Atari buys Intellivision, its rival in the 70s

Atari announced the acquisition of Intellivision Entertainment LLC, ending one of the first major rivalries in the gaming industry. The proposal is to keep the legacy of its former competitor alive, expanding the physical and digital catalog of its brands and even creating new titles based on its past franchises.

In 1979, the Atari VCS (later named Atari 2600) dominated the market and was the main video game available – being the dream of many at the time. However, this year the Amico appeared – an Intellivision table console that was produced by Mattel Electronics. Its launch divided the market and kept both in dispute.

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The acquisition includes the rights to 200 intellectual properties, both from the company’s portfolio and trademarks it has obtained over the years. Atari CEO Wade Rosen says that this way they will bring together all the elements to bring fans one of the main eras of video games back.

This is a rare opportunity to unite former competitors and bring together fans of Atari, Intellivision and the golden age of gaming

Wade Rosen

Intellivision CEO Phil Adam is confident that the acquisition will be positive for both brands – further expanding the catalog of their games in the current generation.

Atari has been a valued partner and we have every confidence that they will be responsible stewards of the storied Intellivision brand. We are looking to expand this collaboration and the prospect of bringing a wide range of new games to the Amico family gaming platform

Phil Adam

Recently they tried to revive the Amico console in a new version, but the initiative did not go ahead and they had to refund pre-sales to the public. In order not to miss the opportunity, they relaunched the platform as games for mobile devices.

Atari and Intellivision were the first “console war”

It is important to remember that if today we see PlayStation and Xbox competing for space in the industry, just as SEGA and Nintendo did in the 90s, it was Atari and Intellivision that started this movement in the late 70s and throughout the 80s.

At the time, actor and writer George Plimpton was hired by Intellivision and Mattel for a series of commercials that directly compared both systems. The dispute went far, with the professional starring in an eight-minute video during an edition of Gamescom and showing the superiority of the Amico compared to the Atari console.

Now, with Atari and Intellivision together, the first step has already been taken: new brand shirts are available on the Atari website and the promise is that more products such as clothing and collectibles will be available soon.

Font: Atari