund), Karateka (title by Brøderbund), Touchdown Football (title by Electronic Arts), One-on-One Basketball (title by Electronic Arts), Skyfox (title by Electronic Arts; never shipped), Summer Games (title by Epyx), Winter Games (title by Epyx), Impossible Mission (title by Epyx), GATO (title by Spectrum Holobyte; never shipped), Super Huey (title by Cosmi), Hat Trick (title by Bally Sente), Demolition Derby (title by Bally Midway; never shipped). Additional, more tentative titles for the 7800: Lode Runner (title by Brøderbund; never shipped), Moon Patrol (title by Williams Electronics; never shipped), Stargate (title by Williams Electronics; never shipped), F-15 Strike Eagle (title by MicroProse; never shipped). New 2600 titles from Atari would include: Jr. Pac-Man (introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1984), Midnight Magic (introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1984 as: Pinball Wizard), Solaris (title by Douglas Neubauer; introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1984 as: The Last Starfighter), Masters of the Universe (INTV; previously shipped by Mattel; never shipped by Atari), Thunder Castle (INTV; never shipped), Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin (INTV; title by TSR; never shipped). While the 5200 was not shown, Atari said that they intended to increase the supply of replacement controllers, and to ship new production runs of some popular existing 5200 titles. No new 5200 titles were planned. (VGU 7/86 p12) For the 65XE/130XE Atari introduced the XEP80 interface, introduced Star Raiders II, and also featured the XMM801 printer, Atari Planetarium, and Silent Butler. For the ST Atari launched the SMM804 printer, introduced ST Star Raiders, Millipede (never shipped) and BattleZone, and also introduced 1st Word (GST), dBMAN (Verasoft) and DB Master One from Stoneware. (DB Master One had been temporarily provided free with 520ST computers during December 1985.) Atari also announced/previewed a Hayes-compatible 1200 bps modem for ST/PC/XE ("XM 1200"?; would ship as: SX212) to ship by late summer 1986, and announced a VT100 emulator cartridge (would ship as: ST Terminal Emulator: VT100 Version) for the ST. Neil Harris was Atari hardware products manager (InfoWorld June 16 p.22) (and Director of Communications, Marketing Dept.)

June 4: Atari announced 200,000 STs had been sold worldwide, 40% of those in the United States. (source)

June: (early month) Atari shipped the 7800 (NTSC version with "thin rainbow" design) in the U.S. and Canada, boxed with Pole Position II cartridge (GCC) and two Pro-Line Joystick controllers (CX24), and for the 7800 Atari also shipped (early month): Asteroids (GCC), Joust (GCC), and Ms. Pac-Man (GCC), then later in the month: Centipede (GCC), Dig Dug (GCC), Food Fight (GCC), Robotron: 2084 (GCC). (CE 7/86 p12; one source; Toys "R" Us newspaper ad Sept. 4; K-Mart ad, Winnipeg Free Press 5/28/86)

June 12: In Ireland (date effective), the name of Atari Ireland Limited was changed to AIL Ireland Limited and the name of Atari Holdings Limited was changed to AIL Holdings Limited. (Warner Communications Inc. minority interest in the Atari, Corp. consumer electronics plant in Limerick Ireland)

June: For the 2600 Atari shipped/re-released Track & Field (VGU 7/86) (first shipped winter/spring 1985).

June?: Richard B. Bernhardt, previously a law clerk for the city attorney of San Diego CA, joined Atari as legal administrator (hired by corporate counsel Josephine Druehl).

June: New ST system pricing from Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, to "run through to the end of July": 520ST^M with one SF354 drive: £449 (previously: £550); 520ST^M with two SF354 drives and SM124 mono monitor: £699 (previously: £849); 520ST^M with two SF354 drives and color monitor: £849 (previously: £999). As previously, all UK packages were bundled with mouse, GEM, ST Basic, ST Logo, 1st Word, CP/M emulation program (CP/M-Z80 Emulator by SoftDesign Munich) and the Neochrome painting program. (NewsBytes 6/17) The SMM804 was launched in the UK; the original model 520ST was no longer available.

June: In the Netherlands, Wilfred Kilwinger, who had first joined Atari International (Benelux) B.V. as an intern in August 1984, joined Atari (Benelux) B.V. as Software Support Supervisor.

June: W.R. (Randy) Hain was Atari technical services manager (dealer/service center support). (source)

Month?: Atari systems software engineer Craig Suko was promoted to manager, operating systems software. (John Feagans remained director of software technology; Leonard Tramiel remained VP software development.)

July 1: For the ST Atari assumed the exclusive worldwide marketing rights to dBMAN by Versasoft. Versasoft would remain the developer and source for support.

July 3: Michael Katz remained Atari EVP (marketing and entertainment electronics). (PR)

July: Atari announced an agreement with Microsoft to offer Microsoft Write for the ST (based on the Macintosh version of Microsoft Word; replacement for the unshipped GEM Write). Atari would sell, market, and distribute the product, to ship Oct/Nov 1986.

July: For the ST Atari announced they were shipping DB Master One and Joust (Rugby Circle, title by Williams Electronics).

July: Atari and Hybrid Arts placed a full-page advertisement featuring the 1040ST, 520ST, and 130XE computer systems in the July issues of Keyboard and Musician magazines. (source, source)

July: Atari software designer Jerome Domurat departed the company (to Apple Computer).

July 21: In Ireland, the registered name of Atari Ireland Limited was changed to: AIL Ireland Limited (Warner Communications Inc. minority interest in the Atari, Corp. consumer electronics plant in Limerick Ireland)

Summer?: Atari announced that 17 educational titles in the (multi-platform) Arrakis Advantage series by Arrakis would be released by Atari for the ST. The programs would cover algebra, geometry, statistics, trigonometry, biology, chemistry and physics, and would be designed for high school students (grades 7-12).

Summer?: In Italy, Marco Guerra, general manager of Atari's importer in Switzerland, SAMA electronics A.G., additionally became general manager of Atari Italia S.p.A. (source), replacing managing director Massimo Ruosi and procuratore generale Ernesto Zanzi who departed the company. Marco Veronesi would join Atari Italia as direttore commerciale (sales/marketing director). Fiorenza Anelli, previously Atari Italia marketing manager, would become sales/marketing manager, assuming the additional sales role from Roberto Freggia who would depart the company. (source; source)

Summer: In Italy, the address for Atari Italia S.p.A. changed from Via dei Lavoratori 19, 20092 Cinisello Balsamo (MI) to: Via Dei Lavoratori, 25, 20092 Cinisello Balsamo (MI) (source)

August 7: Larry Samuels remained Atari director of computer sales (U.S.). (source)

August: Hi Tech Expressions announced that they and Atari were teaming up to provide computers and software in pediatric wards of hospitals in 10 US cities for Christmas 1986. Atari would donate 28 Atari 130XE computers, along with printers and joysticks, while Hi Tech Expressions would provide its complete line of greeting-card and novelty software, including PartyWare, HeartWare, and Jingle Disks. (NewsBytes)

August 15-16: The first "Atari Fair" ("AtariFest"), establishing the blueprint for such events co-sponsored by user groups and Atari, was held at the Glendale Civic Auditorium (Los Angeles CA), co-sponsored by the ACENET consortium of Southern California users groups. Three more such events would take place from September through November 1986, with more throughout 1987 and beyond. (source)

August 17: Donald Thompson, previously Atari national sales manager/entertainment electronics, would be promoted to director of national sales/entertainment electronics, replacing David Navarro who had departed the company (to Victor Technologies). Victor Technologies had named David Navarro, previously consultant and vice president of U.S. sales for Atari, as director of national accounts. (source))

August 18: For the first time since 1984, Atari had scheduled a return to television advertising in early September, using two new 30-second spots which had doubled sales volume during a July test in Philadelphia. Michael Katz was Atari president-electronics entertainment division (actually: EVP marketing and entertainment electronics). One of Atari's two spots was for the 7800 ($80), the other for the 2600 ($50). The ads were set to run through the Christmas holiday. (AdWeek)

August 22: In Ireland, the registered name of Atari Holdings Limited was changed to: AIL Holdings Limited (Warner Communications Inc. minority interest in the Atari, Corp. consumer electronics plant in Limerick Ireland)

August 29: Date of Memorandum of Agreement among Atari, Corp., Jack Tramiel, Atari Holdings, Inc., Productions et Editions Cinematographiques Francais S.A.R.L., Atari Games International (UK) Inc., Warner Communications Inc. and certain subsidiaries of Atari Holdings, Inc. Atari, Corp. and Warner Communications (WCI) agreed that, in consideration for: the net assets Atari acquired in the July 2, 1984 transaction; accrued interest on the purchase obligation at 17%; and the repayment of WCI's $24.7 million advanced to Atari, including accrued interest thereon at 10.5%, Atari would issue to WCI 7,100,000 shares of Atari Common Stock, and would pay to WCI approximately $36.1 million, upon consummation of a public offering of Atari Common Stock. (The IPO would occur on November 7, 1986.)

September 1: Leonard Schreiber, previously Atari VP, general counsel & secretary, as well as a director, would remain with Atari as a director. Schreiber's law firm, Schreiber & McBride, would now serve as general counsel to Atari. Garry Tramiel, previously Atari VP Administration, Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, would now be VP Administration, Secretary and assistant treasurer (replacing Schreiber as secretary). (Greg Pratt remained VP Finance, CFO and Treasurer.)

September 1: Starting in October, Atari was to launch a national magazine campaign for its 520ST and 1040ST lines of computers. A TV campaign for the XE computer was also planned. Mike Katz remained Atari EVP (marketing and entertainment electronics). (AdWeek)

September 3-7: At the 9th Personal Computer World (PCW) Show at Olympia, London, Atari introduced the 2080ST^F computer (£1149 monochrome system or £1349 color system; to ship in the UK in November; never shipped), the 4160ST^F computer (£1459 monochrome system or £1659 color system; to ship in the UK in November; never shipped), and the BLiTTER (Bit-Block Transfer Processor) upgrade for ST computers (never shipped), and again previewed the "MS-DOS Box" for the ST. For the ST Atari introduced FaSTcom, NEOchrome (final version 1.0), and ST Star Raiders, previewed a BBC BASIC emulator, and introduced Microsoft Write. For the XL/XE Atari introduced the XEP80 and Star Raiders II to the UK. Max Bambridge remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited general manager; Les Player remained technical manager. (Atari User 11/86)

September 12: Atari, Corp. filed a certificate of amendment to its articles of incorporation changing the corporate name to: Atari Corporation

September 15: Atari "had sold over 150,000 ST computer systems world-wide." (Atari preliminary prospectus dated 9/18/86 as quoted in CN 11/86 p10)

September 15: In the UK, Perihelion Hardware Ltd. was established by Jack Lang. Engineer Timothy Dunn would join the company.

September: For the 7800 Atari no longer promised: Rescue on Fractalus!, Moon Patrol, Stargate (CE 9/86 p13)

September 16: Max Bambridge remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited general manager. (Microscope via NewsBytes)

September 18: Atari announced that it had filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of 4.5 million shares of Common Stock, anticipated to be priced between $11.50 and $13.50 per share. The underwriter for the offering would be PaineWebber. The IPO would occur on November 7. According to the prospectus, Atari had sold over 150,000 ST computer systems world-wide as of Sept. 15, 1986. Atari executive officers (12) consisted of: Jack Tramiel (chairman of board), Sam Tramiel (president/COO), Samuel W.L. Chin (vice president), Leonard I. Schreiber (director (legal counsel)), Gregory A. Pratt (vice president-finance), Taro Tokai (vice president), Garry Tramiel (secretary/vp administration), Shiraz Shivji (vp-advanced technology), Leonard Tramiel (vp-software development), Michael V. Katz (vp-marketing/entertainment electronics [actually: EVP]), Thomas Brightman (vp-production engineering [current title: VP planning and procurement]), Joseph Spiteri (vp-manufacturing). (CN Nov 86)

September 30: In the UK, Perihelion Software Limited was established by Tim King. Perihelion Software would be a sister firm to Perihelion Hardware Ltd., headed by Jack Lang.

September 30: In the UK, the name of Crushproof Software Limited was changed to: Distributed Information Processing Limited (DIP).

Sept/Oct: First issue of Atari Explorer magazine produced by Atari Explorer Publications, Corp., 7 Hilltop Rd, Mendham NJ. Publisher: David H. Ahl; Editor: Elizabeth B. Staples; Senior Technical Editor: John B. Jainschigg

October 1: Max Bambridge, previously Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited general manager, would move to Taiwan on a trial basis to serve as head of the Atari operation in the Far East (director of manufacturing, including the Taiwan factory which employed 1,500 people), replacing Joe Spiteri who departed the company. Bob Gleadow, previously VP for Asia at Commodore International (and prior to that head of Commodore in the UK), joined Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited as managing director (replacing Bambridge in the role). Separately, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited sales & marketing manager Rob Harding had also departed the company. (source #1; PopCompWkly Oct2-8 and Oct16-22; NewsBytes 10/7, 10/14; Atari User 11/86 p9)

October 13: Neil Harris remained Atari hardware products manager. (InfoWorld) (and Director of Communications, Marketing Dept.)

October: For the 7800 Atari no longer promised: Demolition Derby, F-15 Strike Eagle (CE 10/86 p13)

October: In West Germany Atari launched the 520ST^M (replacement for the 520ST+ and 260ST). Also promoted for the 1040ST^F/520ST^M: SF354, SF314, SC1224, SM124, SMM804, SH204. (source)

October 27: Sig Hartmann, previously Atari software division president (third-party as well as in-house software development), had recently become Atari EVP business development (original equipment manufacturer (OEM), value-added reseller (VAR), and Fortune 1,000 company sales). (IW 10/27/86; source; source; title) Richard Frick, previously director of product development, 2600/7800 lines (reporting to entertainment electronics division president Mike Katz), had become Director of Fortune 500 and OEM sales (reporting to Hartmann). (source) Tom Sloper, previously of Rudell Design, had joined Atari as director of product development, 2600/7800 lines (replacing Frick in the role; reporting to Katz). (source) Head of Third Party Software Denis Friedman had departed the company (to Brøderbund). VP software development Leonard Tramiel, while remaining responsible for operating systems/software technology, had additionally assumed responsibility for third-party as well as in-house software development (replacing Hartmann in the role). Gershon Blumstein had joined the company as Director of Software Products (reporting to Leonard Tramiel). (source; ST-Log #11, #12) John Skruch, previously manager of in-house software development (reporting to Hartmann), had become associate director for computer software (reporting to Blumstein).

October/November: Paul Welch, previously marketing and consumer sales manager for Commodore in the UK, joined Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited as sales and marketing manager, replacing the departed Rob Harding. (Welch was apointed by managing director Bob Gleadow.)

Fall: For the ST Atari shipped: ST Terminal Emulator: VT100 Version (cartridge), 1st Word (1.06; by GST; new-production ST computer systems would not ship with 1st Word as they had previously)

Fall?: Atari shipped Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus! for the 5200. (CE 2/87 p11)

Fall: Robert Shen (formerly Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (ATMC) purchasing manager from April-July 1984), joined Atari as director of procurement (for year), replacing Thomas Brightman who departed the company (to Visual Information Technologies Inc. (VIT) as VP operations; in winter 1988 Brightman would co-found APT Corp. as VP marketing; shortly thereafter APT would be renamed Cyrix Corporation).

October/November: August Liguori, previously VP Administration, Atari U.S., became Atari VP for operations. (SEC filings for date; see also CN Jul/Aug91 p68) Larry Samuels, previously director of computer sales, Atari U.S., was promoted to general manager, Atari U.S. (essentially replacing Liguori in the role). Edward A. Cline (Ed Cline), previously computer products buyer for The Federated Group, would join Atari (U.S.) as director of sales administration/computer products (replacing Samuels in the role). Neil Harris, previously director of communications and hardware products manager, marketing dept. (reporting to Atari EVP marketing and entertainment electronics Michael Katz), became Atari U.S. director of marketing communications. (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

November 7: Initial public offering of shares of Atari Corporation common stock on the American Stock Exchange, under ticker symbol ATC. Atari sold $50.6 million worth of stock, or 4.5 million shares at $11.25 each. Jack Tramiel and his associates retained collective controlling ownership of about 52% of the company. Under the agreement between Atari and Warner Communications Inc. (WCI) of Aug. 29, 1986, WCI beneficially (via AIL Holdings Limited, AIL Ireland Limited, Atari International Hong Kong Ltd. ("AIHK"), WEA Musik Neue Medien and Elektronik GmbH ("WEA Musik") and Atari Holdings, Inc.) acquired 7,100,000 shares of Atari Common Stock, or about 22% of the company, and WCI received approximately $36.1 million. In return, Atari gained 100% ownership of their consumer electronics manufacturing plants in Limerick Ireland (closed since March 1985) and in Hong Kong (closed since February 1985).

November 8: 2nd annual northern Virginia AtariFest '86, co-sponsored by the Northern Virginia Atari Users Group (NOVATARI), Fairfax County Adult and Commuity Education, and other Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts (WAACE) groups, was held at Fairfax High School (Virginia), drawing 3,000 people. (Atari did not attend.) (CN 12/86 p6-7)

November 10-14: At the Fall COMDEX in Las Vegas, under the theme "Atari Means Business" Atari introduced the SX212 modem (ST/XE/PC), demonstrated the BLiTTER upgrade for the 520ST/1040ST (upgrade never shipped), and featured the 1040ST, SH204, and XEP80. Emphasizing software more than hardware, for the ST Atari introduced Microsoft Write and NEOchrome (final version 1.0; new-production ST computer systems would not ship with NEOchrome as they had previously.), featured the ST Terminal Emulator: VT100 Version, and introduced a line of education software programs licensed from Arrakis (Arrakis Advantage series). The ST was the number one selling micro in West Germany, and second in the UK after Amstrad, according to Atari. John Skruch was Atari Associate Director for Computer Software. (source) Privately, Atari previewed the ST1 (would ship as: Mega ST). (source)

November 12: Atari established Styra Corporation (possibly for the purpose of importing electronics components manufactured outside of the U.S. into the U.S.)

November 14: In Hong Kong, former Atari VP international sales David Harris established Hartech Limited (calculator procurement and sales).

November: Atari shipped Midnight Magic and Solaris (Douglas Neubauer) for the 2600. (CE 12/86 p14)

November: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Xevious (GCC), for a total of library of 10 released 7800 games for 1986. (ComputerEntertainer 12/86p8; 12/86 p14; 2/87p13)

November 24: Atari was testing a 30-second TV commercial in Boston and Philadelphia for its lower-price XE line of computers, using the new theme: "Technology so advanced, it's affordable" Michael Katz was Atari EVP (marketing and entertainment electronics). (AdvertisingAge)

November 25: Atari Finance (Japan) Co., Limited was registered for operations in Hong Kong.

November 27: Don Reisinger, previously of Commodore-Amiga Inc., would join Atari as director of marketing/computer products, replacing Bryan Kerr who had departed the company (to Blue Chip Electronics). (source; source; source) (Michael Katz remained Atari EVP marketing and entertainment electronics.)

November 28-30: At the Atari Christmas Show at the Royal Horticultural Hall, London, Atari featured ST computers, introduced the 7800 to the UK (would not ship in the UK until 1989), and featured the 2600, and for the XL/XE featured the XEP80.

December 12: Atari had shipped the 520ST^FM in the UK (£459). (PopCompWkly 12/18/86; NewsBytes)

December 17: Date of Atari's Industrial Lease Agreement for Warehouse at 390 Caribbean Drive, Sunnyvale, California.

More personal computers were sold by Atari in the U.S. than all except the largest four computer makers (Apple, IBM, Tandy and Compaq): around 300,000 units. (source)

By the end of '86 there were over 1,100 Atari computer dealerships in the U.S. (CN JulAug91 p67)

1987
January 5: Atari was currently "sold out at the factory level" for the $140 7800 videogame system and had pulled advertising for the system, while its $40 VCS 2600 was still available. (Advertising Age)

January 8-11: At the Winter CES in Las Vegas Atari introduced the Atari PC, to ship in two configurations: $499 (CGA/Mono/Hercules; version never shipped), or $699 system (EGA/CGA/Mono/Hercules) with PCM124 EGA monochrome monitor; all PC systems were to ship with PCM1 mouse, MS-DOS 3.2 by Microsoft, GW-BASIC by Microsoft, GEM by Digital Research, and undetermined applications software. For the Atari PC Atari also previewed an external 20MB hard disk drive (PCH204). Atari introduced the Mega ST, to ship in three configurations: 1 MiB RAM for about $1,200, 2 MiB RAM for about $1,500, or 4 MiB RAM for about $2,000. For the Mega ST Atari introduced a laser printer (SLM804; under $1,500) and an external 20MB hard drive (SH205). Atari announced new prices for earlier ST systems: 1040ST^F with SM124 from $999 to $899; 1040ST^F with SC1224 from $1199 to $1099; 520ST^M with SM124 from $799 to $499. There were 1,186 Atari computer dealers in the U.S.; Toys "R" Us and K-Mart were slated to carry the 520ST^M and Atari PC. (CN Jul/Aug91 p67-68) Atari featured the BLiTTER upgrade for 520ST/1040ST, confirmed that the IBM PC emulator box for the ST was still under development, and also featured the SH204 and NEOchrome 1.0. Atari previewed the XE game system, and for the 65XE/130XE again previewed a 3.5" disk drive (XF351) and showed the XC11 program recorder. For the ST/XE/PC Atari featured the SX212 modem. For the 2600 ($49.95) Atari featured the 3 recent releases Jr. Pac-Man, Midnight Magic, and Solaris, and also showed: Crystal Castles, Pole Position, Centipede, Joust, Battlezone. New production 2600 systems were to ship with on-board Centipede built-in (such systems never shipped). For the 7800 Atari again promised, each to ship spring 1987, Karateka, Choplifter!, Summer Games, Winter Games, Impossible Mission, Skyfox, One-On-One Basketball, Touchdown Football, and Desert Falcon, and for later 1987, Hat Trick and GATO. Neil Harris was Atari Director of Marketing Communications; Jim Tittsler was Atari PC project manager; Shiraz Shivji was Atari PC chief developer; Art Morgan was desktop publishing project manager. (ComputerWorld 1/12/87; InfoWorld 1/12/87; source; CE 2/87 p11)

January: Simon Westbrook, previously Atari UK and European Controller, became Atari Financial Controller. (1990 proxy) (Greg Pratt remained Atari VP Finance, CFO and Treasurer.)

January: Alex Leavens joined Atari as Technical Support Manager (online support). His assignments would specifically include support for the 8-bit computers.

January: At Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, a new department called Software Test was set up by technical manager Les Player.

Winter: Ed Cline was Atari Director of Sales Administration (CN 3/87) (domestic computer sales)

Winter: Atari carried out a final production run of the 800XL computer (PAL units for West Germany).

February 2: New ST system pricing from Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited: 520ST^M: £260 (previously: £344); 520ST^FM: £400; 1040ST^F monochrome system: £700 (previously: £920); 1040ST^F color system: £900 (previously: £1150). (NewsBytes)

February: Atari committed to releasing the XE game system. John Skruch, Associate Director for Computer Software (reporting to director of software products Gershon Blumstein), would additionally be product manager, XE games (CN Dec87/Jan88 p17) (reporting to entertainment electronics division president Mike Katz in the additional role).

February: In Italy, Marco Veronesi was direttore commerciale (sales/marketing director) for Atari Italia S.p.A. (source)

February 15-18: Atari introduced the XE game system at the American International Toy Fair in New York. The system would include console, keyboard, joystick (CX40), and video gun (would ship as: XG-1), and would be bundled with "a sophisticated computer game requiring keyboard interaction" (Flight Simulator II), "a fast-action arcade-style game" (Missile Command), and "a new shooting game for the video gun" (Troubleshooter; later: Blast 'Em; would ship as: Bug Hunt)

March 4-7: At CeBIT '87 in Hanover, West Germany, Atari introduced the Mega ST (1 MiB RAM standard; 2 MiB or 4 MiB optional) the Atari SLM Laser Printer (would ship as: SLM804), the Atari PC (both CGA/Mono/Hercules version (never shipped) and EGA/CGA/Mono/Hercules system with PCM124 EGA monochrome monitor), and the XE game system (to ship in West Germany instead of the 7800), featured the 520ST^M, 1040ST^F, introduced Crystal Castles and the Arrakis Advantage series for the ST, announced BattleZone XE (title previously announced/previewed by Atari, Inc. in 1983), and also announced a new XE-styled direct replacement for the 800XL (would ship as: 800XE). W.D. Warren Ges. m.b.H. was the Atari importer in Austria; "Atari A.G." (SAMA electronics) was the Atari importer in Switzerland. Alwin Stumpf was general manager of Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH. (source; source; source; source; source)

March 10-12: Atari introduced the 520ST^FM and featured the ST Terminal Emulator: VT100 Version cartridge in their first appearance at CorpCon, East, a minicomputer industry trade show, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in New York. (ST World v2n2; source)

March?: Atari introduced the XE game system to the UK at the London Toy Show. The system would include console (with Missile Command) and joystick (CX40) for £89.99. (WeLoveAtariV2p95 sole source)

March: In the U.S., Atari discontinued educational discounts through Atari computer dealers. (CN Jul/Aug 91 p68)

March: Joshua Tropper, previously as Associate at Gaston Snow & Ely Bartlett, joined Atari as Corporate Counsel, replacing Josephine Parry (formerly: Josephine Druehl) who departed the company (to Tandem). (Nicholas Lefevre remained corporate counsel as well; Schreiber & McBride remained Atari general counsel.)

March: In Spain, Atari established Ordenadores Atari S.A. (source), to replace distributor Unimport Ibérica, S.A. Claude Nahum, previously Atari Director of International Sales, would be Director General of Ordenadores Atari S.A.; José Collado (José Collado Medina) would be sales director; Freddy Vicioso would be marketing director; Bienvenido Valero would be finance director. Max Bambridge, previously Atari director of manufacturing, would become Atari director for international sales and marketing (replacing Nahum in the role). Robert Shen, previously director of procurement, would become director of manufacturing and procurement (assuming the additional role from Bambridge).

March 17-20: At the Eighth Australian Personal Computer Show, held at Sydney's Centrepoint, Atari was represented by their distributor in Australia, Mobex Pty Ltd.

March 24: Atari and Commodore International said that all pending litigation between the two personal computer companies had been settled. On August 13, 1984, Atari had sued the Amiga Corporation, which was later acquired by Commodore, for breach of contract in a deal to develop a new computer. Atari subsequently sued Commodore in Federal court for patent infringement. Commodore, in turn, had charged that Atari was simply trying to block a competitor’s key product. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. (NYT 3/25)

March 24: Atari announced that technical support manager Alex Leavens was no longer with the company.

Winter/Spring: In the UK and France Atari shipped the 12" monochrome SM125 monitor (source) (to replace the SM124 in the UK/France only).

April 3: Atari VP software development Leonard Tramiel, previously responsible for operating systems/software technology and third-party as well as in-house software development, would remain responsible for operating systems/software technology. Sig Hartmann, previously Atari EVP business development (OEM, VAR, and Fortune 1000 sales), had (again) become Atari software division president (third-party and in-house software development), while also remaining responsible for OEM, VAR, and Fortune 1000 sales. (title clues: source; Atari Computer Dealer News JulAug88; STLog#17p67) Richard Frick, previously Director of Fortune 500 and OEM sales (reporting to Hartmann), would be Director of OEM and VAR Sales (still reporting to Hartmann). (source) Gershon Blumstein, previously Director of software products (reporting to Leonard Tramiel), had become director of international software coordination (reporting to Hartmann). John Skruch, previously Atari Associate Director for Computer Software (reporting to Blumstein), had become director of software development (replacing Blumstein in the role; reporting to Hartmann) while also continuing as product manager, XE games (reporting to entertainment electronics division Mike Katz in the role). (source)

April 5: Don Reisinger was director of marketing at Atari. (AP/Houston Chronicle 4/5/87 p9)

April 6: Larry Samuels, previously general manager, Atari U.S., would become Atari director of marketing/computer products, replacing Don Reisinger who departed the company (to Sega of America). (AdDay 6/12/87; SanFranChronicle 7/22/87) Atari announced the appointment of J.J. (Jerry) Brown, previously VP corporate marketing at Texas Instruments, as VP and general manager of U.S. operations (replacing Samuels in the role). (Neil Harris remained Atari (corporate) director of marketing communications.) (CN Jul/Aug 87 p13; PR) (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

April 6: Atari announced that it had canceled its plans for its recently announced domestic offering of $75 million of convertible subordinated debentures. Instead, it would offer the debentures solely to foreign investors resident abroad. (PR)

April: WordPerfect Corp. announced WordPerfect for the Atari ST (WordPerfect 4.1).

April: Richard G. Miller became managing director of Perihelion Hardware Ltd. (founded and still headed by Jack Lang).

April 16: In Australia, Livaro Pty Ltd. was established. Atari would later take control of Livaro, and the company would be renamed: Atari Computers Pty Ltd. Atari Computers Pty Ltd would take over the Atari business in Australia from distributor, Mobex Pty Ltd.

April 16: Thomas Brightman was VP operations at Visual Information Technologies Inc. (Electronics 4/16/87 p16)

April 21: In Switzerland, the name of SAMA electronics A.G., the Atari importer in Switzerland, was changed to Atari (Schweiz) AG, as Atari took over the company. Atari president/COO Sam Tramiel became Atari (Schweiz) chairman, replacing Jean-Pierre Jordan who departed the company. (Marco Guerra (also Atari Italia S.p.A. general manager) would remain general manager and a director.) Gerhard Feldmeier joined the company as a director. Sijtje Guerra, previously a prokurist, became vice-director. New prokurists: Andreas Huber, Hans Walter Schmid. (source) Atari (Schweiz) would remain located at: Bahnhofstrasse 7, CH-5400 Baden

April 23: Commodore announced that it had appointed Alfred Duncan as general manager of its American operations, replacing Nigel Shepherd who departed the company. (source) Shepherd would join Atari Computers Pty Ltd. in Australia as managing director.

April 24-26: At the Atari Computer Show, Champagne Suite, Novotel, Hammersmith, London, Atari introduced the Business PC (would ship as: PC2) (£599.95 with twin floppy drives, or £999.95 with single floppy and built-in 20MB hard drive), introduced the Atari PC (£399.95 without monitor, or £499.95 with PCM124 EGA monochrome monitor) to the UK, introduced the Mega ST (2 MiB RAM for £999 or 4 MiB RAM for £1299) to the UK, introduced the SLM804 laser printer to the UK, and featured/again promised the XE game system (console: £80; keyboard: £40; to ship in the UK instead of the 7800). Atari also featured the 520ST^M, 520ST^FM, and 1040ST^F. Atari also announced it would be selling $75 million in convertible Eurobonds at 5 1/4% to European investors. (ST World v2n5; CN v7n5, CN v7n6, PopCompWkly 5/1/87; NewsBytes 4/28/87) NewsBytes UK estimated that between 25 to 30,000 STs had been sold in the UK to date.

April 24: In Arizona, Hartech Limited (of Hong Kong; founded/headed by former Atari VP international sales David Harris) established Hartech U.S.A., Ltd. Harry J. Wheaton, previously president of Cantrick Corp., would join Hartech Limited as a director and VP and general manager of Hartech U.S.A.

April 24: NSI, a chip and board maker headquartered in Marlborough, Mass., announced that Atari had purchased an equity position in the company. NSI would be supplying Atari with chips for the Atari PC computer range. (ST World v2n5)

April 25-29: At the SICOB (Salon International d'Informatique, Télématique, Communication, Organisation du Bureau et Bureautique) show in Paris, Atari featured the Mega ST2, the Mega ST4, and the Atari PC.

April 29: Atari completed the sale of $75 million of 5 1/4% Convertible Subordinated Debentures due 2002.

Spring/Summer: For the ST Atari shipped BattleZone (Andromeda), and in the Arrakis Advantage series: Algebra I Vol. 1, Geometry Vol. 1, Biology Vol. 2, Chemistry Vol. 1

May 15: In West Germany at Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH, Walter Kreisheimer, previously of Wang, had joined the company as a sales manager (retailers), and Lothar Reitze had joined the company as sales director (Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM). Klaus-Peter Kuschke remained head of the Consumer Products division (sales/marketing). (source, source)

May 21: Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale CA. Six were elected to the board of directors. Reelected: Jack Tramiel, Sam Tramiel, Samuel W.L. Chin, and Leonard I. Schreiber. Newly elected: Gregory A. Pratt (Atari Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer) and Michael Rosenberg (of Ross & Roberts, Inc., a plastics company). Steven Kawalick, previously Atari director of taxes, became Atari Treasurer and assistant secretary (replacing Pratt as treasurer; Garry Tramiel remained Atari VP administration, secretary and assistant treasurer.)

May 22: Atari announced a two-for-one stock split of its shares, payable June 19 to holders of record June 2, 1987. (PR)

May 29: Atari announced the appointment of Clifford Slobod (Cliff Slobod) as director of national sales for its Entertainment division, replacing Don Thompson who had departed the company. Slobod's experience included 13 years with Mattel. Slobod would be responsible for domestic sales of video game systems and software, and would report to Michael Katz, Atari EVP for entertainment electronics. (CN Jul/Aug 87 p13)

May 30-June 2: At the Summer CES in Chicago, at booth 6540, Atari's "Flying High" themed exhibit featured a real Piper PA-24 Comanche aircraft. (CN Jul/Aug87p8 for picture; MichAtMag 7/87p16 (pic) and p17 (reporting) for correct model). Atari again promised the XE game system, now to be bundled with keyboard, video gun (light gun), joystick, Flight Simulator II (previously released by SubLOGIC), Missile Command (previously released on cartridge), and Blast 'Em (shooting game; would ship as: Bug Hunt). Atari promoted 40 game titles for the 2600, 7800, and XE, including 16 games for the 2600, 10 games for the 7800, and 14 game cartridges for the new XE game system. For the 2600 Atari promoted the 16 current titles: Jr. Pac-Man, Midnight Magic, Solaris, Galaxian, Ms. Pac-Man, Millipede, Crystal Castles, Joust, Kangaroo, Dig Dug, Centipede, BattleZone, RealSports Football, Defender II (title by Williams Electronics; previously available as: Stargate), Pole Position, RealSports Soccer, plus announced the new upcoming releases: Zaxxon (title by Sega Enterprises; previously released by Coleco; never shipped by Atari), Mouse Trap (title by Exidy; previously released by Coleco), Venture (title by Exidy; previously released by Coleco), Donkey Kong (title by Nintendo; previously released by Coleco), Donkey Kong Junior (title by Nintendo; previously released by Coleco), Q*bert (title by Gottlieb; previously released by Parker Brothers), Desert Falcon, "Boxing" (working title; would ship as: RealSports Boxing), Crossbow (title by Exidy), Crack'ed (never shipped), Super Stunt Cycle (never shipped). For the 7800 Atari again promised the 10 new titles: Desert Falcon, Ballblazer, Choplifter!, Karateka, Touchdown Football, One-on-One Basketball, Skyfox, Summer Games, Winter Games, and Impossible Mission, plus for later release: Hat Trick, Atari Team Wrestling (would ship as: Mat Mania Challenge), GATO, Midnight Magic (never shipped), Super Huey. Atari introduced 14 XE cartridges: Hardball! (previously released by Accolade), Fight Night (previously released by Accolade), Touchdown Football (previously released by Electronic arts; XE cartridge never shipped), One-on-One Basketball (previously released by Electronic Arts), Archon (by Free Fall Associates; previously released by Electronic Arts), Ballblazer (by Lucasfilm; previously released by Epyx), Rescue on Fractalus! (by Lucasfilm; previously released by Epyx), Lode Runner (previously released by Brøderbund), Blue Max (by Brøderbund; previously released by Synapse), David's Midnight Magic (previously released by Brøderbund), Crossbow (title by Exidy), plus Atari's own Food Fight, BattleZone, and Star Raiders II (previously released on disk). Atari said they were additionally developing "two new shooting games" as well (would ship as: Barnyard Blaster, Crime Buster). Further XE titles announced for later release: Desert Falcon, Choplifter! (previously released by Brøderbund), Commando (title by Capcom; never shipped), GATO (title by Spectrum Holobyte). Also for the XE, Atari introduced the XF551 disk drive with ADOS (would ship as: DOS XE), featured the SX212 and introduced/announced SX Express!, featured the XEP80 (and again promised but did not show AtariWriter 80 and Silent Butler 80), and featured Atari Planetarium. Again previewed: XC1411 monitor. Atari also featured/again promised the Atari PC at the show (two units displayed), which was slated to ship with: MS-DOS, GEM Desktop, GEM Paint, GEM Write. (Not shown by Atari: any ST computers, although a 520ST^FM was deployed for running Flight Simulator II on a big screen TV.) (CN July/Aug88 p8) Jerry Brown was Atari VP and general manager for U.S. operations; Michael Katz was EVP for entertainment electronics; John Skruch was Atari Software Director; Sigmund Hartmann was "EVP and OEM sales and software division manager" (software division president); Gershon Blumstein was international software and peripherals marketing research coordinator; Neil Harris was marketing communications director. (source; CN Jul/Aug87 p8-9,13-14; MAM 7/87p19; PSAN 7/87p4; PACUSReportJunJul87p4; WeLoveAtariV2p109; STLog #17p67)

Separately, the Hartech U.S.A., Ltd. division of Hartech Limited of Hong Kong (headed by former Atari VP international sales David Harris) introduced a line of Atari calculators, brand licensed from Atari, including several Solar Powered Credit Card Calculators ($5.95 each), the DMP2000 Handheld Printing Calculator (battery operated; $24.95), and the DB2100 Data Bank Calculator (telephone numbers/addresses/dates/appointments; $21). (Antic Oct87 p32 as corrected Jan88 p5; MAM 7/87p19)

June 1-4: Atari software division president Sig Hartmann represented Atari at the Spring COMDEX in Atlanta (source), but Atari did not exhibit at the show (which coincided with the Summer CES).

June: Adron W. Beene joined Atari as corporate counsel. (Nicholas Lefevre and Joshua Tropper both remained corporate counsel as well; Schreiber & McBride remained Atari general counsel.)

June: Randy Hain remained Atari Service Division Chief (dealer/service center support); Neil Harris was Atari marketing communications director. (ST-Log #15 p59)

June 17: Tom Sloper remained Atari director of product development, 2600/7800 lines. (source)

June 19: A 2-for-1 split of Atari Common Stock was effected in the form of a 100% common stock dividend distributed to all Atari shareholders. (As a result, significant minority shareholder Warner Communications Inc. now beneficially owned 14,200,000 shares of Atari Corporation Common Stock.)

June 19-20: The World of Atari exposition at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara CA, was co-sponsored by five Atari user groups and Atari. (Neil Harris remained director of marketing communications; Sandi Austin was Atari user group coodinator. -PR 6/18 )

June 25: Atari announced it would begin selling its ST personal computer products through the nation's approximately 5,500 music stores, the first computer maker to do so. J.J. (Jerry) Brown was vice president and general manager of Atari's U.S. operations. (Neil Harris remained director of marketing communications.) (PR) Atari (U.S.) would discontinue computer sales through distributors (CN Jul/Aug 91 p68)

June 27-30: Atari featured ST computers at the International Music and Sound Expo at McCormick Place, Chicago, sponsored by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) (the first appearance by any computer company at a NAMM). (ST World Sept 87) Atari signed up 50 music stores nationwide to carry the 520ST^FM and 1040ST^F computers and planned to sign up another 200 dealers within the next few months. J.J. (Jerry) Brown remained vice president and general manager of Atari's U.S. operations. (NewsBytes; source)

July 15: In Switzerland, the changes to Atari (Schweiz) AG of April 21, 1987 were officially registered. (source)

July: In West Germany Atari shipped the 800XE, and also promoted the 130XE, XC12, and 1029 printer. (source)

July: Atari VP and general manager for U.S. operations J.J. (Jerry) Brown departed the company. (Microtimes for date; source) Michael Katz, previously Atari EVP marketing and entertainment electronics, would remain president of the Atari entertainment electronics division. (Reports to Katz would still include Clifford Slobod, director of national sales.) Walter P. Wilson (Walt Wilson), formerly director of North American Operations at Apple Computer, would join Atari as VP marketing (computers) and general manager for U.S. operations (computers; replacing Katz and Brown in the roles). (source; sources; source) (Reports to Wilson would include director of marketing Larry Samuels.) Director of creative services Mel Stevens, previously reporting to Katz, would remain (corporate) director of creative services. Director of sales administration/computers Ed Cline would depart the company (to Philips Consumer Electronics). (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.)

July 27: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, Sijtje Guerra remained vice-director. (source)

Month?: Atari (Japan) Corp. (purchasing and production engineering) moved from Toranomon Kiyoshi Building 3F, 4-3-10, Toranomon Minato-ku, Tokyo 105, to: No. 7 Koike Bldg. 6F, 2-3-6 Minami-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-Ku, Tokyo. (Taro Tokai remained VP and general manager of Atari (Japan).)

Month?: Atari acquired its distributor/manufacturing partner in Mexico, Grupo SITSA, S.A. de C.V. / Sistemas Inteligentes, S.A. de C.V. Sales/distribution operations would continue as Atari de México, S.A. de C.V., while manufacturing operations would continue as Atari (México) Fabricante, S.A. de C.V. Atari de México and Atari (México) Fabricante would continue to share the facility at: Viveros de Atizapán No. 1, Viveros de la Loma, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México. Fernando Cabrera, previously general manager at Relojes Finos, S.A. de C.V., would be Atari de México, S.A. de C.V. director comercial.

