PONG RENAISSANCE? JAKKS BRINGS BACK ATARI.Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer MALIBU - The primitive electronic sounds, the blocky 8-bit graphics and the red fire button that was ardently depressed by Atari addicts around the world is making a comeback. Toy-maker Jakks Pacific JAKKS Pacific, Inc. NASDAQ: JAKK is is a multi-brand company that designs and markets a broad range of toys and consumer products and is based in Malibu, California. Its product categories include action figures, art activity kits, stationery, writing instruments, performance said Tuesday that it will introduce the Atari 10-in-1 TV Games this summer, a plug-and-play gaming system that reintroduces the crude, two-dimensional gaming platform launched in the late 1970s. The system - expected to retail for $20 - will take the form of a joystick that can be plugged directly into the TV. Among the vintage games built right into the system: Centipede centipede, common name for members of a single class, Chilopoda, of the phylum Arthropoda. Centipedes are the most familiar of the myriapodous arthropods, which consist of five groups of arthropods that had a separate origin from other arthropods. , Asteroids This is a list of numbered minor planets, nearly all of them asteroids, in sequential order. As of late September 2007 there are 164,612 numbered minor planets, and many more not yet numbered. Most asteroids are ordinary and not particularly noteworthy. , Missile Command Missile Command is a 1980 arcade game by Atari Inc. that was also licensed to Sega for European release. The plot of Missile Command is simple: the player's six cities are being attacked by an endless hail of ballistic missiles, some of them even splitting like , Battlezone, Adventure, Combat and four other classics that haven't been disclosed. ``This gaming system is going to have nostalgic appeal among people that grew up in the 1980s,'' said Brett Hendrickson, analyst with B. Riley & Company in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . ``I wonder if they're going to have Frogger on the system?'' Malibu-based Jakks announced its Atari deal a day after the company said its Toymax International subsidiary inked an agreement with Nickelodeon to make a video game machine for children. Toymax has a licensing agreement with Infogrames Interactive, Inc. to develop and market the Atari product. Toymax will develop and market the Atari system and a video game machine that will be based on Nickelodeon programs. Though Jakks is currently in a quiet period due to its secondary offering that was announced April 23, Stephen Berman, president and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , said in a statement that the retro graphics and sounds that Atari introduced decades ago is ``a perfect match for the new platform.'' Wall Street has lauded Jakks' ability to utilize its subsidiaries and relationships with other companies to create successful products. Hendrickson said it's a classic Jakks move to purchase a company like Toymax, which was acquired at the beginning of the year, and transform a sleeper into a producer. ``This Atari platform is a good example of how Jakks has good judgment,'' he said. The games based on Jakks' Nickelodeon deal will access characters like ``Blue's Clues Blue's Clues is a children's show about a dog named Blue. It features live action one on one on paper-cutout animation. The series follows a dog named Blue through her everyday life, providing small children with fun and education. The show airs on both Nick Jr. and Noggin. ,'' ``Dora The Explorer'' and ``Rugrats.'' The platform will utilize the same technology as the Atari product. Dennis McAlpine, an analyst with McAlpine Associates in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , said he's confident the Atari product will be well-received by consumers. ``And it's a lot cheaper than going out and buying an expensive platform,'' he said. The company has yet to disclose the locations of where the Atari product will be sold. Hendrickson said he thinks the product would do well at Circuit City and Best Buy. ``I'm not sure how aggressive Jakks will be in selling the product, but they should be a little more grass-roots to convince the retailers there is retro appeal,'' he said. It shouldn't be difficult to win the hearts of consumers as Atari has been etched in video gamer's minds for several decades. The Atari Historical Society said people stood in line for nearly two hours during the Christmas season of 1975 to sign up on the waiting list for an Atari Home Pong (games) Pong - A computer game invented in 1972 by Atari's Nolan Bushnell. The game is a minimalist rendering of table tennis. Each of the two players are represented as a white slab, controllable by a knob, which deflects a bouncing ball. . Jakks shares rose 23 cents to $17.93 Tuesday. |
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