The thought I posed to Atari CEO Wade Rosen this previous spring was easy: We’d discover a spot to sit down down on the gaming convention we have been each attending in Las Vegas. I’d open my laptop computer to a listing of each recreation Atari had revealed since he took cost in 2021. We’d discuss every one, so as.
This was a probably time-consuming undertaking. The Atari of the final 5 years has been prolific, publishing almost one recreation a month. We’d have an hour, max. We’d want to speak about greater than 50 video games.
I additionally wasn’t certain if it’d be awkward. Atari had tried a whole lot of issues in recent times. Some releases, such because the Atari 50 retro assortment, have been apparent hits, however there’d been a whole lot of misses. I wasn’t certain how he’d deal with discussing the flops.
Fortunately, Rosen was recreation, refreshingly so.
Throughout two interviews—one carried out in Vegas final April and a second by way of a video name in October—Rosen and I coated almost each Atari-published recreation for the reason that begin of his run. That’s 61 video games, from September 2021’s Centipede Recharged by means of right this moment’s Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered.
We’d discuss…
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Video games like Atari Mania that Rosen thinks missed the mark (“It must be extra enjoyable than it’s, in candor”)
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And video games like Atari 50 that hit it (“That is in all probability my favourite recreation that we’ve finished since I’ve been right here.”)
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The sport that was pitched to Rosen as “Missile Command combined with Inscryption”
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And why Atari didn’t delay the Metroidvania that they launched final 12 months on the identical day as Silksong
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We mentioned when Steam opinions are a great proxy for gross sales… and once they’re not
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When he’s let a dev group proceed with a recreation which may not be a giant money-maker
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Plus a lot, rather more.
Even if you happen to’ve not stored up with trendy Atari, I believe you’ll be concerned about how this dialog tracks an organization looking for its means, one recreation at a time.
I’ve by no means finished an interview fairly like this.