Months?: Atari shipped Gremlins for the 5200 (source), and would also manufacture a new production run of 5200 controllers (made in Mexico by Atari (México) Fabricante, S.A. de C.V.). (limited distribution/direct sales only?) These would be Atari's last products for the 5200.

Month?: In Sweden, Atari established Atari Corp. Sverige AB, S-175 26 Jarfalla (suburban Stockholm). Atari Corp. Sverige AB would be responsible for sales in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Month?: In Italy, Atari Italia S.p.A. sales/marketing manager Fiorenza Anelli departed the company. (source) (Marco Veronesi remained direttore commerciale (sales/marketing director)).

August 11: The San Jose Police Department introduced a new bulletin board service (BBS), using an Atari 520ST computer donated by Atari Corporation, offering Silicon Valley computer users access to crime-prevention information. (PR)

August 12: MadMac 68000 Macro Assembler Beta Version 0.13 was released interally at Atari. (source)

August 13: Perihelion had won a research and development pact from Atari that could lead to a design contract to create an Inmos Transputer-based personal computer that would also include the Motorola 68000 from the Atari ST line. The company (two sister firms, Perihelion Hardware Ltd in Cambridge and Perihelion Software Limited in Shepton Mallet, Somerset) was formed by Jack Lang, who did substantial development work for Acorn Computers Plc. The seven-strong hardware side included Richard Miller, who designed the Z88 for Sir Clive Sinclair’s Cambridge Computers. The 20-strong software team was led by Tim King, who designed AmigaDOS for Commodore when he worked for Metacomco Ltd in Bristol. King was conceiving the operating system. (CBR)

August: Jerome Strach, previously of OptoElectronics, joined Atari (entertainment electronics) as a QA tester. (John Skruch remained director of software development.)

August 18: Atari had shipped the Mega ST in the UK: 2MiB system for £995; 4MiB system for £1,295. (NewsBytes 8/18)

August 23: Atari Corporation and The Federated Group, Inc., seller of home entertainment and consumer electronics products with 2,600 employees and 67 stores in Kansas, California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico, announced that they had entered into a merger agreement pursuant to which Atari would purchase all the shares of Federated at $6.25 per share in cash ($67.3 million). PaineWebber had acted as financial advisor to Atari and would serve as the dealer/manager for the offer. Wilfred Schwartz was the chairman and CEO of The Federated Group, which he had founded as Federated Electronics, Inc. on February 10, 1970 in Los Angeles. Gregory A. Pratt was Atari VP finance. (PR) Also at Federated: Keith L. Powell (president/COO), Merrill Lyons (SVP finance and corporate planning, treasurer and secretary), Michael A. Pastore (SVP sales & store operations), Naomi Shively (VP human resources), Sherman Langer (VP merchandising), Joseph H. Plaustein (VP advertising and sales promotions), Martin R. Jacob (VP specialized retailing), David Karr (VP merchandising administration), Kirk Lamb (VP facilities)

August 27: The name of Atari's Styra Corporation subsidiary (possibly established for the purpose of importing electronics components manufactured outside of the U.S. into the U.S.) was changed to: Styra Semiconductor Corporation (for semi-independent integrated circuit design operations, to be funded by Atari)

August 28: Date of Atari's Agreement and Plan of Merger with The Federated Group, Inc. Atari, through a subsidiary, began its $6.25-a-share offer to shareholders of The Federated Group, Inc. The transaction was expected to have a total value of approximately $70 million. The offer was scheduled to expire at midnight on Friday, Sept. 25, 1987, unless extended. Gregory A. Pratt was Atari VP finance. (PR)

August 28-39: The Atari Magic Show, the first 3-day AtariFest show, was held at the Southfield Hilton Hotel, just outside of Detroit. (source) Atari VP marketing and general manager for U.S. operations Walt Wilson attended on behalf of Atari. (source)

Summer/Fall: For the 2600 Atari shipped: RealSports Boxing (Imagineering), Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Venture, Mouse Trap, Q*Bert.

September 1: In the UK Atari cut the price of the 520ST^FM to £299 (previously: £399), and cut the price of the 1040ST^F to £499 (previously: £599) with no monitor, £599 with monochrome monitor, or £699 with color monitor. Paul Welch remained Atari sales and marketing manager. (NewsBytes 8/18)

September 2: Atari announced it had acquired controlling interest in The Federated Group, Inc. A partnership consisting of Wilfred Schwartz, chairman of Federated, and members of his family, along with Federated's three other principal executive officers and members of their families, had tendered 6,523,237 shares in response to Atari's cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of Federated. Such number of shares represented 61 percent of the shares of Federated outstanding as of Aug. 23, 1987, and together with shares previously acquired by Atari, was in excess of 51 percent of the shares on a fully diluted basis. The offer was scheduled to expire at midnight on Friday, Sept. 25, 1987, unless extended. Greg Pratt was Atari VP finance. (PR)

September 3-7: Atari launched the Atari PC (990.000 lire) in Italy at the SIM Hi-Fi show. (WeLoveAtariV2P108)

September?: Atari shipped the Atari PC along with the PCM1 mouse and PCM124 monitor in Europe (West Germany). (CN12/87p.16; source; source)

September?: Atari shipped the 520ST^FM in the U.S., and would phase out the 520ST^M in both the U.S. and the UK. (Atari would continue to ship the 520ST^M rather than the 520ST^FM in West Germany.)

September: In the U.S. Atari had begun an upper-echelon dealer channel called Business Computer Centers which would be qualified to sell the Mega ST line. (CN Jul/Aug 91 p69)

September: John Townsend joined Atari as a systems software engineer (in technical support). (source)

September 16-21: At SMAU 87 (Salone Macchine e Attrezzature per l'Ufficio, or Office Machinery and Equipment Exhibition) in Milan, Italy, Atari featured the 2600 (L. 99.000), 130XE (L. 259.000), XE 4002 (XE System/XC12 package) (L. 320.000) (The XE 4002 package never shipped; the XE 4001 package would ship in Italy instead.), 520ST^M (L. 499.000), 520ST^FM (L. 790.000), 1040ST^F (L. 995.000), Mega 2 (L. 1.890.000), Mega 4 (L. 2.690.000), and the SLM804 laser printer (L. 2.790.000). Atari also continued the launch of the Atari PC (990.000 lire) in Italy at the show. (WeLoveAtariV2P108) Atari chairman Jack Tramiel promised a new game machine based on the 68000 for 1988 ("Enhanced ST" project would ship in 1989 as: 1040STe), a PC AT compatible to be introduced at COMDEX 87 (PC4), and a new computer based on the Inmos T800 Transputer (Abaq). (source, source)

September 17: Atari's Styra Semiconductor Corporation (for semi-independent integrated circuit design operations, to be funded by Atari) was registered for operations in the state of Texas.

September 18-20: (first) Atari Messe Düsseldorf, Messehalle 1, Messegelände, West Germany, organized by Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH. Atari showed their entire product range, including the ST computer line, the 800XE, and the Atari PC. About 20,000 attended. (source; source)

September 19-20: The (2nd) Southern California Atari Fair, sponsored by ACENET, the consortium of 17 Southern California users groups, was held at the Glendale Civic Auditorium (Los Angeles CA).

September 22: A transputer presentation was given by Atari and Perihelion at the Hotel Café Royal in London; over 100 software developers, hardware manufacturers and press people attended. Perihelion were designing the hardware and the software for a high performance workstation, built around the Inmos T800 transputer microprocessor, to be manufactured and sold by Atari. Perihelion Hardware Ltd. was headed by Jack Lang in Cambridge, England; the division included Richard Miller and Tim Dunn. Perihelion Software Limited (Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England) was headed by Tim King. (source)

September 23-27: At the Tenth Personal Computer World (PCW) show at the Olympia exhibition hall in west London, Atari introduced the CDAR504 CD-ROM drive, to be priced under £400 and to ship by the end of the year (NewsBytes 9/29/87), and Atari launched the SLM804 printer in the UK (£1,299). (NewsBytes 8/25) Again previewed: the Atari PC ("PC1") and the PC2 (previously: Business PC). (NewsBytes 3/22/88)

September 28: Atari Corporation and The Federated Group, Inc. jointly announced the extension of Atari's tender offer for Federated's shares to midnight, September 28. The tender offer had been scheduled to terminate on Sept. 25. The stated purpose of the extension was to allow Atari, Federated, and Federated's bank lenders to complete documentation for the closing. (PR)

September 29: Atari Corporation and The Federated Group, Inc. jointly announced a second extension of Atari's tender offer for Federated's shares to midnight, Sept. 29, 1987. The tender offer had initially been scheduled to terminate on Sept. 25, 1987, and had been extended to Sept. 28, 1987. The stated purpose of the further extension was to allow Atari, Federated, and Federated's bank lenders to complete documentation for the closing. To date, approximately 95 percent of outstanding shares of Federated had been validly tendered. (PR)

September 30: Atari Corporation and The Federated Group, Inc. jointly announced a third extension of Atari's tender offer for Federated's shares to midnight, Sept. 30. The tender offer had initially been scheduled to terminate Sept. 25 and had been extended to Sept. 29. The stated purpose of the further extension was to allow Atari, Federated, and Federated's bank lenders to complete documentation for the closing. To date, approximately 96 percent of outstanding shares of Federated had been validly tendered. (PR)

September/October: Atari shipped the XE game system in late September, and it reached most dealer shelves by mid-October, retail price $150. XES4001 package included: Missile Command and Atari BASIC on ROM, keyboard, Joystick (CX40), Light Gun (XG-1), Bug Hunt (previously: Blast 'Em) cartridge, Flight Simulator II cartridge.

September/October: For the ST Atari shipped, in the Arrakis Advantage series: Algebra I Vol. 2, Geometry Vol. 2, Statistics, Trigonometry, Biology Vol. 3, Biology Vol. 4, Physics Vol. 1

September/October: J Patton joined Atari as a systems software engineer. (CN 12/87p17) (John Feagans remained director of software technology - TOS and 2600/7800.)

September/October: Atari VP marketing and general manager for U.S. operations Walt Wilson departed the company. (source) Atari VP for operations August Liguori would additionally serve as general manager for U.S. operations (replacing Wilson in the role). (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO.) Larry Samuels, previously Atari director of marketing (reporting to Wilson), would be promoted to VP strategic markets (for title) (would eventually include: education, multimedia, computer graphics, music).

October 1: Atari Corporation and The Federated Group, Inc. jointly announced a fourth extension of Atari's tender offer for Federated's shares to midnight, Oct. 1. The tender offer had initially been scheduled to terminate Sept. 25 and had been extended to Sept. 30. The stated purpose of the further extension was to allow Atari, Federated, and Federated's bank lenders to complete documentation for the closing. To date, approximately 96 percent of outstanding shares of Federated had been validly tendered. (PR)

October 4: Atari completed its acquisition of The Federated Group, Inc., which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Atari. (see Atari PR 3/2/88) The Federated Group leadership team remained, including: Wilfred Schwartz (CEO), Keith Powell (president/COO), Michael Pastore (SVP store operations), Merrill Lyons (SVP finance and corporate planning, treasurer and secretary)

October 5: Atari Corporation announced the closing of its tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of The Federated Group, Inc., effective as of midnight EDT, Oct. 4. Approximately 96 percent of outstanding shares of Federated had been validly tendered, for $64.1 million in cash. Effective at 7 p.m. EDT, Atari Corporation extended its tender offer for Federated's shares to midnight, Oct. 4. The tender offer had initially been scheduled to terminate on Sept. 25 and had previously been extended to Oct. 2. The stated purpose of the further extension was to allow Atari, Federated, and Federated's bank lenders to complete documentation for the closing. (PR)

October 9: Atari announced that it had started shipping its new Mega 2 ST and Mega 4 ST computers to authorized Atari business computer centers. The announcement was made at a rollout for dealers held on the eve of the Northeast Atari Computer Fair at The Centrum in Worcester MA, co-sponsored by the Boston Computer Society. (Neil Harris remained director of marketing communications.) (PR)

October 10-11: The Northeast Atari Computer Fair, sponsored by the Jackintosh Boston User Group (J-BUG, affiliated with the Boston Computer Society) and Atari, was held at the Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts. Atari featured ST and XE computers, the Mega ST4 with SLM804 laser printer, the Atari PC ("PC1"), the SX212 modem, SX-Express!, and the XEP80. Attending from Atari: Augie Liguori (U.S. general manager), Neil Harris (director marketing communications), Sandi Austin (user group coordinator). (source; source)

Also at the show, Hartech U.S.A. showed and sold their line of over a dozen calculators bearing the Atari brand (licensed from Atari). (ST-Log #18 4/88 p54-56) (Harry J. Wheaton was VP of Hartech U.S.A., which was located at: 8341 E. Evans Rd Suite 106, Scottsdale AZ.) The product line included 13 models: CC192 32 Step Memory Calculator ($8.95), CC1800 Compact Wallet Auto Recall Calculator (w/rubber keyboard; $11.95), CC90R Solar Powered Credit Card Calculator ($5.95), CC91R Solar Powered Credit Card Calculator ($5.95), CC92 Solar Powered Credit Card Calculator ($5.95), CC90B Solar Powered Credit Card Calculator ($5.95), CC91B Solar Powered Credit Card Calculator ($5.95), CC91G Solar Powered Credit Card Calculator ($5.95), CC191 Compact Wallet Calculator (battery operated; $7.95), DMP2000 Handheld Printing Calculator (battery operated; $24.95), CC190 Junior Desk-Top Auto Recall Calculator (battery operated; $9.95), CC1900 Professional Desk-Top Auto Recall Calculator (adjustable display; battery operated; $19.95), DB2100 Data Bank Calculator (telephone numbers/ addresses/ dates/ appointments; $21.00). (J-BUG Fall87p11 and ad p21)

October 12: At Atari's newly-acquired subsidiary, The Federated Group, Inc., chairman/CEO Wilfred Schwartz, president/COO Keith Powell, and SVP operations Michael Pastore all resigned from the company. Atari chairman Jack Tramiel would additionally be chairman of The Federated Group (replacing Schwartz). Atari named Atari VP administration, secretary and assistant treasurer Garry Tramiel to additionally be president of The Federated Group (replacing Powell). (LATimes 10/14; source) (Powell and Pastore would establish Music To Go, Inc. on 10/23/87.)

October 14: In an internal company memo, The Federated Group president Garry Tramiel named J. Samuel Crowley as VP/general manager (previously: VP southcentral region), Jim Nelson as VP operations (to replace the departed Michael Pastore), and Armand Phillippi (previously: VP southwestern region) as VP merchandising, replacing Sherman Langer who departed the company. (source) Also, Kevin Downey would join the company as VP human resources, replacing Naomi Shively who would depart the company. (source) Notably, Atari would discontinue the "Fred R. Rated for Federated" commercials featuring Shadoe Stevens. Over 1100 such commercials had been produced since 1982.

October: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Karateka (ibidinc), One-on-One Basketball (Computer Magic). (CE 11/87 p14)

October: Samuel W.L. Chin, previously Atari VP and General Manager of Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (ATMC), would remain an Atari VP. Robert Shen, previously Atari director of manufacturing and procurement, would become General Manager of ATMC (replacing Chin in the role). Elton H. Southard, previously SVP engineering at Robinton Products (and formerly Group Vice President-Commodore Semiconductor Group from 1979-1985), joined Atari as VP Semiconductor Operations (replacing Shen in the role; would be responsible for procurement of DRAM memory chips in the face of the industry-wide shortage).

October: Atari systems software engineer Landon Dyer departed the company (to Apple Computer).

October: WordPerfect Corp. shipped WordPerfect for the Atari ST (WordPerfect 4.1).

October 20: In Switzerland regarding Atari (Schweiz) AG, Charles R. Knuchel was registered as a prokurist. (source)

October 23: Nintendo of America Inc. requested a preliminary injunction against Atari Corporation in U.S. District Court in New York, protesting that two Atari television commercials were false and misleading. The first commercial claimed the XE played hundreds of games while Nintendo's NES played only 80. Nintendo said the Atari claim was inflated because it was based in part on older games now hard to find. The second commercial stated the XE played both disk and cartridge games while the Nintendo played only cartridge games. While the commercial acknowledged the disk drive for the XE must be purchased separately, Nintendo said the claim was misleading because the disk drive was expensive and hard to find.

October 24-25: 3rd annual northern Virginia AtariFest '87, co-sponsored by the Northern Virginia Atari Users Group (NOVATARI) and other Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts (WAACE) groups, was held at Fairfax High School (Virginia), drawing 3,000 people. John Skruch, director of software development, represented Atari at the show. (CN Dec87 p12-17)

October 27: Regarding Nintendo's legal action against Atari of October 23, the U.S. District Court in New York denied Nintendo venue in New York, transferred the suit to U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., and refused Nintendo's request for a temporary restraining order to stop airing Atari's commercial comparing the new Atari XE Game System with the Nintendo game system. (Atari PR 11/16)

Fall: In the UK, Atari shipped the 130XE Starter Pack (130XE + XC12 + CX40 Joystick + TX9043 Compilation Tape: Typo Attack, Missile Command, Centipede, Tennis, Star Raiders) for £139.95 (Atari User v3n8 12/87 p33), and also re-released separately on cassette (for bundling with the XC12?): Star Raiders (9/87 printing date). Also in the UK for the holiday season, Dixons released an exclusive Atari-sponsored 65XE Home Computer Outfit (65XE + XC12 + CX40 Joystick + Atari TXP7100 Compilation A cassette (four titles by Atari: Star Raiders, Asteroids, Missile Command, Centipede; plus Airstrike 2 by English Software) + Atari TXP7100 Compilation C cassette (all titles by Bug-Byte: Savage Pong, Up Up and Away, Cloak of Death, Leaper, Quest For Eternity); and Currys released an exclusive Atari-sponsored 65XE Home Computer Outfit (65XE + XC12 + CX40 Joystick + Atari TXP7100 Compilation A cassette + Atari TXP7101 Compilation B cassette (Tennis by Atari; Chop Suey by English Software; Football, Basketball, and Chess (Computer Chess) by Atari)

Fall: For the XE, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited shipped Twilight World (Matthew Trimby).

Fall?: In the UK, Electric Dreams Software released Star Raiders II, title by Atari, for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64/128, or ZX Spectrum 48K/128K/+.

Fall?: In the UK, Electric Dreams Software released Tempest, title by Atari, versions for ZX Spectrum 48K/128K/+ or for Amstrad CPC.

Fall: In the UK the name of Perihelion Hardware Ltd. was changed to Perihelion Ltd. (source), and Perihelion engineer Timothy Dunn departed the company (to Anamartic Ltd.).

November 2-6: At the Fall COMDEX '87 in Las Vegas Atari introduced the Inmos T800-based Abaq transputer (developed by Perihelion Ltd. for Atari; later: Atari Transputer Workstation (ATW)) running HeliOS (developed by Perihelion Software Limited) in a developer's configuration to be used in conjunction with an external Mega ST (configuration never shipped); a standalone system was also announced (would ship as: ATW800). For the Mega and ST Atari introduced the Atari CD (CDAR504; due Feb. 1988; $599). Atari also again promised the Atari PC ("PC1") for U.S. release, introduced the PC2 to the U.S. market, introduced the PC3 (XT compatible & expandable; not planned for U.S. release), introduced the PC4 (AT compatible), and "pre-announced" a 80386-based PC (PC5) planned for introduction first quarter 1988. Also for the Mega and ST Atari introduced the Megafile 20 (SH205) and Megafile 40 (never shipped), introduced DeskSet (by G.O. Graphics; never shipped; DeskSet II version eventually shipped), featured Microsoft Write, and featured the SLM804 laser printer. Atari also introduced the PromiseLAN network system (by Moses Computers; never shipped) for Mega, ST, and PC, plus a Macintosh AppleTalk interface. (Not shown: 2600, 7800, XEgs, 65XE, 130XE) Neil Harris was Atari director of marketing communications. (PR 11/2; source; source; Atari press kit)

November: Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH announced a new division responsible for development, headed by Helmut Joswig (Commodore, Siemens, Nixdorf, Olympia), to join Atari in April 1988. Alwin Stumpf remained Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH general manager.

November: Styra Semiconductor Corporation (semi-independent integrated circuit design, funded by Atari) launched operations, headed by president/CEO Lynn Reed, previously president of Texas Arrays Inc., located at 2161 Hutton Drive, Suite 200, Carrollton TX (near Dallas). (source) Design engineers would include John Schafer, previously of Texas Instruments. (Texas Arrays, the integrated circuit design firm established by Reed on June 7, 1982, would be shut down.)

November?: Atari senior animator Alan Murphy departed the company (and established Alan Murphy Computer Illustration).

November 16: Michael Katz was president of Atari's Entertainment Electronics Division. (PR)

November/December: For the ST Atari shipped, in the Arrakis Advantage series: Algebra II Vol. 1, Algebra II Vol. 2, Algebra III, Biology Vol. 1, Chemistry Vol. 2, Physics Vol. 2

November/December?: At Atari's The Federated Group, Rick Fountain became VP store operations (previously: regional VP for Texas), in place of Jim Nelson who had been previously announced for the role. (source)

November/December: Randy Hain remained Atari manager of service (dealer/service center support). (AE NovDec87 p5)

November/December?: Tom Sloper, Atari director of product development, 2600/7800 lines, departed the company (to Activision). (Mike Katz remained Atari entertainment electronics division president.)

December 8: Atari had said it ran out of its $150 XE video game system and its $80 7800 model last month, but still had ample supplies of its $50 2600 machine. Atari said it would sell a million home video game consoles in 1987 and could sell 250,000 more if it had them. Last year, it sold 600,000 units. Michael Katz was Atari entertainment division president. (USA Today via Atari PR 12/9)

December 15: The Honorable Robert P. Aguilar, United States District Judge, Northern District of California, denied the October 23, 1987 request by Nintendo of America for a preliminary injunction against the Atari television ads comparing Atari's XE game system with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The court ruled that the advertisements did not violate the Lanham Act. Michael Katz was president of Atari's entertainment electronics division. (Atari PR)

December: Atari shipped the Atari PC ("PC1"), along with the PCM1 mouse and PCM124 monitor, in Canada. Systems included: MS-DOS 3.21, GW-BASIC, GEM Desktop, GEM Write, GEM Paint (source)

December: For the XE Atari shipped: Rescue on Fractalus!, Ballblazer, Star Raiders II, Blue Max (Sculptured Software), David's Midnight Magic, Hardball! (Sculptured Software), Barnyard Blaster (K-Byte) (CE 1/88 p14)

December?: Atari shipped the XF551 disk drive (with DOS 2.5) for the XE. (source#1; CN June88p15)

December: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Desert Falcon (GCC) (CE 1/88 p14) (original 1987 release; limited quantities produced)

December 19: In Singapore, Chuan Hup Holdings Ltd had recently increased its stake in PCI Inc. from 48.7% to 96.4%. (source) Chuan Hup had thus gained control of the dormant subsidiary, Atari-PCI Enterprises Pte Ltd.

December 21: Atari announced they had worked with federal agents on a sting operation to seize 2,000 pirated video game machines and accessories from P.S.D., a Southern California importer. The pirated machines seized were the popular 2600 models, and were worth more than $100,000. The company set up a sting operation to buy the equipment with the help of agents from the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Marshal's office. Authorities raided P.S.D.'s warehouse on Dec. 8 and seized a shipping container on Dec. 17. U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter issued a permanent injunction against P.S.D. to prevent it from selling Atari knockoffs. Joshua Tropper was Atari corporate counsel; Richard Bernhardt was Atari legal administrator. (PR; AP 12/22)

In 1987, Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH sold 72,000 1040ST^F computers, 38,000 520ST^M computers, and 10,000 Mega ST computers in West Germany. (source)

In 1987 Atari sold 100,000 computers to the Eastern Bloc, including 4,600 eight-bit computers to East Germany and 10,500 to Czechoslovakia. (Reuters 3/14/88)

1988
January 4: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited offered the first of four planned desktop publishing packages: £2,400 for 2MiB Mega ST, SLM804 and DeskSet DTP software. Further systems, with a 4 MiB Mega ST and/or high-end DTP software, were to become available later in the month. (NewsBytes)

January 5: Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH had won a contract to supply computers to the University of Stuttgart. Up to 500 computers were to be used for the study of computer science. (NewsBytes)

January 7-10: Atari did not exhibit at the Winter CES in Las Vegas, but instead occupied a suite away from the show floor and sponsored ads in the daily show magazines for its game systems. (Compute! Mar88p4; CE 1/88 p1)

January 15-17: Atari exhibited at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim CA, featuring the Mega and ST computers. Atari was represented by Larry Samuels (VP strategic markets). (USAToday 1/19/88)

January 29: Neil Harris, previously Atari U.S. Director of Marketing Communications, had been appointed Director of Sales & Marketing -- East and Midwest Regions. Atari (corporate) director of creative services Mel Stevens would now handle national advertising (assuming the additional role from Harris). (August Liguori remained Atari VP and Atari (U.S.) general manager.) (source)

January/February: Richard Frick, previously Atari Director of OEM and VAR Sales (reporting to software division president Sig Hartmann), (again) became director of product development, 2600/7800 lines (reporting to entertainment electronics division president Mike Katz; replacement for the departed Tom Sloper). (source)

January: Peter Walker was spokesman for Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited. (Atari User Jan88 p5)

January: Howard Cohn would join The Federated Group, Inc. as VP finance, replacing Merrill Lyons who departed the company. (LA Times 8/16/89)

January 27: For the Mega and ST Atari announced that they had shipped Microsoft Write (direct port of Microsoft Word 1.05 from the Macintosh), and the SLM804 laser printer (with SLMC804 interface).

January 27: Atari Holdings, Inc. transferred ownership of U.S. patent D303,127 (2600 "jr" ornamental design) to Atari Corporation.

January 27: Atari Holdings, Inc. transferred ownership of U.S. patent D255,565 (CX40 joystick ornamental design) to Atari Corporation.

Winter: For the XE, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited shipped Thunderfox (by Aztec Design) (original cassette release). (see Atari User #35 3/88 p5 and #36 4/88 p22-23)

Winter?: In Italy, a new location for Atari Italia S.p.A.: Via Bellini, 21 - 20095 Cusano Milanino (MI)

Winter: Roy J. Good (Roy Good), previously VP engineering at Fortune Systems, joined Atari as Manager of Product Development (hired to lead development of 32-bit successor to Atari ST (later: TT), to run UNIX; reporting to VP Advanced Technology Shiraz Shivji). Henry Plummer and Ralph Rodriguez would also depart Fortune Systems and join Atari, reporting to Good. Plummer would be responsible for the software portion of the project. (source; source)

February 8-17: Atari featured the 2600, 7800 and XE video game systems at the 85th American International Toy Fair in New York City. Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/COO, and Michael Katz remained Atari Entertainment Electronics division president.

February 29: Les Player remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited technical manager. (source)

March 1: Atari had approximately 4,090 employees, of which approximately 1,860 were employed in the computer and video game business and 2,230 were employed within the Federated retail business. Within the computer and video game business Atari employed approximately 140 in engineering and product development, approximately 250 in marketing, sales and distribution, approximately 1,310 in manufacturing and production, and approximately 160 in general administration and management. Within the retail business approximately 1,980 were employed in the retail locations, approximately 150 were employed in general administration and management and approximately 100 were employed in warehousing and distribution. (10K for 1987)

March 1?: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited increased the price of the 520ST^FM to £399 (previously: £299), and increased the price of 1040ST^F systems by £100 as well. (NewsBytes 3/8)

March 1: Joe Ferrari, Atari (Canada) Corp. Director of Software Development, had been tapped by Atari software division president Sig Hartmann to re-launch third-party software developer support efforts. (TAF v1n1 3/1/88)

March 1-3: Atari introduced the CDAR504 Optofile CD Audio/ROM drive ($599; due June 1988) at Microsoft Corp.'s Third International Conference on CD-ROM in Seattle. (PR 3/2; source) Atari systems software engineer Mike Schmal was Atari's director of CD-ROM technology. (source) (John Feagans remained director of software technology - TOS and 2600/7800.)

March 4: Celerity Computing announced that, effective Feb. 26, Ambrose J. LaRocco resigned as Celerity Computing's vice president of finance and chief financial officer. LaRocco had accepted the position of vice president and general manager of The Federated Group, the retail electronics company of Atari (Celerity Computing PR), replacing Sam Crowley who departed the company. (Crowley would join Soft Warehouse (later: CompUSA) as a regional manager in April 1989.) LaRocco would report to The Federated Group president (and Atari VP administration, secretary and assistant treasurer) Garry Tramiel.

March 4: In Hong Kong, Tambercombe Company Limited was established by Atari (possibly for consumer electronics procurement, possibly specifically to invest in Hartech Limited - founded/headed by former Atari VP international sales David Harris).

March 9: In West Germany, Atari executed a change of name of Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH to: Atari Computer GmbH

March 14: In a lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in San Jose, Calif., Atari said it had reached an agreement on the telephone to buy three million memory chips from Micron for $3.75 apiece. Atari said, however, that Micron later broke the agreement and asked for a new, substantially higher price. The suit sought unspecified damages for breach of contract, bad faith and violation of antitrust laws. Joshua Tropper was Atari's corporate counsel; Richard Bernhardt was Atari spokesman. (PR)

March?: For the 2600 Atari shipped: Desert Falcon (earliest manual printing date found: 1/88)

March: For the XE Atari shipped: Fight Night (Sculptured Software), One-on-One Basketball (Sculptured Software) (CE 5/88 p9)

March: Atari shipped the PC2 in Canada and in the UK. Systems included: MS-DOS 3.21, GW-BASIC, GEM Desktop, GEM Write, GEM Paint. (source) In the UK three configurations were available: PC2-SD (single 5.25" floppy disk drive) at £599-99, the PC2-DD (dual floppy disk drives) at £649-99, and the PC2-HD (30MB hard drive) at £949-99 (prices excluding VAT). (The original Atari PC ("PC1") was no longer planned for UK release.) (NewsBytes 3/22/88)

March: In France, ZMC had announced the Athena ST (clone of the Atari Mega ST for industrial markets; GESPAC G96 bus support; 14 500 F). (source; source; source; source; source)

March 16-23: At CeBIT '88 in Hanover, West Germany, Atari launched the PC2, introduced the PC3, previewed the PC4, previewed the PC5 (Compaq Deskpro 386 compatible), introduced the SR444 removable cartridge hard drive (would ship as: Megafile 44), introduced the Abaq (name to be changed) Atari Transputer Workstation (ATW) standalone system (would ship as: ATW800) and CDAR504 drive to West Germany, and also featured: 520ST^M, 1040ST^F, Mega ST (2 MiB or 4 MiB RAM), Atari PC ("PC1"), XE game system. (Privately, Atari previewed a prototype 68020-based computer running UNIX (a UniSoft port of AT&T UNIX System V Release 3). Reportedly "As almost all times...an airplane with a long streaming ATARI banner circled the grounds." Atari now had subsidiaries in West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. (source; source; source; source; source; source; SPACE April '88 p.10; source; source; source)

Winter/Spring: For the XE Atari shipped: Lode Runner (Chuck Peavey), Archon (see manual printing dates)

April 1: In West Germany, Helmut Joswig, previously of Commodore, joined Atari to establish and serve as managing director of the new Atari Computer GmbH Technologiezentrum (Technology Center) (source, source), Julius-Konegen-Straße 24, 3300 Braunschweig, primarily tasked to develop additional products in the Atari PC product range. Frank Schwarzlos, previously of Sennheiser electronic, joined the company as group leader hardware development.

April 15: In its legal dispute against Micron initiated in March, Atari announced it had amended its complaint to add claims that Micron also violated California's unfair business practices laws. Joshua Tropper was Atari's corporate counsel. (PR)

March/April: Atari's domestic operations (excluding the entertainment electronics division) were designated the Atari Computer division. Charles Babbitt joined Atari as Atari Computer division President and Anthony Gould joined the company as Atari Computer Vice President for Sales. (ComputerShopper 4/27) August Liguori, previously Atari VP and Atari (U.S.) general manager, would remain Atari VP for operations.

April 18: Atari Entertainment division director of national sales Cliff Slobod had departed the company. Atari had retained Don Reisinger, former VP-marketing at Sega of America (and before that Atari director of marketing/computer products), as a consultant. Michael Katz remained Atari entertainment electronics division president. (Advertising Age April 18, 1988)

April 19-21: At the Corporate Electronic Publishing Systems (CEPS) show in Chicago, Atari introduced a desktop publishing system package for $5,492: Mega 4 ST computer, SH205 20MB hard drive, SLM804 printer, Softlogik Publishing Partner Professional. For the Atari Computer division: Charles Babbitt was president; Anthony Gould was VP sales. Joe Ferrari was Atari (Canada) Corp. director of software development. (STart#13 p10-11; source)

April 22-24: At the Atari User Show at London's Alexandra Palace, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited introduced the 520ST^FM Summer Pack (£399.99 including 22 bundled games: 3-D Galax, Arkanoid, Chopper X, Defender of the Crown, Enduro Racer, International Karate, Into the Eagle's Nest, Leviathan, Marble Madness, Mouse Trap, Plutos, Q-Ball, Rampage, Rana Rama, Road Wars, Slap Fight, Strike Force Harrier, Super Sprint, Tetris, Trailblazer, Warlock, Winter Olympiad '88), to be offered until Sept. 1. Also, new production 520ST^FM units (worldwide) now featured a double-sided 3.5" floppy disk drive (previously: single-sided). Atari confirmed an ST laptop project, code-named Stacey (would ship as: Stacy). (The Atari CDAR504 CD-ROM drive was not shown as promised.) (NewsBytes)

April 25-29: At the SICOB show in Paris, new products featured by Atari included the PC2/PC4 (not for sale in France yet), and the Abaq (name to be changed) Atari Transputer Workstation (ATW).

Spring: Atari shipped the SX Express! disk software package for use with the SX212 modem on the XE.

April/May: Neil Harris, previously Atari (U.S.) Director of Sales & Marketing -- East and Midwest Regions (U.S.), became Atari Computer division Director of Product Marketing. (source; source; TAF v1n2; source; source)

May 1: In the Netherlands at Atari (Benelux) B.V., Pieter Norp, previously general manager, would remain as controller (and prokurist). Alwin Stumpf, general manager of Atari Computer GmbH in West Germany, additionally became an Atari (Benelux) B.V. director (source) and general manager (replacing Norp as general manager).

May 3: Atari Holdings, Inc. transferred ownership of U.S. patent 4,349,708 (CX40 joystick) to Atari Corporation.

May 3: Ken Badertscher, previously of Jefferson Software, had joined Atari as a systems software engineer. (source)

May 6: Atari was seeking to acquire, or form a strategic alliance with, a semiconductor manufacturing plant. (1987 Annual Report)

May 9-12: At COMDEX/Spring '88 in Atlanta, Atari featured the Mega and ST, Megafile 20, and Deskset software, and showed/again promised the PC4 and the CDAR504 CD-ROM drive. (Atari did not show the Abaq Atari Transputer Workstation (ATW); the Atari PC ("PC1") and the PC2 were no longer planned for U.S. release.) For the Atari Computer division: Chuck Babbitt was president, Tony Gould was VP sales, Neil Harris was Director of Product Marketing. (source; source)

May: Atari Corporation was #484 on the latest Fortune 500 list, making the list for the first time. (NewsBytes 5/24)

May 17: Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation. Six were elected to the board of directors: Jack Tramiel (Chairman), Sam Tramiel, Samuel W.L. Chin, Leonard I. Schreiber, Gregory A. Pratt, Michael Rosenberg. Jack Tramiel, previously Atari chairman and CEO, would remain Atari chairman. Sam Tramiel, previously Atari president/COO, became Atari president/CEO (replacing Jack Tramiel as Atari CEO).

May 17?: Steven Kawalick, previously Atari treasurer and assistant secretary, became Atari VP and assistant secretary. James C. Furnivall, previously of PaineWebber, joined Atari as Vice President Acquisitions/Divestitures and Treasurer (replacing Kawalick as treasurer). (Greg Pratt remained Atari VP finance and CFO.)

May 20: The Federated Group, the retailing subsidiary of Atari, had increased the space devoted to computers at its Hollywood flagship store from 906 ft² to 2,800 ft². The new department featured Atari computers, software and video games, IBM-compatible computers from Blue Chip, and computer books. Federated planned to expand the computer sales departments at 10 more of its largest stores by the end of August. Ambrose LaRocco was president of Federated (SFChronicle 5/20) (previously: VP and general manager), having assumed the role from Atari VP administration, secretary and assistant treasurer Garry Tramiel. (LaRocco now reported directly to Atari chairman Jack Tramiel.)

May 26: At a trade and press show held by Atari at the Hotel Café Royal in London, Atari introduced the PC4 to the UK (£1,299), showed and again promised the CDAR504 (£399, to ship Aug/Sept 1988), and announced that the 1040ST^FM was to ship in the UK Sept. 1988. Atari also showed and again promised the Atari Transputer Workstation (ATW; previously: Abaq), and announced that 50 Abaq machines had been delivered to software developers. (Personal Robots Ltd introduced RoboKit at the event (never shipped by Personal Robots; would be shipped by Atari). (NewsBytes; source)

May/June: For the Mega and ST Atari shipped: Atari Planetarium (by Deltron), Missile Command, Crack'ed (Robert Neve)

May/June?: For the ST Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released: XOR (Astral Software), Super Breakout (Paradox)

May/June: Atari Computer division president Chuck Babbitt and VP sales Tony Gould departed the company. (source; see also source; source; CN Jul/Aug88p8) Atari VP August Liguori would replace Babbitt as head of Atari Computer. (Atari Computer Dealer News JulAug88)

June 1: Atari announced that Axlon Chairman Nolan Bushnell had signed a video game development agreement to design and develop on an exclusive basis an unspecified number of video games for Atari's 2600 and 7800 home video game systems. (PR)

June 1: More than 25 million Atari 2600 systems had been sold to date, and the 7800 had sold more than 5 million units since its 1986 introduction. (PR)

June 1: Ambrose J. LaRocco remained president of The Federated Group. (Orange County Register)

June 4: At the Summer CES in Chicago the Atari Entertainment Electronics Division (Michael Katz, division president) announced several new appointments: Ronald L. Stringari (16 years as video game product line purchasing/marketing at Sears; 1981-83 Atari Inc marketing vp) as vice president of sales and marketing; Bob Harris (previously advertising and marketing director at Sega of America) as marketing director; Bob Blau (previously Coleco video game sales) as eastern and southern regions sales director; Robert J. Schuricht (founder and national sales and marketing manager for CSS) as midwest region sales director; Jeneane Harter (previously of Atari Computer division marketing) as marketing manager; Madeline Gordon (previously Capcom sales administration manager) as manager of sales planning and merchandising; Dave Staugas (with Atari for 6 years as a video game designer at Atari, Inc. and systems software engineer at Atari Corporation) as software engineer; Juli Wade (Juliana Wade; with Atari since 1985) as assistant product manager for the 2600 line. (source)

June 4-7: At the Summer CES in Chicago (booth 9405) Atari announced plans to add 45 new game titles in 1988 for the 2600 ($49.95), 7800 ($79.95) with new Joypad controller (CX78; package with CX78 never shipped in the U.S.), and XE ($149.95) game systems. Slogan: "The Winning Package." New 2600 titles were to include: Crossbow (shipped in May), Dark Chambers (title by John Palevich; summer), Super Baseball (summer), Super Football (summer), Sprint Master (summer), Jinks (title by Softgold/Rainbow Arts; fall; never shipped). New 7800 titles were to include: Touchdown Football (summer), Summer Games (summer), Super Huey (summer), Hat Trick (summer), Winter Games (June), Impossible Mission (summer), Super Baseball (summer; would ship as: RealSports Baseball), Crack'ed (fall), Dark Chambers (title by John Palevich; summer), Commando (title by Capcom; summer), Crossbow (title by Exidy; summer), Donkey Kong (title by Nintendo; fall), Donkey Kong Junior (title by Nintendo; fall), Mario Bros. (title by Nintendo; fall), Fight Night (title by Accolade; fall), Nebulus (title by Hewson; would ship as: Tower Toppler; fall), Jinks (title by Softgold/Rainbow Arts; fall), Ace of Aces (title by Accolade; 1989); also promised for re-release: Desert Falcon (summer; previously released late 1987 but since sold out). New XE titles ("more than 19") would include: Necromancer (by Bill Williams; previously released by Synapse), Desert Falcon, Food Fight, Ace of Aces (previously released by Accolade), Commando (never released), Crossbow, Crystal Castles, Mario Bros., Choplifter!, Into the Eagle's Nest (by Pandora), Karateka (previously released by Brøderbund), Crime Buster, Mean 18 Ultimate Golf (title by Accolade; never released), Summer Games (previously released by Epyx), Airball (by MicroDeal), Dark Chambers (title by John Palevich), Jinks (title by Softgold/Rainbow Arts; never released by Atari; would be released by AMC-Verlag in 1991), Nebulus (title by Hewson; never released), F-16 Fighting Falcon (title by Nexa; never shipped), Ultimate Driving (later: Fatal Run; never shipped). Atari announced the XE/7800/2600 "Atari's Winning Package for '88" advertising and promotion campaign featuring a World Series Sweepstakes endorsed by Ozzie Smith, a Superbowl Sweepstakes endorsed by Doug Williams, an NBA Championship Sweepstakes endorsed by Spud Webb, and the Atari Advantage collectors' program. Atari also presented a "Winning Package" focusing on MIDI applications for Atari ST computers. Michael Katz remained president of Atari's Entertainment Electronics Division. (source; source; source; CE 6/88 p13-14; DealerNews JulAug88; 6/88 price list)

June 7: For the Mega and ST, Atari was shipping the CDAR504 Compact Disc Drive in limited quantities (UK/Europe). (NewsBytes)

June 13: The first meeting of the new Atari Dealer Council, held at company headquarters in Sunnyvale CA, was attended by fifteen dealerships. Atari president Sam Tramiel and VP Augie Liguori, head of the Atari Computer division, headlined the event. Liguori reminded dealers that mass distributors had been eliminated for Atari Computers. Sig Hartmann remained Atari software division president; Joe Ferrari (Atari (Canada) Corp. Director of Software Development) remained responsible for Atari third-party software developer support. (The Atari Report v1n1Fall88 p2; Atari Computer Dealer News JulAug88)

June 13: In West Germany, the name change of Atari Corp. (Deutschland) GmbH to Atari Computer GmbH as executed on March 9, 1988 was formally registered.

