Videogame maker Atari, which delighted a generation with vintage masterpieces such as Pong, Centipede and Lunar Lander, is immersed in its own life and death struggle.
With arcade games predating the birth of many current generation PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Wii players, the US subsidiary and French parent of the modern Atari are finding it hard to secure investments needed to enjoy a profitable presence in the modern landscape of mobile and downloadable video games.
The result is a delicate financial manoeuvre by both sections of the business in the US and France involving separate bankruptcy proceedings designed to help refinance rather than end their businesses.
Atari, which turned 40 last year, in the US has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to effect this while the French parent company has filed a similar motion separately in France.
Chief executive Jim Wilson said the moves were the "best decision to protect the firm and its shareholders." The auction process in US bankruptcy proceedings will "maximise the proceeds" going to shareholders, he added.
Atari is no stranger to the roller coaster of success and failure. The failures include the mass burial in the New Mexico Desert of what were believed to be several million unsold copies of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial -- one of the biggest flops in gaming history. Fast forward to this year: Atari's US operations have shifted to focus on digital games and licensing, including developing mobile games, and have become a growth engine for its owner.
France's Infogrames Entertainment first took a stake in Atari in 2000. It acquired the remaining stake in 2008 and changed its name to Atari.
But the US operations have been better performing than the rest of the company.
