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Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited Goes Live

Nathan Grayson — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:34:23 -0500

After all those hip, flashy – even a bit sexy – delays and lawsuits, we nearly forgot that there was actually a game attached to this Dungeons & Dragons Online business. But there is! And it’s good! So when Turbine sent us a press release heralding the free-to-play MMO’s launch, we decided to pass the “hear ye, hear ye” onto you, our lovely readers.

“Today Turbine changes the way gamers experience their online entertainment by providing them with a choice in how they pay and play for a premium MMO,” said Jim Crowley, CEO of Turbine, Inc. “The DDO Unlimited Beta program has been a huge success and the initial response to the game from both press and players has been nothing short of phenomenal. In response, we have already more than doubled our capacity to handle the increased demand.”

Want to know more about the game? Go here. If you’ve already loaded up on potions and traded your real-life D&D buddies for a decent gaming rig, however, your quest is nearly at an end. Just head over to DDO’s website, download the game client, and enjoy!

Atari Calls DDO Lawsuit "Frivolous," Seeks to Dismiss

Nathan Grayson — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:58:49 -0500

What? Were you expecting Atari put on an impish grin and let an, “Oops! You got me!” while a studio audience chortled in the background? Nope – in response to Turbine’s recent lawsuit over a purported Dungeons & Dragons Online contract breach, Atari’s firing back. The gist of the publisher’s argument: Whatchu talkin’ ‘bout, Turbine?

“Last week, with no warning, Turbine filed what can only be viewed as a frivolous lawsuit against Atari. This action can ultimately do a great disservice to D&D fans and to the MMO community at large. Turbine’s actions also appear intended to divert attention from the contractual obligations that Turbine owes to Atari,” said a prepared statement by Atari.

“In response, today Atari served a motion to dismiss the entirety of Turbine's lawsuit. Atari also filed a separate complaint to recover monies owed to Atari resulting from an independent third party audit of Turbine. While Atari hopes for a quick and fair resolution, it remains fully committed to the D&D communities worldwide and will vigorously protect the franchise and its own integrity in this matter.”

This may be a contract dispute, but we’re thinking Atari and Turbine might as well invite their divorce lawyers over while they’re at it. We just can’t see this ending with the two companies on decent terms. Hurt feelings and bruised egos, here we come!

Dungeons & Litigations: DDO Developer Sues Atari

Nathan Grayson — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:04:54 -0500

Atari, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do. Or you will, anyway, if Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine’s argument holds any water. The developer alleges that it came home from work one evening, only to find Atari in the arms of another D&D MMO. It seems, then, that trouble’s been brewing for a little while, as you’ll remember that we reported on the rumor of a Neverwinter Nights MMO a few months ago.

Citing what’s presumably that unconfirmed NWN MMO, Turbine has thrown the legal equivalent of a magic missile at Atari, accusing the publisher of fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. The gist of it goes like this: Atari allegedly planned to “terminate” its agreement with Turbine under false pretenses. Turbine suspected that Atari would “either terminate Turbine as part of a shakedown, or proceed with termination in bad faith to benefit from its own competing product at Turbine's expense.” That “competing product” is, in all likelihood, the NWN MMO.

On top of that, Turbine claims that Atari “failed to devote necessary resources” to Dungeons & Dragons Online, and “breached the agreements by accepting payments - including future royalty payments - in return for extending their relationship and paving the way for the launch of Turbine's free-to-play ‘DDO: Unlimited’ service, though Atari knew it would not perform its obligations under the agreements and knew it would pretextually seek to declare Turbine in breach of the agreements.”

Long story short: things are about to get ugly. How ugly? Well, why don’t you ask 3D Realms and Take-Two? We hear that “breach of contract” stuff flies really well in their parts.

Atari Accuses Non-Gaming Senior Citizens of Software Piracy

Paul Lilly — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:55:20 -0600

Taking a page from the RIAA -- whose umbrella of accusations have included suing an 83-year-old deceased woman (going for a default judgment, perhaps?) -- Atari has gone on the offensive by sending out letters threatening legal action against those who are believed to be downloading and sharing games online.

Among the recipients are Gill (age 54) and Ken Murdoch (age 66), a pair of senior citizens residing in Scotland who are being accused of stealing the game Race 07. To avoid legal action, they've been asked to pay what amounts to $815USD. The only problem? The Murdoch's claim they don't play videogames.

"We do not have, and have never had, any computer game or sharing software," the couple said. "We did not even know what 'per to peer' was until we received the letter."

According to DailyTech, it appears Atari has hired anti-piracy firm Logistep to round up IP addresses of those it believes are pirating videogames. But just as the RIAA has found out, sweeping allegations based on IP addys alone can sometimes lead to false positives, and with it a public outcry. With regards to the Murdochs, Atari dropped the case in the wake of negative publicity, but its legal campaign marches on.

Should Atari receive the same scorn the RIAA has received? Hit the jump and sound off.

Image Credit: Atari UK

Happy 30th Birthday, Atari 2600!