June 14: Atari announced an out-of-court settlement of its lawsuit against memory chip maker Micron Technology, Inc. Terms were not disclosed. Atari had accused Micron of breaking contracts by raising memory chip prices.

June: Mike Dendo, previously of Star Micronics, joined the Atari Computer division as VP sales (replacement for departed VP sales Tony Gould). (Dealer News Jul/Aug88) (Atari VP August Liguori remained head of the Atari Computer division.)

June: Lawrence D. Siegel (Larry Siegel), previously president of Memetron Inc. (which he had established on 3/13/84), and industry consultant as Yellow Pearl, Inc., joined the Atari Entertainment Electonics division as VP software development. Siegel would head a new office of the division at: 330 N Eisenhower Ln, Lombard IL (3,660 ft²; suburban Chicago). John Skruch, previously Atari director of software development (reporting to software division president Sig Hartmann) and product manager, XE games (reporting to entertainment electronics division president Michael Katz in the role), would become director, entertainment software (reporting to Siegel), replacing Richard Frick who departed the company (to The Learning Company). (source; source; source) The Chicago office would license new titles and work with outside developers to produce new games. The division's staff at Atari's Sunnyvale CA office would include John Skruch, Juli Wade, and the software test group. (source for date; AdWeek 11/28/88; source) Joe Ferrari, previously Atari (Canada) Corp. director of software development, also responsible for Atari third-party software developer support since winter 1988, would join Atari as Director, Applications Software (replacing Skruch in the role; reporting to Hartmann). (source for title)

June: For the ST Atari announced Moon Patrol (title by Williams Electronics). (Dealer News 6/88)

June: Richard Bernhardt was Atari coordinator of government affairs. (LATimes, see TorontoStar 7/3/88pF4)

June: In West Germany, IBP Gerätebau released the 190ST (Eurobus E bus support; from 2240 Mark), a licensed clone of the Atari Mega ST in 19" standard housing for industry, with support for ECB bus and VME bus to follow about a month later, and Atari Megabus support also planned. (source; source; source)

June 21: Date of "Specification for Super XE Game Machine" document by Atari and Ricoh. VP advanced technology Shiraz M. Shivji signed for Atari. (source) (This project did not lead to any product announcement.)

June 24-26: Atari exhibited at the Summer NAMM show at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, where they featured the Mega and ST computers. The show also saw the formation of the Atari MIDI Developer Council.

June/July: Atari VP Strategic Markets (education, multimedia, computer graphics, music) Larry Samuels departed the company (to Mass Microystems). (source; source)

Months?: Ira Goldstein, previously ASIC CAD operations manager at Thomson Components Mostek Corp., joined Styra Semiconductor Corporation (semi-independent integrated circuit design, funded by Atari) as VP engineering. Yaron Hochman, previously a device engineer at Sprague, joined Styra Semiconductor as an ASIC engineer. Design engineer John Schafer departed the company (to Visual Information Technologies). (Lynn Reed remained Styra Semiconductor president/CEO.)

Month?: Engineer Martyn Gilbert, previously of Acorn Computers, joined Perihelion Ltd.

July: For the ST and PC, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited announced, in the new Battlescapes series of wargame simulations (by Dr. Peter Turcan), Borodino and Armada.

July: Alan Char joined the Atari UNIX group as a software developer (reporting to Henry Plummer, group manager; Roy Good remained Atari manager of product development (TT/UNIX project).)

July: Atari Corporate Counsel Nicholas Lefevre departed the company (and with James Alan Cook, formerly of Atari, Inc. from 1981-1984, would establish Cook and Lefevre, a California Professional Corporation, on 9/18/89). (Joshua Tropper and Adron Beene remained Atari corporate counsel; Schreiber & McBride remained Atari general counsel.)

July: Atari chairman Jack Tramiel additionally became president of Atari subsidiary The Federated Group, Inc., replacing Ambrose LaRocco who departed the company (to Costco). (LATimes 4/5/89 for succession)

July 16: The Houston Chronicle reported that Atari was close to an agreement to lease the 400,000 ft² Deauville Mall in Kingwood (never opened as a mall) for use as a computer manufacturing/assembly facility. Atari was expected to move its Far Eastern manufacturing plant operations (Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (ATMC)) to Houston by the end of the year. (Atari never closed this deal.) Vince Giammatteo had recently joined Atari as VP for manufacturing operations. (source; source)

Summer: For the ST Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released: Asteroids Deluxe (Paradox), Moonbase (Dr R J C Smaje)

August 1: Atari had announced that they would bundle Imagen Corp.'s UltraScript, an Adobe PostScript-compatible interpreter for the Atari SLM804 later printer, with their ST-based desktop publishing systems. Joe Ferrari was Atari's director of ST software applications. (source)

August 8: At Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, Robert Katz, previously ST product manager, would become software development manager. Darryl Still joined the company as ST line product manager (source) (replacing Katz in the role).

August: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Desert Falcon (1988 re-release; originally released late 1987), Summer Games (Computer Magic), Winter Games (Computer Magic) (CE 9/88 p13)

August: For the Atari PC ("PC1") Atari shipped the PCF554 Floppy Disk Drive (5.25") in Canada. (source)

August: Cindy Claveran, previously Atari developer-relations coordinator, was appointed Atari User Group Coordinator (replacing the departed Sandi Austin).

August: Neil Harris, previously Atari Computer division Director of Product Marketing, became director of computer marketing for Atari's The Federated Group, Inc. stores. (NewsBytes 8/30) Arnold Waldstein, previously of Atari (corporate) creative services, would become (corporate) director of product marketing (essentially replacing Harris in the role). (Atari software division president Sig Hartmann would become Atari's primary public spokesperson, replacing Harris in the unofficial role.)

August 17: Atari "U.S." Corp. was registered for operations in the State of Illinois (Atari Entertainment Electonics division Chicago office, established June 1988).

August 21: The Sunday Times (London) reported that Atari planned to introduce the Pocket PC (would ship as: Portfolio), developed by DIP (formed in 1986 by David Frodsham and Ian Cullimore) in November 1988, with a launch in Britain planned for January 1989. Under the deal between the two companies, Atari would manufacture the machine for DIP and had exclusive marketing rights worldwide, with the exception of the UK where DIP was allowed to market the computer itself. The price for the Pocket PC was expected to be under £200.

August 25-September 28: Tangerine Dream North American "Optical Race" tour was sponsored by Atari Computer.

August 26: Atari Corporation filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Jose charging it was defrauded when it purchased Federated Group Inc. Atari claimed it was defrauded of $43 million when it bought Federated in August 1987 and completed the acquisition in October 1987 for $64.1 million in cash. Atari charged that Wilfred Schwartz, Federated's former chairman and principal stockholder, conspired with other Federated officers to misrepresent the value of the company's assets. Atari also sued Ernst & Whinney, accountants for Federated at the time of the acquisition, and Goldman Sachs & Co., the investment banking firm that represented Federated in the transaction. Joshua Tropper was corporate counsel for Atari. (AP 8/31)

August 29: "The Federated Group plans to spend about $ 20 million on advertising next year, beginning with a TV campaign breaking during the Olympics, sources say." (AdWeek 8/29)

Summer/Fall: In France (only?), for the ST computer range Atari shipped the SC1425 14" color monitor (replacement for the never-shipped SC1424). (source; source)

September 2-4: At the (2nd) Atari Messe in Düsseldorf, West Germany, organized by Atari Computer GmbH, Atari pre-announced the 68030-based TT computer family, to consist of two models, the "TT" (entry level desktop configuration) and the "TT/X" (or "TTX" higher end tower configuration). The TT's would run Atari TOS (new TOS030; would ship as: TOS 3) or a port of AT&T UNIX System V Release 3.1 (standard for the "TT/X"; an option for an upgraded "TT"). For the ST Atari introduced the RoboKit (Personal Robots Limited). (source) Other products featured by Atari included the XE game system, the Atari PC ("PC1"), PC2, and PC3, the CDAR504 for the Mega and ST, and the Abaq (name to be changed) Atari Transputer Workstation (ATW). 26,000 attended, according to Atari. (source) Also at the show, IBP Gerätebau previewed a "MSP 190" self-contained portable version (never shipped) of their 190ST clone of the Atari Mega ST for industrial markets, and promised a future version based on the 68020. (source; source; source; source; source; source)

September: In West Germany, Thomas Huber joined Atari Computer GmbH as sales manager (2600/7800/XEgs). Klaus-Peter Kuschke remained head of sales.

September 14-18: At the Personal Computer Show (PC Show) at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, Atari featured the Atari Transputer Workstation (ATW) (previously: Abaq) (source), the Atari PC ("PC1") and PC2, and the "Atari Business Systems" PC3, PC4, and PC5. (source; source)

September: For the ST Atari announced it had shipped 10 titles in the A Bentley Bear At-Home Tutor series (by Avni): Magical Math I, Magical Math II, Magical Math III, Spelling Bee, Memory Master, Memory Master II, Alphabet Tutor, Typing Tutor, Magical Anagrams, Equation Builder (AtariDealerNews 9/88 p33-36)

September 15-17: At the Seybold Desktop Publishing Exposition at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Atari featured the Mega ST desktop publishing systems with DeskSet, and featured UltraScript by Imagen.

September 16: Carrying out orders issued the day before by Judge Whitman Knapp of the U.S. District Court, agents of Executive Security Services, working with Atari's security forces, raided eight New York businesses and seized hundreds of counterfeit video game machines and thousands of related accessories. (PR) (Joshua Tropper was Atari corporate counsel; Richard Bernhardt was coordinator of government affairs.)

September 16-17: Southern California Atari Computer Faire, Version 3.0, Glendale Civic Auditorium, Glendale CA, sponsored by the ACENET consortium of 22 computer clubs.

September 23: Atari reached a settlement with defendants of the Sept. 16 counterfeit video game raid in New York in which more than 700 counterfeit Atari 2600 consoles and joysticks were seized. The terms of the order, which was reached in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, stipulated that all video game machines, joysticks and their packaging, along with Atari-related software seized by Atari, would be destroyed. Michael Katz was president of Atari's entertainment electronics division.

September 23: James D. Fisher would join Atari's The Federated Group, Inc. unit as director of computer marketing, replacing Neil Harris who departed the company (to General Electric Information Services (GEnie)). (source; source; source)

September: Frank Foster, previously of Hybrid Arts, joined Atari as director of specialty markets and Atari Computer division MIDI market manager (replacement for the departed Larry Samuels). (AtariDealerNews 9/88 p30; source; source)

September 24-25: Atari shared a booth with Drumware, Sonus, Steinberg-Jones, and Passport at the West L.A. Music Show at California State University Northridge. Wayne Smith was Atari district manager. (source)

September 26: Atari systems software engineer Jim Eisenstein had departed the company. (source)

October 1, 1988 through September 30, 1989: "Atari Advantage" promotion program by Atari (U.S. operations) for the 2600, 7800, and XE. Collect 5 cartridges for a free Atari T-shirt; 15 cartridges for a free cartridge; or 25 cartridges for a 7800 for $25 or for an XE game system or XE disk drive for $50, and "enter an essay writing contest to win an expense-paid 7-day/6-night trip for you and a guest to California. Visit some of California's top tourist attractions including a day at Atari headquarters (near San Francisco) to see how video games are designed."

October 1: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited reduced the price for the 520ST^FM to £299 (previously: £399), reversing the March 1988 price increase (NewsBytes), while also announcing the 520ST^FM Super Pack (£399.99; including 21 games: Arkanoid - Revenge of Doh, Beyond the Ice Palace, Black Lamp, Buggy Boy, Chopper X, Eddie Edwards Super Ski, Ikari Warriors, Marble Madness, Organiser, Quadralien, Rana Rama, Return to Genesis, Road Wars, Seconds Out, Starquake, Summer Olympiad, Test Drive, Thrust, Thundercats, Wizball, Xenon, Zynaps; pack to be available until March 1, 1989; replacement for the 520ST^FM Summer Pack). (Games Machine #11 10/88 p7; source)

October 1-2: 4rd annual WAACE AtariFest '88, sponsored by the Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts groups, was held at Fairfax High School (Virginia), drawing 3,000 people. Atari was represented by Cindy Clavern (User Group Coodinator) and John Townsend (tech department), and featured a Mega 4/Megafile 20/SLM804 desktop publishing system and the 1040ST, 520ST, XEgs, 7800, and 2600. (CN 11/88 p28-33)

October 4: Hotz Instruments Technology was established by Jimmy Hotz with Mick Fleetwood.

October?: Atari published three "Atari Advantage" catalog/posters, one each for the XE, 7800, and 2600 game systems. "Coming Soon" for the XE: Crystal Castles, Thunderfox (by Aztec Design), Crossbow, Into the Eagle's Next. "Coming Soon" for the 7800: Crossbow, Tower Toppler (title by U.S. Gold; previously: Nebulus), Donkey Kong, Commando, Impossible Mission, Donkey Kong Junior, Summer Games, Fight Night, Super Huey, Crack'ed, Ace of Aces, Mario Bros., Dark Chambers; also again promised for the 7800: Touchdown Football, Hat Trick, Winter Games, RealSports Baseball (previously: Super Baseball). "Coming Soon" for the 2600: Super Baseball, Super Football, Sprint Master, Dark Chambers.

October: In the Netherlands at Atari (Benelux) B.V., Wilfred Kilwinger, previously Software Support Supervisor, became Support Manager.

October: The Hartech line of Atari calculators (brand licensed from Atari) remained the same as it was in October 1987, consisting of 13 models: CC192, CC1800, CC90R, CC91R, CC92, CC90B, CC91B, CC91G, CC191, DMP2000, CC190, CC1900, DB2100. (Antic Oct88 p20)

October 17: The Warner Communications Inc. subsidiaries AIL Holdings Limited, AIL Ireland Limited, Atari International Hong Kong Ltd. ("AIHK"), and WEA Musik Neue Medien and Elektronik GmbH ("WEA Musik") transferred their collective 14,200,000 shares of Atari Corporation Common Stock to Atari Holdings, Inc.

October 18: Atari Holdings, Inc. declared a dividend of the 14,200,000 shares of Atari Corporation Common Stock (acquired the previous day) to its parent, Warner Communications Inc.

October 28: DDB Needham Worldwide announced that DDB Needham Retail would be the new agency of record for The Federated Group, with an annual ad budget of $24.5 million. (PR)

Fall: Sam Tramiel was Atari president; Augie Liguori was Atari VP; and for the Atari Entertainment Electronics Division: Ron Stringari was VP of sales and merchandising, and Mike Katz was president. (The Atari Report v1n1Fall88)

Fall: John Feagans remained Director of Software Technology (TOS architect, 7800 development tools) at Atari (source) (reporting to VP software development Leonard Tramiel).

Fall: Atari announced the U.S. release of the Megafile 20 (SH205) 20MB hard-disk drive ($680). The SH204 hard-disk drive had been discontinued. (source)

November 6: First Canadian Atari User Convention, organized and sponsored by the Toronto Atari Federation (TAF), held at the Toronto Airport Hilton. Supported by Atari Canada, headed by Ian Kennedy; Martin Herzog was Atari Canada product manager. (source; source)

November 8: Atari announced that it had purchased the creditor position of approximately $32 million in the Federated Group Inc., its wholly owned consumer electronics retailing chain, from five banks led by Security Pacific National Bank.

November: Atari announced the U.S. availability of the XES2001 XG-1 Light Gun + Bug Hunt package.

November: Atari VP finance and CFO Greg Pratt additionally became responsible for Atari's The Federated Group, Inc. operations (LA Times 3/10/89) as general manager, reporting to its president (and Atari chairman) Jack Tramiel.

November (early month): Atari director, applications software (third-party software developer support) Joe Ferrari departed the company (source) (and would establish Personal Productions Limited). (Sig Hartmann remained Atari software division president.)

November: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Donkey Kong (ITDC), Donkey Kong Junior (ITDC) (CE 12/88 p14)

November 14-18: At COMDEX '88 in Las Vegas (Gold Room), Atari featured the Mega and ST computers, the Atari Transputer Workstation (previously: Abaq; specific configuration: ATW800), featured/again promised the PC4 (due to ship in the U.S. first quarter 1989) and introduced the PC5 to the U.S. market (due to ship in the U.S. first quarter 1989). For the Mega and ST Atari featured UltraScript by Imagen, previewed DeskSet II (Atari/G.O. Graphics), and introduced the Megafile 30, Megafile 60, and the RoboKit (Personal Robots Limited). Also, as part of the A Bentley Bear At-Home Tutor series (by Avni) Atari introduced: General Store. Atari confirmed plans for a 68030-based ST-derived computer ("TT") that would run both Atari TOS and a port of AT&T UNIX System V. The "Stacey" prototype ST laptop computer (would ship as: Stacy) was privately previewed. Frank Foster was Atari director of specialty markets; Mike Dendo was VP sales for the Atari Computer division. Also, Mel Stevens (director of creative services) was Atari's trade show coordinator; Sig Hartmann was "director of corporate communications" (unofficial role; actually: software division president). Also at the show, IBP Gerätebau (of West Germany) introduced their 190ST clone of the Atari Mega ST for industrial markets to the U.S. (source; source)

November 21: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, as executed in October 20, 1987, Charles R. Knuchel was registered as an authorized signatory. (source)

Nov.21-Dec.31: "Atari Holiday Bonus Software Program" -- In the U.S., any consumer who purchased an Atari 2600 or 7800 video game system would receive a bonus of two free game cartridges, direct from Atari. In addition, current owners or new owners who bought any two Atari game cartridges would get one cartridge free. Also through Dec. 31, Atari offered a $50 rebate for the purchase of an XE game system.

November 22: Atari announced that it has sold its 26 millionth video game system. Michael Katz was president of Atari's Entertainment Electronics Division.

November 22: In the UK and Europe Atari had shipped the PC4 (interim version by Mitek) and the PC5. (source) Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited launch promotion: PC3 (£649.99 Dual Drive system with PCM124 monitor or £949.99 Hard Disk system with PCM124), PC4 (£1599.99 no monitor, £1699.99 with PCM124, or £1899.99 typical color EGA), and PC5 (£2599.99 no monitor, £2799.99 with PCM124, or £2999.99 typical color EGA). (Newsbytes; WeLoveAtariV2p176) Atari also announced that the "Stacey" ST laptop was to list for £695 (single-floppy and 1MiB RAM) and to ship May 1989, following an introduction at CeBIT '89 in March.

November 25-27: Atari Christmas Show, London's Alexandra Palace, was attended by 13,000. (NewsBytes)

November/December?: August Liguori, previously Atari VP and head of the Atari Computer division, would remain an Atari VP. Vince Giammatteo, previously Atari VP for manufacturing operations, became General Manager of the Atari Computer Division (STFormat #1 p23; source; source; source) (replacing Liguori in the role). Joe Mendolia (probable link) would join Atari Computer as VP marketing. Engineer Dan Morris, previously manufacturing director at Hughes Semiconductor (and earlier with Commodore), joined Atari as VP production engineering (replacing Giammatteo in the role).

December 1: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, vice-director Sijtje Guerra and prokurist Andreas Huber departed the company. Alwin Stumpf (Atari Computer GmbH general manager in West Germany and Atari (Benelux) B.V. general manager in the Netherlands) joined the company as a managing director (source), replacing Marco Guerra who departed the company (while techincally remaining a director.)

December 1: Michael Nowicki (Mike Nowicki) had joined Atari (UNIX group, reporting to Henry Plummer, group manager). (source) (Roy Good remained Atari manager of product development (TT/UNIX project).)

December 13: Warner Communications Inc. contributed the 14,200,000 shares of Common Stock of Atari Corporation held by it to Warner Communications Investors, Inc.

December: Sig Hartmann remained president of software at Atari. (AtariReport Winter88 p4)

December: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Hat Trick (ibidinc), Mario Bros. (ITDC), Impossible Mission (Computer Magic) (CE 12/88 p14; 1/89 p14)

In 1988 Atari sold about 48,000 ST computers in the U.S., about 100,000 ST computers in England, and over 200,000 ST computers in West Germany. (CN 9/91 p66)

1989
January 4: Atari and Hartech Ltd. of Hong Kong jointly announced the cancellation of the licensing agreement authorizing the use of the Atari trademark on calculators. Instead Atari would create a Consumer Products division to expand its product line to include not only calculators but a largely expanded selection of consumer electronic products. David Harris, Hartech's president, would be employed by Atari as its president of the newly formed Consumer Products Division to be located in Phoenix AZ (PR) (Atari's Tambercombe subsidiary of Hong Kong would take over the Hong Kong business of Hartech Limited, and the Atari "U.S." Corp. subsidiary would take over the business of Hartech U.S.A., Ltd., located at 8341 E. Evans Suite 106, Scottsdale AZ.)

January 7-10: During the Winter CES in Las Vegas, Atari occupied a suite at the nearby Dunes Hotel. (ST World Feb89; CE 1/89 p6) Atari announced it would be shipping over 20 new titles for the 2600, 7800, and XE, which would bring the total library to 114 "active" titles: 44 for the 2600, 29 for the 7800, and 41 for the XE. The three new titles for the 2600: Road Runner, Double Dunk, Secret Quest. (Again promised for the 2600: Dark Chambers, Sprint Master, Super Baseball, Super Football. The 10 new games for the 7800 would include: Tower Toppler, Impossible Mission, Fight Night, Crossbow. 6 new titles for the XE would include: Commando (never shipped), Into the Eagle's Nest, Airball. (CN Mar89p13; Apr89p12) (At the CES itself, Epyx previewed the Handy, which would ultimately ship as the Atari Lynx.)

January: For the XE Atari shipped DOS XE (earlier name: ADOS). New production XF551 disk drives would also ship with DOS XE (replacing DOS 2.5).

January 20-22: Atari exhibited at the Winter NAMM International Music Market at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim CA, featuring the Mega and ST computers. Previewed by Atari: the Hotz MIDI Keyboard Controller (Hotz MIDI Translator or "Hotz Box" by Hotz Instruments Technology). Frank Foster was Atari director of specialty markets. (source; source; source)

January 31: Atari filed a $250 million antitrust suit in the U.S. District Court in San Jose CA against Nintendo Compant Ltd., the Japanese video game manufacturer, and its American subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc. The suit alleged that Nintentdo had wrongfully maintained monopoly power
by prohibiting the creators of games licensed for play on Nintendo's game consoles from selling their own games for use on other video game systems. (PR) (The case would finally go to trial on February 11, 1992.) (Joshua Tropper was Atari corporate counsel.)

January 31: In the Netherlands at Atari (Benelux) B.V., Ruud van Nispen, previously product and operations manager, became sales manager, replacing W.P. (Wilfried) de Graaf who departed the company. (source)

Winter?: Rick Meyer, previously of Dialog Information Systems, joined Atari as a product manager (Pocket PC product line; CDAR504). (source) (Arnold Waldstein remained Atari director of product marketing.)

Winter?: Software engineers Ed Schneider and D. Scott Williamson joined Atari (Entertainment Electronics division, Lombard IL location).

Winter: For the ST Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released: Borodino (Turcan Research Systems)

February-March: In the U.S. Atari offered the 2600 for $39.95 (normal: $49); offered a $20 rebate for the purchase of the 7800 ($79), and offered the XE game system for $99 (normal: $149). (CN 3/89 p13)

February 9: In West Germany regarding Atari Computer GmbH, Helmut Joswig was registered as a managing director. (General manager Alwin Stumpf remained a registered managing director as well.)

February 15: Roy Good, previously Atari manager of product development (TT/UNIX project), would be promoted to VP product development, replacing Atari VP Advanced Technology Shiraz Shivji who departed the company. (1989 proxy) (Shivji would join Momenta Corporation in October 1989. (source))

February: Richard Miller, previously managing director of Perihelion Ltd, joined Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited as Technical Manager (1990 proxy), replacing Les Player who departed the company (to head GFA System Technik's operation in the UK (source)). (At Perihelion, Martyn Gilbert would become senior engineer, replacing Miller.)

February: Craig Erickson, previously of Mindscape, joined Atari Software Development (Entertainment Electronics division, Lombard IL) as Executive Producer of Software Development. (source for title) Erickson would report to VP Software Development (and head of the Atari Software Development studio) Larry Siegel.

February: In Switzerland, a (slightly) new location for Atari (Schweiz) AG: Bahnhofstrasse 28, CH-5400 Baden (source)

February 20: The Federated Group VP-merchandising and advertising Armand Phillippi had departed the company (and had joined BizMart as VP marketing). (Advertising Age 2/20)

February 21-24: At the Which Computer? Show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham Engliand, Atari introduced the PC Folio (previously: Pocket PC; would ship as: Portfolio), developed by Distributed Information Processing Limited (DIP) who had licensed Atari to manufacture and market the Pocket PC on a worldwide basis. The £199 machine was to begin shipping from the end of April. David Frodsham was DIP's managing director. (NewsBytes)

February: (late month) Imagen shipped UltraScript, an Adobe PostScript language compatible interpreter, for the Atari ST with Atari SLM804 printer. Atari would include the product in their desktop publishing packages (based on the Mega ST) and in a package with the SLM804 printer. (source) (UltraScript would later be updated with support for additional printers.)

March 1: Atari had approximately 1,780 employees including 160 in engineering and product development, 280 in marketing, sales and distribution, 1,140 in manufacturing and production, and 200 in general administration and management. (10-K for 1988)

March 4: Time Incorporated and Warner Communications Inc. (WCI) announced plans to merge, where Time would acquire WCI to form Time Warner Inc.

March 8-15: At CeBIT '89 in Hanover, West Germany, Atari announced that the 7800 would ship in West Germany in June 1989 (to replace the XE game system), introduced the PC Folio to Europe (would ship as Portfolio in all territories except Italy: PC folio), introduced the Stacy laptop ST (previously: "Stacey") to ship in two configurations: 1 MiB RAM for about DM 3400, or 2MiB RAM with internal hard drive, launched the 520ST^FM and 1040ST^FM in West Germany (to replace the 520ST^M/1040ST^F), for the ST introduced the Megafile 44 (previously: SR444) removable cartridge hard drive, and for the Mega ST introduced the SM194 19" monochrome monitor. Atari launched a desktop publishing system Also featured: the Mega ST (1 MiB RAM, 2 MiB RAM, or 4 MiB RAM), PC3, PC4, PC5, and the ATW800. (A prototype TT running a modified TOS 1.4 was privately previewed, as was a prototype enhanced 68000-based ST ("STe")). Also at the show, IBP Elektronik introduced the 190STE (would ship as: 190ST020) licensed Atari Mega ST clone for industrial markets (same as the IBP 190ST, but with 16MHz 68020 and VME bus, running a modified Atari TOS). (source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source)

March 9: Atari had decided to discontinue its operation of The Federated Group, Inc. Atari announced that it hoped to sell its Federated Group consumer electronics retailing unit, possibly through a leveraged buyout arranged by a group of Atari employees, and that for accounting purposes it had begun treating the Federated Group as a "discontinued operation" effective Jan. 1. (LA Times 3/10/89)

March 13: Start of 6-week Atari promotion in the U.S. featured the 520ST^FM, 1040ST^FM ($799.95), Mega 2 and Mega 4 systems, plus the SLM804 ($1,495). Also, the Atari Folio was to ship in the U.S. in the summer ($299; would ship as: Portfolio). (NewsBytes)

March 14-17: PC89 conference in Sydney was opened by Atari chairman Jack Tramiel. The Atari Folio was to ship in Australia in June or July for A$495 (would ship as: Portfolio). Nigel Shepherd was the managing director of Atari Computers Pty Ltd. (CN 9/89 p27)

March: For the 2600 Atari shipped: Super Baseball, Super Football, Sprint Master (CE 3/89 p14)

March: For the 7800 Atari shipped: RealSports Baseball, Touchdown Football (Imagineering) (CE 3/89 p14)

March: For the XE Atari shipped: Ace of Aces, Food Fight (The Softworks Factory), Necromancer (CE 3/89 p14)

March 24: Sig Hartmann, previously Atari's software division president, would become Atari VP corporate sales (OEM sales, industrial sales, and institutional sales). (source) Antonio P. Salerno, previously of Borland International, joined Atari as director of software marketing (source) (essentially replacing Hartmann in the role).

March: The Federated Group, Inc., management team would now include James D. Fisher (Jim Fisher) as VP marketing (in part replacing the departed Armand Phillippi); Lew Brown (Lewis Brown), previously of the Good Guys, Pacific Stereo, and Home Express, as VP merchandising (in part replacing the departed Armand Phillippi); and William Turner (Bill Turner), previously with Bullocks/Bullocks Wilshire, as VP store operations, replacing Rick Fountain who departed the company. Howard Cohn remained VP finance. (LATimes 4/5/89; PR 4/4/89) Atari VP finance and CFO Greg Pratt additionally remained Federated Group general manager, and Atari chairman Jack Tramiel additionally remained Federated Group president.

Winter/Spring?: For the ST Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released: Go-Moku/Renju (Bray Research), Backgammon (Bray Research), Bridge (Bray Research), Atari Grand Prix (Paradox), Tempest (Paradox)

Winter/Spring?: For their PC computer range Atari launched the PCC1414 14" EGA color monitor (to complement the PCM124 12" EGA monochrome monitor).

April 3: Date of Atari U.S. 1989 Distributor Price List, in which Atari announced or again promised, for the 2600: Double Dunk (May), Ikari Warriors (title by SNK) (Sept.), MotoRodeo (4th Qtr), Off The Wall (July), Radar Lock (3rd Qtr), Road Runner (August), Street Fight (3rd Qtr; never shipped), White Water Madness (4th Qtr; never shipped); for the 7800: Super Huey (May), Commando (Sept.), Ikari Warriors (title by SNK) (4th Qtr), Jinks (title by Softgold/Rainbow Arts) (August), Mat Mania Challenge (4th Qtr; previously: Atari Team Wrestling), Mean 18 Ultimate Golf (title by Accolade) (Sept.), Ninja Golf (4th Qtr), Planet Smashers (4th Qtr), White Water Madness (4th Qtr; never shipped), Xenophobe (title by Bally Midway) (August); for the XE: Deflektor (August; never shipped), MIDI Maze (by Xanth F/X) (Sept.; never shipped), Commando (Sept.; never shipped), Super Football (Sept.; never shipped), Tower Toppler (previously: Nebulus; title by U.S. Gold) (Sept.; never shipped), Xenophobe (title by Bally Midway) (Sept.; never shipped)

April 4: Atari's The Federated Group, Inc. subsidiary announced the immediate closure of 15 of its 58 stores, including 8 stores in California (La Puente, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, Sacramento, San Jose, Pinole, Colma), 4 stores in Arizona (Phoenix and Tuscon) and 3 stores in Texas (Ft. Worth, El Paso, San Antonio), the closure of its regional headquarters and warehouse in Dallas Texas, with all inventory, marketing, warehousing, personnel and other headquarter operations consolidated to the City of Commerce CA and Sunnyvale (Atari headquarters) CA locations, and 400 layoffs (180-200 in California). Jim Fisher was VP marketing. Federated said it would now concentrate on the Southern California market, where it had 21 stores, along with Sacramento, Dallas and Houston. A regional office and warehouse remained in the City of Commerce CA. Federated now operated 43 stores. Gregory A. Pratt was Atari CFO. (PR; LA Times 4/5)

April 6: Max Bambridge remained Atari director for international sales and marketing. (source)

April: (early month) Ron Stringari, previously Atari Entertainment Electronics division vice president of sales and merchandising, would be promoted to president of the Atari Entertainment division, replacing Mike Katz who departed the company. (AdWeek 4/10; CornellAlumniNews 1989 p57) (Katz would join Sega of America as president/CEO in October 1989.) (Bob Harris remained marketing director/Atari entertainment division.)

April: (early month) Atari VP August Liguori would additionally (again) serve as general manager, Atari Computer division, assuming the role from Vince Giammatteo who departed the company. (STFormat #1 p23)

April 10-13: At the Spring COMDEX in Chicago, Atari introduced the Portfolio Hand Held Personal Computer (running DIP OS 2.11; $399; to ship by the end of June; previously: Folio). For the Portfolio Atari introduced: Smart Parallel Interface, Serial Interface, Memory Expander Plus, PC Card Drive, AC Adaptor, 32K Memory Card, 64K Memory Card, 128K Memory Card. Atari introduced the Stacy Portable Computer (single 3.5" floppy disk version available June 1 for $1,495, or version with 20MB hard drive for $1,995). Atari also introduced the Megafile 44 to the U.S. (for ST or PC; less than $1,200). Also featured/again promised: the PC4 ($2,295 with 60MB hard drive, version to be available at the end of May; or $2,495 version with the Megafile 44). (The PC5 was no longer planned for U.S. release.) For the ST Atari introduced Wordflair by Blue Chip International (eventually released by Goldleaf Publishing) and featured/again promised DeskSet II. Sig Hartmann was Atari VP corporate sales ("corporate marketing"); Antonio Salerno was Atari director of software marketing. For the Atari Computer division: Joe Mendolia was VP marketing; Mike Dendo was VP sales. (source; source)

April: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Crack'ed (Robert Neve), Crossbow (Imagineering), Dark Chambers, Fight Night (Imagineering). (CE 5/89 p14)

April: For the XE Atari shipped: Crossbow (Sculptured Software), Dark Chambers (Sculptured Software) (CE 5/89)

April: Atari Explorer Publications, Corp. released the May/June Premier issue of Atarian magazine (Publisher/Editor: David H. Ahl) in support of the 2600, 7800, and XE game systems. (source for date)

April: In Italy, Roberto Cazzaro joined Atari Italia S.p.A. as director, software strategy.

April 22-23: At the World of Atari show (#1) sponsored by ST World magazine, Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim CA, Atari featured/again promised Wordflair for the ST, MIDI Maze for the XE and AtariWriter 80 for the XE. (AIM 7/89 p4) Atari showed and again promised the Portfolio and STacy, both due in June. Representing Atari Computer: Joe Mendolia (VP marketing) and Mike Dendo (VP sales). Atari president/CEO Sam Tramiel also attended the show. (CN 9/91 p68)

Spring?: For the 2600 Atari shipped: Secret Quest (DeFrisco Entertainment for Axlon)

Spring?: For the XE Atari shipped: Crystal Castles (The Softworks Factory), Desert Falcon (Ken Rose), Mario Bros. (Sculptured Software), Choplifter! (Sculptured Software), Crime Buster, Karateka (Sculptured Software), Summer Games, Airball (The Softworks Factory), Thunderfox

May: Roy Good, previously Atari VP product development, became VP product engineering. Richard Miller, previously Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited Technical Manager, became Atari (corporate) Director of Research and Development (1991 proxy) (replacing Good in the role). Gary R. Lawman, previously of Personal Robots Limited, would join Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited as technical manager (replacing Miller in the role).

May: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Super Huey, Ace of Aces (Imagineering) (CE 6/89)

May: For the XE Atari shipped: Into the Eagle's Nest (CE 6/89), AtariWriter 80 (Micro Fantasy / R. Stanley Kistler)

May: Atari had sold over 1,200,000 ST computers worldwide to date, according to an ad by Atari Canada. (WeLoveAtariV2p148)

May: In the UK and Europe Atari re-launched the PC4 (version designed by Atari, replacing the interim version by Mitek). (source) UK pricing: PC3 with dual floppies and PCM124 monitor: £599.99; PC3 with 30MB HD and PCM124: £799.99; PC4 with 60MB HD: £1399.99 with PCM124 or £1599.99 with VGA color monitor; PC4 with 44MB removable hard disk: £1499.99 CPU only or £1599.99 with PCM124 monitor or £1799.99 with VGA color monitor; PC5 16MHz/2MiB RAM: £1999.99 CPU only or £2299.99 with VGA color monitor; PC5 20MHz/4MiB RAM: £2499.99 CPU only or £2799.99 with VGA color monitor. (WeLoveAtariV2p172)

May: Samuel W.L. Chin, previously Atari VP, became Vice President - Manufacturing Operations (1991 proxy), replacing Dan Morris who departed the company (to Integrated Device Technology).

May: Atari was joined as a co-plaintiff in a patent infringement action against Nintendo, now entitled Atari Games Corporation, Tengen, Inc., and Atari Corporation v. Nintendo of America, Inc., et al. (Case No. C88-4805 FMS) in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California. In its complaint, Atari joined Atari Games in alleging that Nintendo had infringed upon U.S. Patent No. 4,445,114, "Apparatus for Scrolling a Video Display," issued to David R. Stubben (of Atari, Inc.) on April 24, 1984.

May 16: Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation. Six were elected to the board of directors: Jack Tramiel (Chairman), Sam Tramiel, Samuel W.L. Chin, Leonard I. Schreiber, Gregory A. Pratt, Michael Rosenberg. Steven Kawalick, previously Atari VP and assistant secretary, became VP treasurer and assistant secretary, assuming the treasurer role from James Furnivall who departed the company. Schreiber & McBride (Atari general counsel) partner Ellen W. McBride joined Atari as Assistant Secretary (joining Kawalick in the role). (Garry Tramiel remained VP administration, secretary and assistant treasurer; Greg Pratt remained VP finance and CFO.)

May 16-18: Atari exhibited an ST desktop publishing system, the Portfolio, and the PC4 (again promised for the U.S. market) at the Corporate Electronic Publishing Systems (CEPS '89) show in Chicago.

May 31: Atari announced it would introduce the new Atari Portable Entertainment System (would ship as: Lynx) at the Consumer Electronics Show on June 3 in Chicago.

June 3: Date of Atari's Hardware Technology Assignment and License Agreement with Epyx Inc., and Atari's Software Production and Distribution License Agreement with Epyx Inc.

June 3-6: At the Summer CES, McCormick Place, Chicago, Atari introduced the Atari Portable Color Entertainment System (APCES or PCES; developed by Epyx; previously: Epyx Handy; would ship as: Lynx; "under $150"; due August 1989) at 11 a.m. on June 3 in the Lenox Lohr Room, McCormick Place East, along with 6 game titles for the PCES: California Games (title by Epyx; to ship with the system), Blue Lightning (title by Epyx), Time Quests & Treasure Chests (title by Epyx; would ship as: Gauntlet: The Third Encounter), Gates of Zendocon (title by Epyx), Impossible Mission (title by Epyx; would ship as: Electrocop), Monster Demolition (title by Epyx; would ship as: Rampage). The PCES would run on on six AA batteries, an AC adapter, or a cigarette lighter adapter. (CN Jul/Aug89 p8-9)

Atari announced they would ship "more than 20 new game cartridges" by December 1989 for the 2600, 7800, and XE game systems. For the 2600/7800 Atari introduced the G1 Light Gun ($24.95; same as the XG-1 Light Gun; G1 version never shipped). For the 2600 Atari announced/introduced Sentinel (light gun) and Shooting Arcade (light gun; never shipped), and introduced/again promised Off The Wall, Road Runner, Radar Lock, Ikari Warriors, White Water Madness (never shipped), Street Fight (never shipped), MotoRodeo. For the 7800 Atari announced/introduced Barnyard Blaster (light gun) and Sentinel (light gun), and introduced/again promised: Jinks, Xenophobe, Commando, Mean 18 Ultimate Golf, Ikari Warriors, Planet Smashers, Ninja Golf, Mat Mania Challenge, White Water Madness (never shipped). For the XE Atari introduced/again promised: Deflektor (never shipped), Commando (never shipped), Super Football (never shipped), Tower Toppler (never shipped), Xenophobe (never shipped), MIDI Maze (never shipped). Also featured: the first two issues of Atarian magazine (May/June and August 1989). For the Atari Entertainment division: Bob Harris remained marketing director, Ron Stringari remained president. (AIM 7/89 p9; CN Jul/Aug89 p9-10; CE 6/89 p13)

Atari introduced the ABC 286/30 computer at the show, due to ship 3rd quarter 1989 (to replace the PC4; to ship in the U.S. instead of the PC4; two units shown), and also featured the 1040ST (single unit shown with two MIDI keyboards) and privately previewed the Portfolio. (AIM 7/89 p9-10)

Finally, Atari introduced a line of calculators (some previously released by Hartech using the Atari brand under license from Atari), including the CC90R "ExecuCard" Solar Credit Card Calculator (previously released by Hartech), CC90B "ExecuCard" Solar Credit Card Calculator (previously released by Hartech), CC91R "ExecuCard" Solar Credit Card Calculator (previously released by Hartech), CC91B "ExecuCard" Solar Credit Card Calculator (previously released by Hartech), CC91G "ExecuCard" Solar Credit Card Calculator (previously released by Hartech), CC92 "ExecuCard" Solar Credit Card Calculator (previously released by Hartech), CC180 "Extra Value" 8 Digit Dual Power handheld calculator with tilt display ($5.95), CC181 "Extra Value" 8 Digit Dual Power Desk Top calculator with tilt display ($7.95), S300 "Specialty" Programmable Scientific Calculator ($11.95; would ship as: ST300), S310 "Specialty" 10-Digit Scientific Calculator ($9.95; would ship as: ST310), DMP2002 Desktop Printing Calculator ($34.95), DMP2000 Handheld Printing Calculator ($24.95; previously released by Hartech), DB2100R Data Bank Credit Card Calculator ($17.95), DB2200 8 digit Data Bank calculator ($19.95), DB2300 10 digit Data Bank calculator ($14.95), DB2400 Auto Dialer Data Bank calculator ($29.95), CC192 Mini Card Auto Recall Calculator (previously released by Hartech), CC1800 Compact Wallet Auto Recall Calculator (previously released by Hartech), CC190 Junior Desk-Top Auto Recall Calculator (previously released by Hartech). David Harris was Atari Consumer Products division president. (CN Jul/Aug89 p10; AIM 7/89 p9 for count of 19 models) (former Hartech models discontinued: CC191, CC1900)

June 12: Chris Roberts became Atari User Group Coordinator (replacing the departed Cindy Claveran).

