Watch the video documentary and complete the gaps

0:07

This is the first installment of a

0:09

series that I'm really excited .

0:11

This is the first episode of the history

0:14

of tech, and this one is the history of

0:17

Atari. In , video games were not yet

0:20

mainstream. The markets were just forming,

0:22

and names like Atari were just names

0:23

talked about a close-knit group of

0:25

people. That soon changed when, on June

0:28

27th, , Ted Dabney and Nolan Bushnell

0:31

started the computer game company that

0:34

would be and loved as Atari. The

0:37

name came from a form of the

0:39

popular strategy game Go. The first game,

0:42

was made prior to and was Computer,

0:45

Space, which was loosely based off Steve

0:47

Russell's game of . Five months

0:51

later, the company really would release a

0:53

game would change the fabric of

0:55

gaming: Pong.

0:57

This first iteration of Pong was in,

1:00

upright, front form and it was only

1:01

available in . Atari were to

1:04

release a few other games in the next

1:05

few years, but all would be in the

1:07

classic arcade style machines. In ,

1:11

Atari started an effort to create a

1:13

flexible platform could play all of

1:15

their existing games. The result was the

1:18

Atari Video Computer System, or the .

1:21

Chances are you haven't heard of the VCS,

1:24

but we'll get into that in a second. The

1:27

VCS would become

1:28

influential products of the early,

1:30

technology age and would spawn the

1:32

modern video gaming era as we know it. So,

1:35

what happened? Well, the

1:37

revolutionary product, Bushnell knew that

1:40

the small company could not afford to

1:41

put the console into production.

1:43

Then came the inevitable: Atari would

1:45

have to be , which now sold

1:48

Atari to Warner Communications for a

1:49

cool million dollars. Then

1:52

in December of , Bushnell was fired,

1:55

after disagreements with how the company

1:56

was run. Next, the company to make

1:59

a successor to the VCS. The company

2:01

decided the best console that it

2:05

could possibly could. This was during the

2:06

home computer boom though, so they took

2:09

the new product, added a and

2:11

inputs and made the Atari

2:13

along with his smaller sister system, the .

2:15

The systems never really caught on

2:18

to the levels of success of the,

2:20

Apple 2. , next the company

2:22

released the , which was a successor,

2:25

to the VCS and so they changed the name,

2:28

of the VCS to the . The 5200 was very

2:33

disappointing though as the games were

2:34

not backwards compatible with the 2600,

2:36

the controllers were , and the

2:38

glant game library was not expansive.

2:40

Still, the Atari division of Warner

2:42

Communications accounted for a third of,

2:45

the company's profits. However, despite

2:47

initial success, Atari never

2:48

replicate success of the much adored 2600

2:50

Then, the video game crash of ,

2:55

occurred and stock prices from $60,

2:58

to $ With Nintendo's rapid Japanese,

3:01

success, it seemed that Atari was one

3:03

foot in the grave. In a way, that ,

3:06

Warner Atari to Trammel Technology.

3:09

The name then changed to Atari

3:11

Corporation, and Warner to the

3:13

video game division until they sold it

3:15

to Namco in . Atari Corp would then

3:18

work primarily on computers and released

3:20

the Atari ST, which had a ,

3:23

system in 1986; , the company's...

3:26

company looked promising once more,

3:28

when they released two new consoles: the

3:30

2600 Jr. and the . The next exciting,

3:35

thing came in when Atari

3:37

the handheld color gaming system

3:39

as the Atari Lynx. The company

3:42

to get the parts necessary to

3:44

international production by the

3:45

that year. With this and

3:48

the added factor of the

3:50

Nintendo Game Boy, which

3:52

colorless was cheaper and had a

3:53

battery life, Atari never saw much

3:56

success from the Lynx, which could have

3:57

been such a promising product. Atari

4:01

would then come as much to sue Nintendo

4:03 over having a monopoly but, of

4:05 course, the plea . Then, in

4:08 1993, Atari released its last console,

4:10 through Jaguar. It had a ,

4:13 architecture, the only one of its time,

4:14 but it sold very poorly. It'd be the last,

4:18 American console produced until the Xbox.

4:20 This was pretty much the final nail in

4:22 the coffin, and the company was once

4:24 again this

4:26 and to Hasbro and only its assets and,

4:29 name in 1998. , after Infogrames

4:33 bought Atari from Hasbro, the company

4:35 announced two new

4:36 games. They renamed the company as Atari,

4:39 Division Atari Incorporated and

4:41 out the rest of the shares making it

4:43 privately owned.

4:44 On October 8, 2008, then in Infogrames

4:47 announced that it would change the,

4:48 entire company's name to Atari SA. The

4:52 company was temporarily into

4:54 , and then entered into casino

4:56 audiences with Atari Casino. ,

4:58 these efforts would pretty much go,

5:00 unnoticed as Atari days of being a big,

5:02 player are inevitably over.

5:05 the company did to make the video game

5:06 industry, it is sad to see that the once

5:09 beloved Atari has moved on to the great

5:11 cloud in the sky. Only memories and the

5:14 results of people that truly care about

5:15 the art of retro gaming will remember

5:17 the Atari. And in 50 years and in my

5:20 opinion, nothing can be

5:22 the things that caused generations so,

5:24 much happiness to simply fade into being

5:27 obsolete. Comment down below to tell me,

5:3 what tech stories you'd like to see me

5:32 do next.