atari posts

There are already a number of new MMO titles planned for launch here in the US in 2011 and today it was announced that one of them, Tera, will use Atari to distribute the game in the US. Atari of course has already had experience with releasing two MMO games on their own (Champions Online and Star Trek Online) and also recently distributed a boxed retail version of EVE Online.

Just a recap: the fantasy themed MMO Tera was first announced back in February 2010 is being developed by Korea-based Bluehole Studio. It's being co-developed and published by US-based En Masse Entertainment which was founded in part by the co-founder of ArenaNet Patrick Wyatt.

[Via email press release]

Ghostbusters Sanctum of Slime is due for release via download later this month from publisher Atari. The company released its first dev diary trailer for the game this week that goes over the basic storyline for the movie-based action game.

As you will see in the trailer above, this new game focuses on a new team of Ghostbusters fighting off a huge supernatural menace. However the game will features\ characters and locations from the Ghostbusters movies while also having the new rookie team using their proton packs on various supernatural entities. The game is due for release for the PC and other platforms on March 23.

Jack Emmert, perhaps the most well known of the faces behind Cryptic Studios, is now the game developer's new CEO. It's parent company Atari announced today that Emmert would take over the position of CEO following the departure of John Needham who is leaving "to pursue other opportunities within the games industry." Emmert was previously Cryptic's Chief Operating Officer

Emmert co-founded Cryptic and helped to design its first game, the MMO City of Heroes which was later purchased by its publisher NCsoft. Atari purchased Cryptic in 2008 and launched two more MMOs for the publisher; Champions Online in 2009 and Star Trek Online in 2010. Cryptic is currently working on the non-MMO fantasy RPG Neverwinter as well as at least one unannounced game for Atari.

[Via email press release]

The classic Ghostbusters arcade game has four-player co-op, and the newest game in the movie-related franchise is continuing the tradition. This trailer for Sanctum of Slime has it all. Points! Multiple players! Ghosts! Actually, we're not quite sure it has it all, but it certainly does show a strong sense of arcade mechanics. Given the slightly poor reception of the Ghostbusters game, this might be a good thing.

The Ghostbusters are once again ready to put on their proton packs and start trapping some spirits. Atari announced today that the downloadable action game Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime will be released via download for the PC on March 23.

While this is the second game that Atari has published that features the famous movie comedy ghost hunting and trapping team this second effort won't have the voices of the movie cast this time. Developed by Behavior Studios, the game features the player as a rookie ghostbuster ready to, well, bust some more New York City ghosts. The top-down action game also features four-player co-op which you can check out in the new trailer after the jump:

[Via email press release]

Test Drive Unlimited 2 has had some launch pains as the open world driving game from developer Eden Games and publisher Atari has been dealing with a number of issues since it was first released earlier this month. Today a post on the game's official message board reveals that players of the game will be getting some compensation for all of the game's launch issues.

Specifically, the post states that the first premimum DLC pack for Test Drive Unlimited 2 will now be provided to its players for free. The post states,"The Exploration Pack contains new wrecks to be discovered that unlock the Lancia Stratos version Rallye and 1969 Dodge Charger." There's no word on when the DLC pack will be released. The post also contains a list of all of the issues in the game that have been fixed. You can check out the list after the jump:

Champions Online went to the free-to-play route in late January and so far the switch for the super hero MMO from developer Cryptic Studios has proven, at least so far, to be a big success. According to a press release from publisher Atari, the game has seen increases in "online concurrent user, unique login and revenue totals by over 1,000 percent" since the switch. (Specific numbers were not revealed).

This is just the latest example of an MMO game that has seen better success after switching from a subscription only business model to a free-to-play model. Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online have both reported much more interest in the game since going the free-to-play route.

Atari is the latest game publisher to reveal its financial numbers. The company announced that for the nine month period that ended on December 31, 2010 it had 41 million euros in revenues. While that's a decline of 55.7 percent compared to the same period a year ago Atari said those results were within its expectations.

Atari's latest game, the open world driving title Test Drive Unlimited 2, was released last week. It has a number of downloadable PC games due out in the next few months including remakes of Star Raiders and Yars Revenge along with Dungeons and Dragons Daggerdale and Ghostbusters Sanctum of Slime. It's next major retail game release will be The Witcher 2 in mid-May.

Saturday we posted up word on various online connection issues that player of Test Drive Unlimited 2 were experienced following the open world driving game's release earlier this week. Now the game's official message boards have a new update that states progress is being made on correcting the connectivity and DLC problems.

According to the note from developer Eden Studios, the development team is " ... working around the clock to continue optimizing the game. As with many large multiplayer and MMO launches, the initial rush of new players into the game revealed a variety of issues that are now mostly addressed." While adding that the team will continue to address any more problems that come up, " ... most of you should be able to play the game without issues."

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is having some engine problems since the open world driving game was released earlier this week. The game from developer Eden Studios and publisher Atari has been plagued with online connection problems and other bugs that are causing lots of players to flood the game's official message board.

In a post on those forums the game's producer David Nadal stated on Friday, "We are aware of the issues that some of our players are encountering. The development team is working around the clock to rectify the situation and provide players with the ultimate Test Drive Unlimited 2 experience. We appreciate your patience and your continued passion and will be updating you on the progress." The forums have launched a section dedicated to the issues found specifically for the PC version along with updates on when they will be fixed. At the time of this post the online multiplayer servers are up but are being monitored. Other game features such as the casino access and clubs are offline.