June?: Atari shipped the 7800 PAL versions (thick rainbow design), with Asteroids built-in, boxed with two Joypad controllers (CX78). 7800 PAL versions would include: PAL B version for Europe (West Germany), PAL I version for the UK (source) (source)

June 17-20: Atari introduced the Hotz MIDI Keyboard Controller (Hotz MIDI Translator), introduced the Stacy to the music market, and also featured the Mega and ST computers at the Summer NAMM show at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center. (source; source)

June 21: The Federated Group, Atari's chain of 40 electronics stores, announced it had agreed to pay $12.1 million to as many as 15,000 employees and job applicants who were required to take polygraph tests. Gregory Pratt, chief financial officer for Atari Corporation, said the tests were discontinued shortly after Atari bought the Federated Group in 1987. (AP)

June 22: Atari "U.S." Corp. was registered for operations in the State of Arizona (for Atari's takeover of the operations of Hartech U.S.A., Ltd.)

June 23-25: Atari Show at the West Hall, Alexandra Palace, London, where Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited introduced the 520ST^FM Power Pack (£399.99; 23 software titles: FirST BASIC, Organiser, Music Maker, and 20 games: After Burner, Black Lamp, Bomb Jack, Bombuzal, Double Dragon, Eliminator, FirST BASIC, Music Maker, Nebulus, Organiser, Out Run, Overlander, Pac-Mania, Predator, R-Type, Space Harrier, Star Goose!, Starglider, StarRay, Super Hang-on, Super Huey, Xenon; replacement for the 520ST^FM Super Pack).

June 24-25: World of Atari show (#2) sponsored by ST World magazine, Dearborn Hyatt Regency in Michigan (Detroit area). Atari was represented by Sig Hartmann (VP corporate sales) and Chris Roberts (user group coodinator). For the XE Atari showed MIDI Maze and AtariWriter 80; for the ST Atari showed Bentley Bear educational software, the MegaFile 44, the STacy (due Sept), and Wordflair; Atari also featured the Portfolio (due Sept.). The Lynx was also due to ship in Sept., while the TT was to ship in two configurations (TOS or UNIX) by the end of the year; the ATW was due mid-1990. The CDAR504 CD-ROM drive was to list for $599, but a U.S. release date had not been set. (AIM 8/89 p8-9; CN 9/89 p18-20)

Month?: Diane Guerrero joined Atari as a Software Configuration Management Technician (Atari UNIX project). (Henry Plummer remained Atari UNIX group manager.)

Month?: Lauri Donahue, previously of Pacific Gas & Electric, joined Atari as assistant corporate counsel. (Joshua Tropper and Adron Beene remained corporate counsel; Schreiber & McBride remained general counsel.)

Month?: In the Netherlands, Jurek Ceglarek joined Atari (Benelux) B.V. where he would be customer support manager.

Month?: In the UK, engineer Timothy Dunn, previously of Anamartic Ltd., joined Flare Technology Limited.

July 20: Fretter, Inc. announced that it was discussing with Atari Corporation the possible purchase of certain assets and business of The Federated Group, Inc., an Atari subsidiary. (PR)

July 24: Pursuant to a tender offer, Time Incorporated acquired a controlling majority of the outstanding stock of Warner Communications Inc. (59.3%), and the name of Time Incorporated was changed to Time Warner Inc.

July 26: In Singapore, Chuan Hup Holdings Ltd (the parent company of PCI Pte Ltd) shut down its dormant subsidiary, Atari-PCI Enterprises Pte Ltd. (source; source)

July 28: Atari Computer division VP Marketing Joe Mendolia departed the company. (source) On an interim basis, Atari Computer division marketing would be managed by The Federated Group VP marketing Jim Fisher. (source)

July 28: Atari User Group Coordinator Chris Roberts departed the company. (source)

July 31-August 4: Atari featured the ATW800 at the ACM SIGGRAPH computer graphics convention in Boston. Frank Foster was Atari director of Specialty Markets. (source)

August 2: Conner Peripherals had announced that it was selling a supply of low-profile 20 MB and 40 MB 3.5-inch disk drives to Atari for the coming Atari Stacy laptop portable computer. (NewsBytes)

August 14: Atari's plans were to market the Atari Portable Color Entertainment System (APCES or PCES) as: Lynx (Atari 10-Q filed 8/14/89 for quarter ended 7/1/89)

August: Atari Computer division VP sales Mike Dendo departed the company. On an interim basis, Atari Computer division sales would be managed by The Federated Group VP marketing Jim Fisher and Atari VP corporate sales Sig Hartmann. (source; source)

August: Bob Hudson had joined the Atari UNIX group (responsible for port of X Window System). (source) (Henry Plummer remained Atari UNIX group manager.)

August 17: In the civil trial ruling resulting from a lawsuit brought against Atari by former The Federated Group president Keith Powell and SVP Marrill Lyons, Orange County (CA) Superior Court Judge Jack K. Mandel ordered Atari to pay Powell $260,000 and Lyons $175,000 in withheld severance pay, with interest, along with withheld life insurance benefits, bringing the total value of the verdict against Atari to about $600,000. The judge denied punitive damages against Atari, however. Atari would appeal the ruling. (LA Times 8/18)

August 19-20: At the World of Atari show (#3) sponsored by ST World magazine, Holiday Inn Holidome in Irving, Texas (Dallas area), Atari was represented by Sig Hartmann (VP corporate sales) and Jay Crosby and featured the Portfolio and the PC4. (source) (Since the PC4 was no longer slated for U.S. release it seems probable that actually the more recently introduced ABC 286/30 was shown.)

August 21: Robert Brodie (Bob Brodie) joined the Atari as user group coodinator (replacing the departed Chris Roberts). Brodie would report to Augie Liguori (Atari VP and general manager, Atari Computer division), but be supervised in most matters by Sig Hartmann (VP corporate sales). (source, source)

August 25: Atari announced a just-completed 3-day conference in Monterey CA, sponsored by Atari and Epyx, for developers for the 7800 and the Lynx; over 100 attended. Ron Stringari was president of the Atari Entertainment Division. (D. Scott Williamson was responsible for Lynx developer support at Atari; Dave Staugas was responsible for 7800 developer support.)

August 25: Ted Maciejewski was Atari National Field Service Manager (source), having replaced departed technical services manager Randy Hain.

August 25-27: At the (3rd) Düsseldorf Atari Messe, West Germany, organized by Atari Computer GmbH, Atari introduced the TT030/2 (16 MHz; 2MiB RAM; 30 MB HD; to run Atari "TOS 030" (would ship as: TOS 3; not shown); supplied with 14" color monitor (TTC1434) for about 6500mk; due November 1989), introduced the 1040STe (1600mk), launched the PC5/EURIX (Atari PC5 running the Generics version of AT&T UNIX System V/386, Release 3.2), introduced the Portfolio (to ship in October; around 800mk), again promised the Stacy (prototype shown with 4 MiB RAM and 40MB HD; plans called for initial units with 1 MiB RAM and 1 726K floppy for around 4000mk; a 20MB HD model would also be available), previewed the Hotz MIDI Translator, and previewed the Lynx (to ship in 1990 in West Germany). (The pre-announced "TT/X" or "TTX" tower configuration of the TT was not shown.) Also featured: 1040ST^FM (1300mk). 145 3rd party developers and over 35,000 people attended the show. Alwin Stumpf was Atari Computer GmbH general manager. Also at the show, IBP Elektronik introduced the 190STX (would ship as: 190STV30) version of their licensed Atari Mega ST clone for industrial markets (same as the IBP 190ST, with additional V30 processor for MS-DOS compatibility). (source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source)

August 29: Atari France headquarters were severely damaged by fire. (source; source) The unit would swiftly re-establish operations at: 79, avenue Louis Roche, Gennevilliers (near Paris)

August 30: Time Warner Inc. beneficially owned 24.6 percent or 14.2 million common shares of Atari Corporation.

Summer/Fall: For the XE Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released Speed Hawk (Arena Developments). (New Atari User #40 Oct/Nov89 p38-40; New Atari User #42 Feb/Mar90 p7)

September 8: Atari had announced that Rainbow TOS ($99.95; TOS 1.04; previously known as TOS 1.4) was available as an upgrade for all Mega and ST computers. (ROM date: April 6, 1989; release notes date: August 7, 1989) Augie Liguori was Atari VP and General Manager [Atari Computer division]. (source)

September 12: Atari had announced the U.S. release of the Portfolio ($399.95). (Atari PR 1/4/90 by James Fisher, The Federated Group VP marketing; NewsBytes for date)

September 14: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, the changes executed on December 1, 1988 were registered. (source) Atari (Schweiz) AG software marketing manager Andreas Huber officially departed the company (to found multimedia-online.ch AG).

September: Atari shipped the 1040STe (West Germany) and the Megafile 44.

September: Atari had announced September releases of Radar Lock (Doug Neubauer) for the 2600, and Xenophobe (BlueSky) and Jinks for the 7800. (CE 9/89 p10)

September: Atari France would divide its operations into two divisions: Atari Business Computer (ABC), headed by Sam Mamane, would handle the Mega ST, 1040ST, Stacy, PC compatibles, TT, vertical solutions, etc. Atari Grand Public (AGP), headed by Daniel Hammaoui, would handle the 520STe, XE, and all game systems. Both divisions would handle the Portfolio and Stacy. (source) Elie Kenan remained Atari France S.A. PDG.

September: In West Germany, Atari Computer GmbH Technologiezentrum (Technology Center) group leader hardware management Frank Schwarzlos departed the company (to Siemens).

September: Epyx reduced its staff by 90%, and would no longer develop and publish computer games. With 10 remaining staff members Epyx would operate exclusively as a developer of Lynx games for Atari. (CE 10/89 p7)

September 18: German computer science student Hans-Martin Kröber began an internship at Atari (Sunnyvale CA headquarters), supporting the six-person UNIX group. (source) (Henry Plummer remained Atari UNIX group manager.)

September 25: August Liguori, previously Atari VP and general manager, Atari Computer division, would remain an Atari VP. H. Michael (Mike) Morand, previously of AST Research, joined Atari as the President of Atari Computer, responsible for all operational aspects of Atari Computer sales, marketing, distribution and administration within the U.S. (source) (replacing Liguori in the role). Bill Crouch, previously of TeleVideo Systems (and formerly in sales administration at Commodore), would join the Atari Computer division as VP sales (replacement for the departed Mike Dendo). (source) (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/CEO.)

September 27-October 1: At the 12th annual Personal Computer Show (formerly: PCW Show) at Earl's Court in London, Atari launched the ABC 286 (with 3.5" floppy; £599.99) and ABC 286/30 (with 30 MB HD and monochrome monitor; £899.99), launched the Stacy (1 MiB RAM and 20MB HD; £1,299), previewed the TT, and featured the Atari Transputer Workstation. Most of the Atari exhibit space was devoted to demonstrating standard business applications on PCs (Atari PC3, PC4, PC5) and STs, plus the British-designed Portfolio palmtop. (Atari did not show the 1040STe.) (source; source)

September 28: In Switzerland regarding Atari (Schweiz) AG, departed general manager Marco Guerra was registered to no longer be a director. (source)

Sept/Oct: Third and final issue of Atarian magazine from Atari Explorer Publications, Corp. (Publisher/Editor: David H. Ahl). New/upcoming games from Atari previewed for the 2600: Sentinel, Fatal Run; for the 7800: Sentinel, Fatal Run, Ninja Golf, Planet Smashers

October (early month): Richard Miller, previously Atari director of Research and Development, became Atari VP Technology (1990 Proxy), additionally assuming the responsibilities of VP product engineering Roy Good who departed the company (to Versyss Corporation).

October 7-8: AtariFest '89 (5th annual), co-sponsored by the Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts (WAACE) and the Fairfax County Public Schools Office of Adult and Community Education, was held at Fairfax High School (Virginia), and was attended by more than 3,000 people. Atari was represented by Sig Hartmann (VP corporate sales). (CN 11/89 p12-16)

October 8: In Israel, Atari established Atari Computers Ltd. In Tel Aviv, Gideon Amir, founder of Advanced Semiconductor Technology (AST), would join Atari to establish and head a small research and development engineering operation ("Falcon" project), located at: Atari Computers Ltd., 47/7 Golomb St., 46 305 Herzliya (Tel Aviv district). Amir would report to Atari VP Technology Richard Miller. Eran Dariel, previously of Fortress, would join Atari Computers Ltd. as project manager.

October: Engineer Tracy Hall (Tracy R. Hall), previously project designer at Mattel Toys, joined Atari as a consumer product developer. (AtariExplorer 1/92p56 for title) Atari hardware engineer/custom chip designer Doug Renn would depart the company (to Momenta Corporation). Atari would contract with Flare Technology Limited engineer Martin Brennan to continue development of the chip for Atari's ongoing new home game console project. (Brennan would designate the chip "Panther".) (source; source) (Richard Miller remained Atari VP technology.)

October 16-20: Atari Computer GmbH exhibited at Systems 89, the 11th International Trade Fair and International Congress for Computers and Communications, held in Munich West Germany. (source) Atari launched the ABC 286/30 computer in West Germany and launched the PCM145 VGA monochrome, PCC1415 EGA color (to replace the PCC1414), and PCC1425 VGA color monitors at the show. (source; source) Atari would also launch the PCM125 EGA monochrome monitor (to replace the PCM124). (source) Also featured at the show: 2600. (source)

October 19: In the UK Atari's offerings included the Portfolio (£217.38), PC3, PC4H, PC4R, PC5 (£2,299 with VGA monitor). (FinancialTimes 10/19/89p5)

Fall: Under the new ARC label, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released Hellraider (by Frames) versions for ST, Amiga, PC; Prince (by Frames) versions for ST, Amiga, PC; Star Breaker (by Frames) versions for ST, Amiga, PC; Armada (by Turcan) versions for ST, Amiga, PC; Borodino (by Turcan) for ST (ST version previously released under the Atari label), Amiga, PC; Enterprise for ST. (ARC was a project of ST line product manager Darryl Still and software development manager Robert Katz.)

November 1: Atari VP corporate sales Sig Hartmann departed the company (to Televideo). (source) Jim Fisher, previously Atari Computer division VP marketing, would become Atari (corporate) VP marketing and advertising (assuming corporate sales from Hartmann). Art Morgan, previously of Atari engineering, would become Product Marketing Manager - Personal Computing Hardware and Software (reporting to Fisher), replacing director of Product Marketing Arnold Waldstein who departed the company (to Digital F/X). Product manager (Portfolio, CDAR504) Rick Meyer would depart the company. Donald A. Thomas, Jr. (Don Thomas), most recently Advertising-Marketing Manager at Atari's Federated Group (departed earlier in 1989), would return to Atari as direct marketing manager (Portfolio) (source) (reporting to Fisher). Mel Stevens, previously (corporate) director of creative services, would remain design director (now reporting to Fisher). (User group coordinator Bob Brodie would become Atari's primary public spokesperson, replacing Hartmann in the informal role.)

November 1?: Antonio Salerno, previously Atari director of software marketing, was promoted to VP Applications. Charles Cherry, previously of Antic, would join Atari as ST-TT Applications Manager (reporting to Salerno), and Jim Kennedy would become Portfolio applications manager (reporting to Salerno).

November 1?: John Feagans, previously Atari director of software technology (TOS, Portfolio, 2600/7800), would become technical product manager for the Portfolio (still reporting to VP software development Leonard Tramiel). Operating systems software group manager Craig Suko and technical support manager J. Patton would each now report directly to Leonard Tramiel. Atari entertainment electronics division software engineer Dave Staugas would assume responsibility for 2600/7800 technical support (replacing Feagans in the role).

November 2: In San Jose CA, the Vanishing Children's Alliance presented and demonstrated an Atari computer system that would be used to expedite poster and data dissemination campaigns. Greg Kranich, an officer with the San Jose California Police Department, had set up the system. The computer system, including Mega 4, hard drive, and laser printer, was donated to the program by Atari. Mike Morand remained Atari Computer Division president.

November 8: Date of Agreement for Sale of Assets among Silo California Inc., The Federated Group, Inc. and Atari Corporation. Atari would announce the agreement the next day.

November 9: Atari said it had agreed to sell 26 of its Federated Group consumer electronics stores to Silo Inc., a Philadelphia-based electronics retailer (and subsidiary of Dixons Group PLC of Great Britain since 1987). Silo would take over 21 Federated stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties and 5 in San Diego. Atari officials said discussions were continuing with buyers for its 14 remaining stores in Texas, Kansas and Arizona. (NYT 11/10; AP 11/10)

November 10: Fretter, Inc. announced the termination of negotiations with Atari Corporation with respect to Fretter's acquisition of substantially all of the assets of The Federated Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atari. (PR)

November 13-17: At the fall COMDEX in Las Vegas Atari introduced the TT030/2 computer (16 MHz; 2MiB RAM; optional hard disk; due first quarter 1990), introduced the 1040STe computer (due first quarter 1990), again promised the ABC 286/30 computer (to ship with MS-Windows/286; due first quarter 1990), introduced the PC4-X computer (would ship in the UK and Europe as: ABC₁₆ 286/60; to ship with MS-Windows/286; due first quarter 1990), again promised the Stacy Laptop ($1,495, or $1,995 with 20MB hard drive) computer, and featured the 520ST^FM ($599.95), 1040ST^FM ($799.95), Mega 2 ($1,499.95), Mega 4 ($2,199.95), and Portfolio Palmtop ($399.95) computers. For the Mega/ST/TT Atari launched DeskSet II, and featured the SLM804 Laser Printer ($1,495), the SC1224 monitor ($399.95), the SM124 monitor ($199.95), the Megafile 30 ($699.95) and Megafile 60 ($999.95) hard disk drives, and the SX212 Modem ($99.95), and in software featured the Bentley Bear At-Home Tutor series and the Arrakis Advantage series. For the Portfolio Atari featured: 32K Memory Card ($79.95), 64K Memory Card ($129.95), 128K Memory Card ($199.95), Smart Parallel Interface ($49.95), Serial Interface ($79.95), AC Adaptor ($9.95), PC Card Drive ($99.95), and again promised the Memory Expander Plus (640K upgrade). For Atari Computer: Frank Foster was MIDI market manager; Mike Morand was president. (PR, PR, PR, PR, PR, PR, PR, PR, PR, PR, PR, source, source; CN 12/89 p12-16)

November: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Commando (Sculptured Software) (CE 11/89 p12)

November 21: U.S. launch event for the Atari Lynx ($179.99 with California Games (Epyx), Comlynx Cable, AC Adaptor) was held by Atari for: New York retailers, game industry analysts, and students from The Browning and Spence Schools, beginning at 8:00 a.m. at the Marriott Hotel (Upper Terrace, 9th Floor), New York City. Lynx was to be in stores by Thanksgiving (Nov. 23). Promised for future introduction: cigarette lighter adapter, extended play portable power pack (would ship as: Battery Pack). Available launch titles sold separately for the Lynx included: Blue Lightning (Epyx), The Gates of Zendocon (Epyx), Electrocop (Epyx; previously: Impossible Mission), Chip's Challenge (Epyx; title by Epyx). At least 20 additional titles were expected to be available in 1990. Ron Stringari was president Atari Entertainment Products; Sam Tramiel was president of Atari. (PRx3; WeLoveAtariV2p183)

November 28: Atari had said that Lynx sales through end of 1989 would be limited to the New York City area. Atari expected nationwide availability of the Lynx by summer 1990, depending on availability of LCDs. Also, Atari had said it had sold 100,000 Portfolio palmtop computers. (Communications Daily 11/28)

December 7: Atari filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against Nintendo and PepsiCo regarding a $22 million joint magazine ad campaign showing Nintendo's Game Boy hand-held video toy with a screen featuring a color picture of Super Mario drinking a Pepsi Cola in a Santa suit. Unlike the full-color Atari Lynx, the Nintendo Game Boy's display in reality was black-and-white only. "Nintendo and PepsiCo have intentionally and willfully embarked on an advertising program designed to mislead prospective purchasers of handheld, portable, programmable video games into believing that the Nintendo game contains a color screen when it does not," according to the suit.

December 8: Atari and Pepsi reached a partial settlement regarding the lawsuit filed the previous day by Atari, as PepsiCo accepted responsibility for an ad in the Dec. 8 People magazine. Pepsi also agreed to run no future ads claiming that Nintendo's "Game Boy" comes with a colorized screen, except for a full-page layout already set to appear in the following week's issue of People. Atari was seeking unspecified damages in its suit. No trial date had been set.

December: In the UK Atari shipped the 1040STe, the Stacy2 (2MiB RAM, 20MB HD; £1,299) and the Stacy4 (4MiB RAM; 40MB HD; £1,799). The Stacy (1MiB RAM) was promised to ship early 1990. (source)

December: In Japan, Atari shipped the Lynx (with batteries and AC Adaptor) to stores in the Tokyo area. (source, source)

December 18: Atari Consumer Products division (calculators) president David Harris had become Atari Computer division EVP sales (interim head of the division), replacing Atari Computer division president Mike Morand who had departed the company. (source) (Bill Crouch remained Atari Computer division VP sales, now reporting to Harris.) (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/CEO.)

December 20: All 16 The Federated Group electronics stores in Houston and Dallas were being closed and their stock liquidated, according to Western Liquidators, which had bought the stores' inventory from Atari. In Houston about 400 employees were laid off at the city's 8 stores. Liquidation sales were to be completed in 4 to 5 months. (UPI 12/20)

Dataquest estimated that Atari had 4.1% of the 1989 personal computer worldwide market share, and 3.4% in the U.S., as measured in units shipped.

Atari had produced around 70,000 Lynx consoles for the U.S. Christmas market. (NewsBytes)

[In 1989 in West Germany Atari] sold 30,000 Mega ST2 and Megas ST4 models. Also in 1989, 100,000 Atari Computers were sold in Poland. Among these were 40,000 STs and the other 60,000 were Atari 8-bit computers. (Alwin Stumpf interviewed at CeBIT'90)

In Mexico, Atari de México sold almost 30,000 video machines (2600, 65XE) in 1989. (source)

1990
January 4: Atari announced the Portfolio Developer Starter Kit (Portfolio computer, a Smart Parallel Interface, two 128K memory cards, an AC adapter, a technical reference guide, emulator software, one year of technical support). More than 150,000 Portfolio palmtop computers had been sold since the system's September 1989 release. David Harris was Atari Computer division EVP sales (head of the division); Antonio Salerno was Atari VP applications. (PR)

January 6-9: Adjacent to the Winter CES in Las Vegas, at a private hospitality suite in the nearby Mirage Hotel, Atari promoted the Lynx ($180) and Portfolio ($399.95) by emphasizing a rebuilding of its distribution network, and by courting potential 3rd-party developers with newly-available development systems for both Lynx and Portfolio. Five games were currently available for the Lynx, with more than 25 new titles from Atari and 3rd-party developers promised during 1990. Atari also announced an agreement with Atari Games Corporation that would bring up to 35 Atari Games arcade titles to the Lynx. Ronald Stringari remained Atari Entertainment Division President. Andy Marken was Atari spokesman. (NewsBytes; CommunicationsDaily 1/17/90 )

January 10: Warner Communications Inc. (WCI) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., completing the merger of Time Incorporated (now Time Warner) and WCI.

January 12: All remaining locations of Atari's The Federated Group, Inc. stores had been sold or closed, and Atari closed the unit's headquarters in City of Commerce CA. (source) The Federated Group was essentially shut down. Atari VP administration, secretary and assistant treasurer Garry Tramiel would additionally be CEO of The Federated Group (replacing Atari chairman Jack Tramiel in the role). Atari VP and Treasurer Steven M. Kawalick would additionally be CFO and secretary of The Federated Group, replacing Howard Cohn who departed the company.

January 19-21: At the Winter NAMM at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim CA, using the theme "Beyond MIDI. The Next Generation From Atari" Atari launched the Stacy portable computer (shipping as a U.S. FCC Class A device approved for commercial, industrial or business environment; available for the U.S. market in two configurations: Stacy2 with 2MiB RAM and 40MB HD: $2499; Stacy4 with 4MiB RAM and 40MB HD: $2899.95; Stacy would never achieve Class B certification for the home consumer market), launched a professional studio and touring system consisting of one central Hotz MIDI Translator and two auxiliary Translator Wing units for a package price of $7,000 or bundled with a Stacy4 for $9899.95, introduced the Atari MIDI-Tasking System (Intelligent Music), debuted MIDI Magazine, featured the Mega ST computers, promoted the upcoming 520STe/1040STe computers, and also showed the Lynx and Portfolio. Frank Foster was Atari director of Specialty Markets. (source; source)

January 26-30: Atari launched the Lynx in the UK at the British International Toy and Hobby Fair. The Lynx would not ship in the UK until late March/early April at the earliest. Pricing was yet to be determined. (NewsBytes)

Winter: In the UK and Europe Atari shipped the ABC₁₆ 286/60 computer (internal: PC4X; previously announced as: PC4-X.)

Winter: For the XE Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released Heartache (in-game title: Heart Break). (New Atari User #42 Feb/Mar90 p7; New Atari User #43 Ap/My90 p42)

Winter?: For the ST Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released: Bridge Tutor (Bray Research)

Winter?: Ken Jacobsen became Atari Portfolio applications manager, replacing Jim Kennedy who departed the company. (source) (Antonio Salerno remained Atari VP applications.)

Winter: In West Germany, the Atari Computer GmbH Technologiezentrum (Technology Center) in Braunschweig (Brunswick) on Julius-Konegen-Straße was shut down, and division managing director Helmut Joswig departed the company.

February: Meade Ames-Klein, previously of the Koala Springs beverage company, joined Atari as president of U.S. operations (Atari "U.S." Corp., to consist of domestic computer, entertainment, and Styra Semiconductor operations). David Harris, previously Atari Consumer Products division president and Atari Computer division EVP sales (interim head of the division), would become Atari SVP International Division (new division for international procurement, sales, and marketing), replacing director for international sales and marketing Max Bambridge who would depart the company. Atari Entertainment Division president Ron Stringari and Styra Semiconductor president/CEO Lynn Reed would depart the company. (Reed would establish Letni Semiconductor Inc. on 4/18/1990.) Ron Beltramo, previously of Koala Springs, would join Atari "U.S." Corp. as VP marketing for entertainment (source; source), replacing Robert Harris (Bob Harris) who would depart the company (to Sega of America). Ira Goldstein, previously Styra Semiconductor VP engineering (reporting to Reed), would become general manager of the unit (reporting to Ames-Klein). Atari would discontinue its Consumer Products division and relinquish control of Hartech, including Hartech Limited in Hong Kong and Hartech U.S.A., Ltd. Hartech would continue sales of calculators using the Atari brand under license from Atari; David J. Wheaton would remain Hartech U.S.A. general manager. (Atari president/CEO Sam Tramiel remained Atari "U.S." Corp. chairman/CEO.) (source, source, source, source)

February: Styra Semiconductor (semi-independent integrated circuit design, funded by Atari) announced the ST82C21 HEAT Styraset Chip set (never shipped?). "A 16-MHz three-chip set that replaces Chips and Technology's CS8221 NEAT chip set. Compatible with IBM's PC AT and Intel's 80286. Supports systems up to 20 MHz. Avaialble in first quarter 1990. CPU/bus controller, page interleave and EMS memory controller, and data/address buffer implemented in 1.2-micron CMOS technology. Cost (10,000s): $19.95." (Computer v23n2 Feb90 p90)

February: Medical Entertainment Systems was the exclusive distributor of Atari products in the health care community, and was in the process of establishing video game rental operations at 149 hospitals nationwide. Patients would be able to rent an Atari Lynx unit, complete with software games, for $7 a day. The first hospitals to receive the Lynx units included St. Vincent's Hospital, Bridgeport, CT; Walker Memorial and Avon Park in the Orlando, FL area, Freehold Hospital, Freehold, NJ, and Mercy Hospital in San Diego. (NewsBytes)

February 22: Atari "U.S." Corp. was registered for operations in Texas. (Atari's Styra Semiconductor Corporation continued to operate in Carrollton, TX.)

March 5: Atari had approximately 1,420 employees including 170 in engineering and product development, 320 in marketing, sales and distribution, 710 in manufacturing and production, and 220 in general administration and management. 730 were employed at Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (10-K for 1989)

March 9-11: At Atari Computer Expo ("Atari Expo" or "World of Atari Expo") hosted by Atari in the ballroom of the Queen Victoria Building, Sidney Australia, Atari Computers Pty Ltd (Atari Australia) featured/promised the Stacy (due later in 1990), TT030, and the ATW800 Transputer, and featured: 520STe/1040STe, CDAR504, Megafiles, Lynx, Portfolio, and the entire Atari PC range (including the PC5). At Atari Computers Pty Ltd: Nigel Shepherd was managing director, Gillian Franklin was Marketing Manager, Alistair Campion was National Manager. More than 4000 attended. (source; source)

March 10: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited launched the 520ST^FM Discovery Pack (£299.99 with FirST BASIC, NEOchrome, S.T.O.S., ST Tour, Carrier Command, Outrun, Space Harrier, Bomb Jack, Discover the Atari ST book) (NewsBytes) (replacement for the 520ST^FM Power Pack)

March 14: The name of Tramel Trading Limited was changed to: Liquid Crystal Systems Technology Corporation. Atari had preliminary plans to purchase an old Commodore plant in Philadelphia, PA, to build liquid crystal display (LCD) units. It would be a $5.2 million dollar plant, with 200 jobs. (Atari would back out of these plans.)

March 16: Atari laid off some 30 people, or 15%, of its U.S. operations workforce. The cuts came among office, sales, and shipping workers. Many of the cuts were in the accounting department. Meade Ames-Klein was president of Atari U.S. operations. (source; NewsBytes 3/20; CN 4/90 p9)

March 21-28: At CeBIT '90 in Hanover, Atari introduced the ABC 386SX/40 computer (3798mk; to replace the PC5), launched the Stacy in West Germany (4MiB RAM; 40MB HD), featured the latest Model 4.5 of the ATW800 Atari Transputer Workstation, and featured/again promised the TT030, with the 16MHz TT030/2-40 supplied with 14" color monitor (TTC1434) due May 1990 for 6500 DEM, and TT/030X ("TT030X", "TT030/X") configurations (16MHz; 6 MiB RAM; 80MB, 120MB, or 170MB HD) with 14" color monitor (TTC1434) or 19" monochrome monitor (TTM194) due November 1990. (The pre-announced "TT/X" or "TTX" tower configuration of the TT was not shown, but promised for introduction at the August 1990 Atari Messe in Düsseldorf.) For the TT Atari introduced ATX (Atari UNIX, based around UniSoft UNIX System V Release 3.1, compatible with AT&T System V Interface Definition (SVID) Issue 2, with Berkeley (BSD) TCP/IP extensions, sockets, fast file system, and job control, Network File System (NFS), and X/OPEN XPG2; to be supplied with WISh, MIT X11 X Window System, X FaceMaker, and HP extensions toolkit; package would later be redeveloped into: Atari System V (ASV)). (Henry Plummer remained head of the Atari UNIX developer group.) Atari also introduced Atari-Net (ethernet for STs, TTs and PCs; never shipped). Atari launched the Lynx in West Germany, promising it would ship in the UK and Europe by the end of the month. Also featured: 1040STe, CDAR504, Portfolio, PC3, ABC 286/30, ABC₁₆ 286/60. For the Portfolio Atari previewed: extended DOS utilities (would ship as: DOS Utilities HPC-701); financial calculator (would ship as: Finance Card HPC-702); scientific calculator (would ship, to Europe only, as: Science Card HPC-703); and two games packages - Mindgames (including backgammon, draughts and reversi; never shipped) and Portfolio Chess (HPC-750). (source; source; source; source; source; source; source; The Guardian 3/29/90; )

March 23: In West Germany at Atari Computer GmbH, Willy Schulz was sales director for East Germany; Klaus-Peter Kuschke was Sales Manager Consumer Products. (source)

March 29: Atari announced plans to enhance the Atari Explorer magazine, "following necessary actions taken to relocate the operation closer to headquarters in Sunnyvale, California." Jim Fisher remained Atari VP Marketing and advertising. (source; for date)

Winter/Spring: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited established the Atari Research Centre, Cambridge (ARCC), located at: 8/9 Bridge St, Cambridge. ARCC would essentially take over the business of Perihelion Ltd. ARCC staff would include Martin Oldfield (source), Martyn Gilbert (source) (head of the unit), Nicko van Someren. Perihelion Ltd. would shut down. Separately, Perihelion Software Limited, developer of HeliOS, would remain in business.

April 1: At the 1990 Canadian Atari Users Convention (2nd), presented by the Toronto Atari Federation (TAF), held at the Airport Hilton hotel in Toronto, Atari featured: 1040STe, Stacy, Megafiles, CDAR504, Portfolio, and the Atari PC range (PC3, PC4, PC5), and also showed the Lynx. Geoffrey Earle represented Atari (Canada) Corp. and Bob Brodie represented Atari Corp. (CN 5/90 p20-22)

April 3: In the court case brought by Atari on August 26, 1988 against Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Whinney, and several individual associated with The Federated Group, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California judge James Ware entered an order granting all defendants' motions for summary judgment against Atari's claims of fraud. The court would proceed to deliberate on the defendants' counterclaims against Atari regarding indemnity.

April 6-8: World of Atari show (#4) sponsored by ST World magazine, Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim CA, was attended by 4,000 people. Atari featured the TT030, Portfolio, and Lynx. (source; CN 5/90p17)

April 7-8?: Craig Suko, replacing John Feagans who departed the company (to serve as USA representative for DIP as Palmtop Software). (source; source) (Leonard Tramiel remained VP software development.) Atari senior staff engineer Jim Tittsler would become Portfolio technical product manager (replacing the departed Feagans in the role). (source 26:40)

April 11: The name of Atari "U.S." Corp. (domestic computer, entertainment, and Styra Semiconductor operations) was changed to: Atari Computer Corporation. (Atari president/CEO Sam Tramiel remained Atari Computer Corporation chairman/CEO.)

April: Antonio Salerno was Atari VP applications, with reports including: Charles Cherry (ST-TT Applications manager), Ken Jacobsen (Portfolio Applications Manager), J. Patton (Developer technical support). (source)

April: Simon Westbrook, previously Atari Financial Controller, was promoted to Atari Vice President - Corporate Controller. (1990 proxy) (Greg Pratt remained Atari VP Finance and CFO.)

April: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited shipped the Lynx (£180 with California Games, Comlynx Cable, AC Adaptor)

April 17: The Business Software Alliance (BSA) announced that criminal proceedings for suspected copyright infringement had commenced against Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. and against Pacific Electric Wire and Cable Company. The companies were the targets of surprise court-ordered searches conducted by Taiwan police, accompanied by BSA's lawyers and computer experts, where "significant numbers of software copies which BSA believes to be unauthorized" were confiscated. The software at issue included Ashton-Tate dBASE III Plus database management software and Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet software.

April 24: Atari directors included: Jack Tramiel (chairman), Sam Tramiel, Samuel W.L. Chin, Leonard I. Schreiber, Gregory A. Pratt, Michael Rosenberg. Atari officers included: Sam Tramiel (President and CEO), Samuel W.L. Chin (VP manufacturing operation), Gregory A. Pratt (VP finance and CFO), Steven M. Kawalick (VP treasurer and assistant secretary), August J. Liguori (VP), Ellen McBride (Assistant Secretary), Richard Miller (VP technology), Elton Southard (VP Semiconductor Operations), Taro Tokai (VP), Garry Tramiel (VP administration, secretary and assistant treasurer), Leonard Tramiel (VP Software Development), Simon P. Westbrook (VP Corporate Controller). (1990 proxy)

April 27: Atari (Japan) Corp. had started contract production of the Atari Lynx in Taiwan by Taiwan-based electronics maker EFA Corporation. The Taiwan-manufactured Lynx units were planned for initial shipment to the UK, West Germany, and France, and to all the other countries in Europe by year's end, and to supplement supplies in the U.S. and Japan as well. To date, Lynx had been made only in Japan, and had sold about 150,000 units in the U.S. and about 100,000 units in Japan. Japanese price: ¥29,800. (NewsBytes) The Japanese Lynx package included batteries but no pack-in game, Comlynx Cable, or AC Adaptor. (source)

April 30: In Texas, the name of Atari "U.S." Corp. (parent company of Styra Semiconductor Corporation) was changed to Atari Microsystems. Ira Goldstein, general manager of Styra Semiconductor, would now report to Atari VP technology Richard Miller (previously: to Meade Ames-Klein, president of Atari Computer Corporation which was formerly known as Atari "U.S." Corp.).

Spring: Under the ARC label, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released Photon Storm (by Llamasoft) versions for ST, Amiga

May 3: "Possible Violations of U.S. Antitrust Laws by Foreign Corporations" hearing before the Subcommittee on Economic and Commercial Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, included testimony by Atari chairman Jack Tramiel.

May 3: In partnership with Flare Technology Limited, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited established Arcbase Limited.

May 7: Atari announced the national availability (throughout the U.S.) of the Lynx ($179.99; previously sold only in select retail outlets) and Gauntlet: The Third Encounter (title by Atari Games via Tengen; previously: Time Quests & Treasure Chests) for Lynx, along with a Lynx carrying case (PAG3350; would ship as: Kit Case) and car cigarette lighter adaptor (PAG3300; would ship as: Auto Cigarette Lighter Adaptor). (PR)

May 7?: In the U.S. Atari announced the 1040ST^FM price was lowered to $699, while the Mega 4 price would be lower to $1795.95. (Prices for the 520ST^FM and the Mega 2 remained unchanged). (source)

May 12: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited announced the Model 4.5 of the Atari Transputer Workstation (ATW) series (replacing Issue 4 machines), now featuring high SCSI (small computer system interface) device transfer rates, the Helios filing system, assembler, Ansi C compiler and a source level debugger, as well as X-Toolkit, as standard facilities. Promised for later in 1990: support for Ethernet via TCP/IP and NFS (network filing system), along with X Window System Release 11.4. Gary Lawman was ATW Product Manager. (NewsBytes)

May: Atari corporate counsel Joshua Tropper departed the company (to Lee & Tropper). Assistant corporate counsel Lauri Donahue would depart the company as well (to Khourie, Crew & Jaeger, where she would serve as a member of Atari v. Nintendo trial team representing Atari). (Adron Beene remained Corporate Counsel; Schreiber & McBride remained Atari general counsel.)

May: Nicko van Someren of the Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited Atari Research Centre, Cambridge (ARCC) departed the company (to an internship at Xerox PARC Cambridge).

May 15: Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation. Six were elected to the board of directors: Jack Tramiel (Chairman), Sam Tramiel, Samuel W.L. Chin, Leonard I. Schreiber, Gregory A. Pratt, Michael Rosenberg. At the meeting, Atari announced that the production TT030 would feature the 68030 running at 32 Mhz (rather than 16 MHz as according to all earlier announcements), and that the TT was due to ship in the U.S. in July 1990. (CN 9/91 p69-70) Also, Atari announced that VP of Marketing and Advertising Jim Fisher was the new editor of Atari Explorer. (source) (The Spring issue would be the last produced by Atari Explorer Publications, Corp. (Publisher: David H. Ahl; Editor: Elizabeth B. Staples; Senior Technical Editor: John B. Jainschigg), which would be operationally shut down; future issues were to be published in-house by Atari.)

May 22: Atari announced they were in talks to acquire computer chips from the Soviet Union. The proposal was for Atari to swap its computers for the 256K DRAMs, a basic component of many Atari products, from a Soviet-owned semiconductor plant in Zelenograd, a center for much of the country's high-tech research. Gregory Pratt was Atari's CFO; David Harris was SVP of Atari's International Division. (source; source for date; KR wire story for Harris title)

May 22: Programmer Mike Pooler joined Atari as Portfolio Product Specialist. (source) (J. Patton remained Developer Technical Support, ST line; Ken Jacobsen remained Portfolio Applications Manager; Antonio Salerno remained VP applications.)

