When a long-standing feud comes to a conclusion, it’s always exciting to see how it happens. One such event has just recently occurred. Atari and Intellivision, the two companies that engaged in what many see as the first game industry console war, have now become one. More accurately, Atari has now purchased and owns the Intellivision brand and the rights to 200 games under the Intellivision title. Whether that means Atari won in the end is up to personal interpretation, but now the two have become one.
Atari and Intellivision’s feud ranges all the way back to the 70s when Intellivision presented a competitor to the 1977 Atari 2600. The Intellivision home video console was released in 1979, and the brand was backed by Mattel, meaning competition between the two was stiff. That was also the birth of what is believed to be the longest-running console war of the gaming industry, clocking in at 45 years.
For a more modern-day look at Atari. Originally founded in 1972, Atari is now owned by the French company Atari SA, formerly Infogames. Most of the games in Atari’s catalog are ones that would be considered retro by the common viewer, and classics to the more invested fans. Some of these familiar titles are Pong, Asteroids, and Ms. Pac-Man – the Atari 2600 port of the original game was often derided as removing much of what had made the original great.
Now, with the companies access to the Intellivision brand, there might be a resurgence of some of their more popular titles. Atari has stated intentions to produce more physical copies of Intellivision games and make them more accessible digitally. However, the biggest move that Atari and Intellivision will be making in the near future is the new Amico console being developed by Intellivision. The console is a family friendly oriented console designed to to be used along with a phone app. Originally the console was slated to be released in 2020. Needless to say complications arose and a release date has not been set. Atari didn’t purchase the Amico, meaning it has to be renamed before it is released. As a consultation, Atari will be able to license the Intellivision library of the console whenever it is released.
With all that, the longest console war in history ends with the opponents joining together. Hopefully, it was a successful solution for the parties involved.