Mark 'Marcus Soperus' Soper — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:28:05 -0500

Believe it or not, it's been 30 years since the Atari 2600 (also known as the Atari VCS "Video Computer System") first saw the light of day. The 2600/VCS helped turn video games from a narrow niche market into a mass market: over 30 million units through 1977 through 1992, although its biggest sales numbers were piled up from the late 1970s through about 1983, when more powerful consoles from Atari itself (the 5200 SuperSystem), Coleco (remember the Colecovision?) and Nintendo Entertainment System began to shunt it aside, and gamers began to discover that computers like the Atari 400/800 and Commodore 64 also made good gaming platforms.

Atari Showed the Industry How (and How Not) to Play

As befits an industry colossus, Atari set the pace for an entire industry:

Hits

The Atari 2600 showed the infant gaming industry the power of licensing arcade titles. The hottest arcade titles of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Defender, Stargate and others were broght home by Atari. Atari also boasted arcade and home gaming: Centipede and Missile Command were just two of Atari's own titles to play well in both environments.

Inspirations

Atari helped launch the third-party controller business, in part because of the poor responsiveness and durability of its own joysticks. Although Wico and other 2600-era controller companies are long gone (but some vendors still have inventory), companies like Logitech continue the tradition of providing alternatives for both consoles and PCs.

Atari fueled the rise of third-party game providers by refusing name credit to some of its best early programmers, four of whom formed Activision. Activision often beat Atari at its own game, and (unlike the original Atari), has continued into the present (today's Atari is a subsidiary of InfoGrames).

Misses

Atari was the victim of its own success: too many mediocre (Journey Escape) to outright unplayable (ET) titles for Atari 2600 and cartridge overproduction was one factor in the bursting of the video game bubble in 1982-83. Although Atari would produce other game systems and computers, it was never an industry leader again.

Lessons Learned - and Relearned

The Atari 2600 is more than a classic game system. Its rise and fall have important lessons for today's gamers.

The platform matters...

Although programming geniuses could squeeze amazing graphics out of the Atari 2600's 128 bytes of RAM (yes, bytes), it soon became apparent that more RAM (and ROM) made better games easier to create. Although the Atari 5200 never achieved more than a fraction of the 2600's popularity, its larger RAM and ROM space (similar to those of the Atari 400) made it easier to create arcade-quality versions of Pac-Man and other classics. The rise of even more powerful Colecovision and Nintendo game systems would provide further proof.

...But So Do the Programmers

Although the video game boom of the early 1980s led to many mediocre to terrible Atari 2600 titles, the best of them (Pitfall, Star Raiders, River Raid, and Demon Attack to name a few) are still worth playing.

Sometimes You Need a Keyboard...

Atari helped launch PC gaming by putting some of its classic licensed and original titles on its 400/800 computers and their successors.

Have You Played Atari Today?

Even if you never had a 2600/VCS console, you can still play many of Atari's greatest hits (and third-party titles) today. Today's Atari has republished many classic titles in various collections for PC, and other vendors offer TV-ready joysticks with Atari games already onboard, ready for a 'blast from the past.' The AtariAge website offers a huge number of resources, including downloadable ROM images of virtually all Atari-brand and many third-party Atari games for the 2600 and its successors, emulators, and rare prototype and abandoned game projects.

Atari Packrat Looks for a Paycheck

Paul "One4yu2c" Lilly — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:21:10 -0500

Remember when your parents made you toss out your stash of comic books, baseball cards, or whatever else you collected as a kid (btw, anyone remember Garbage Pail Kids?)? Against your will, you obliged knowing it was a mistake to do so. And if you happened to collect 1980s artwork of, say, Atari games, you can rectify that mistake by buying back your collection, all you need is a spare $100K or so lying around.

It all started when Cort Allen, now 60 years old, went in search of furniture for his new company two decades ago. At the same time, Atari was closing shop in Sunnyvale, and Cort stumbled upon workers clearing out office cabinents in preparation for selling them. Before they could toss the contents, Cort nabbed the cabinets up, 40 in all, for just $2 each (put the abacus away, that comes to $80). A deal in its own right, it's what's inside that would ultimately become a nostalgiac gold mine.

Inside those cabinents Cort found 350 pounds of 8-bit artwork, including drafts for game manuals, box art, and even 20-year old drawings of Donkey Kong and Mario that are markedly different than how the notorious caricatures appear today. Most of us have long since said goodbye to our repository of retro reading material, but because Cort held onto his, he could find himself considerably richer, as in, six digits more.

You'll need to register with Sotheby's to view the auction details, or jump over to BugMeNot and skip the registration hoop.

That's right, Sotheby's auction house of New York, the second oldest international auction establishment in existence (according to Wikipedia), estimated the 2,200 piece collection would bring in anywhere from $150K to $250K. The only thing missing is a buyer, and though the auction brought in lots of interest (and bidders), the reserve price was never reached. What exactly was the reserve set at? Mums the word, though we can hazard a guess it appeared closer to the $150K mark than a sub $100K spot. And while you may scoff at such a high estimation, consider that the collection includes one-of-a-kind drawings from not just Atari relics, but early Nintendo renderings of two of the most famous videogame characters that make up the face of the franchise. For sports fans, that's the the geek equivalent of owning a Little League baseball card of Michael Jordan pulled straight from his mother's nightstand, right along with the order form and receipt.

Whatever the collection ends up being worth, there's a definite lesson to be learned here. If, or when, you have kids, let them box up their childhood fads instead of tossing them in the dumpster. Then they can pay for their own college.