May 22: Microsoft shipped Windows 3.0, certified to run on many computers including three from Atari: ABC386SX, PC4X, PC5. (source)

May 30: At (the dormant) The Federated Group, Inc., Garry Tramiel remained CEO; Steven M. Kawalick remained secretary and CFO; Richard Bernhardt was the designated contact agent. Business: "Retail sales of consumer electronics and related items." Address: 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA

May 30: David Harris remained head of Atari's International Division. (Reuters 5/30)

May 30: Report that James C. Furnivall, recently treasurer and vice president of acquisitions and divestitures for Atari Corporation, had joined the Newport Beach offices of 3i Capital Corp. as vice president. (source)

May/June: Ken Soohoo (Kenneth Soohoo), part-time Atari software engineer (while an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley) departed the company (to Momenta).

June 1: In the UK, the name of Arcbase Limited was changed to: Flare II Limited. Flare II would include former Flare Technology Limited engineers John Mathieson (director) and Martin Brennan (consultant designer for Atari for "Panther" chip since fall 1989) with Timothy Dunn (who was also with Perihelion Hardware Ltd. from 1986-1987). Flare II was charged with completing the "Panther" project and with starting development of the "Jaguar" project. Flare II was 80% owned by Atari (source) (and 20% owned by Flare Technology Limited?).

June 1-3: At the Atari 90's Show at the Novotel Exhibition Centre in London, hosted by Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, Atari launched the ABC 386SX/40 computer in the UK (£1,499), launched the 1040STe Extra Pack (£499.99; 1040STe with Productivity bundle (ST-Word, ST-Base, ST-Calc, ST-Graph) and Leisure bundle (FirST BASIC, S.T.A.C., Hyperpaint, Prince)), and also featured the 520ST^FM Discovery Pack. Also featured: Lynx, Atari PC range (PC3, PC4, ABC₁₆ 286/60), ATW, Mega ST, Portfolio, Stacy, TT. Atari also announced it had acquired the exclusive rights to all posters on the London Waterloo/City commuter route in order to promote the Portfolio. (NewsBytes 6/6 (three reports); STampede 7/90p6-8; source)

June 1 - August 2: Fleetwood Mac's "Behind the Mask" North American tour, featuring computer technology supplied by Atari. (WeLoveAtariV2p170)

June 2-5: At the International Summer CES at McCormick Place in Chicago, Atari primarily featured the Lynx and the Portfolio, featured the 7800 and 2600, and launched the 1040STe in the U.S. ($699.95; to ship within the month). For Lynx Atari introduced 9 games due summer/fall 1990: Todd's Adventures in Slime World (Epyx; summer), Klax (title by Atari Games via Tengen; summer), Rampage (title by Bally via Midway; previously: Monster Demolition; fall), Xenophobe (title by Bally via Midway; fall), Paperboy (title by Atari Games via Tengen; fall), Zarlor Mercenary (Epyx; fall), 3D Barrage (later: Upshot; would ship as: Robo-Squash; fall), RoadBlasters (title by Atari Games via Tengen; fall), Rygar (title by Tecmo; fall). Further Lynx game titles announced for 1991 release included: NFL Super Bowl Football (would ship as: NFL Football), Checkered Flag, Tournament Cyberball 2072 (title by Atari Games via Tengen; would ship as: Tournament Cyberball), World Cup Soccer (would ship as: World Class Soccer), Warbirds, Vindicators (title by Atari Games via Tengen; never shipped), Ms. Pac-Man (title by Namco), Pinball Shuffle (would ship as: Pinball Jam), Scrapyard Dog, Turbo Sub, Blockout (title by LDW), Grid Runner (later: Hyperdrome; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames in 1999), APB (title by Atari Games via Tengen), Ninja Gaiden (title by Tecmo). For the Portfolio Atari introduced the RAMcard drive, transfer software for both IBM and Macintosh systems, and 3 new ROMcards: DOS Utilities (HPC-701), Finance Card (HPC-702), File Manager/Tutorial (HPC-704); File Manager/Tutorial would ship with new production Portfolio units. Atari introduced/again promised 15 game titles for the 7800 and/or 2600 due summer/fall 1990, including for the 7800: Ikari Warriors (summer), Fatal Run (summer), Planet Smashers (summer), Alien Brigade (summer), MotorPsycho (summer), BasketBrawl (summer), Mean 18 Ultimate Golf (summer), Mat Mania Challenge (summer), Electrocop (title by Epyx; conversion by ICC; summer; never shipped), Scrapyard Dog (summer), Klax (title by Atari Games via Tengen; fall; never shipped), Midnight Mutants (fall), Ninja Golf (fall); and for the 2600: Ikari Warriors (fall), Fatal Run (fall), MotoRodeo (fall), Xenophobe (fall), Klax (title by Atari Games via Tengen; winter 1991). For Atari Computer Corporation: Meade Ames-Klein was president, Bill Crouch was VP Sales, Ron Beltramo was VP marketing for entertainment. For Atari (corporate): Jim Fisher was VP of Marketing, Don Thomas was Portfolio marketing manager. (source, source; CN Jul/Aug90 p14-15, 16-17; source p129-131)

Separately, the Hartech U.S.A., Ltd. division of Hartech Limited of Hong Kong introduced several new models to its line of Atari calculators, brand licensed from Atari, including: CC193 "Specialty" Dual Power Tiltable Calculator, CC1200 12 Digit Lap Top Folding Calculator, DB2500 Direct Entry Data Bank Calculator, CC1010 Professional Desk-Top Auto-Recall Calculator

June 3-6: Atari did not exhibit at the Spring COMDEX in Atlanta GA, which coincided with the Summer CES.

June 4: Atari (Canada) Corp. introduced the TT to Canada at a downtown Toronto hotel (TT030/2 16MHz, 2MiB RAM, 40MB hard disk for C$3995). Geoffrey Earle was General Manager of Atari (Canada) Corp. (having replaced the departed Ian Kennedy).

June 4-14: The Soviet Silicon Summit for High-Tech Trade, held at Techmart in Santa Clara CA, brought together leading Soviet and U.S. high-technology business leaders to form joint ventures, license technologies, establish distribution channels, purchase products and provide design and development services. The Summit was co-sponsored by The East/West Report, Techmart, Global Development Corp. and Atari. (GDC PR 5/16; LATimes 6/14; source; source; CN Jul/Aug90 p18-19)

June 14: Atari "U.S." Corp. was no longer registered for operations in the State of Arizona. (Atari had discontinued its Consumer Products division and relinquished control of Hartech, including Hartech Limited in Hong Kong and Hartech U.S.A., Ltd. in Arizona.)

June 16-18: At the Summer NAMM at McCormick Place in Chicago Atari introduced the Hotz MIDI Translator II (HMT52H; $3000) featured the Hotz MIDI Translator and an Atari MIDI Education Center. Atari was the only computer company at the show.

June: Atari shipped the 1040STe in the U.S. ($699 with color monitor). (source; CN 5/90p10)

Month?: Graphic artist Susan McBride, previously Lead Animator and Game Designer at Atari Games Corporation, joined Atari where she sould be Director of Computer Game Graphics and a Game Designer.

Month?: In Spain, Ordenadores Atari S.A. general manager Claude Nahum departed the company.

Month?: In Italy, Atari Italia S.p.A. general manager Marco Guerra departed the company (to Vobis Microcomputer). (Marco Verones remained Direttore Commerciale (and now head of the subsidiary?).)

Month?: Alistair Bodin joined Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited in software development (reporting to software development manager Robert Katz).

Month?: For the 2600 Atari shipped: BMX AirMaster (TNT Games; previously released by TNT Games in 1989)

July 10: In the court case brought by Atari on August 26, 1988 against Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Whinney, and several individual associated with The Federated Group, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California judge James Ware entered an order dismissing the counterclaims of defendants Ernst & Whinney and Goldman Sachs & Co. against Atari regarding indemnity.

July: Elie Kenan, PDG of Atari France S.A., arrived in the U.S. to additionally assume the new role of General Manager of Atari North America (source, source), to encompass Atari Computer Corporation (domestic computers/entertainment sales/marketing) and Atari (Canada) Corp., with a future full merger of the two subsidiaries expected to follow. Meade Ames-Klein, previously Atari Computer Corporation president, would remain president of the Atari Computer Corporation consumer products game division, now reporting to Kenan (CN Sep90p12; source) along with Atari (Canada) Corp. general manager Geoffrey Earle. (Ames-Klein and Earle had both previously reported directly to Atari president/CEO Sam Tramiel.)

July: Akiva Dar, previously TeleVideo Systems Inc. EVP operations (source), would join Atari as VP semiconductor operations (procurement), replacing Elton Southard who departed the company. (source)

July 17: Atari ST-TT Applications Manager Charles Cherry departed the company. (Antonio Salerno remained Atari VP applications.)

July 20: Atari director, entertainment software John Skruch would additionally serve as Portfolio applications manager (TRF v3n9 9/90), replacing Portfolio Applications Manager Ken Jacobsen who had departed the company. (source) (Mike Pooler remained Portfolio Product Specialist; Antonio Salerno remained Atari VP applications.)

Summer: At Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, Paul Welch, previously sales and marketing manager, would remain sales manager. Peter Staddon, previously of Reckitt & Colman, joined the company as marketing manager (replacing Welch in the role).

August 4-5: World of Atari show (#5) sponsored by ST World magazine, Hyatt San Jose, California. (Atari suuplied equipment but did not have an official presence.)

August 9: Atari launched the Hotz MIDI Translator (retail commercial debut) at MIDI-Fest '90, held in the Ballroom of the Beverly Garland Hotel, North Hollywood CA. Versions would include: Translator (HMT138H), Translator Wing (HMT48W), Translator II (HMT52H). Speakers/performers included Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), Jimmy Hotz, Scott Gershin, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), and Greg Whelchel and Mark Ritter (Pointer Sisters). The event was organized by Atari and American Music, a large music store also in North Hollywood. Frank Foster was Atari director of specialty markets.

August 9: The name of Atari's Styra Semiconductor Corporation subsidiary was changed to Atari Microsystems Corporation, and the unit's operations would move from Carrollton (near Dallas) to a new, nearby location: 4115 Keller Springs Road, Suite 200, Dallas Texas. The unit's expanded role would include primary hardware design, product engineering, and document control responsibility for most of the Atari 68000 family and some of the Atari IBM-compatible family (replacing Atari (Japan) Corp. in Tokyo in the role), and Atari VP and Atari (Japan) Corp. VP and general manager Taro Tokai would depart the company. Tom Ulaszek, previously of Interphase Corp, would join Atari Microsystems as product engineering manager. (Ira Goldstein remained Atari Microsystems general manager; Richard Miller remained Atari VP technology.)

August: Flight Video, Inc. began offering the Sony Video Walkman and movies, the Atari Lynx and games, and the Nintendo Game Boy and games for rent at major airports in the U.S. (New York Magazine 11/19/1990)

August: In West Germany at Atari Computer GmbH, Dr. Hans Riedl was Head of Software Support. (source)

August 22: Atari Computer Corporation announced it had contracted six outside firms to develop a total of 13 new games for the Atari Lynx. U.S. Gold was to produce Leaderboard (never shipped), E-Motion (never shipped), Rotox (never shipped), GOLD (never shipped), and Italy 1990 (never shipped). APTI Game Systems had designed Battle Universe (never shipped) and Alternate Earth (never shipped). Telegames USA was to introduce The Fidelity Ultimate Chess Challenge and Krazy Ace Miniature Golf. Shadowsoft planned Bugs. Reflex Software planned Cards. Cyber Labs was to introduce two games. For Atari Computer Corp.: Larry Siegel was vice president of software development. (PR)

August 24-26: The (4th) Atari Messe in Düsseldorf, West Germany, organized by Atari Computer GmbH, was attended by over 43,000 people. Atari launched the TT030 (32MHz, 48MB HD, with TTC1434 14" color monitor and 4MiB RAM (7498 DM), 6MiB RAM (8198 DM) or 8MiB RAM (8798 DM)), introduced the SLM605 laser printer, introduced the TTM194 19" monochrome monitor for the TT, announced the PTC1426 VGA/TT 14" color monitor (to replace the TTC1434), and featured/promoted: Mega ST (1, 2, or 4 MiB RAM), ATW800, Portfolio, PC3, ABC 286/30, ABC₁₂286/60, ABC 386SX/40, 1040ST^FM, 1040STe, Stacy. ST/STe monitors: SM124, SC1224. (The pre-announced "TT/X" or "TTX" tower configuration of the TT was not shown.) Atari again showed/promised Atari-Net, and again featured ATX (Atari UNIX, based around UniSoft UNIX System V Release 3.2, running on the earlier 16MHz TT030), but announced that ATX would be redeveloped around a port of AT&T UNIX System V Release 4, and that the new version would run on the 32MHz TT030. (source; source; source; source; source; source; source)

August 28: In Texas, the name of Styra Semiconductor Corporation was registered changed to Atari Microsystems Corporation.

September 8: In Switzerland Atari introduced the TT030 (40MB hard drive and 4MiB, 6MiB, or 8MiB RAM) and announced three monitors for the TT: PTC1426 VGA/TT 14" color (to replace the TTC1434), PTM144 (VGA/TT 14" monochrome), TTM194 19" monochrome. (source)

September 12: In West Germany regarding Atari Computer GmbH, Helmut Joswig was registered to no longer be a managing director. (General manager Alwin Stumpf remained the sole registered managing director.)

September 14: For the Lynx Atari had announced the Auto Adapter (PAG3300 Auto Cigarette Lighter Adaptor) (source)

September 14: Frank Foster, Atari director of specialty markets and Atari Computer division MIDI market manager, had departed the company. (source)

September: Programmer/artist Joel Seider, previously of Banana Development, joined Atari (Entertainment division, Lombard IL).

September 15-16: Southern California Atari Computer Faire Version 4.0b was held at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, Glendale CA, attended by 2,500 people. (source) Atari VP software development Leonard Tramiel represented Atari at the show. (CN Oct90 p8; CN Nov90 p22)

September 17: The Atari Developer Support Group would be moved from Atari Corporate (reporting to VP applications Antonio Salerno, who would remain responsible for software marketing) to Atari Computer Corporation. Bill Rehbock joined Atari Computer Corporation as Manager of Technical Support (essentially replacing departed ST-TT Applications Manager Charles Cherry). (source) Mike Pooler, previously Portfolio Product Specialist, would remain with Atari (corporate) as a programmer.

September 27: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited had launched the 520STe Turbo Pack (£399; 520STe bundled with: FirST BASIC, Hyperpaint 2; Music Maker 2; S.T.O.S.: The Game Creator, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Dragons Breath, Blood Money, Anarchy, Outrun, Super Cycle, Impossible Mission II, Human Killing Machine), to be available starting October 1. (NewsBytes 9/27)

October 2: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited announced plans to ship at least 20 new software cartridges for the 7800 by the end of the year, including: Meltdown, MotorPsycho, Ikari Warriors, BasketBrawl, Mat Mania Challenge (NewsBytes 10/2)

October 6-7: AtariFest 1990 (6th annual), a production of WAACE, the Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts (WAACE), was held at the Sheraton Reston, Reston VA, with attendance/support from Atari, including user group coordinator Bob Brodie and systems software engineers Ken Badertscher, John Townsend, and Cary Gee. About 2,000 people attended. (CN Nov90 p14-18)

October 11: At Liquid Crystal Systems Technology Corporation, Sam Tramiel remained CEO; Garry Tramiel remained secretary and CFO. Address remained: 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnvale, CA. The Atari subsidiary was an "importer of personal computers and video game systems."

October 12: Elie Kenan, previously Atari France S.A. PDG and General Manager of Atari North America, had returned to France and would remain Atari France S.A. PDG. Greg Pratt, previously Atari Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer, had become Atari Computer Corporation general manager (source) (replacing Kenan in the role). (Atari president/CEO Sam Tramiel remained Atari Computer Corporation chairman/CEO.) August Liguori, previously Atari VP, would become Atari Vice President - Finance, and Chief Financial Officer (replacing Pratt in the role). Atari (Canada) Corp. general manager Geoffrey Earle would (again) report directly to Sam Tramiel (previously: to Kenan).

October: A criminal indictment for copyright infringement was handed down against Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. and two employees: Kuo Mao Hsing, chief of Atari Taiwan's computer center, and Chen Jian Chung, an employee in the quality control department. The indictment followed a court-ordered search of the company in April that turned up several suspected unauthorized copies of Ashton Tate's dBase III Plus software and Lotus Development Corp.'s Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet program.

October: For the Lynx Atari announced the Sun Visor (PAG3400 Sun Visor/Screen Guard), Carrying Case (Large) (PAG3350 Kit Case), and Carrying Case (Small) (PAG3375 Pouch), and also shipped: Xenophobe (source)

October: In the U.S., for STe computers Atari shipped the SC1435 14" color monitor (to replace the SC1224). (source; source)

October 19: Atari (corporate) VP marketing Jim Fisher had departed the company. (source) Don Thomas, previously Atari (corporate) Portfolio marketing manager (reporting to Fisher), would become computer marketing director, Atari Computer Corporation (essentially replacing the departed Fisher in the role). Also with Fisher's departure, Atari abandonded plans to publish Atari Explorer magazine in-house; future issues would now instead be published for Atari by Jainschigg Communications. (Spring 1990, published by Atari Explorer Publications, Corp., remained the most recent issue published.)

October 22: Dell Computer Corporation had announced its new European manufacturing facility, the former Atari plant in the Raheen Industrial Estate on Ennis Road, Limerick, Ireland. The sale was valued at $1.8 million by Atari. (source; source; Atari 10-K 1991) (The plant had been owned but unused by Atari since December 1984.)

October 23-29: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited "Atari computer whistle stop tour", where special displays were built into six carriages on a train which visited Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Birmingham International (during the autumn school holidays), attracted around 20,000 visitors.

Fall: Stephen Jungels, previously of Epyx, joined Atari as a technical support manager for the Lynx (Lynx development kit, replacing Epyx in the role). (Handy Release 1.5, 10 Dec 90) Jungels would report to Atari VP software development (operating systems/software technology) Leonard Tramiel. D. Scott Williamson, previously responsible for Lynx developer support at Atari, would remain with the company (Lombard IL location) as a Lynx programmer.

Fall: Under the ARC label, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released 9 Lives (by Frames) versions for ST, Amiga; Badlands Pete (by Frames) versions for ST, Amiga; Defender II for ST; Gettysburg (by Turcan) for ST, Amiga, PC.

November 1: In Germany, Normen B. Kowalewski joined Atari Computer GmbH as Developer Support Manager, replacing Harald Müller who departed the company. (source)

November 12-16: At COMDEX/Fall '90, which took place across several locations in Las Vegas, at the Atari booth at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, for Business Computing Atari introduced the Mega STe Business Computer ($1,799.95 with 2 MiB RAM + monochrome monitor (SM124); anticipated base configuration: "under $1200" for 2 MiB RAM and 50 MB internal HD), launched the TT030 Graphics Workstation in the U.S. (PR: "under 3,000" with 2MiB RAM and choice of 19" monochrome or 14" color monitor; anticipated base configuration: "around 3,000" with 2 MiB RAM and 50 MB internal HD), introduced the SLM605 laser printer ($1295.95), featured the Portfolio (now $299; previously $399), and also promoted the Mega 2. For Home Computing Atari featured the 1040STe Personal System ("less than $700"), promoted the 520ST^FM, and showed the Stacy. Monitors introduced, for ST/STe computers: SC1435 14" color ($399; to replace the SC1224); for the TT: PTC1426 VGA/TT 14" color monitor ($450; remaining TTC1434 units to be supplied temporarily) and TTM195 19" monochrome ($995; equivalent to the TTM194 units shown). The Mega STe and TT would both ship with new versions of Atari TOS, featuring a new Desktop; future operating system offerings for the TT were to include UNIX and X Window System. Atari also introduced FSMGDOS (QMS/Imagen fonts in addition to GEM bitmap fonts), due winter 1991 (never shipped from Atari; would be incorporated into some third-party software). (source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source; CN Dec90 p18-21)

November: For the Lynx Atari shipped: Paperboy, Robo-Squash (previously: Upshot; originally announced as: 3D Barrage) (source)

November 17: In Belgium, the new location for the local sales/marketing office of Atari (Benelux) B.V. was moved from Boomsesteenweg 28, Schelle to: Vosveld 17, Wijnegem (source)

November 22: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited cut the price for the Lynx (unchanged package with AC Adaptor, Comlynx Cable, and California Games) by £50 to £129-99. Peter Staddon was Atari UK's marketing manager. (NewsBytes)

November 23: For the Portfolio, Atari had announced PowerBASIC (HPC-705; Spectra Publishing; a compact version of PowerBASIC for PC, which was formerly Borland's TurboBASIC). Greg Pratt was general manager, Atari Computer. (source)

November 30: Atari announced the donation of at least $50,000 worth of Lynx kiosks (15 kiosks with four Lynx units each) and game cartridges (including Blue Lightning, Electrocop, Gauntlet: The Third Encounter and Todd's Adventures in Slime World) to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) in support of Operation Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia. For the Atari Computer Corporation consumer products game division: Meade Ames-Klein remained president and Ron Beltramo remained VP Marketing. (source)

December 1: In Germany, Atari Computer GmbH listed new prices for TT030 computer systems, 4, 6, or 8 MiB RAM, each with 48 MB internal hard drive and without monitor: TT030/4: DM 4.298; TT030/6: DM 4.798; TT030/8: DM 5.298. TT Color Monitor (PTC1426; replacment for the TTC1434): DM 998; TT 19" Monitor (TTM194): DM 2.198. (source; source)

December 6: Atari (corporate) VP applications (software marketing) Antonio Salerno departed the company. (source) At Atari Computer Corporation, Bill Rehbock, previously manager of technical support, would be promoted to director of technical services. Mike Fulton, previously of Neocept, would join the company in developer technical support (joining J. Patton in the role, with both reporting to Rehbock). (source)

December 12: Atari held a press conference in Munich where they introduced the Mega STe 4 (4 MiB RAM, 48 MB HD; DM 3.000 with SM124 monitor) to Germany, to ship in Germany in limited quantities shortly after Christmas. (source)

December: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Ikari Warriors (Imagineering), Planet Smashers (Datafast Computer Services), BasketBrawl (BlueSky), Mean 18 Ultimate Golf (BlueSky), Mat Mania Challenge (BlueSky), Ninja Golf (BlueSky) (source; 1990 sales rpt; AE Mr/Ap91 p15)

December: Atari shipped the TT030 in the U.S. (shipping as a U.S. FCC Class A device approved for commercial, industrial or business environment). (source) (While the TT030 would achieve Class B certification for the home consumer market later in 1991, such units would not ship until at least January 1993, if ever. (source))

December: Atari (Canada) Corp. cut the price for the 1040STe from C$999 to C$699. (NewsBytes)

December 31: Atari announced Hyperlist (HPC-713) for the Portfolio, to ship January 1991. (NewsBytes)

December/January: For the Lynx Atari shipped 5 additional games (increasing the total available to 16, including the California Games pack-in): RoadBlasters, Zarlor Mercenary, Ms. Pac-Man, Rampage, Rygar (source; source)

Atari sold 45,000 Lynx units in the UK in 1990. (The Guardian (London) June 20, 1991)

1991
January 1: Lawrence Siegel (Larry Siegel), previously Atari Computer Corporation vice president of software development (and head of the Atari Software Development studio at 330 N Eisenhower Ln, Lombard IL since its June 1988 inception), was promoted to president of the Atari Entertainment Division, replacing Meade Ames-Klein who had departed the company. (source; AdAge 1/21) Craig Erickson, previously Executive Producer of Software Development, was promoted to Entertainment Division VP software development (essentially replacing Siegel in the role; still reporting to Siegel).

January 1: James Grunke, previously keyboard tech/audio engineer with Brother Records (full time touring and studio support with the Beach Boys), joined Atari as (corporate) director of specialty markets and Atari Computer Corporation MIDI Marketing Director (replacement for the departed Frank Foster). (source) (source) (For Atari Computer Corporation: Don Thomas remained Computer Marketing Director; Greg Pratt remained general manager.)

January 4: Bill Crouch, Atari Computer Corporation sales vice president, departed the company. Atari Computer Corporation would proceed let go of all six of their full time regional sales representatives (including Mike Groh), moving to handle sales exclusively through national distributors. (source) (Greg Pratt remained general manager, Atari Computer Corporation.)

January 4: Atari Games Corporation transferred ownership of U.S. patent 4,445,114 to Atari Corporation.

January 10-13: At the Winter CES in Las Vegas Atari introduced the new "Lynx II" version of the Lynx, to be sold in two packages: the base system ($99.95), or a deluxe (previously the standard) package including AC Adaptor, Comlynx Cable, and California Games ($149.95). With 16 Lynx games released so far, Atari announced plans to release another 16 by June, including the 14 titles: World Class Soccer (previously: World Cup Soccer), Ninja Gaiden (title by Tecmo), Blockout (title by LDW), Xybots (title by Atari Games via Tengen), Shanghai (title by Mediagenic), Warbirds, NFL Football (previously: NFL Super Bowl Football), Vindicators (title by Atari Games via Tengen; never shipped), Grid Runner (later: Hyperdrome; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames in 1999), Turbo Sub, Checkered Flag, APB (title by Atari Games via Tengen), Scrapyard Dog, Tournament Cyberball 2072 (title by Atari Games via Tengen; would ship as: Tournament Cyberball). Also previewed for Lynx: Golf (later: Golf Challenge; would ship as: Awesome Golf), Pac-Land (title by Namco), S.T.U.N. Runner (title by Atari Games via Tengen), Prophecy 1 (by Imagitec Design; would ship as: Viking Child). (source pp162-165) Finally Atari introduced several Lynx accessories: Kit Case, Pouch, Sun Visor/Screen Guard (for the original Lynx version), Auto Cigarette Lighter Adaptor. (source) For the 7800 Atari featured the 6 latest releases (Ikari Warriors, Planet Smashers, BasketBrawl, Mean 18 Ultimate Golf, Mat Mania Challenge, Ninja Golf) and again promised MotorPsycho and Alien Brigade. (source; AE Mr/Ap91 p15) Privately, Atari previewed the "Panther" game console (scheduled to launch summer 1991; never introduced). Atari announced plans to move the headquarters of its Entertainment Division (including sales, marketing, advertising and public relations) to the company's facility near Chicago (330 N Eisenhower Ln, Lombard IL) by summer 1991. Entertainment Division product support, product testing, and warehousing were to remain at Atari headquarters in Sunnyvale CA. Lawrence Siegel was president of the division; Ron Beltramo remained VP marketing for the division. (Crain's Chicago Business 1/21; AdAge 1/21, 3/18)

For the Portfolio ($299.95) Atari featured RAM Memory Cards (32K, 64K, or 128K), the PC Card Drive, Smart Parallel Interface, RS-232 Serial Interface, DOS Utilities, and AC Adapter, and announced or again promised 14 software titles: PowerBASIC (HPC-705; Spectra Publishing), Stock Tracker (HPC-729; Lifestyle Software; never shipped), Turbo Translator from Organized Solutions, Personal Finance from Bytesize Software, Scientific Calculator (HPC-703; would ship, to Europe only, as: Science Card), Bridge Baron (HPC-724; Lifestyle Software; never shipped), Wine Companion (HPC-725; Lifestyle Software; never shipped), Astrologer (HPC-728; Lifestyle Software; never shipped), Chess (HPC-750), Hyperlist (HPC-713), Diet/Cholesterol Counter (HPC-726; Lifestyle Software; never shipped), U.S. Traveler's Guide from Organized Solutions (earlier: City Guide), European Traveler's Guide from Organized Solutions, Spell Checker/Dictionary/Thesaurus (HPC-709; would ship as: Instant Spell). Atari also featured the 1040STe in a package bundle for musicians (1040STe "MIDI Music" bundle: 1040STe, SC1224, Band-In-A-Box). Andy Marken was Atari Spokesperson.

January: New U.S. configurations/pricing for the Atari TT: TT030/2-50: $2399.95; TT030/4-50: $2799.95; TT030/8-80: $3499.95 (2, 4, or 8 MiB RAM; 50MB or 80MB HD). (source)

January: Atari had given Jimmy Hotz (Hotz Instruments Technology) the right to market the full-size Hotz MIDI Translator ("Hotz Box") for professional studio and tour use. Atari would retain marketing rights to any consumer version of the device. (STart Apr/May91p18)

January 18-21: At the NAMM Winter Market, Anaheim Convention Center, CA, Atari featured the 1040STe, Mega STe, and TT. Also, C-Lab and Atari announced a joint marketing and dealer support program that would provide sales and support assistance to nearly 50 MIDI dealers across the US. For Atari Computer, Greg Pratt was general manager and James Grunke was MIDI Product Manager. (source)

January 21: Atari (Canada) Corp., announced a workforce reduction of 40%, or 16 people, leaving a remaining workforce of "about 18 or 20 people" as part of "a realignment of the North American market." Geoffrey Earle remained general manager of Atari (Canada) Corp.

January 21: According to Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, there were now about 500,000 Atari computers in use in the UK, while UK Lynx sales were expected to soon pass the 75,000 mark. (Newsbytes)

Jan/Feb: Return of Atari Explorer magazine, published for Atari by Jainschigg Communications, 29-05 Broadway, Astoria NY. Publisher/Editor: John B. Jainschigg; Art director: Peter Kelley; Associate editor: Maura T. Fitzgerald; Music editor: Mihai Manoliu.

Winter: Under the ARC label, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited released Pyramax versions for ST, Amiga; Chronicles of Omega versions for ST, Amiga

Winter: Atari VP semiconductor operations (procurement) Akiva Dar departed the company. (Richard Miller remained Atari VP technology, responsible for worldwide R&D, product development, and product engineering.)

February 1: At Atari France S.A., Daniel Hammaoui, previously directeur commercial, and head of the subsidiary's Atari Grand Public (AGP) division, was promoted to DG, replacing Elie Kenan who departed the company. (source; source) Sam Mamane, head of the Atari Business Computer (ABC) division, also departed the company. Jean Richen, previously director of communications, would become director of marketing (essentially replacing Hammaoui in the role).

February 6: Atari Entertainment division VP marketing Ron Beltramo had departed the company. (ChicagoTribune 2/6)

February 12: In the court case brought by Atari on August 26, 1988 against Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Whinney, and several individual associated with The Federated Group, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California judge James Ware ruled that defendants Wilfred Schwartz, Keith Powell, Merrill Lyons, Michael A. Pastore, Hyman Hershow and Marc Laulhere were not entitled to indemnity from Atari as counterclaimed.

February 15: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited reduced the price for the Lynx to £99 (original "Lynx I" version, new console-only package, replacing the previous £129 package with AC Adaptor, Comlynx Cable, and California Games). The newly-announced "Lynx II" version of the Lynx was expected to arrive in the UK later in the year. Peter Walker was Atari spokesman. (NewsBytes; source) Peter Staddon was marketing manager. (Marketing 3/14/91)

February?: Atari shipped the Lynx in France (original "Lynx I" version, new console-only package as also launching in the UK). (source)

February: Atari Computer Corporation price list: 1040STe $599.95; Mega STe $1699.95 (2MiB RAM / 50MB HD), $1849.95 (4MiB RAM / 50MB HD); TT030/2-50 $2399.95; TT030/4-50 $2799.95; TT030/8-80 $3799.95; Megafile 30 $599.95; Megafile 44 $899.95 w/cart.; Megafile 60 $799.95; SLM605 Laser $1295.95 (source) (The Mega STe had not yet shipped in the U.S.)

February: Don Mandell, previously with Wang, joined Atari Computer Corporation as vp sales (replacing the recently departed Bill Crouch), and Mike Groh, previously an Atari sales representative, joined Atari Computer Corporation as national sales manager (reporting to Mandell).

March 5: Atari had approximately 1,260 employees worldwide including 150 in engineering and product development, 310 in marketing, sales and distribution, 570 in manufacturing and production, and 230 in general administration and management. 590 were employed at Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (10-K for 1990)

March 12: Atari announced the introduction of Micro Hedge, by Naiditch Consulting, for the Atari Portfolio. Greg Pratt remained general manager, Atari Computer. (PR)

March 13-20: At CeBIT '91 in Hanover, Germany, Atari launched the Mega STe (1, 2 or 4 MiB RAM, 50 or 80 MB hard drive), previewed the ST Notebook computer (due summer 1991; would ship as: STBook), previewed the ST Pad tablet computer (later: STylus; due 1992; never shipped), introduced the CDAR505 CD-ROM drive (never shipped), launched the SC1435 ST/STe 14" color monitor, launched the PTC1426 VGA/TT 14" color monitor, introduced the PTM144 VGA/TT 14" monochrome monitor, introduced the Developers Package V (incorporating Atari System V (ASV; previously: Atari UNIX or ATX; based around a UniSoft port of AT&T UNIX System V, Release 4; to be offered in network or stand alone versions for TT030 with 8 MiB RAM, 200MB hard disk and TTM194 monitor; due by the end of April; would ship as: Atari System V Developer's Kit), and again showed/promised FSMGDOS. The TT030, Mega STe, and Portfolio were each prominently featured. Alwin Stumpf, previously general manager of Atari Computer GmbH in Germany, Atari (Benelux) B.V. in the Netherlands, and Atari (Schweiz) AG in Switzerland, had just become Atari EVP - Sales & Marketing (international), replacing SVP International Division David Harris who had departed the company. (Stumpf would remain managing director for Atari Computer GmbH, Atari (Benelux) B.V., and Atari (Schweiz) AG.) (source; source; source; source; source; source)

March: For the 2600 Atari shipped: Ikari Warriors (Imagineering), MotoRodeo (DeFrisco Entertainment for Axlon), Sentinel (Imagineering), Xenophobe (source; source)

March: Leonard Tramiel, previously Atari VP Software Development (operating systems/software technology), became VP Operating System Software. (Craig Suko remained software technology manager, still reporting to Leonard Tramiel.) Atari software engineer/Lynx programmer Jerome Strach would assume responsibility for Lynx development kit software management, replacing Lynx technical support manager Stephen Jungels who departed the company.

March: Atari VP administration, secretary and assistant treasurer Garry Tramiel departed the company. Steven Kawalick, previously Atari VP, treasurer and assistant secretary, became Vice President - Legal and Secretary, assuming responsibility for the in-house legal department and replacing Garry Tramiel as secretary. Adron Beene remained corporate counsel, now reporting to Kawalick; Schreiber & McBride (general counsel to Atari) partner Ellen McBride would no longer also serve as Atari assistant secretary. August Liguori, remaining Atari Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer, additionally became Atari Treasurer (replacing Kawalick in the role). Greg Pratt, previously Atari Computer Corporation general manager, would be promoted to the title of Atari Computer Corporation president. (see AE Mar/Apr91 and Sum91) (Atari president/CEO Sam Tramiel remained Atari Computer Corporation chairman/CEO.)

March: Peter Donoso, previously of Amethyst Studios, joined Atari Explorer magazine where he would be managing editor (reporting to publisher/editor John Jainschigg).

March 19: Atari announced they would be releasing more than 36 new games for the Lynx in 1991, including: Tournament Cyberball (title by Atari Games via Tengen; previously: Tournament Cyberall 2072), Pac-Land, Turbo Sub, NFL Football, World Class Soccer, Golf (later: Golf Challenge; would ship as: Awesome Golf), Hockey (by Alpine Studios). Larry Siegel was Atari Entertainment division President.

Winter/Spring?: For the 7800 Atari shipped: MotorPsycho (BlueSky), Alien Brigade (Ken Grant) (source + 1990 sales rpt)

April 1: Dana A. Plotkin, previously of Citicorp, joined the Atari Entertainment Division (Lombard IL division headquarters) as VP of marketing. (source) (replacement for the departed Ron Beltramo)

April 2: The State of Israel Ministry of Trade and Industry announced a preliminary agreement with Atari Corporation where the government and Atari would combine to invest $150 million (Atari: $97.5 million; government: $52.5 million) to build a new Atari manufacturing plant to replace Atari's factory in Taiwan, and where the government and private investors (to be recruited by Atari) would combine to invest another $75 million (government: $60 million; investors: $15 million) on new factories that would produce parts for Atari and other local computer and electronics companies. (part of Atari's strategy: duy-free exports from Israel to the European Economic Community) (MidEast Markets 5/13/91; Journal of Commerce 4/3/91)

April 3: In the court case brought by Atari on August 26, 1988 against Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Whinney, and several individual associated with The Federated Group, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California judge James Ware decided in favor of the defendants regarding Atari's claims of fraud, but decided in favor of Atari regarding the defendants' counterclaims concerning indemnity. All parties would appeal the judgements to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

April 9-11: The new Atari Professional Systems Group, orgainzed by Atari (VP sales Don Mandell) and including Linotype/Hell Company, Goldleaf Publishing, Inc., ISD Marketing, Inc., and Soft-Logik Publishing Corp., featured "Direct To Press" publishing solutions utilizing the Atari TT030 at CEPS '91: The Midwest Forum for Desktop, Multimedia and Visual Communication, held at McCormick Place West, Chicago.

April 15: Samuel W.L. Chin was Atari VP manufacturing, operations. (1991 proxy)

April 16-17: Atari showed the Portfolio at the Lap & Palmtop Expo, New York City.

April 23: Date of final hardware designs for the Atari "Panther" (never introduced). (source) Tracy Hall was Atari design engineer.

April 26-28: Atari launched the Mega STe in the UK at The MIDI Music Show at the Novotel In Hammersmith, London. The 1MiB model was to cost £816.63 and the 2MiB model £1169.12. Systems were now expected to ship in the UK in July. (Atari ST User #65 p7)

May 14: Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation. Six were elected to the board of directors: Jack Tramiel (Chairman), Sam Tramiel, Samuel W.L. Chin, Leonard I. Schreiber, Gregory A. Pratt, Michael Rosenberg. The TT, STe, Lynx, and Portfolio were on display. Atari announced that the ST Pad would ship as: STylus (never shipped). Atari also confirmed that the XE computers remained in production, and that the 2600 and 7800 were still being sold as well.

May: Atari software developer (UNIX group) Alan Char departed the company (to Non Standard Logics). (Henry Plummer remained Atari UNIX group manager.)

May?: In the UK Atari released the 1040STe Family Curriculum pack (£399 for 1040STe with 5 software modules: Play & Learn, Junior School, GCSE Revision, Business Computing, Creative Computing) (Atari ST User #63 p6) and would also release the 520STe Discovery Xtra pack (original version: £299 for 520STe with FirST BASIC, NEOChrome, ST Tour, Dragons Breath, Anarchy, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Super Cycle). (source listed here as "Discovery 2")

May: In Italy, Atari Italia S.p.A. director, software strategy Roberto Cazzaro departed the company (to Microsoft).

May 15: The Atari Mega STe achieved U.S. FCC approval as a Class B device for home consumer use, clearing the way for Atari to release the machine in the U.S. (source)

May 16: In a confidential internal memo, Atari president Sam Tramiel confirmed that the "Panther" project was cancelled. (source)

June 1-4: During the Summer CES in Chicago, from a suite at the nearby Barclay hotel, Atari privately previewed the Jaguar, and for the Lynx Atari privately previewed: Grid Runner (later: Hyperdrome), NFL Football, Rolling Thunder (title by Namco via Atari Games via Tengen; never shipped), Toki (title by TAD via Fabtek), Golf Challenge (previously: Golf; would ship as: Awesome Golf), Baseball (would ship as: Baseball Heroes), Hard Drivin' (title by Atari Games via Tengen), S.T.U.N. Runner, Basketbrawl, Hockey, Cabal (title by TAD via Fabtek; never shipped), Checkered Flag, Ishido: The Way of Stones (title by Publishing International), Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop, World Class Soccer, Turbo Sub, Scrapyard Dog, Tournament Cyberball, Xybots, Lynx Casino, Viking Child (by Imagitec Design; previously: Prophecy 1). (source)

June 6: Atari announced that it had signed a contract for the sale of its property in Taiwan. The facility would be sold for $60 million, and closing was scheduled for late June 1991. The sale was contingent upon certain conditions of closing being met. Atari further commented that assembly operations had been relocated in a move to increase efficiency and reduce costs. (PR) August J. Liguori remained Atari Vice President - Finance, Treasurer, and CFO.)

June 26: Atari announced the closing of the sale of its land and building located in Taipei, Taiwan for $60 million (realizing a gain of $40.9 million). (PR) Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. (ATMC) would be shut down. (Atari would maintain a separate office in Taiwan for liaison with local subcontractors.) Samuel W.L. Chin, previously Atari VP manufacturing operations, would remain an Atari VP. Robert Shen, previously general manager, ATMC, became Atari VP for manufacturing operations (replacing Chin in the role).

Month?: Hans-Martin Kröber joined Atari as a software engineer (UNIX group). (source) (Henry Plummer remained Atari UNIX group manager.)

Month?: In Dallas, engineer Jerry Smith joined Atari Microsystems Corporation as a product engineer. (Tom Ulaszek remained product engineering manager, and Ira Goldstein remained general manager.)

Month?: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited Atari Research Centre, Cambridge (ARCC) engineer Martyn Gilbert departed the company (source), and the ARCC was shut down.

Month?: Art Pruzynski joined Atari, where he would be Atari System V UNIX marketing manager. (see: ASV Release Notes)

July: Atari released the XControl 1.0 Extensible Control Panel (ECP) for ST/MEGA/STe/TT.

July: For the Lynx Atari released Blockout (California Dreams/Karen Development Group) and Ninja Gaiden.

July 15: At Liquid Crystal Systems Technology Corporation, Sam Tramiel remained CEO, Steven M. Kawalick was secretary, and Gregory A. Pratt was CFO. Address remained: 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnvale, CA. The Atari subsidiary was an "importer of personal computers and video game systems."

July 22: Atari announced that the Software Publisher's Association had named the Atari Lynx game Warbirds to its listing of top-selling video games. The first Lynx title to make the list, Warbirds debuted at number five for the month of May. There were now 20 games available for the Lynx, and Atari planned to introduce at least 20 more by the end of the year. Dana Plotkin was Atari Entertainment division VP marketing.

July 25: Atari had canceled plans to replace its former manufacturing plant in Taiwan with a new factory to be built in Israel. (NYT) Atari would now rely entirely on subcontractors for its manufacturing. Robert Shen, previously Atari VP for manufacturing operations, would remain Atari VP operations.

Summer?: For the 7800 Atari shipped: Fatal Run (Sculptured Software), Barnyard Blaster (Datafast Computer Services), MeltDown, Scrapyard Dog (BlueSky), Midnight Mutants (Radioactive Software; title by SNK via Pixcel Software). These would be the last domestic releases by Atari for the 7800.

Summer: Atari System V (ASV) UNIX group member Ralph Rodriguez was promoted to manager of the group, replacing Henry Plummer who departed the company (to SCO). (source)

Summer: In the UK Atari increased the price for the 520STe Discovery Xtra pack from £299 by £30 to £329. (source)

August 2: Bob Brodie, previously Atari Computer Corporation manager of user group services, had been promoted to Director of Communications, Atari Computer Corporation. (source)

August 5-6: The Professional Systems Group division of Atari Computer Corporation kicked-off the AEGIS Strategic Partner (dealer) program with the AEGIS Symposium, held at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Sunnyvale, California and at the Cogswell Polytechnical College in Cupertino, California. Over 50 computer and music sales, third-party software, and Atari representative personnel were expected to attend. (source; CN 9/91p8-9)

August: Atari director of legal and governmental affairs Richard Bernhardt departed the company (and would establish Bernhardt Communications).

August?: Atari published a new Lynx product catalog that announced or again promised from Atari for the Lynx: APB, Hard Drivin', Turbo Sub, Scrapyard Dog, Awesome Golf (previously: Golf; then: Golf Challenge), Checkered Flag, Pac-Land, S.T.U.N. Runner, Lynx Casino, Ishido: The Way of Stones, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Viking Child (Oct 91), Tournament Cyberball (Dec 91), Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop (Jan 92), Hyperdrome (Jan 92; previously: Grid Runner; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames in 1999), Crystal Mines II (title by Color Dreams; Jan 92), Xybots (Jan 92), Basketbrawl (Feb 92), World Class Soccer (Feb 92), NFL Football, Hockey (Feb 92), Toki (Feb 92), Baseball Heroes (previously: Baseball; Feb 92), Pit-Fighter (Mar 92; title by Atari Games via Tengen), Hydra (Mar 92; title by Atari Games via Tengen), Cabal (Apr 92), Rolling Thunder (May 92; never shipped), 720° (Jun 92; title by Atari Games via Tengen; never shipped), Vindicators (Jun 92; never shipped), GeoDuel (Jun 92; never shipped), Rai-Den (Jun 92; later: Raiden; title by Seibu Kaihatsu via Fabtek; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames in 1997)

August 19: Atari announced U.S. availability of the new compact version of its Atari Lynx ("Lynx II") - stand-alone unit for $99.99 (source), or $149.99 Deluxe System Package (with 6 AA batteries, Comlynx Cable, Pouch, and California Games). (source; source) Atari said there were currently more than 20 games available for Lynx (including Blockout, Rampage, Roadblasters and Ninja Gaiden), and that by the end of 1991 more than 45 Lynx games would be available, including original titles Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Turbo Sub, and Scrapyard Dog; arcade hits Hard Drivin', Pac-Land and APB; and others including Checkered Flag, Viking Child, and Ishido: The Way of Stones. At the Atari Entertainment division, Dana Plotkin was VP marketing, Lawrence Siegel was president.

August 23-25: The (5th) Atari Messe in Düsseldorf, Germany, organized by Atari Computer GmbH, was attended by over 30,000 people. At the show Atari introduced the ABC386-II computer(s) (ABC386SXII and ABC386DXII), introduced the STBook (earlier: ST Notebook; 1MiB RAM version (about 4000 marks) or 4 MiB RAM version; due October 1991), again previewed the STylus (previously: ST Pad), and again featured/promised FSMGDOS. Also featured/promoted: the 1040ST^FM, 1040STe, Portfolio, Mega STe, TT030 (40MB or 80 MB HD), SLM605 printer, SM124, SC1224, and SC1435 monitors for the ST/STe, and TTM194/TTM195 19" monochrome monitors for the TT. Again featured/again promised: Atari System V Developer's Kit (ASV; previously: Developers Package V; based around a UniSoft port of AT&T UNIX System V, Release 4), and introduced an associated 16 MiB RAM upgrade for the TT. (source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source; source)

August 26: For the Portfolio, Atari announced the release of PowerBASIC (HPC-705). Don Thomas was Computer Marketing Director, Atari Computer Corporation. (source)

August (late month): For the Lynx Atari shipped Pac-Land and APB (Quicksilver Software).

September 14-15: Southern California Atari Computer Faire, Version 5 ("The Glendale Show") was held at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, Glendale CA.

September: New production Atari TT030 and Mega STe computer systems would now include 1.44 MB 3.5" floppy disk drives rather than the 720K drives in units manufactured to date. (source)

September: Goldleaf Publishing shipped WordFlair II, incorporating Atari's FSMGDOS.

September 19: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited marketing manager Peter Staddon had departed the company (to RML). Through the end of the year, the marketing manager position responsibilities would be absorbed by Lynx product manager Matthew Brown and ST line product manager Darryl Still. (source; source) The ARC publishing brand (ST/Amiga/PC) would be discontinued.

October 1-4: The Atari Professional Systems Group (APSG) exhibited its direct-to-press solutions, utilizing the Atari TT030, at the Seybold Computer Publishing Conference & expositions in San Jose, CA.

October 12-13: WAACE AtariFest '91 (7th annual), presented by the Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts, was held at the Sheraton-Reston Hotel, Reston VA. Bob Brodie, John Townsend and Ken Badertscher represented Atari at the show. (CN 11/91 p7,9)

October: For the Lynx Atari shipped Checkered Flag and Ishido: The Way of Stones (Michael Feinberg and Software Resources International).

October 21-25: At the Fall COMDEX '91 in Las Vegas at the Sands Convention Center, Atari launched the Atari System V Developer's Kit (ASV; based around a UniSoft port of AT&T UNIX System V, Release 4, to ship imminently), introduced the STBook to the U.S. market ($1,995; due winter 1992; never shipped in the U.S.), and introduced three new Intel 386-based computers, each also due winter 1992: the ABC386SXII ("Atari SX"; $1,195) and ABC386DXII ("Atari DX"; $1,995) desktop PC-compatibles and the ABCN386SX laptop PC-compatible ("Atari N386"; $2,895), all three machines to ship with MS-DOS 5.0 and Microsoft Windows 3.0. Introduced to the U.S. market: CDAR505 CD-ROM drive (never shipped), 520STe Discovery Xtra pack, 1040STe Family Curriculum pack. Also featured: TT030, Mega STe, Portfolio. (The STylus was not shown.) Again featured: FSMGDOS. 3rd party developers included Atari's Professional Systems Group. (source; source; CN 12/91 p10-16; source; source)

October/November: Atari shipped (worldwide) the Atari System V Developer's Kit for TT030 with either 8 MiB or 20 MiB RAM and 19" monochrome monitor. Kit provided with optional 16 MiB RAM upgrade (for TT with 4 MiB RAM) and either a 212MB or 340MB SCSI hard drive, the larger drive supplied with optional TOS partition. Software: Atari System V, Release 4 (ASV; based around UniSoft UNIX System V, Release 4; X Window System 11, Release 4 (MIT); OSF/Motif Window Manager (Open Software Foundation); WISh2 Graphic Shell (Non Standard Logics); Wx2 Editor (Non Standard Logics); XFaceMaker 2 Interactive Interface Builder (Non Standard Logics); GNU Development Tools (Free Software Foundation) including: GNU C Compiler, GNU C++ Compiler, GNU Symbolic Debugger, GNU Bison Preprocessor, GNU Diff, Revision Control System; Atari Library routines. (source; source; source)

Fall: In France Atari shipped the new "Lynx II" version of the Lynx, shipped the Mega STe, and shipped the 7800 Péritel version (thick rainbow design, with Asteroids built-in, boxed with two Joypad controllers (CX78); RGB video, PAL composite video, and audio output all via a 13-pin DIN socket; shipped with console-to-SCART cable). (source) (source) (source)

Fall: The Atari 520STe Discovery Xtra pack was modified to include: 520STe, Final Fight, Sim City, 9 Lives, Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters, NEOchrome, FirST BASIC, ST Tour) (source listed here as "Discovery B")

Fall: In the UK/Europe for the ST/STe Atari shipped the 14" monochrome SM144 monitor (source; source) (to replace the SM125/SM124 in the UK/Europe).

Fall: In Germany at Atari Computer GmbH, sales manager (retailers) Walter Kreisheimer departed the company (to ASI). (source) Klaus-Peter Kuschke remained head of sales.

Fall: New production 2600 PAL B units (made in China for Atari) shipped with one (Australia) or two (Germany/Europe) CX78 Joypad controllers and the (PAL-only) Atari 32 in 1 cartridge.

November 11: Atari announced a holiday value price of $129.99 for the Lynx Video Game Deluxe System Package (previously: $149.99). (source)

November 12: Atari Microsystems Corporation ("Atari Dallas") employees included: Roy Stedman (software engineer), Scott Matson (ASIC product engineer), John Chertude, Ira Goldstein (general manager). (source)

November: For the Lynx Atari shipped: Viking Child (Imagitec design), Hard Drivin' (NuFX), S.T.U.N. Runner (title by Atari Games via Tengen), Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Awesome Golf (HandMade Software)

November 20: Atari programmer (Lynx; Atari Lombard IL location) D. Scott Williamson had departed the company (and established Solid Corp.).

November 23-24: Chicago Computerfest by Atari, held at the Ramada Hotal O'Hare, Rosemont IL, was the first show sponsored by Atari in the U.S., locally hosted by the Lake County Atari Computer Enthusiasts (LCACE). Atari featured the TT030 and Atari System V (ASV) UNIX, Mega STe, 1040STe (and the 1040STe Family Curriculum pack), 520STe (and the 520STe Discovery Xtra pack), Portfolio, and Lynx. The show also drew 8-bit Atari computer developers and users, as Atari also brought substantially all of their remaining inventory of 8-bit computer products for clearance sale. Bob Schuricht was Atari Entertainment division national sales director. Greg Pratt was Atari Computer Corporation president. (source; source; CN 10/91 p1 ad)

November/December?: In Europe Atari shipped the ABC386SXII and ABC386DXII computers and PCM144 VGA monochrome monitor (to replace the PCM145), and also offered the PCC1425 VGA color monitor. (source; source)

December 6: Media report that the Atari STBook 1 MiB RAM version would not ship in the U.S.; all STBook units were to ship in the U.S. with 4 MiB RAM. (source)

November/December: Atari shipped the 520STe Discovery Xtra pack and 1040STe Family Curriculum pack in the U.S. (source)

December: Atari VP Corporate Controller Simon Westbrook had departed the company (source) (to Creative Labs, Inc.) (August J. Liguori remained Atari Vice President - Finance, Treasurer, and CFO.)

December: Atari Senior Staff Engineer (technical product manager - Portfolio, STBook) Jim Tittsler departed the company (to Chinon Industries KK).

December 23: Atari Microsystems Corporation ("Atari Dallas") was merged into Atari Computer Corporation. Operations at Atari Dallas would continue as before; Ira Goldstein remained Atari Dallas general manager.

December 23: TW Investment Corp. was formed by Time Warner. The 14,200,000 shares of Common Stock of Atari Corporation held by Warner Communications Investors, Inc. would be contributed to TW Investment Corp.

December 31: Atari had approximately 507 employees worldwide including 146 in engineering and product development, 190 in marketing, sales and distribution, 31 in manufacturing and production, and 140 in general administration and management. (10-K for 1991)

"As of Christmas 1991, Atari [U.S.] decided to discontinue the 2600 and 7800 line of videogame systems. The entire inventory had been sold to Consolidated Stores Corp./Odd Lots, a department store chain in Ohio. According to Dana Plotkin, VP marketing, Atari would continue to provide customer service, but they were not building or producing any new software or hardware for the 2600 or 7800." (source)

"..as of Christmas 1991, Atari [U.S.] decided to discontinue the XEGS, 2600, and 7800 systems." --Tim Duarte, AtariUser magazine, July 1992, p. 22.

1992
January 8: Atari announced the departure of director and Atari Computer Corporation president Greg Pratt. (According to Atari, Pratt was leaving for a position with Creative Labs, Inc.; in fact, Pratt would join Intelligent Electronics, Inc. as EVP in March 1992.). Domestic computer sales/marketing and technical services (developer support) would be shifted from the domestic Atari Computer Corporation subsidiary to Atari (corporate). Don Mandell, previously Atari Computer Corporation VP sales, would remain Atari VP for U.S. sales. Don Thomas, previously computer marketing director, Atari Computer Corporation, would be Atari Portfolio Marketing Manager. James Grunke, previously Atari director of specialty markets and Atari Computer Corporation MIDI Product Manager, would remain Corporate Director, International Music Markets. Art Morgan remained responsible for Technical Marketing; Bill Rehbock remained Director of Technical Services. Domestic computer marketing (excluding Portfolio) would be handled by Rehbock, Grunke, and Morgan, under the direction of Atari president and CEO Sam Tramiel. (source) Atari Computer Corporation would now consist entirely of the "Atari Dallas" research and development operation, and "Atari Dallas" general manager Ira Goldstein would remain head of the unit, now as general manager of Atari Computer Corporation. (Atari president/CEO Sam Tramiel remained Atari Computer Corporation chairman/CEO.) (Pratt's position on the Atari board of directors would not be replaced, six directors would remain: Jack Tramiel (chariman), Sam Tramiel, Samuel W. L. Chin, Michael Rosenberg, Leonard I. Schreiber)

January 9-12: During the Winter CES in Las Vegas, at a nearby location, Atari announced it had sold its one millionth Lynx game cartridge, announced that the Lynx now had a library of 40 games with 75 titles to be available by year's end, and introduced the Lynx Sun Visor/Screen Guard (new "Lynx II" version) and Lynx Battery Pack. Lynx titles promised/announced, for January: Super Skweek (by Loriciel); February: Toki, Crystal Mines II; March: Hyperdrome, Lynx Casino; April: Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop, Pit-Fighter, Baseball Heroes, Basketbrawl, NFL Football, Hockey, World Class Soccer. Other Lynx titles shown: Daemonsgate (never shipped), Kung Food, Dino Quest (would ship as: Dinolympics; would be licensed to Imagitec Design/Mirage and released by Gametek as The Humans, initially for PC and Amiga), Battlezone 2000, Hydra, Steel Talons (title by Atari Games via Tengen). Also announced for Lynx: Lemmings (title by Psygnosis in conjunction with Amethyst Enterprises). Also again promised for Lynx: Vindicators (never shipped). At the Atari Entertainment division: Lawrence Siegel was president, Dana Alan Plotkin was VP marketing, Robert J. Schuricht was national sales director, Carig Erickson was VP software development. (one source; source; source; Packet see p16) Also at the show: Accolade announced/introduced Asteroids and Missile Command, titles by Atari, for Game Boy. (source)

January 15: Atari announced it was making all of the released TOS development information available to the general public. Bill Rehbock remained Atari Director of Technical Services.

January: Bernard Stolar (Bernie Stolar), previously founder/ceo of Amitron, Inc. and Amitron Distribution, Inc., and before that co-founder of Pacific Novelty Manufacturing, Incorporated, joined Atari as director of business development (source; source) (market planning for the Falcon computer project).

January: Atari systems software engineer Derek Mui departed the company (to Go Corporation).

January: Richard Munday joined Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited as financial controller (in part replacing the departed VP Corporate Controller Simon Westbrook). (source)

January 17-19: Atari launched their new Music Division, essentially operational since January 1991, headed by director of international music markets James Grunke, at the NAMM Winter Market in Anaheim, CA. Atari introduced the 14" monochrome SM147 monitor for the ST/STe (to replace the SM124 in the U.S.), and showed/again promised the STBook at the show (due March 1992). Additionally, Atari announced that it's products would be serviced by the 250 strong General Electric Service Center network thoughout the United States and Canada. Also from Atari: Don Mandell was VP sales, Mike Groh was national sales manager, Mel Stevens was design director, Bob Brodie was director of communications, Bill Rehbock was director of technical services, Art Morgan was head of technical and marketing training, Richard Miller was VP technology (including engineering). (Atari Explorer Mr/Ap92 p17-21) Ted Maciejewski remained Atari's National Service Manager. (source; source; WeLoveAtariV2p246' source)

January 22: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, the changes of September 28, 1989 were formally registered. (source)

January 23: Debenture holders Nathaniel Grey, Bernard Heerey, and Harlene and Jay Pine filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California against The Federated Group, Inc., the subsidiary of Atari Corporation. (JTS 10-Q 11/2/97) (source #2)

Winter: In the U.S. Atari shipped the ABC386SXII computer and the SM147 monitor for the ST/STe. (CN Apr92 p22-24)

Winter: Atari shipped a high density floppy disk drive upgrade kit for the Mega STe, and released TOS 2.06 for all ST/STe computers. (CN Apr92 p22-24, 29)

Winter: At Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, Darryl Still, previously ST line product manager, became marketing manager, replacing the departed Peter Staddon, and also assuming the role of Lynx product manager Matthew Brown who departed the company.

February 3: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, Charles R. Knuchel, previously a prokurist, became a director. Managing director Alwin Stumpf departed the company. Gerhard Feldmeier remained a director, and Hans Walter Schmid remained a prokurist. The changed address for Atari (Schweiz) AG (executed as of February 1989) was registered as: Bahnhofstrasse 28, CH-5400 Baden (source)

February 11: The lawsuit filed by Atari against Nintendo on January 31, 1989 went to trial in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Atari Corporation lawyer William Jaeger faced Nintendo lawyer John Kirby. A key issue in the lawsuit was Nintendo's former requirement that private developers of video games agree not to make the games available to other computer console systems for two years in exchange for a license to use the Nintendo system

February 11: Dana Plotkin remained Atari Entertainment division VP marketing. (source)

February: Atari shipped the STBook (1 MiB RAM configuration) in the UK and Europe. (source; WeLoveAtariV2p245; )

February: Li Kramer, previously an account supervisor at Gams Chicago / Giraffa, joined Atari.

February?: Accolade released Asteroids, developed by the Code Monkeys, title by Atari, for Game Boy.

February 26: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, the changes executed on February 3, 1992 were officially registered. (source)

February 28: In Australia, Tony Serra was the new general manager of Atari Computers Pty. Ltd., replacing Nigel Shepherd who had departed the company, and Scott MacDonald had joined the company as controller (in part replacing the departed VP Corporate Controller Simon Westbrook). (source)

February 28: Alwin Stumpf, previously Atari EVP - Sales & Marketing (international), had returned to Germany to resume his previous role there as Atari Computer GmbH general manager (and would remain Atari Computer GmbH managing director). Also at Atari Computer GmbH, Lutz Lange had joined the company as sales manager, replacing Klaus-Peter Kuschke who had departed the company, and Dieter Preuß had joined the company as finance manager (in part replacing the departed VP Corporate Controller Simon Westbrook). In the U.S. at Atari headquarters in Sunnyvale CA, Gary Weiner had joined the company as vice-president of marketing and sales (international; replacing Stumpf in the role), and Maxie R Smith had joined the company as vice-president of quality assurance. (source)

Winter/Spring?: For the 2600, in PAL versions for Europe only, Atari shipped: Fatal Run (Sculptured Software), Klax (DeFrisco Entertainment for Axlon). These would be the last releases by Atari for the 2600.

Winter/Spring?: For the 7800, in a PAL version for Europe only, Atari shipped Sentinel (Imagineering). This would be the last release by Atari for the 7800.

Winter/Spring?: New production Atari 2600 PAL B units for Australia and Arabic countries units would have 128 games built in on ROM and shipped with a single CX78 Joypad controller. (In European territories, the 2600 would continue to ship with the 32 in 1 cartridge and two Joypads.) New production 7800 units for Australia would ship with the Atari 7800 32 in 1 cartridge (2600 32 in 1 cartridge relabeled by Atari for the 7800).

March 1: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited managing director Robert Gleadow additionally became General Manager of Atari (Benelux) B.V. (replacing Atari Computer GmbH general manager Alwin Stumpf in the role), and Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited sales manager Paul Welch additionally became Sales Manager of Atari (Benelux) B.V., replacing Ruud van Nispen who departed the company. (source) (Pieter Norp remained Atari (Benelux) B.V. controller and prokurist.)

March 9: Atari announced it was extending the $129.99 value package price for the Lynx Deluxe System Package (in place since 11/11/91). (source)

March 9: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, prokurist Hans Walter Schmid departed the company. (source)

March 11-18: At CeBIT '92 in Hanover, Germany, Atari introduced MultiTOS (for all ST/TT computers), featured Atari System V (ASV) UNIX for the TT, featured the 1040STe, Mega STe, TT030, and STBook, as well as the ABC N386SX notebook. (Privately, Atari previewed the FX-1 computer ("Sparrow" project; would ship as: Falcon030). Bill Rehbock was Atari US' Development manager (director of applications software) and Dr. Hans Diedl was the head of marketing for Atari Computer GmbH (ST Review #4 p151; source; source; CN Apr92 p19)

March 13: Atari had announced the release of Hyperlist (HPC-713) for the Portfolio. Don Thomas was Portfolio Marketing Manager, Don Mandell was VP sales. (source)

March?: Accolade released Missile Command, developed by the Code Monkeys, title by Atari, for Game Boy.

March 23: The Atari Entertainment division announced its expansion to a new headquarters (domestic sales/marketing/service): 500 Waters Edge Ste 310, Lombard IL (source) Entertainment Division software development would continue at: 330 N Eisenhower Ln, Lombard IL

March 23: Debenture holder Lana Grey joined the involuntary bankruptcy petition against The Federated Group, Inc., of January 23, 1992. (source)

March 26: The Surpreme Court of California declined to hear Atari's appeal of the August 17, 1989 ruling by the Orange County Superior Court in Keith L. Powell, Respondent v. Atari Corporation et al., Appellants.

March 28: GLENCON 2, the Glendale Atari Developers' Conference, sponsored by the HACKS user group, was held at the Glendale (CA) Public Library's main branch. Atari was represented by Bob Brodie at the event. (source)

March 31: In Texas, the name of Atari Microsystems ("Atari Dallas") was registed changed to Atari Computer Corporation.

April 4-5: ACE '92, the Atari Canadian Exposition, was held at the Skyline Hotel, Toronto, hosted by Atari (Canada) Corp. and the Toronto Atari Federation (TAF). Atari introduced MultiTOS to North Amerca, featured Atari System V (ASV) UNIX for the TT, and featured the 1040STe, Mega STe, TT030, STBook, Portfolio, and Lynx. Previewed: ST Sutra (a Microsoft Works like integrated software package with Database, Spreadsheet, Word Processor and Communications functions; would ship as: AtariWorks). Bill Rehbock was Atari director of applications software (previously: Director of Technical Services); Geoff Earle was general manager of Atari Canada. (Atari Explorer My/Jn 92 p6, 10-12; source) Privately, Atari previewed what was probably the FX-1 computer prototype ("Sparrow" project; would ship as: Falcon030). (CN 5/92 p13, 15, 20, 32)

April 6-9: Atari did not attend COMDEX/Spring '92 (& Windows World Chicago '92) in Chicago.

April 24: Atari VP marketing and sales (international) Gary Weiner had departed the company. (source) Don Mandell, previously Atari VP for U.S. sales, would become VP for U.S. Sales and Marketing.

April 21: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited announced a Lynx national high score competition, to start on May 9, in 60 independent high street computer stores, and run for one week a month over a five month period, featuring 10 Lynx games. The 12 top scorers from the semi-finals would go forward to a grand final at the Spitfire Go-Karting Track in Feltham, Middlesex, on October 10. The competition was co-sponsored by Game Zone magazine and the National Association of Specialist Computer Retailers (NASCR). Darryl Still was Atari's marketing manager for Lynx games consoles (NewsBytes)

April 24: Atari and Rovac Industries announced Atari Explorer Online, to be published beginning May 1. The print Atari Explorer would continue under publisher/edit John Jainschigg as well.

Spring: At the Atari Entertainment division: Dana Plotkin, previously VP marketing, was promoted to EVP (sales and marketing) and COO. (source for title) Bob Schuricht, previously national sales director, was promoted to VP sales. (source for title)

May 1: The jury handed down a partial verdict in the Atari-Nintendo monopolization case. It said Nintendo had monopoly power in the United States, which is not by itself illegal, but it had not been proved that Nintendo intended to monopolize the market illegally. The jury deadlocked on two other questions: whether the exclusive-rights contracts were an unreasonable restraint of trade and whether Nintendo had illegally maintained a monopoly through exclusive or restrictive practices.

May 1: Premier Edition of Atari Explorer Online. Publisher: John Jainschigg; Editor: Ron Kovacs

May 14: Relying on the May 1 jury verdict, United States District Judge Fern Smith dismissed the Atari Corporation's suit that accused the Nintendo Company of illegally monopolizing the United States market for home video games. Atari said an appeal would be considered.

May 26: At Atari Computer Corporation ("Atari Dallas"): Sam Tramiel was CEO, Steven M. Kawalick was secretary, August J. Liguori was CFO. Type of business: "Research, development, sales & marketing of video games, computers and software"

May 28: Atari released FontGDOS (GEM bitmap fonts, with added support for Bézier curves). Bill Rehbock remained Director of Application Software, Atari Corporation.

May 29-June 1: During the Summer CES in Chicago, from a suite in a nearby downtown Chicago hotel, Atari promoted the Lynx. Atari promised to ship 24 Lynx titles during the upcoming summer season, followed by an additional crop of 15 titles for fall and winter release. Promised for June release: Batman Returns, Basketbrawl, Lynx Casino, Rampart (title by Atari Games via Tengen). July-August: Hockey, Hydra, Hyperdrome, Kung Food, Pinball Jam (previously: Pinball Shuffle; including Elvira and the Party Monsters (title by Midway Manufacturing Co.) and Police Force (title by Williams Electronics Games), Pit-Fighter, Rolling Thunder, Shadow of the Beast (title by Psygnosis), Steel Talons, World Class Soccer. September: Baseball Heroes, Battlezone 2000, Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop, Daemonsgate, Dinolympics (previously: Dino Quest), Dracula - The Undead, Jimmy Connors Bad Boy Tennis (title by UBI Soft; would ship as: Jimmy Connors' Tennis), Malibu Beach Volleyball (would ship as: Malibu Bikini Volleyball), NFL Football, Switchblade II (title by Gremlin Graphics). October-December: 720°, Blood & Guts Hockey (NuFX; never shipped), Cabal, Eye of the Beholder (title by TSR Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI); port by NuFX; never shipped), Full Court Press (never shipped), Heavyweight Contender (never shipped), Lemmings, Ninja Gaiden III (title by Tecmo), Ninja Nerd (Lore Games; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames in 1997 as: Fat Bobby), Power Factor (title by Hand Made Software), Rai-Den, Road Riot 4WD (title by Atari Games via Tengen; never shipped), Space War (never shipped), Super Asteroids/Super Missile Command, Vindicators (never shipped). (source) Also at the show, Gametek introduced The Humans by Atari via Imagitec Design/Mirage for PC, Amiga, SNES, Game Boy (source p10) and also Genesis and Game Gear; Accolade introduced Missile Command, Asteroids, and Centipede, titles by Atari, for Game Boy. (source p10, 16).

May 30: Don Mandell, Atari Vice President of U.S. Sales and Marketing, had departed the company. James Grunke, Director of International Music Markets, would be handling Don Mandell's duties on an interim basis. (Mike Groh remained national sales manager.) Atari technical marketing manager (personal computing hardware and software) Art Morgan was named head of Atari [national field] service, assuming the role from Ted Maciejewski who had departed the company. (source)

June 2: At the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation, Atari featured the TT030 and the Lynx. Atari VP Samuel W.L. Chin did not stand for re-election and would depart the company (to EFA Corporation). Newly elected: August Liguori (Vice President - Finance, Treasurer, and CFO). Reelected: Jack Tramiel (Chairman), Sam Tramiel, Leonard Schreiber, Michael Rosenberg. (1991 Annual Report) The Atari PC line was no longer offered in the U.S. market. XE computers remained in production, and the 2600 and 7800 were still being sold as well. The Falcon030 (earlier: "Sparrow" or FX-1) and Falcon040 computers were due October and November 1992. The Jaguar was due spring 1993. Atari employed 507 people worldwide. (CN Jul/Aug92 p10-12)

June 10: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard the appeals from all parties of the judgements by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on April 3, 1991. Atari was appealing the decision in favor of the defendants regarding fraud, and Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Whinney, and several individual associated with The Federated Group were appealing the decisions in favor of Atari regarding indemnity. (970 F.2d 641)

June 14: John Skruch was Atari Director of Entertainment Software Development; Bob Brodie was Atari director of communications; Don Thomas was Atari Portfolio Marketing Manager. (source)

June?: Atari's Tel-Aviv, Israel research and development engineering operation, Atari Computers Ltd. (Falcon030/Falcon040 product development), was shut down, with unit responsibilities consolidated to Atari Computer Corporation ("Atari Dallas"); departures would include Gideon Amir and project manager Eran Dariel. Atari still planned to release the Falcon030 as scheduled, but would drop plans to release the Falcon040 computer by the end of the year as pre-announced. (CN 11/92 p9)

June: For the Lynx Atari shipped: Rampart, Hockey (Alpine Studios), Hydra (NuFX), Lynx Casino

June 16: For the Lynx Atari shipped Batman Returns (coinciding with the June 16 opening of the Warner Bros. movie), and Atari announced the special offer of a free Batman Returns game with Lynx purchase. (source)

June 20-21: NAMM Summer Session was held in Atlantic City NJ. Atari did not attend.

June 27: Atari held a (Falcon030) developer conference in London with over 120 developers in attendance. (source)

June 27-July 5 : At the Taste of Chicago, Atari operated a video-game contest under a tent in Grant Park on Congress Parkway east of Columbus Drive. Gamers could play any of four new video games, Batman Returns (just released), Hydra (just released), Pinball Jam (preview), or NFL Football (preview), on 125 Lynx game systems; each day's highest-scoring players won Lynx systems, and other Lynx systems were given away at random; Atari gave away more than 45 Lynxs. Larry Siegel remained president of the Atari Entertainment division. (source; source)

June 29: TW Investment Corp. was merged with and into Warner Communications Inc. (WCI). As a result, the 14,200,000 shares of Atari Corporation Common Stock (24.6%) were now held by WCI.

Summer?: In the UK/Europe for the ST/STe Atari shipped the 14" monochrome SM146 monitor (to replace the SM144). (source; source)

Month?: Engineer David M. Schwartz, previously of Tandy Electronics Research Labs (where he headed the software team developing the first erasable CD ROM), joined Atari as a senior staff engineer and head of the Jaguar CD-ROM peripheral project. (source)

Month?: Atari Software Configuration Management Technician Diane Guerrero departed the company (to ADAC Labs).

Month?: In Mexico, Atari de México, S.A. de C.V. was operationally shut down, and director comercial Fernando Cabrera departed the company.

Month?: Atari France S.A. directeur technique Eric Cabedoce departed the company.

July 3: Atari withdrew its appeal of the May 1 verdict favoring Nintendo in the federal antitrust/monopolization case. The withdrawal accompanied a decision by Nintendo not to proceed with its attempt to recover certain legal costs from Atari.

July 3: Atari systems software engineer Allan Pratt had departed the company (to Taligent). (source)

July 3: At Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, Alistair Bodin had been promoted to software development manager, replacing Robert Katz who departed the company (to Electronic Arts). Gary Lawman remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited technical manager. (source)

July 8: Don Thomas remained Atari Portfolio Marketing Manager. (open letter to PC LAPTOP Computers Magazine) (source)

July 8: In Germany, Atari Computer GmbH general manager Alwin Stumpf, marketing and software support manager Hans Riedl, and developer support manager Normen B. Kowalewski held a press conference to discuss the upcoming Falcon030. (source)

July 13: In the UK, Virtual Light Company Limited (Jeff Minter, Ian Bennett) was established.

July: Atari Entertainment division senior programmer Joel Seider departed the company (to Black Pearl Software).

July: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited offered a "Batman Returns" Lynx bundle (£99-99) for four weeks, coinciding with the UK opening of the Warner Bros. movie. Darryl Still was Atari's marketing spokesman. (NewsBytes)

July 17: Bernie Stolar, previously Atari director of business development, had become Atari EVP sales & marketing-games and president of the Atari Entertainment Division, replacing Larry Siegel who had departed the company. (Siegel would establish Black Pearl Software, Inc. on 10/22/1992.) Li Kramer would be promoted to Entertainment Division marketing director, replacing Dana Plotkin who had departed the company. (source; source) Entertainment Division headquarters were to shift from 500 Waters Edge Ste 310, Lombard IL to Atari's Sunnyvale CA headquarters, while division VP software development Craig Erickson and VP sales Bob Schuricht were to remain based at the 330 N Eisenhower Ln, Lombard IL location.

July 17: Ron Smith, previously of Wang, had joined Atari as EVP sales & marketing-computers and general manager for U.S. operations (source; source for title; AtariUser 12/92p6 for title) (essentially replacing departed Atari Computer Corporation president Greg Pratt) Don Thomas, previously Atari Portfolio marketing manager, would become marketing services director. (source)

July 20: Mike Groh remained Atari national sales manager (attending the Blue Ridge AtariFest, Asheville, NC).

July 22: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the orders by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on April 3, 1991 that granted summary judgment for the former The Federated Group executives and associates and against Atari. The court found that Atari knew prior to the merger that the assets of The Federated Group were overvalued. The court reversed the order denying the individual defendants' counterclaim for indemnification from Atari, and remanded to the District Court for a determination of those attorneys' fees and costs. (970 F.2d 641)

Jul/Aug: Final issue of Atari Explorer magazine published for Atari by Jainschigg Communications (John B. Jainschigg, Astoria NY).

August 1: Atari had suspended development of Atari System V (ASV), and most of the Atari UNIX group had departed the company. Art Pruzynski, previously ASV marketing manager, had become Atari U.S. sales director, replacing National Sales Manager Mike Groh who had departed the company. (source; source for title; source)

August 12: Atari announced the Falcon030 computer on GEnie, due to ship in the U.S. in October 1992. The new computer was to be supplied with MultiTOS, which was also to be available as an upgrade for the TT030. Art Pruzynski was Atari's U.S. sales director. (CN 9/92 p8-11,14)

August 12: Atari announced that Atari Explorer magazine would now be published in-house by Atari, by editor Mike W. Lindsay and advertising/art director Darren R. Meer, replacing Jainschigg Communications (John B. Jainschigg, Astoria NY) in the role. Ron Kovacs remained editor of Atari Explorer Online. Atari design director Mel Stevens would be Atari Explorer Publishing Advisor.

August 14: Atari announced at a private dealer meeting that the Mega STe was being taken out of production.

August: Virgin Games released (in Europe only) Arcade Smash Hits (Centipede, Missile Command, Breakout), titles by Atari, for Sega Master System.

August 21-23: Atari introduced the Falcon030 personal multimedia computer at the (6th) Atari Messe in Düsseldorf, Germany, organized by Atari Computer GmbH, which again attracted around 30,000 visitors. The Falcon030, to be supplied with TOS 4.0 (shown) and MultiTOS (not shown), was to ship in 3 configurations: 1 MiB RAM with no hard drive (1398,- DM), 4 MiB RAM with internal 65 MB hard drive (2298,- DM), or 14 MiB RAM with 65 MB hard drive (3298,- DM), to ship in September/October. Also introduced: Power Pad controller (for Jaguar/Falcon030/1040STe/520STe). Also featured: the STBook, and Atari System V (ASV) UNIX running on the TT030. For the Lynx Atari featured Batman Returns and promised for fall release: Pinball Jam, Shadow of the Beast, Steel Talons, World Class Soccer, Kung Food, and Basketbrawl, and also again promised 720° (Feb 93). Atari corporate representatives included Sam Tramiel, Leonard Tramiel, Richard Miller, Bill Rehbock, Ron Smith; Atari Computer GmbH representatives included Alwin Stumpf, Normen Kowalewski. (source; source; source; CN 10/92 p16-21; source) (This would be the last Atari Messe held.)

September 1: In the Netherlands, to operate at the same location as Atari (Benelux) B.V. (Hagenweg 7B, Vianen), Atari established Atari Corp.-Dutch Branch (for consolidation of European warehousing and distribution operations).

September 6-8: Atari introduced the Falcon030 to the UK at the European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) held at the Business Design Centre, London, to be available in two configurations: 1 MiB RAM system (no hard drive) for £499, or 4MiB system with 65MB hard disk for £899. Alister Boden was Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited technical manager. Atari also introduced the 1040STe Family Curriculum II pack (£299.99 for 1040STe with Play and Learn, Junior School, GCSE Revision, and Family Computing (Hyperpaint, ANI ST, Music Maker II, FirST BASIC, First Word) software, and the revised 520STe Discovery Xtra pack (£249.99 for 520STe, Final Fight, Sim City, 9 Lives, Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters, NEOchrome, FirST BASIC, ST Tour, First Word, ANI ST). (Atari ST User #81 p9)

September 12-13: Atari demonstrated the Falcon030 at the Southern California Atari Computer Faire (6th), Glendale Civic Auditorium, Glendale CA (suburban Los Angeles). Two models of the Falcon030 were to be offered in the U.S. at the end of October: A $799 model with 1 MiB RAM with no hard drive, or $1,399 model with 4 MiB RAM and internal 65MB 2.5-inch IDE hard disk drive. Bill Rehbock was Atari director of applications software. (NewsBytes)

September 14: Bernie Stolar remained Atari's VP of sales and marketing. (Crain's Chicago Business 9/14/92) (full title: EVP sales & marketing-games and Entertainment Division president)

September 14-20: Atari introduced the Falcon030 to the Netherlands and featured the Lynx at Firato '92 held at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, Amsterdam. (source)

September: Former Atari Entertainment division VP sales Bob Schuricht joined Camerica. (source)

September: In Germany, Atari Computer GmbH sales manager (2600/7800/Lynx) Thomas Huber departed the company.

September 21: Li Kramer was Atari (Entertainment Division) marketing director (AdWeek 9/21/92) (reporting to division president Bernie Stolar).

September 23: Atari introduced the Falcon030 personal integrated media computer to the U.S. ($799 with 1 MiB RAM and MultiTOS; due in November) at a meeting of the Boston Computer Society in Boston, MA. MutiTOS was to include Font Scaling Manager (FSM) (would ship as: SpeedoGDOS), and was also to be available as an upgrade for the Atari TT030. Ron Smith remained Atari general manager for U.S. operations, and Bill Rehbock remained director of applications software. (CN 10/92 p10-11)

September 23: Motorola's High Performance Microprocessor Division announced that its 68030 provided the processing power for the Atari Falcon030. The Atari Falcon030 also incorporated Motorola's 56001 digital signal processor (DSP).

September 23: Craig W. Harding remained general counsel of Sierra On-Line (source).

September 29: Atari said it was closing research and development facilities in Dallas and Chicago and consolidating operations to company headquarters in Sunnyvale CA. One of the facilities being closed was the Atari Dallas research and development and production engineering facility (Atari Computer Corporation), with about 40 employees, and Atari Dallas general manager Ira Goldstein departed the company (and would establish a consultancy, Product Engineering Services); Jerry Smith would be promoted to Atari product engineering manager, replacing Tom Ulaszek who would depart the company (to Intelect). Other departures included ASIC engineer Yaron Hochman (to Convex). The other facility being closed was the Entertainment Division Lombard IL location with about 20 employees; VP sales Bob Schuricht departed the company (to Camerica) (source); VP software development Craig Erickson departed the company (to Sega of America). (John Skruch, director of entertainment software development, would now report directly to division president Bernie Stolar.) Atari also said it was curtailing operations at an office in Taiwan that served as a liaison with subcontractors; Ten or 12 people would be laid off there, and some of the office's operations would be taken over by Sunnyvale and the company's Hong Kong office. Atari had about 500 employees worldwide. (AP) (CN 11/92 p9)

October 1: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, the change executed on March 9, 1992 was officially registered. (source)

October 10-11: WAACE AtariFest '92, Sheraton-Reston Hotel, Reston VA. (Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts) Bill Rehbock represented Atari at the show.

October 14: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, directors Charles R. Knuchel and Gerhard Feldmeier departed the company. Sam Tramiel remained chairman. (source)

October: Laurence M. Scott, Jr. (Laury Scott), previously President and Managing Director of Radofin Electronics, joined Atari as director of operations, replacing Robert Shen who departed the company (to Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (ISSI)).

October: In Germany, Atari Computer GmbH moved from Frankfurter Straße 89-91, D-6096 Raunheim to their new 95,000 ft² site, a new office and warehouse facility also near Frankfurt at: Am Kronberger Hang 2, 6231 Schwalbach/Ts. Alwin Stumpf remained Atari Computer GmbH general manager.

October 20: Atari EVP sales & marketing-games and Entertainment Division president Bernie Stolar had departed the company (to Archer Communications Inc.) (ArcherComm PR) (Li Kramer remained Entertainment Division marketing director, now reporting directly to Atari president/CEO Sam Tramiel.)

October 21: In Germany, Atari Computer GmbH general manager Alwin Stumpf departed the company (to Commodore), as did sales manager Lutz Lange. Atari Computer GmbH management would now consist of: Head of Materials Management and Acting Sales Manager Irma Obersteiner, Controller Dieter Preuß, Head of Product Marketing and Software Support Hans Riedl. (source; source; source)

October 30: Atari Games Corporation transferred ownership of 6 U.S. patents to Atari Corporation: 3,793,483, 4,054,919, 4,045,789, 4,016,362, 4,116,444, 4,102,532

Fall: James Hampton, previously QA lead at Maxis, joined Atari as a (Jaguar game) producer. (source)

Fall: Gametek released The Humans by Atari via Imagitec Design/Mirage for PC and for Amiga, and also announced future versions for SNES, Game Boy, Genesis, and Game Gear (never shipped for Game Gear). (Would ship from Atari as Dinolympics for Lynx)

November 5: The Atari Falcon030 was granted U.S. FCC Class B approval for the home consumer market. (CN 2/93 p9)

November 6: Garry Tramiel had re-joined Atari as general manager for North American operations (U.S. and Canada), replacing Ron Smith (Atari EVP sales & marketing-computers and general manager for U.S. operations) who had departed the company, and also replacing Geoffrey Earle (Atari (Canada) Corp. general manager) who would also depart the company (to Moore Business Data Management Division). (first report; source; source; CN 2/93 p11) Don Thomas, previously Atari director of marketing services, would become director of computer marketing, replacing Art Morgan who departed the company (to Axil Computer). (source; see also AtariExplorer No/De92 p17) Greg F. LaBrec would join the company as director of creative services (replacing Thomas in the role). Atari (Canada) Corp. would now operate as a sales office of Atari North America, with unit head Randy Tjin reporting directly to Garry Tramiel.

November: Software engineers Eric R. Smith (Eric Smith) (systems) and Todd Powers joined Atari. Systems software engineer Ken Badertscher departed the compay (to Taligent). (source)

November: Atari launched the Falcon030 in Germany. (source; source) Configurations: 1MiB RAM/no hard drive, 4MiB RAM/no hard drive, 4MiB RAM/65MB internal hard drive, 4MiB RAM/120MB internal hard drive, 14MiB RAM/65MB hard drive, 14MiB RAM/120MB hard drive.

November 16-20: At the fall COMDEX in Las Vegas, at the Sands Convention Center, Atari launched the Falcon030 (1 MiB RAM: $799; 4MiB RAM: $999; 4MiB RAM and 65MB HD: $1299), and featured the TT030 and Portfolio (and stated that the Mega STe remained available with future production dependent on demand). For the TT/Falcon Atari again promised MultiTOS, and for the ST/TT/Falcon again promised Concierge (previously: ST Sutra; integrated word processor, database, and spreadsheet; would ship as: AtariWorks) and introduced SpeedoGDOS (Bitstream Speedo fonts in addition to GEM bitmap fonts). Atari/Kodak promoted Kodak Photo CD running on both TT030/Falcon030. Atari also introduced the Power Pad controller (for Jaguar/Falcon030/1040STe/520STe; due February 1993) to the U.S., and showed/previewed four games commissioned by Atari for the Falcon030: Raiden (Imagitec Design; title by Seibu Kaihatsu via Fabtek; never shipped), Steel Talons (Koveos; title by Atari Games via Tengen; would be shipped by 16/32 Systems), Cyber Assault (Koveos; never shipped), Llamazap (Llamasoft; would be shipped by 16/32 Systems). (CN Dec92/Jan93 p10-13; source)

November 18: For the Lynx Atari announced it had shipped (August through November) Shadow of the Beast (Digital Developments), Steel Talons (NuFX), Kung Food (Lore Games), Pinball Jam and Switchblade II (Gremlin Graphics), and the four sports games NFL Football, Baseball Heroes (DeFrisco Entertainment), World Class Soccer and Basketbrawl.

Nov/Dec: First issue of Atari Explorer published internally at Atari headquarters (Sunnyvale CA) since the Winter 1986 issue. Publishing Advisor: Mel Stevens; Editor: Mike W. Lindsay; Art Director: Darren R. Meer; Music Editor: Peter Donoso

December 6: First issue of Atari Explorer Online published under new editor Travis Guy (replacing the departed Ron Kovacs). Don Thomas was Atari director of computer marketing. (source)

December 7: Atari Entertainment Division marketing director Li Kramer had departed the company. (AdWeek 12/7/92) Former Entertainment Division operations (Lynx sales/marketing) would be consolidated into Atari North American operations. (Garry Tramiel remained Atari general manager for North American operations.)

December 10: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had granted Atari's petition for a rehearing of the decision of July 22, 1992 (970 F.2d 641), and issued a replacement judgment for clarification purposes. The Court noted that their ruling for the former The Federated Group executives and associates and against Atari did not establish that Atari waived its right to collect damages for their breach of contract defense or to assert their breach as a defense to enforcement of the Agreement. (981 F.2d 1025)

December: Atari senior design engineer (STBook, STylus, Falcon030) Tracy Hall departed the company.

December: For the Lynx Atari shipped Dracula - The Undead (HandMade Software) and Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop (Knight Technologies).

December?: Accolade released Centipede, developed by the Code Monkeys, title by Atari, for Game Boy.

1993
January 7-10: During the Winter CES in Las Vegas, from a nearby hotel suite showroom, Atari promoted the Lynx. (source) For the Lynx, through a new catalog, Atari announced or again promised: Rolling Thunder, Pit-Fighter, Rai-Den, Lemmings, Jimmy Connors' Tennis (title by UBI Soft; previously: Jimmy Connors Bad Boy Tennis), Malibu Beach Volleyball (would ship as: Malibu Bikini Volleyball), Dinolympics, Ninja Gaiden III, Eye of the Beholder, Road Riot 4WD, Gordo 106 (title by Tenth Planet), Power Factor, Relief Pitcher (title by Atari Games via Tengen; never shipped). At the CES show itself, Gametek promoted The Humans for Genesis and for Sega CD. (source)

January 8: Atari announced that MultiTOS would run on all Atari ST/TT/Falcon computers (not just the Falcon030/TT030 as previously announced), and announced that Concierge would now be released as AtariWorks. The Falcon030 was promised to arrive in the U.S. in quantity in March, and it was expected to ship with 8 software applications: Audio Fun Machine, Falcon D2D, System Audio Manager, ProCalc, Talking Clock, CalAppt, Breakout, LandMines. Randy Tjin remained Atari's sales representative in Canada. (CN Feb93 p8)

January: All Atari TT030 computers shipped in the U.S. to date were FCC Class A devices approved for commercial, industrial or business environment. (source)

January: Atari U.S. sales director Art Pruzynski departed the company. (source) (Garry Tramiel remained Atari general manager for North American operations.) (source)

January 15-18: Atari featured/again promised the Falcon030 at the NAMM International Music Market show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. The Falcon030 was due in the U.S. in 6-8 weeks. Atari's James Grunke (Corporate Director, International Music Markets) was selected to be one of the five directors for the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA). Also attending for Atari: Bill Rehbock, Garry Tramiel, Mel Stevens. (CN 3/93 p14-17; source) (This would be Atari's last exhibit at NAMM.)

January 29: Atari confirmed that the Falcon030/4-65 (4 MiB RAM / 65MB hard drive) would ship in the U.S. with the 8 applications as announced on January 8, 1993, plus SpeedoGDOS with 14 Bitstream Speedo fonts, AtariWorks, and MultiTOS. Falcons without HD's would ship with the same software except FalconD2D, SpeedoGDOS, and AtariWorks; they would be available separately. (source)

Jan/Feb: Final issue of Atari Explorer magazine (published in-house by Atari). Publishing Advisor: Mel Stevens; Editorial Director: James Grunke; Editor: Mike W. Lindsay; Art/Layout Director: Darren R. Meer; Managing Editor: Peter Donoso

February?: Atari shipped the Power Pad controller (for Jaguar/Falcon030/1040STe/520STe).

March 5: Atari announced that the Falcon030 was now due in the U.S. in late March to early April, and announced that AtariWorks with SpeedoGDOS and 14 Bitstream fonts was to retail for $129. (source)

March 9: Garry Tramiel was Atari general manager for the U.S. (source) (and also Canada)

March 10: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited announced that the Falcon030 had shipped in the UK, available in three configurations: 1 MiB RAM system for £599; 4 MiB system for £799, or 4 MiB system with 65MB hard disk for £999. Darryl Still was head of Atari's marketing department. (NewsBytes)

March: Atari systems software engineer John Townsend departed to the company (to Taligent). (source) (Leonard Tramiel remained Atari VP operating system software.)

March?: In Switzerland, Atari (Schweiz) AG was operationally shut down, and all 9 employees departed the company. 3 of the 9 would join Binova AG, which would be the new Atari importer in Swlitzerland. (TOS 4/93)

March: At Atari (Benelux) B.V. headquarters (Hagenweg 7B, Vianen), Atari had established the Atari European Distribution Center (aka Atari European Center; aka Atari Corp.-Dutch Branch), a centralized warehousing and distribution operation for all of Europe (taking fuller economic advantage of the nearby port of Rotterdam). (source) In addition to Atari (Benelux) B.V., Atari was maintaining "satellite sales offices" in Germany (Atari Computer GmbH), France (Atari France S.A.), the UK (Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited) and Italy (Atari Italia S.p.A.) for conducting sales activities throughout Europe. Other European subsidiaries had been operationally shut down. Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited sales manager Paul Welch was now additionally Atari's International Distributor Manager.

March 24: Atari had approximately 270 employees worldwide, including 78 in engineering and product development, 77 in marketing, sales and distribution, 27 in purchasing and material control, and 88 in general administration and management. Atari would complete its restructuring during 1993 and expected to reduce the number of employees in all categories. (10-K for 1992)

March 24-30: At CeBIT '93 in Hanover, Germany, Atari primarily featured the Falcon030, and also exhibited the TT030, Portfolio and Lynx. For the Falcon030/TT030 Atari introduced/featured: AtariWorks (word processor, database, spreadsheet), SpeedoGDOS, and MultiTOS, and also introduced/showed games commissioned by Atari for the Falcon030 including: The Humans (Imagitec Design; would be shipped by 16/32 Systems as: Evolution: Dino Dudes), Llamazap, Road Riot 4WD (Koveos; title by Atari Games via Tengen; would be shipped by 16/32 Systems), Raiden, Space Junk (Imagitec Design; never shipped). Atari's plans called for continued marketing in Germany for the Falcon030, Lynx, and (later in the year) Jaguar. (CN 5/93 p10-13)

March 31: Craig W. Harding remained general counsel of Sierra On-Line (source).

April 3: "Atari U.S. president [actually: general manager for North American operations] Garry Tramiel was wrapping up the final touches on his marketing plans for the Atari Lynx before the marketing of the Atari Falcon030 takes center stage." (AEO 4/3/1993)

April 8: As of early April, Atari had shipped about 5,000 Falcon030 computers to Germany, and sold 1,800 to date. (CN 5/92 p13)

April: Gabriel S. Baum, previously of InfoTechnology (and earlier of Thorn-EMI, and then Mattel Electronics) had joined Atari as VP for entertainment software. (source) (Reports to Baum would include director of entertainment software John Skruch.)

May 7: For ST/TT/Falcon, COMPO Software had announced the release of the Speedo Starter Kit, including SpeedoGDOS by Atari, printer drivers, and 20 outline fonts. (source)

May 7: For ST/TT/Falcon, Oregon Research announced TruePaint, optionally supplied with SpeedoGDOS by Atari, and also announced the availability of SpeedoGDOS for customers of TruePaint without SpeedoGDOS. (source)

May 10: Atari announced the appointment of ION Finland Oy as its official full products distributor in Finland. In addition, SLO Viestinta (Engineering Division) would supply the Falcon030 to the specialist professional audio and video market. Paul Welch was Atari's International Distributor Manager. (source)

May 15: Final issue of Atari Explorer Online published by Atari. Atari would shut down their Atari Explorer operations. Atari Explorer editor Mike Lindsay, Atari Explorer advertising/art/layout director Darren R. Meer, and Atari Explorer Online editor Travis Guy would depart the company. (As Subspace Publishers, publisher Michael W. Lindsay and editor Travis Guy would continue producing AEO independent of Atari.)

May 17: SuperMac Technology announced that Atari had licensed SuperMac's Cinepak video compression technology (formerly known as Compactvideo). Laury Scott remained Atari director of operations. (Newsbytes)

May/June: For the Lynx Atari shipped Dinolympics (Imagitec Design; same game as The Humans by Atari, licensed to Imagitec Design/Mirage and released by Gametek for various non-Atari platforms) and Power Factor (Hand Made Software).

June 3: Atari announced the Jaguar (approximately $200, with controller and one game), to launch in the New York market in the fall, with a national roll-out of the product within one year. Atari also announced a Jaguar CD-ROM hardware peripheral (would ship as: Jaguar CD), which would be double-speed and would play regular CD audio, CD + G (Karaoke) and Kodak's new Photo-CD. Jaguar games (on MegaCart) announced: Battlezone 2000 (would ship as: Hover Strike), Tempest 2000, Cybermorph, Alien vs. Predator, Jaguar Formula One Racing (later: Checkered Flag II; would ship as: Checkered Flag).

June 3-6: Atari did not attend the International Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago at McCormick Place / McCormick Center Hotel / Chicago Hilton and Towers. (June 3-5 trade days, June 6 trade/consumer day). At the show, Gametek promoted The Humans by Atari, licensed to Imagitec Design/Mirage for Game Gear. (MeanMachinesSega #10 p27)

June 9: In Switzerland at Atari (Schweiz) AG, the changes executed on October 14, 1992 were officially registered. (source)

June: Atari shipped the Falcon030 in the U.S./Canada. Available configurations: 1 MiB RAM/no hard drive ($799 or C$814.98), 4 MiB RAM/no hard drive ($999 or C$1018.98), 4 MiB RAM/80MB HD ($1299 or C$1324.98), 14 MiB RAM/80MB HD ($1899 or C$1936.98). All configurations supplied with: TOS 4 with GEM, MultiTOS, hard drive utilities, the games Landmine and Breakout, CalAppt (personal time manager and phone book/dialer), ProCalc Scientific Calculator, Talking Clock, System Audio Manager, AFM : the Audio Fun Machine. Hard drive systems additionally shipped with: AtariWorks, SpeedoGDOS (with 14 fonts), Falcon-D2D Recorder. There were over 140 authorized Falcon030 dealers in the U.S., in over 40 states; Falcon030 sales were authorized for in-person customers only. (source; source)

June: In the U.S./Canada, for ST/TT/Falcon Atari shipped: SpeedoGDOS (with 14 fonts; $64.95), AtariWorks (supplied with SpeedoGDOS and 14 fonts; minimum 2 MiB RAM required; $118.95); and MultiTOS (for ST/STe with minimum 2 MiB RAM or for any TT/Stacy/Falcon; $59.95). (CN 6/93 p4; source; source)

June: Leonard Tramiel, previously Atari VP operating systems software, became VP software development, assuming entertainment software development from Gabriel Baum who departed the company. Atari's in-house software development groups would be integrated. Craig Suko, previously systems software engineering manager, would become director, (software) engineering. John Skruch, previously director of entertainment software (reporting to Baum), would be director of software (producers/testing). Jerome Strach, Atari software engineer and Lynx developer kit software manager, departed the company. (source) rehbock

June: (June 25?) Adron Beene, previously Atari corporate counsel, was promoted to Atari Vice President - Legal and Secretary, replacing Steven Kawalick who departed the company. Craig W. Harding, previously general counsel of Sierra On-Line, would join Atari as corporate counsel (replacing Beene in the role; reporting to Beene). (Schreiber & McBride remained Atari general counsel.)

June: (June 25?) Laurence Scott (Laury Scott), previously Atari director of operations, was promoted to VP Manufacturing and Operations. (1994 Proxy)

June 25: Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation. Five were elected to the board of directors: Jack Tramiel (Chairman), Sam Tramiel, August J. Liguori, Leonard I. Schreiber, Michael Rosenberg. On display for the shareholders were a number of Lynx machines in a tower style Lynx kiosk, two Atari Falcon030s, and Jaguar Development systems (TT030 and 386DX II PC systems). (source)

June 28: Atari announced that under a 30-month agreement, Atari's Jaguar would be manufactured for Atari by IBM in Charlotte, N.C. In addition to assembling the Jaguar, IBM would be responsible for the component sourcing, quality testing, packaging and distribution. (PR)

Months?: GameTek / Mirage released Human Race: The Jurassic Levels / Humans 2: The Jurassic Levels / The Humans: Insult to Injury, concept by Atari, developed by Imagitec Design, add-on releases for The Humans for Amiga and for PC.

July 6: Microsoft announced Microsoft Arcade, for Windows 3.1 PC, featuring Asteroids, Centipede, Battlezone, Missile Command and Tempest, all properties licensed from Atari. Scheduled to ship in August.

July 17-18: Atari did not attent the NAMM Summer Session show in Nashville TN.

August 6: Jim Jackson, Atari Manager of Quality Assurance, would (additionally?) become Atari service representative (service manager). (source; source)

August: To date, Atari had shipped approximately 13,000 to 14,000 Falcon030 systems in Europe, about 40% (5200-5600) of that in Germany. (source)

August 18: Atari introduced the Jaguar 64-bit interactive multimedia system ($200, no game included) in a hands-on press event held at company headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. Three Jaguar games were featured: Cybermorph, Alien vs. Predator, and Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy. Additional Jaguar games announced/promoted by Atari: Raiden (title by Seibu Kaihatsu via Fabtek), Evolution: Dino Dudes (same game as Dinolympics for Lynx and licensed by Atari to Imagitec Design/Mirage and released by GameTek as The Humans for various non-Atari platforms), Club Drive, Checkered Flag II (previously: Jaguar Formula One Racing; would ship as: Checkered Flag), Tiny Toon Adventures (never shipped), Kasumi Ninja, Tempest 2000. A prototype of the double-speed Jaguar CD-ROM hardware peripheral, to be introduced in 1994 and to include support for audio CD, karaoke CD+Graphics and optional Kodak Photo CD (Photo CD cartridge never shipped) was also shown, and a Jaguar MPEG 2 cartridge (never shipped) for playing full length motion pictures from CD was announced. Atari also announced plans to distribute 50,000 Jaguars in the New York and San Francisco markets during fall 1993, with a national roll-out in 1994. VIDEO of the event.

August/September: For the Lynx Atari shipped Lemmings and Jimmy Connors' Tennis (HandMade Software). (source)

September 16: Date of Falcon software catalog produced by Atari France S.A. Daniel Hammaoui remained general manager. (source)

September 18-19: Southern California Atari Computer Faire, V7.0, Glendale Civic Auditorium, Glendale, CA, organized by the HACKS user group. Atari was represented by Eric Smith (MultiTOS developer), Bill Rehbock (director of application software), Mike Fulton (developer support), James Grunke (music markets and sales manager), Bob Brodie (director of communications). (CN 10/93 p10)

September: Leonard Tramiel Bill Rehbock, previously Atari director of applications software, would be promoted to VP Software Business Development. Normen Kowalewski, previously Developer Support Manager for Atari Computer GmbH (Germany), became Atari International Developer Support Manager (based at Atari headquarters in Sunnyvale CA, replacing the promoted Rehbock). In the Netherlands at Atari (Benelux) B.V., Wilfred Kilwinger, previously Support Manager, became European Support Manager (Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland, Eastern Europe). (source) (Alistair Bodin remained software development manager at Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited.)

September 23: Atari announced that Terrence Valeski (Terry Valeski), previously founder and CEO of Intellivision, had joined the company as director of marketing and advertising for Jaguar. Valeski's immediate responsibility would be to execute the national roll out for Jaguar. He would report directly to Sam Tramiel, president of Atari. (PR) (Garry Tramiel remained Atari general manager for North American operations.)

September 24: Atari announced its initial list of 20 licensed 3rd party game developers for the Jaguar.

Fall: The Atari TT030 saw a final production run of several thousand units over September - November, 1993. (Atari ST Review #26 5/94 p29) (Some of these units were shipped in the U.S. in winter 1994.)

October 7-10: The 95th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society was held in New York. James Grunke represented Atari at the show. (CN Dec93/Jan94 p38)

October 19: Atari filed legal proceedings in California Northern District Court against Sega of America, Inc alleging patent infringement of Atari's '114 Patent: U.S. Patent No. 4,445,114, "Apparatus for Scrolling a Video Display," issued to David R. Stubben (of Atari, Inc.) on April 24, 1984. Case name: Atari Corporation, et al v. Sega of America, Inc

November 4: In an elaborate media event Atari launched the Jaguar in the Hemisphere Club on the 48th floor of the Time/Life building on West 50th Street in New York City. Over 300 attended, including buyers for major retail stores, major corporate players, and media reporters. The Jaguar system was to retail for $249 (with Cybermorph included), to be available in New York and San Francisco in Mid-November, with complete roll-out in the U.S. and Europe slated for early 1994. Additional games available separately as part of the system launch: Raiden, Evolution: Dino Dudes, Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy. To ship in early 1994: Alien vs. Predator, Checkered Flag II. Atari announced the signing of several major new developers for the Jaguar, including: Virgin, Interplay, Microprose, UBI Soft, Gremlin Graphics, Millennium Interactive, Accolade, Activision. The Time Warner library of video clips would be available to Jaguar developers. Atari Games Corp. announced that they would be using the Jaguar as a board for arcade games (hardware would be known as: CoJag). For use with the future Jaguar CD-ROM hardware peripheral, Atari announced the Jaguar MPEG 1 cartridge (CD-i and Video CD support; never shipped) and again promoted the Jaguar MPEG 2 cartridge (never shipped). Atari expected to ship about 50,000 Jaguar systems before Christmas, with 10,000 slated for the European market and the remaining 40,000 divided between stores in the New York and San Francisco areas. (Newsbytes; CN Dec93/Jan94 p8-14)

November 5: Atari VP entertainment software Gabriel Baum had departed the company (to his own consultancy, Polynomics. (source))

November 11: Atari and Accolade jointly announced a licensing agreement where Atari would publish 5 titles by Accolade for Jaguar by fall 1994: Al Michaels Announces HardBall III (never shipped), Brett Hull Hockey (never shipped), Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (would evolve into: Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tails), Charles Barkley Basketball (same game as Barkley Shut Up and Jam! for SNES and Genesis; never shipped), Jack Nicklaus' Power Challenge Golf (later: Jack Nicklaus Cyber Golf for Jaguar CD; never shipped)

November 15-19: At the Fall COMDEX in Las Vegas Atari featured the Jaguar as part of the OEM (original equipment manufacturers) section of the IBM exhibit. Finished games exhibited by Atari for the Jaguar: Cybermorph, Raiden, Evolution: Dino Dudes, Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy; previewed: Alien vs. Predator, Checkered Flag II

November 23: Atari announced that Jaguar was shipping, in New York and San Francisco area retail stores. The 17-button Jaguar Controller (for Jaguar/Falcon030/1040STe/520STe; same as the Atari Power Pad controller) and Cybermorph (Attention To Detail; original 2 MB (c1993) version) shipped with the system, suggested retail $249.99.

November 29: Atari announced a list of 15 additional software companies signed as developers for Jaguar (some of these previously announced on November 4), bringing the total to 35. For the Jaguar Atari announced Doom (title by id Software) and Zool 2 (title by Gremlin Graphics). (source)

November 30: Atari (Benelux) B.V. shut down their sales/marketing office in Belgium at Vosveld 17, Wijnegem. (source)

November/December: For the Jaguar Atari shipped: Raiden (Imagitec Design), Evolution: Dino Dudes (Imagitec Design), Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy (Flare II/Atari)

December 3: Lexicor Software had announced (for the U.S.) the Medusa T40 computer, an Atari TT clone by Medusa Computer Systems (of Switzerland) (64MHz 68040 running a slightly modified Atari TOS 3.06; around $3,000; due spring 1994). (source) (Not to be confused with the Medusa T-40 accelerator board (66MHz 68040 for Atari ST computers with 8MHz 68000), also by Medusa Computer Systems.) (Atari ST User 8/93 p10; source)

December: For the Lynx Atari shipped Malibu Bikini Volleyball (HandMade Software).

December: James Grunke, previously Atari Director of International Music Markets, became Atari director of audio.

December 22: In Germany regarding Atari Computer GmbH, Robert Gleadow was registered as (the sole) managing director, replacing Alwin Stumpf who had departed the company.

December 31: Atari had approximately 133 employees worldwide, including 43 in engineering and product development, 38 in marketing, sales and distribution, 7 in purchasing and production, and 45 in general administration and management. (10-K for 1993)

December 31: Atari maintained active operations in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. (Atari Corporation Annual Report for 1993)

December 31: Atari's authorized capital stock consists of 100,000,000 shares of Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, of which 57,214,587 shares were issued and outstanding,

Atari said it sold 20,000 Jaguar systems in the 2-market rollout for Christmas (Consumer Electronics 1/17/94)

Atari France S.A. had sold some 6,000 Falcon030 computers and nearly another 6,000 STe computers in 1993. (source)

1994
January 6-9: At the Winter CES in Las Vegas (main floor, Pavilion A; their first CES exhibit since January 1991), Atari featured the Jaguar and Lynx. For the Jaguar Atari featured/again promised Alien vs. Predator, Checkered Flag II, and Tempest 2000, and also promoted/again promised Club Drive, Doom, and Tiny Toon Adventures. National roll-out of the Jaguar had begun, starting with national accounts including Toys "R" Us, Babbages, and Electronic Boutique, with full roll-outs in the top 10 markets planned through winter, and the top 20 markets beginning in the spring. For the Lynx Atari featured/again promised: Raiden (title by Seibu Kaihatsu via Fabtek; previously: Rai-Den; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames in 1997), Eye of the Beholder (never shipped), Ninja Gaiden III. (CN 2/94 p6-7)

January: Engineer John Mathieson, previously director of Flare II Limited (which had been shut down), joined Atari as Vice President Advanced Technology (R&D). Mathieson would form and head the new Atari Advanced Technology Group ("Midsummer" project). Engineer Timothy Dunn, previously of Flare II Limited, joined Atari as a senior engineer, Advanced Technology Group (reporting to Mathieson). Pilgrim Beart, previously Engineering Manager at Euphonix, would join Atari as senior engineer, Advanced Technology Group (reporting to Mathieson).

January 21-24: Atari maintained a suite at the Hilton hotel across the street during the winter NAMM International Music Market in Anaheim CA. James Grunke remained head of the Music Division for Atari. (CN 3/94 p16)

February 11: Atari Technology Corp. officers: CEO Sam Tramiel, secretary Adron Beene, CFO August J. Liguori. Location 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale CA. Business: "Personal business and home computers and video game products" (filing with State of California)

February?: Atari would no longer limit U.S. Falcon030 sales to in-person customers. (source) A new supply of TT030 computers (manufactured fall 1993) also reached U.S. dealers; sales were no longer limited to commercial markets. (as a discontinued product? No evidence of Class B TT030 units has been found.)

February/March: Atari completed the consolidation of European administration, sales, marketing, and development operations to Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, with warehousing and distribution remaining in the Netherlands at the Atari (Benelux) B.V. Atari European Distribution Center. In Germany, Atari Computer GmbH was operationally shut down, with building sales to close in June; once matters were settled, controller Dieter Preuß would depart the company (to Commodore Germany) and manager Irma Obersteiner would depart the company. In Italy, Atari Italia S.p.A. was operationally shut down. In France, Jean Richen, previously Atari France S.A. marketing manager, would become Atari France S.A. managing director (source), replacing Daniel Hammaoui who would depart the company (to co-found Accord); Richen would also serve as Atari European marketing manager; as Atari France would be operationally shut down, Richen would be shifted to Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited. In Spain, Ordenadores Atari S.A. would be shut down, and sales director José Collado would depart the company. Darryl Still remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited marketing manager and would also serve as Atari European product manager (source); Paul Welch remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited sales manager and Atari International Distributor Manager; Richard Munday remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited financial controller and Atari European financial controller; Bob Gleadow remained Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited managing director and Atari European general manager. In the Netherlands at Atari (Benelux) B.V., Pieter Norp remained financial controller and Jurek Ceglarek remained customer support manager, while European Support Manager Wilfred Kilwinger would depart the company. (source) (source) (source)

March 4: Jim Jackson remained Atari service manager (dealer support). (source)

March 14-19: At CeBIT '94 in Hanover, Germany, COMPO Software launched (for Europe) the Medusa T40, the Atari TT clone by Medusa Computer Systems (of Switzerland) (64MHz 68040 running a slightly modified Atari TOS 3.06; DM 7999 with a 300MB hard drive; due spring 1994). (source; source; source) (Atari did not attend the show.)

March 7: Atari announced 48 additional Jaguar developers, publishers and licensees signed since January 1, 1994, bringing the total to 86. Terry Valeski remained marketing director. (source)

March 22: Atari Technology Corp. officers: CEO Sam Tramiel, secretary Adron Beene, treasurer (CFO) August Liguori. Location 1196 Borregas Aveenue, Sunnyvale CA. "Personal Computers and home computers and video game products." (filing with State of California)

March 22: At Atari Computer Corporation (dormant U.S. subsidiary): Sam Tramiel was CEO, Adron Beene was secretary, and August Liguori was CFO.

March 24: Atari announced that Nintendo of America, Inc. and Atari had settled litigation concerning Atari's '114 Patent: U.S. Patent No. 4,445,114, "Apparatus for Scrolling a Video Display," issued to David R. Stubben (of Atari, Inc.) on April 24, 1984. Atari would receive $2.2 million cash from Nintendo and Atari would grant Nintendo a license to certain Atari patents.

March 24: There were 57,223,862 shares of Atari Corporation Common Stock outstanding.

March 24: Date of Stock Purchase Agreement between Atari Corporation and Time Warner, Inc. Atari would issue 1.5 million shares of its common stock to Warner Communications Inc. (the wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner) at a price of $8.50 per share for an aggregate investment of $12.8 million.

March 24: Date of Stock Purchase Agreement between Atari Corporation and Atari Games Corporation. Atari would issue 70,000 shares of its Common Stock to Atari Games in settlement of royalty payments owed by Atari to Atari Games for ports of Atari Games games to the Atari Lynx (18 titles), ST (3 titles), 7800 (5 titles), and 2600 (1 title) through December 31, 1993.

March 24: Atari announced that in addition to the initial launch markets of New York and San Francisco, they had now introduced Jaguar in Los Angeles.

April 1: "The Jaguar is currently being assembled by IBM in the U.S.A. The Company will start up a second assembler during the second half of 1994." (Atari 10-K filed 4/1/94)

April 10-12: Atari previewed the Jaguar, expected to launch in Europe in September 1994, at the ECTS (European Computer Trade Show) held at the Business Design Centre in London. Atari displayed prototypes (in various stages of development) of soon to arrive Jaguar games, plus the completed Tempest 2000, but made no announcements at the show. (source)

April 13: Atari organized a Jaguar developer conference, held in a hotel near London Heathrow, attended by around 100 European developers.

April?: COMPO Software released SpeedoGDOS 4.2, title by Atari, for ST/TT/Falcon. (CN 5/94 p8, 48)

April 19: Pursuant to the agreements of March 24, 1994, Atari sold to Warner Communications Inc. (WCI) (the wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.) 1.5 million shares of its common stock at a price of $8.50 per share for a total of $12.8 million, and Atari issued to Atari Games Corporation (majority owned by Time Warner) 70,000 shares of its common stock. There were now approximately 58,793,862 shares of Atari Common Stock outstanding. Before the new stock issuances Time Warner beneficially owned 14,200,000 shares of Atari; the 15,770,000 shares of Atari Common Stock now beneficially owned by Time Warner constituted approximately 26.8% of the outstanding Atari Common Stock.

April 25: Wavefront Technologies and Atari announced a worldwide agreement making Wavefront's GameWare the exclusive game graphics and animation development software for the Atari Jaguar system. Bill Rehbock was Atari VP Software Business Development.

April/May: Ron Beltramo, previously Director of Marketing at Gallo Salame, rejoined Atari as VP marketing, replacing Terry Valeski who departed the company. Don Thomas, previously director of computer marketing, would become director of customer service, replacing Diana Goralczyk who departed the company.

May 3: Atari announced that it had licensed Jaguar technology to Sigma Designs to deliver Jaguar PC Card (never shipped), a PC card incorporating the Jaguar technology with Sigma's Reel-Magic full-motion video capabilities.

May 3: Atari said it had shipped between 50,000 and 100,000 Jaguar systems to date, and that the Jaguar was now available across the US. Five game titles for Jaguar had shipped to date. (Newsbytes)

May: "The [Atari] Falcon hasn't actually been out of manufacture in Taiwan in the last 15 months and the ST has been in and out of manufacture" - General Manager of Atari Europe Bob Gleadow, Atari ST Review #26 5/94 p28

May: Programmer Francois Bertrand, previously of Sega AM2, joined Atari. (source)

June: Atari engineer David Schwartz, head of the Jaguar CD-ROM peripheral project, conceived of a new type of interactive entertainment product, named "GameFilm", merging videogame and film formats.

June?: Atari entertainment software engineer Eric Ginner departed the company (to Bitmasters). (source)

June 17: Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation. Five were elected to the board of directors: Jack Tramiel (Chairman), Sam Tramiel, August J. Liguori, Leonard Schreiber, Michael Rosenberg. At the meeting Sam Tramiel announced that Atari was licensing Falcon030 technology to C-Lab GmbH of Germany in order to have continued development of a pro-audio/music multimedia workstation. Atari was to continue to manufacture and support the Falcon030 in its current configurations as the market demanded. (source) Atari Vice President - Legal and Secretary Adron Beene departed the company. Atari director, Vice President - Finance, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer August Liguori additionally became Atari Secretary (replacing Beene in the role). (Craig Harding remained corporate counsel; Schreiber & McBride remained Atari general counsel.) James Grunke remained director, Atari Music and Audio. (WeLoveAtariV2p242)

June 23-25: At the Summer CES in Chicago (the final Summer CES to be held), Atari featured the Jaguar ($249.99 with Cybermorph) and the Lynx. Atari featured the available Jaguar accessories: Jaguar Controller (J8901; $24.95), AC Power Adaptor (J8902; $19.95), Automatic TV/Game Switch (J8903; $19.95), Composite Monitor Connector (J8904; $19.95), S-Video Cable (J8905; $19.95). Introduced, announced, or again promised for Jaguar, due in July: Wolfenstein 3-D (title by id Software); due in Aug/Sept: Space Wars (later: Space War 2000; never shipped), Kasumi Ninja, Club Drive, Doom, Checkered Flag (previously: Checkered Flag II), Alien vs. Predator; due Fall 1994: Jaguar CD-ROM peripheral ($199.95 with Virtual Light Machine (VLM), Tiny Toon Adventures (never shipped), Star Raiders 2000 (never shipped), Legions of the Undead (Rebellion; never shipped), Jack Nicklaus Cyber Golf (CD-ROM; title by Accolade; previously: Jack Nicklaus Power Challenge Golf on cartridge; never shipped), Iron Soldier, Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods (CD-ROM; title by Gaumont Television), Al Michaels Announces Hardball III (NuFX for Atari; title by Accolade; never shipped), Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Demolition Man (by Virgin Interactive for Atari; never shipped), Creature Shock (Argonaut Software; title by Virgin Interactive; never shipped), Blue Lightning (CD-ROM; title by Epyx), Battlezone 2000, Battlemorph (CD-ROM); due Winter 1995: Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tails (title by Accolade; previously: Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind), The Chaos Agenda (CD-ROM; later: Black ICE\White Noise; never shipped), Charles Barkley Basketball (CD-ROM), Brett Hull Hockey. Atari promoted Jaguar's network capability (up to 300 feet; would require additional hardware which would ship as: JagLink Interface), and announced that the first network game published by Atari would be Doom. Atari announced the Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator (never shipped), developed by Phylon Communications, for networked play between two Jaguar systems (remotely) over a phone line, to be supported initially by Doom, Club Drive, and Iron Soldier. Atari announced that the number of signed licensed developers for the Atari Jaguar had surpassed 150. Atari highlighted that one Jaguar developer was Argonne National Laboratory, which was evaluating the use of Jaguar technology within the broad area of potential information access tools as part of its work in the AMTEX American Textile Partnership program's Demand Activated Manufacturing Architecture (DAMA) project. Atari announced Tempest 2000: The Soundtrack (audio CD; to ship 3rd quarter 1994). Atari announced the Jag-Ware gift catalog, featuring nearly 20 consumer items adorned with the licensed Jaguar logo, collection developed with Norscot Group, Inc. Atari announced that the E.G.M. SuperTour '94, the second annual summer long video games show tour of shopping malls across America sponsored by Electronic Gaming Monthly (and also sponsored by Hero Illustrated), would feature the Atari Jaguar. For Atari: Richard Miller was VP engineering, Bill Rehbock was VP of third party development, James Grunke was Director of Music and Audio, Greg LaBrec was director of creative services, Donald Thomas was director of Customer Service. (PR's) Ron Beltramo was Atari VP marketing (Newsbytes).

Months?: GameTek released Humans / Humans 1 and 2, concept by Atari, developed by Imagitec Design, for CD32 and for PC.

Month?: Atari senior engineer Andrew Burgess departed the company (to Starsight Telecast).

July 2: COMPO Software had released SpeedoGDOS 5.0, title by Atari, for ST/TT/Falcon; Complete package with 22 Bitstream fonts, or Upgrade package with 8 Bitstream fonts. (source) (In addition to GEM bitmap and Speedo font support, added Truetype and Type 1 font support.)

July 7: Beamscope Canada and Atari announced that Beamscope Canada had been appointed the exclusive Canadian distributor for the Atari Jaguar.

July 12: Atari Corporation announced that it had signed an agreement with the coin-operated game division of Time Warner Interactive, Inc. (dba Atari Games/Time Warner Interactive). Under the terms of the agreement, the Atari Corporation Jaguar technology engine would be made available for Time Warner Interactive arcade games, and all software titles developed on the Jaguar platform by Time Warner Interactive would also be made available on the Jaguar home video system. (PR)

July 12: Atari confirmed a majority of its 1994 300,000 piece production of Jaguar would be manufactured by IBM in Charlotte, North Carolina. (PR)

August 1: Atari announced it was shipping Wolfenstein 3-D by id Software for Jaguar. Additional Jaguar titles Atari expected to ship by the end of 1994: Alien vs. Predator, Doom, Kasumi Ninja, Iron Soldier

August 2: At MacWorld Expo in Boston, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Arcade for Macintosh, featuring Asteroids, Centipede, Battlezone, Missile Command and Tempest, all properties licensed from Atari.

August 22: Atari announced that Telegames had released Brutal Sports Football for Jaguar.

August 27-28: Atari featured the Jaguar at the Connecticut AtariFest, organized by the ACT Atari Group, held at the Holiday Inn in Bridgeport CT. Also at the show, Lexicor featured the Medusa T40 (Atari TT clone) by Medusa Computer Systems. (CN Oct/Nov 94 p30; source)

Summer/Fall: Atari graphic artist B.J. West was promoted to Art Director, replacing Director of Computer Game Graphics/Game Designer Susan McBride who departed the company (to OnLive! Technologies).

September 4-6: In London, Atari held their "European Atari Jaguar Premiere" at the Planetarium while also exhibiting at the ECTS (European Computer Trade Show) held at the Business Design Centre. Alien vs. Predator was promised to ship October 20, games also nearing release included Checkered Flag, Club Drive and Kasumi Ninja, and additional games previewed included Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tails, Doom, and Iron Solder. Peter Walker (of Fitzroy) was Atari spokesperson. (source; source) Accord was Atari's distributor in France, with authorized service from GK Service; Pagedown was Atari's distributor in Germany and Austria. (source)

September 26: Date of several agreements between Atari and Sega Enterprises, Ltd. The two companies would announce the agreements on September 28, 1994.

September 26: Atari and Williams Entertainment announced that Atari would develop and market new versions of such Williams hits as Joust, Defender and Robotron for Jaguar, while Williams would license the new versions to market them for high performance PCs. They also announced that Williams would release Double Dragon V for Jaguar.

September 28: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (of Japan), and Atari Corporation announced an affiliation that included several agreements (dated September 26, 1994): Sega would receive worldwide, non-exclusive rights with certain exceptions to Atari's library of more than 70 U.S. patents and applications (excluding certain of Atari's Jaguar and Lynx patents), for a fully prepaid royalty to Atari amortized at approximately $7 million per year over 7 years for a total of $50 million; Sega would purchase approximately 4.7 million shares of Atari common stock for a total price of $40 million; both companies would enter into software license agreements for up to five game titles per year that would be made available on each company's present and future platforms; Atari would dismiss its legal proceedings against Sega, and each company would release all claims against the other. (PR)

September 28: Garry Tramiel was Atari Corporation general manager. ("To our valued customer" letter)

October 10: Atari announced that Toys "R" Us would carry the Jaguar. Jaguar titles expected to ship by the end of year would include: Alien vs. Predator, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Doom, Troy Aikman NFL Football from Williams Entertainment, Iron Soldier, Kasumi Ninja.

October 14: The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the involuntary bankruptcy petition against The Federated Group of January 23, 1992. The petitioners would appeal to the District Court, see: D.C. No. CV-95-00021-WHO

October: Atari engineer David Schwartz became Atari VP New Media Systems and Technology.

October 25: Atari and Virtuality Group jointly announced that Virtuality would finalize development of a consumer version of its head mounted display technology that Atari would manufacture and market for use with the Atari Jaguar (as: Jaguar VR), to ship by Christmas 1995 (never shipped). In the UK, Peter Walker, of Fitzroy, remained Atari spokesman; Bob Gleadow remained managing director, Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited.

October 26-30: Atari featured the Jaguar, making its first major public appearance in the UK, at the Future Entertainment Show (FES) at Earls Court 2, London. Jean Richen was Atari European Marketing Manager. (ST Format #63 p10)

Fall?: New production units of the Atari Cybermorph cartridge for Jaguar would be a smaller 1 MB cartridge version (c1994), rather than the original 2 MB cartridge version (c1993). (source)

November 15: C-Lab, Hamburg Germany, announced they had signed a worldwide license agreement with the Atari Corporation to manufacture, market and distribute audio workstation products based on the Atari Falcon030 platform into the pro audio and musical instrument markets. The first in this line of products was to ship in January 1995, named Falcon MK II. Further additions, such as an enhanced desktop and a rackmount version were to follow by mid 1995. (source)

November 16: Atari announced that it had received regulatory approval in connection with its September 26, 1994 agreements with Sega and the transactions had closed.

November 17: Atari VP technology Richard Miller departed the company; he was to continue to work with Atari on a consultant basis. (1995 proxy; source) (Miller would found VM Labs, Inc. on 1/11/95.) John Mathieson remained Atari Vice President Advanced Technology ("Midsummer" project).

November 20-January 15: In the U.S., with the purchase of a Jaguar system, Atari offered a free Jaguar game cartridge, choice of: Evolution: Dino Dudes, Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy, Raiden

November 21: As a result of the settlement between Atari and Sega, Atari Corporation, et al v. Sega of America, Inc, filed on October 19, 1993, was dismissed by Judge Claudia Wilken.

November 21: Atari announced the launch of Jaguar in Japan, including 25 Toys "R" Us outlets, and that Mumin Corporation of Tokyo was handling Jaguar distribution and sales in Japan. Jaguar was already available in Europe, Canada, and the US. Ron Beltramo remained Atari VP marketing. (PR; Newsbytes) Jaguar systems for Japan would ship with Alien vs. Predator.

November 23: For Jaguar Atari announced the imminent, late November releases of: Doom, Checkered Flag (Rebellion), Club Drive, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (Virgin Interactive)

November 26-27: At the proTOS'94 show (proTOS #2), held at the Hennef Exhibition Centre near Bonn, Germany, GE-Soft introduced the Eagle (Atari TT clone; 33 MHz 68030 running Atari TOS 3.06; about 3,800 DM for a base complete system, including promised upgrade to 68040) and Medusa Computer Systems launched the Medusa T60 (Atari TT clone; 64MHz 68060 running a slightly modified Atari TOS 3.06). (source; source)

November 29: In Germany, Atari Computer GmbH entered into bankruptcy proceedings.

December: Atari VP manufacturing and operations Laury Scott additionally assumed responsibility for Atari's engineering department (source), assuming the role from departed VP technology Richard Miller.

December 9: For Jaguar Atari announced the imminent, December releases of: Kasumi Ninja, Zool 2 (Imagitec Design; title by Gremlin Interactive, formerly known as Gremlin Graphics), Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tails (Imagitec Design), Iron Soldier, Val d'Isère Skiing and Snowboarding (Virtual Studios). Jaguar titles Atari announced to ship in 1995: Hover Strike (previously: Battlezone 2000), Space War 2000 (previously: Space Wars; never shipped), Troy Aikman NFL Football from Williams Entertainment, Rayman from Ubi Soft, Double Dragon V from Williams Entertainment, Theme Park from Ocean, Syndicate from Ocean, Fight for Life (High Voltage Software for Atari). Atari stated that more than 200 third-party developers had agreed to create new titles for the Jaguar.

December 9: In Japan, Atari distributor Mumin released the Jaguar. The Jaguar Controller and Alien vs. Predator shipped with the system. (source) System price: ¥29,800. (source)

December 14: Atari and Time Warner jointly announced the initiation of Time Warner Cable's Full Service Network (FSN) in Orlando, Florida, featuring Jaguar games which were stored on magnetic hard drives and downloaded to the game device at the consumers' request. The system, including 5 Jaguars, was also in use at the "Home of the 21st Century," a model home sponsored by Time Warner Cable's Full Service Network and Southern Living Magazine and equipped with Full Service Network capabilities, and other state-of-the-art home services located in the Sweetwater, Wekiva, Lake Brantley and Springdale community near Orlando.

December: Atari shipped the Jaguar PAL version for UK/Europe. "Europe was promised 250K units for the first Christmas, but received only 25K in early December, with a further 25K on Dec 23rd." - Atari's Darryl Still - source

December 15: In Japan, Atari distributor Mumin released for Jaguar: Wolfenstein 3-D, Raiden, Tempest 2000, Cybermorph (source)

December 22: Atari announced the releases of Iron Soldier (Eclipse Software Design) and Kasumi Ninja (Hand Made Software) for Jaguar.

December 31: Atari had approximately 101 employees in the U.S., including 58 in engineering and product development, 18 in marketing, sales and distribution, 5 in purchasing and production, and 20 in general administration and management; in addition, the Company had approximately 16 employees outside the U.S. (10-K for 1994)

1995
January 6-9: At the Winter CES in Las Vegas, Atari announed that the Jaguar CD multimedia player, including the Virtual Light Machine (VLM), would ship winter 1995 for $149.99, and that the first Jaguar CD titles would be Battlemorph, Blue Lightning, Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods, Demolition Man and Creature Shock. For the Jaguar Atari introduced the JagLink Interface (spring 1995 for $29.99), and again promised the Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator (fall 1995 for under $150) and the Jaguar virtual reality headset (by Christmas 1995 under $200). Atari promoted Batman Forever (never shipped), Thea Realm Fighters (CD; High Voltage Software; never shipped), and Primal Rage (CD) from Time Warner Interactive as the top coming attractions for the Jaguar. Sports titles promoted by Atari for Jaguar: Charles Barkley Basketball (never shipped), Brett Hull Hockey (now for CD; never shipped), HardBall Baseball (HardBall 4; High Voltage Software; title by Accolade; never shipped), Jack Nicklaus Cyber Golf (Hand Made Software; never shipped), Troy Aikman NFL Football from Williams Entertainment, White Men Can't Jump (title by Trimark Interactive), CD League Bowling from V Real (never shipped), Sensible Soccer from Telegames (would ship as: International Sensible Soccer). Additional upcoming Jaguar titles promoted by Atari: Fight for Life, Space War 2000, Hover Strike, Ultra Vortex (Beyond Games for Atari; would ship as Ultra Vortek), Rayman from Ubi Soft. Previewed for Jaguar: Hover Hunter (Hyper Image; later: Phase Zero; never shipped), BurnOut (by Shen Technologies via Virtual Xperience; would ship as: Super Burnout), Air Cars (MidNite Entertainment Group; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by ICD), Varuna's Forces (CD; Accent Media; never shipped). Privately previewed: An all-in-one Jaguar and CD drive console (never introduced). (source) Already available Jaguar titles that were featured: Doom, Iron Soldier, Checkered Flag, Club Drive, Kasumi Ninja, Val d'Isère Skiing and Snowboarding, Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tails, Zool 2. Atari also showed 4 games for the Lynx (what games????). (some reports)

January 13: In Japan, Atari distributor Mumin released for Jaguar: Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy, Evolution: Dino Dudes (source)

January 16: Leonard Tramiel, previously Atari VP Software Development, would become VP Advanced Software Development ("Midsummer project"). (Reports to Leonard Tramiel would inclued software engineers Dave Staugas and Rob Zdybel.) Jon Correll had recently joined Atari as VP of Software Development (source; source) (replacing Leonard Tramiel in the role). (Reports to Correll would include producers/test director John Skruch.)

Winter?: C-Lab shipped the Falcon MK II computer (licensed evolution of the Atari Falcon030).

February: Atari Director of Audio James Grunke departed the company (to Online! Technologies).

February 17: In Japan, Atari distributor Mumin released for Jaguar: Doom (source)

March 13: Atari and Williams Entertainment announced that Atari would be publishing Mortal Kombat III (never shipped) for the Atari Jaguar. Bill Rehbock remained Atari VP of Software Business Development.

March 15: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited European financial controller Richard Munday would additionally assume the role of Atari (Benelux) B.V. financial controller Pieter Norp who departed the company. (source) Atari (Benelux) B.V. customer support manager Jurek Ceglarek would depart the company. Ton Thomassen, logistics manager since 1990, would be the remaining employee on site at Atari (Benelux) B.V.

March: Atari software test group manager Tom Gillen departed the company (to Sony).

March 17: Atari Corporation subsidiaries, worldwide, consisted of: Atari (Benelux) B.V., Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, and the (dormant) U.S. subsidiary, Atari Computer Corporation. (10-K for 1994) Numerous subsidiaries had been shut down over the preceding 12 months.

March 17: Atari had decided to port and publish certain of its Jaguar titles on the IBM PC compatible platform. Atari expected to publish four titles in CD media by the end of 1995, the first of which would be Tempest 2000. (10-K for 1994)

March 20: In Germany, the November 29, 1994 entry of Atari Computer GmbH into bankruptcy proceedings was formally registered.

March 21: Atari announced the Jaguar "64-Bit Power Kit" package, including Jaguar console, controller, power adapter and video cable, with no game included, to retail for $159.99.

March 22: Atari and Acclaim announced that 3 Acclaim titles would be published by Atari for Jaguar, including NBA Jam Tournament Edition (title by Midway) and Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball (never shipped).

March 22: Time Warner sold 90,000 of its shares of Atari Corporation stock. The 15,615,500 shares of Atari Common Stock now beneficially owned by Time Warner Inc. constituted approximately 24.5% of the outstanding Atari Common Stock (based on 63,648,535 outstanding shares reported by Atari as of December 31, 1994). 15,545,500 and 70,000 of Time Warner's shares of Atari were held by Warner Communications Inc. and Atari Games Corporation, respectively.

March 24: In Japan, Atari distributor Mumin released for Jaguar: Club Drive, Iron Soldier (source)

March 25: Time Warner Inc., seeking to reduce its debt load, disclosed that it planned to sell part or all of its 24.5 percent stake in the Atari Corporation. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the giant media and entertainment company said it expected to dispose of "some or all" of its 15.6 million common shares of Atari "from time to time in open market transactions or otherwise." At current prices, the stake was worth $42.9 million.

March 26-28: At the European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) at London's Olympia, Atari announced that the price of its Jaguar games console was reduced from £230 to £149. Atari also announced an extended contract with Virtuality, the London-based Virtual Reality (VR) software house, in which Virtuality would develop two VR games for the Atari Jaguar. The Jaguar headset by Virtuality (Jaguar VR) was due summer 1995, to be priced around the £149. Peter Walker was Atari spokesman, and Bob Gleadow remained managing director of Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited. (Newsbytes)

March 27: Atari announced the release of Tempest 2000: The Soundtrack (audio CD). Executive producer: John Skruch. Produced by Imagitec Design. IDI Musicians: Ian Howe, Alastair Lindsay, Kevin Saville, Julian Hodgson. Production Director: James Grunke (Director of Music and Audio at Atari).

March (after March 27): Ron Beltramo, previously Atari VP marketing, would become EVP marketing. Dean Fox joined Atari as Senior Vice President, Marketing (replacing the promoted Beltramo in the role).

Winter/Spring: Atari senior producer / designer James Hampton departed the company.

April 21: In Japan, Atari distributor Mumin released for Jaguar: Zool 2 (source)

Spring?: Maximina K. Fagan joined the Atari legal department (reporting to corporate counsel Craig Harding; the two would comprise the entire legal department).

May 1: Atari announced the hires of Dean Fox, previously of Rocket Science Games (VP marketing) and earlier of Sega of America (marketing director - multimedia (SegaCD), as SVP Marketing (as of March 1995), and Jon Correll, previously Manager of Development Administration for Sega of America, as VP Software Product Development.

May 9: Following up on market success for the Jaguar in the UK, Atari had signed a series of European country Jaguar distribution agreements, including Cosmo Entertainment in Germany (replacing Pagedown), Mirage in Poland, Product Finale in Spain, and Adastra in Sweden. Computer Trade Weekly had also reported that Atari was about to sign further Jaguar distribution deals in Denmark, Israel, Italy, and Turkey. (NewsBytes)

May 11-13: At the (first-ever) Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), held the Los Angeles Convention Center, for the Jaguar ($159) Atari introduced the Jaguar VR (by Virtuality Entertainment; never shipped), along with Missile Command VR (by Virtuality Entertainment; earlier: Missile Command 2000; would ship as: Missile Command 3D) and Zone Hunter (by Virtuality; never shipped) for the Jaguar VR; Atari promoted the Jaguar CD multimedia player with built-in Virtual Light Machine (VLM), to ship in August ($150), and the CD titles Battlemorph, Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods, Blue Lightning, Demolition Man, Myst (title by Cyan and Sunsoft), and Creature Shock; Atari again promoted the JagLink Interface, introduced the Team Tap controller, and again promoted the Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator; Atari announced there would be nearly 100 titles for the Jaguar by the end of the year; Atari featured the Jaguar games Thea Realm Fighters (CD), Rayman from Ubi Soft, White Men Can't Jump (with Team Tap controller), and Ultra Vortex, and promoted the additional new release titles: Primal Rage from Time Warner Interactive, the Highlander RPG series, Fight for Life, and NBA Jam Tournament Edition; Atari announced a line of classic games for the Jaguar including Dactyl Joust (High Voltage Software for Atari; never shipped), Defender 2000 (title by Williams Electronics Games), and Missile Command VR; Atari announced they would publish classic games for the PC at the end of the year, beginning with Tempest 2000. Dean Fox was Atari SVP marketing. (source)

May 24: Sam Tramiel remained Atari Corporation CEO; August Liguori remained secretary and CFO; Craig W. Harding was corporate counsel. Address remained: 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale CA. Type of business: "Manufacturer and distributor of video game systems and software"

June 5: Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Atari Corporation. Five were elected to the board of directors: Jack Tramiel (Chairman), Sam Tramiel, August J. Liguori, Leonard Schreiber, Michael Rosenberg

June 5: According to Atari's "Introduction to the Atari Jaguar Development System" (source): Bill Rehbock was VP, software business development; J. Patton was director, third party licensing & contracts; Normen Kowalewski was manager, Jaguar developer support; Mike Fulton was manager, Jaguar developer tools; Scott Sanders was in Jaguar developer support, Loïc Duval was Jaguar developer support - France; Alistair Bodin was Jaguar developer support at Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited.

June?: Blair Bullock, previously of Sega of America, joined Atari as test manager (replacement for the departed Tom Gillen).

June 20: "Fun 'N' Games" hands-on media event at Atari Corporation headquarters. Jaguar titles featured by Atari: Blue Lightning (CD), Hover Hunter (cart; later: Phase Zero; never shipped), White Men Can't Jump (cart), FlipOut! (CD; by Gorilla Systems; would ship on cartridge), Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods (CD), Myst (CD), SuperX (cart; by Tiertex; would ship as: Supercross 3D), Baldies (CD; by Creative Edge), Robinson's Requiem (CD; by Silmarils; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Songbird in 2011), Charles Barkley Basketball (cart; Ringler Studios for Atari; never shipped), Commander Blood (CD; by Cryo; never shipped), Breakout 2000 (cart; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames in Dec. 1996), Vid Grid (CD; developed by High Voltage Software, title by Jasmine Multimedia Publishing and Geffen Records), Varuna's Forces (CD), Battlemorph (CD), Fight for Life (cart), Space War 2000 (cart), Ultra Vortex (cart), Creature Shock (CD), Demolition Man (CD), Black ICE\White Noise (CD; previously: The Chaos Agenda; never shipped), Defender 2000 (cart), Thea Realm Fighters (CD), Brett Hull Hockey (shown on cart; to ship on CD), Max Force (CD; Nerf game developed by Genus Microcomputing; never shipped)

June 26: Atari Corporation announced that Theodore M. Hoff (Ted Hoff), previously SVP and general manager of Fox Interactive (and prior to that, SVP marketing and sales at Tengen from 1990-1994), had joined the company as president of North American Operations (U.S., Canada, Mexico). Hoff was to replace general manager Garry Tramiel who would depart the company (source) Ron Beltramo, previously Atari EVP marketing, would become VP advertising and merchandising, and Atari SVP Marketing Dean Fox would depart the company. (Atari would shift to using a PR agency for corporate announcements.) Don Thomas, previously Atari director of customer service, would become director of customer service marketing. (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/CEO.)

July?: Nintendo released Arcade Classic No. 1: Asteroids / Missile Command, titles by Atari, developed by Accolade, licensed to Nintendo, for Game Boy (or Super Game Boy).

July 17: Atari and Activision announced Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure for Jaguar, to be developed by Activision and released by Atari, and announced Atari Action Pak II (this version with Atari properties never shipped) for single-user IBM and PC compatible computers, which would include the Atari properties: Air Sea Battle, Breakout, Super Breakout, Space War, Surround, Millipede, Combat, Yar's Revenge, Canyon Bomber, Gravitar, Maze Craze, Night Driver

July 28: Atari terminated their Jaguar distribution agreement in Germany with Cosmo. (source)

Summer?: C-Lab shipped the Falcon MK I computer (licensed evolution of the Atari Falcon030).

August 1: For Jaguar Atari announced the release of White Men Can't Jump (High Voltage Software) with Team Tap controller. The library of games for Atari Jaguar 64 was promised to approach 75 titles by the end of 1995.

August 2: Atari announced that on Saturday, Aug. 12, Atari Corporation would donate $10,500 to the San Francisco Giants Community Fund. With more than 300 Atari employees and their families in attendance, Sam Tramiel, president and CEO of Atari, would present the donation to Giants' third baseman Matt Williams as the team faced the Chicago Cubs at Candlestick Park. The previous year, Atari had committed to donate $250 for every home run Williams hit over the season, and Williams had proceeded to hit 42 home runs.

August 9: Atari announced that U.S. Gold had released Flashback, The Quest for Identity (Delphine Software) for Jaguar.

August?: Nintendo released Arcade Classic No. 2: Centipede / Millipede, titles by Atari, developed by Accolade, licensed to Nintendo, for Game Boy (or Super Game Boy).

August: Atari general manager Garry Tramiel departed the company (source); his role had been assumed by president of North American Operations Ted Hoff.

August 30: Atari announced an agreement with ATOMIX, Inc. (formerly TOPIX) to develop a next-generation user support World Wide Web Domain on the Internet. Don Thomas was Atari's Director of Customer Service Marketing. (PR)

Summer/Fall: Jon Correll remained Atari VP software, now reporting to Ted Hoff (president of North American Operations). Reports to Correll included John Skruch (director software producers/test), Eric Elliot (art director), Craig Suko (director engineering), and the vacant audio director position (previously: James Grunke). Reports to Skruch included Blair Bullock (test manager). (source)

Summer/Fall: Atari director Leonard Schreiber departed from his law firm, Atari general counsel Schreiber & McBride; Schreiber & McBride would remain as outside general counsel to Atari.

September 5: Atari had sold about 150,000 Jaguars so far, according to Atari spokesman (VP advertising and merchandising) Ron Beltramo as quoted in The Financial Post (Toronto, Canada).

September 10-12: At the European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) at London's Olympia, Atari most heavily featured the 5 new Jaguar titles: Fight for Life (cart.), Zero 5 (cart.; Caspian Software; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames in 1997), Primal Rage (CD) from Time Warner Interactive, Fever Pitch Soccer (cart.; US Gold), Attack of the Mutant Penguins (cart.). Additional new Jaguar titles shown by Atari included: Atari Karts (cart.; Miracle Designs), Blue Lightning (CD), Vid Grid (CD), Myst demo (CD), Tempest 2000: The Soundtrack (audio CD), Brett Hull Hockey (CD; Ringler Studios for Atari; never shipped), Defender 2000 (cart.), Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods (CD), Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (cart.), SuperCross 3D (cart.; previously: SuperX), Power Drive Rally (cart.) from Time Warner Interactive, Rayman from Ubi Soft. (The Jaguar VR headset was not shown.) Also at the show Atari announced that Rushware (ABC Spielspass) was the new Jaguar distributor in Germany (replacing Cosmo). New Jaguar system list prices in Germany: console without game: 299 DM; console with game: 399 DM; CD-ROM: 299 DM. Paul Welch remained Atari's international distributor manager. (source, source)

September: Atari Developer Support Engineer Mike Fulton departed the company. (source)

September 15: Ron Beltramo was Atari's VP of Advertising and Merchandising. (source)

September 21: Atari announced the release of the Jaguar CD Multimedia Player (J8800) for the Jaguar (with built-in Virtual Light Machine (VLM), developed for Atari by Virtual Light Company Limited), bundled with: Blue Lightning (Attention to Detail), Vid Grid, Myst demo, Tempest 2000: The Soundtrack (audio CD). Package suggested retail price: $199

September 22: Jon Correll remained Atari VP software product development. (source)

October 6: Atari announced the new JAGWIRE World Wide Web domain, created by ATOMIX Inc., at http://www.atari.com, and named CompuServe as its official Jaguar 64 commercial on-line support site. Donald A. Thomas Jr. remained director of Atari Customer Service Marketing. (source)

October: For the Lynx, Atari released Super Asteroids/Super Missile Command and released Battlezone 2000 (HandMade Software). These would be the last two releases by Atari for the Lynx.

October: Four months after holding their first such event, Atari held their second Press Day at company headquarters in Sunnyvale. Jaguar titles featured by Atari included: Fever Pitch Soccer (cart.), Formula One Racing (CD; temporary name; never shipped by Atari; would be shipped by Telegames as: World Tour Racing), Atari Karts (cart.), SuperCross 3D (cart.), NBA Jam Tournament Edition (cart.), Phase Zero (cart.; previously: Hover Hunter; never shipped), Battlemorph (CD), Baldies (CD)

October: For the Jaguar Atari released: the JagLink Interface (J8908; $29.95), the Team Tap Multi-Player Adapter (J8910; $29.95), the ProController (J8907; $29.95), and for the Jaguar CD the Memory Track (J8911; $29.95).

October 18: For Jaguar Atari announced the release of Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure by Activision.

October 23: For Jaguar CD Atari announced the release of Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands.

October 24: Time Warner Inc. sold 6,600,000 of its shares of Atari Corporation stock. Consequently, Time Warner now beneficially owned 8,709,300 shares of Atari Common Stock, constituting approximately 13.67% of the outstanding shares. 8,639,300 of the shares were directly held by Warner Communcations Inc., while 70,000 of the shares were held directly by Atari Games Corporation.

October 27: Atari announced that the Jaguar was now available through the RadioShack unlimited and the Sears Wish Book catalogues.

October 30: Atari, USA Network and Electronic Gaming Monthly announced "USA: Up All Night Atari Jaguar Sweepstakes" to air on the "USA: Up All Night" program for three consecutive Friday nights from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. on November 10, 17 & 24.

October 30: For Jaguar CD Atari announced the release of Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods (Lore Design).

October 31: The Atari Board of Directors determined to substantially reduce the resources devoted to the Jaguar and related products, and to change Atari's strategic focus by devoting its resources to PC software publishing and strategic opportunities. In particular, the Atari Board of Directors directed management to focus on evaluating strategic opportunities for Atari including potential investments and acquisitions. (1996 proxy)

Fall?: Max Kiko Fagan would be promoted to Atari corporate counsel, replacing Craig Harding who departed the company. (Schreiber & McBride remained Atari outside general counsel.)

Fall: Atari completed sales of remaining European product inventory (see AA discussion and also STFormat #73 8/95 p11 for a slightly earlier report), and Atari (Benelux) B.V. and Atari Corp.-Dutch Branch (Hagenweg 7B, Vianen) were operationally shut down. (source)

November 2: Atari dismissed (about?) 20 employees (internal Jaguar development team and other development staff -1996 proxy), including: Bill Rehbock (VP of Software Business Development), Joe Cain (assistant producer), Normen Kowalewski (International Developer Support Manager), Stan Weaver, Francois Bertrand (programmer), Richard Ho (art director), Craig Suko (director, software engineering). (source) Others departures reported: Denis Fung (software engineer), Dave Staugas (advanced software development), B.J. West (Art Director/game designer), Todd Powers (software engineer), Eric Smith (software engineer -source). The departures included "almost all of the artists and all of the programmers"; software design specialist Scott Sanders would assume (sole) responsibility for software developer support (replacing Kowalewski in the role). (source) Likely dismissed at this time: Jon Correll (VP software), Hans-Martin Kröber (software engineer), Rob Zdybel (advanced software development), Mike Schmal (advanced software development). John Skruch would remain director of software. Programmer Francois Bertrand would be re-hired on a short-term contract basis to finalize Fight for Life for Jaguar.

November 3: Atari Vice President Advanced Technology John Mathieson would depart the company (to VM Labs, Inc.). (source)

November 6: Atari announced the release of Ruiner Pinball, developed by High Voltage Software, for Jaguar.

November 6: Time Warner Inc. sold 39,300 (29,200 + 10,100) of its shares of Atari Corporation stock. Consequently, Time Warner now beneficially owned 8,670,000 shares. 8,600,000 of the shares were directly held by Warner Communcations Inc., while 70,000 of the shares were held directly by Atari Games Corporation.

November 7: Atari announced that Run PC, a regional retailer of computers and next-generation game systems, had opened the first Jaguar Mall Store in the Twin Peaks Mall in Longmont, Colorado, on Nov. 4. The prototype store would exclusively demonstrate and sell the Atari Jaguar home entertainment system and the Atari Lynx handheld color gaming system. Atari provided interactive merchandising materials including arcade-style "hands-on" displays, banners and signage.

November: Time Warner Interactive released Area 51 by Atari Games, developed by Mesa Logic, 33" Showcase and 25" versions (incorporating CoJag hardware based on Jaguar by Atari Corporation)

November 16: In the initial meeting between the two companies, Sam Tramiel, president and CEO of Atari Corporation, and Sirjang L. "Jugi" Tandon, the Chairman of JT Storage, Inc., met at the Las Vegas airport following the Comdex show. A follow-up meeting was scheduled for early December to further discuss a possible investment in JTS by Atari. (1996 proxy)

November 25-26: At the proTOS'95 show held in Hennef (near Bonn), Germany, C-Lab introduced the Falcon MKX (licensed evolution of the Atari Falcon030), to ship January 1996. Also, Carasys / MW electronic / Medusa Computer Systems introduced the Hades (Atari TT clone; due March/April 1996 for DM 3,400) and featured the Medusa T40 and Medusa T60. (source; source; source; CN Jan/Feb96 p14-15)

December 1: Atari projects manager J. Patton would depart the company (to Rocket Science Games). (source)

December 12: Atari announced the release of Missile Command 3D, developed by Virtuality Entertainment, for Jaguar.

December 14: Atari chairman Jack Tramiel and president/CEO Sam Tramiel met with Jugi Tandon and T. David Mitchell at JTS. At this meeting, the parties discussed a potential investment by Atari in JTS and the possibility that Jack Tramiel would become a director of JTS. (1996 proxy)

December 15: Atari announced that the Jaguar 64 system would now be priced at $99, and for the Jaguar Atari announced the release of: Atari Karts, I-War (Imagitec Design), Fever Pitch Soccer, Supercross 3D

December 15: Atari president and CEO Sam Tramiel suffered a mild heart attack and spent two days at Stanford Medical Center. (source; source)

December: Atari contract programmer Francois Bertrand finalized Fight for Life for Jaguar. (source)

December 22: For the Jaguar CD Atari shipped Myst and Battlemorph (Attention to Detail). (source)

1996
January 2: Atari announced the new division, Atari Interactive, which would create titles for a variety of platforms and consoles such as Atari's Jaguar system, PC, Macintosh, the Internet and websites. Atari announced 4 Atari Interactive PC CD-ROM titles to ship first quarter 1996: Tempest 2000, Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods (Lore Design for Atari; never shipped), Baldies (never shipped), and FlipOut! (never shipped). Atari planned more Atari Interactive PC games based on other of its old games, including Missile Command, Crystal Castles, Asteroids, Pac-Man and Centipede; a total of 17 PC games were planned for release in 1996. (source) Ted Hoff remained president of Atari North American Operations.

January 5-8: In an off-site showing near the Winter CES in Las Vegas, Atari introduced the Atari Interactive PC CD-ROM titles Tempest 2000, Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods (Lore Design for Atari; never shipped), Baldies (never shipped), and FlipOut! (never shipped), each to ship First Quarter, 1996. Atari also announced the additional Atari Interactive titles: Missile Command 3D (never shipped), Return to Crystal Castles (never shipped), Interactive Rocky Horror Show (never shipped), Virtual War (never shipped). (source)

January 8: Jack Tramiel, Sam Tramiel and T. David Mitchell met at Jack Tramiel's home to further discuss a strategic transaction between Atari and JT Storage. (1996 proxy)

January 9: For the Jaguar Atari released Zoop (Hookstone via Viacom) and NBA Jam Tournament Edition (High Voltage Software). (source)

January 12: Atari programmer Jeff Minter departed the company (to VM Labs). (source)

January 12: Atari president of North American operations Ted Hoff would depart the company. (source)

January: At Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, Atari European product manager Darryl Still departed the company (to Electronic Arts) (source), and Atari European marketing manager Jean Richen also departed the company. Their roles would to be absorbed by Atari international distributor manager Paul Welch. (source)

January: Atari Interactive released Tempest 2000 (Llamasoft), conversion by Imagitec Design, for PC CD-ROM (DOS) (and also released Tempest 2000 demo, T2K_PC10.ZIP). Packages for North America and for the UK. It would be the only release by the Atari Interactive division of Atari.

January 15-16: Atari dismissed 20 employees. (source) January 15 departures included (source): Ron Beltramo (VP of Advertising and Merchandising), Greg LaBrec (creative services), Pilgrim Beart (senior engineer, advanced technology), Timothy Dunn (senior engineer, advanced technology). Other departures reported (source): Sandy LaBrec (administrative assistant), Dan McNamee (senior lead tester); and (source): Ted Tahquechi (senior producer). The departures included "all but two customer service employees, the entire creative services department and a good part of manufacturing, testing and producing. Only the accounting and warehouse areas remain intact." (source)

January 17: Garry Tramiel would return to Atari (source) as general manager, replacing president of North American operations Ted Hoff who departed the company (source) (Hoff's departure would be effective December 31, 1995 for financial purposes). (Sam Tramiel remained Atari president/CEO.)

January 17: A meeting was held at JT Storage to discuss the proposed transaction between Atari and JT Storage. Present at the meeting were Jack Tramiel, Sam Tramiel and Mr. Liguori of Atari and Mr. Tandon, Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Walker of JT Storage. Also present were representatives from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., counsel to Atari, and a representative of Cooley Godward, counsel to JT Storage. There was substantial discussion regarding a proposed merger of Atari and JT Storage. (1996 proxy)

January 18: Media report that John Skruch (software director) and Larry Pacey (executive producer) were now repsonsible for Atari's Jaguar and PC developments, respectively. (source)

February 5: JT Storage, Inc. established JTS Acquisition Corporation for the purpose of merging with Atari Corporation. (The two companies would proceed to merge, but this new corporate entity would not be used after all.)

February 8: Atari producer Tal Funke-Bilu departed the company (to Beyond Games). (source)

February 9: Most remaining testers and marketing personnel at Atari departed the company. (source) Departures would include test manager Blair Bullock (to GoRemote Internet Communications).

February 12: Date of Agreement and Plan of Reorganization by and among Atari, JTS and JTS Acquisition Corporation. (This original version would be replaced by the Amended and Restated Agreement and Plan of Reorganization of April 8, 1996.)

February 13: Date of Security Agreement by and between Atari and JTS. Atari Corporation loaned $25.0 million to JT Storage, Inc. Atari Corporation and JT Storage, Inc. (dba JTS) announced they had agreed to merge the two companies. The new corporation would operate under the name of JTS Corporation and the officers of JTS would become the officers of the merged company. The Atari entertainment business and the JTS disk drive business would operate as separate divisions of the new merged company. As a result of the transaction, Atari stockholders would hold approximately 60% of the outstanding shares of the new company following the merger. The transaction was structured to qualify as a tax-free reorganization and would be accounted for as a purchase. As reported by Multimedia Business Analyst (2/28/96): Atari's CFO August Liguori said that the Atari brand and software library would "continue to be used in the computer game environment". Atari still had games under development for both its Jaguar console and for the PC platform, he added. The company had recently launched its Atari Interactive division in a move into the PC CD-ROM software market and announced its first PC title, Tempest 2000. Sales of this title had so far proved disappointing.

February 14: Atari announced the release of Defender 2000 for Jaguar. Don Thomas was Atari Marketing Director. (source)

February 16: Date of lease agreement between Atari and Victor H. Owen and Judith Owen Burns 1990 Revocable Trust, dated December 27, 1990, Judith Owen Burns Trustee, for a five year lease to commence March 1, 1996 and end February 28, 2001, for Atari to occupy the 7,208 ft² freestanding concrete office building at 455 S Mathilda Ave, Sunnyvale CA.

February 22: Date of execution of Atari lease for 455 S Mathilda Ave, Sunnyvale CA. VP operations Laurence M. Scott signed for Atari.

Feb. 29-March 3: Atari moved from 1196 Borregas Ave, Sunnyvale CA to: 455 S Mathilda Ave, Sunnyvale CA (7,208 ft²). The ten offices in the new location were assigned to Jack Tramiel, Sam Tramiel, Leonard Tramiel, Garry Tramiel, Dave Schwartz, John Skruch, Donald A. Thomas, Scott Sanders, Max Fagan, and Gayle McKim. There were [also] nine cubicles divided among five persons. (source; source)

March 1: (effective date) Sam Tramiel, previously Atari director, President, and Chief Executive Officer, additionally became Chief Financial Officer (and also assumed treasurer and secretary responsibilities), replacing VP - Finance, CFO, Treasurer, and Secretary August Liguori who departed as an executive officer with the company (to be VP finance of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.). (Liguori was to remain an Atari director until the completion of the JTS merger.)

March 15: Atari shipped Attack of the Mutant Penguins, by Sunrise Games, for Jaguar.

March: Atari Vice President, Manufacturing and Operations Laury Scott departed the company (to join JT Storage as Vice President - Materials).

March 28: Articles of Incorporation of FilmMagic, Inc. were executed by Eric J. Lapp for Atari VP New Media Systems and Technology David Schwartz.

March 29: FilmMagic, Inc. was established. Initial agent for service of process: David M. Schwartz, c/o Atari Corporation, 455 South Mathilda Avenue, Sunnyvale CA.

March 29: Time Warner Inc. sold another 70,000 shares of its Atari Corporation stock, reducing its beneficial holdings of Atari to 8,600,000 shares. Specifically, 70,000 shares of Atari Common Stock were transferred along with all other assets of Atari Games Corporation to Williams Interactive, Inc.

March 31: Atari had approximately 25 employees in the U.S., including five in engineering and product development, 12 in marketing, sales and distribution, two in purchasing and six in general administration and management. In addition, Atari had six employees outside the United States. (10-K for 1995)

Winter/Spring: C-Lab shipped the Falcon MKX computer (licensed evolution of the Atari Falcon030).

April 4: $19.7 million of the $25 million Atari loan had been expended by JT Storage. (1996 proxy)

April 8: Date of Amended and Restated Agreement and Plan of Reorganization By and Between Atari Corporation and JT Storage, Inc. This revised (and final) Merger Agreement modified the legal structure of the merger agreement of February 12, 1996 into a merger of Atari with and into JT Storage, with JT Storage as the surviving company, to be renamed: JTS Corporation. This change in the legal structure of the merger did not materially modify the economic terms of the merger.

April 12: Atari Corporation subsidiaries, worldwide, consisted of: Atari (Benelux) B.V., Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited, and the (dormant) U.S. subsidiary, Atari Computer Corporation. (10-K for 1995)

April?: GameTek released Humans 3: Evolution - Lost In Time... by Atari, licensed to Imagitec Design, for Amiga, CD32, and PC. (source)

April 19: Atari released Fight for Life for the Jaguar (artwork by High Voltage Software). (source; source) It would be the final product release by Atari.

April 21: Computer Direct (of Canada) announced the DirecT40 and DirecT60 (clones of the Medusa Hades clones of the Atari TT). (source)

April 26: Sam Tramiel was Atari Corporation president, CEO and CFO (including treasurer/secretary responsibilities). Atari address: 455 S Mathilda Ave, Sunnyvale CA. Type of business: "Publisher and manufacturer of video game software and hardware products"

April 28: Atari relocated their warehouse from 390 Caribbean Dr, Sunnyvale CA to 691 Walsh Ave, Santa Clara CA. (source)

Spring: Sega released Arcade Classics (Pong, Missile Command, Centipede), developed by Al Baker and Associates, titles by Atari, for Genesis, Mega Drive, and Game Gear.

May 4-5: At the TOS Computing show in Hanover, Germany, Carasys / MW electronic / Medusa Computer Systems launched the Hades (32/64MHz 68040 or 60MHz 68060 based Atari TT clone, running a version of TOS based on Atari TOS 3.06; starting at 3.675, - DM). (source; source)

May 5: Computer Direct (of Canada) announced the release of the DirecT40 (33/66MHz 68040 based clone of the Medusa Hades clone of the Atari TT; standard configuration C$3799.99 or $2739.99) and the DirecT60 (60MHz 68060 based clone of the Medusa Hades clone of the Atari TT; C$4499.99 or $3239.99). (source)

May 16-18: At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center (which Atari did not attend), Interplay Productions announced Tempest X (title by Atari) for Sony PlayStation (would ship as: Tempest X3) and Sega Saturn (would ship as: Tempest 2000). (PR)

June 1: From the introduction of Jaguar in late 1993 through May 1996, Atari had sold approximately 135,000 units of Jaguar. Atari had approximately 90,000 units of Jaguar in inventory. As of May 31, 1996, Atari held over 150 patents in the United States and other jurisdictions which would expire from 1996 to 2010 and had applications pending for three additional patents. (1996 proxy)

June: The amount of the February 13, 1996 loan from Atari Corporation to JT Storage, Inc. was increased from $25 million to $30 million. (1996 proxy)

June 19: Atari had 22 employees, including 15 in the United States and seven outside the United States. (1996 proxy)

June 24: Atari Corporation had a single subsidiary: Atari Corp. (U.K.) Limited. (JTS Corp – ‘S-4’ )

June 28: Atari VP New Media Systems and Technology David Schwartz departed the company (and launched FilmMagic, Inc.). Between July 1994 and June 1996, Schwartz' team of software engineers and a film production company had developed the first Jaguar CD ROM GameFilm title, "American Hero", a Windows 95 runtime engine, as well as a prototype suite of software authoring tools. Schwartz had negotiated to leave Atari with an Asset Purchase and Licensing Agreement for the GameFilm technology. The Agreement transferred the new technology from Atari to FilmMagic for a cash price of $258,000. FilmMagic would change its name to ImaginOn, Inc. in October 1996, when Len Kain, part time consultant to Atari for the GameFilm project, would formally join the company. (source; source)

June 28: There were approximately 2,375 holders of record of Atari Common Stock and 63,854,718 shares of Atari Common Stock were issued and outstanding (and no share of Perferred Stock). (1996 proxy)

July 30: Atari Special Meeting held at the offices of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., 650 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, California, legal counsel to Atari, at 9:00 a.m.

Atari Corporation was merged with and into JTS Corporation. Approximately 63,850,000 shares of JTS Common Stock were issued to the former shareholders of Atari for all of the outstanding stock of Atari (1:1 ratio) (including the 8,600,000 shares of Atari held by Time Warner Inc.). Atari Common Stock was delisted from the American Stock Exchange at the end of the day. Financially, the merger was calculated as the acquisition of JTS by Atari for about $112.3 million. JTS would gain the Atari leases at 455 S Mathilda Ave, Sunnyvale CA (headquarters), at Santa Clara CA (warehouse), and Atari House in Slough England (international sales). See: A History of JT Storage / JTS

Atari History Timelines by Michael Current

A History of
Tramel Technology / Atari

Links

	Atari Explorer Publications, Corp.
	Styra Semiconductor Corporation

Atari History Timelines by Michael Current

A History ofTramel Technology / Atari

Links

A History of
Tramel Technology / Atari