Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari SA.

History

The original Atari Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles, and home computers. The company's products, such as PONG and the Atari 2600, helped define the computer entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid 1980s.

Recently, Atari's top-selling titles have been the Dragon Ball Z games based on the popular anime license from Toei Animation in Japan. These include the Budokai video game series for next-generation console systems and the The Legacy of Goku video game series for the Game Boy Advance. These games have topped the best-seller charts for numerous console platforms since the release of Atari's first Dragon Ball Z game, The Legacy of Goku in 2002, which was the first Dragon Ball game to be made by an American company, Webfoot Technologies, and is one of the best-selling Game Boy Advance games of all time (#16). The best selling Budokai video game series is developed in Japan by Dimps and includes Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3. Atari has also released Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi and its sequel, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, which is a separate video game series from the Budokai video game series. Following the success of the Budokai and Legacy of Goku video game series, Atari has released numerous other Dragon Ball titles including Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2, Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, Dragon Ball GT: Transformation, Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure, and Super Dragon Ball Z.

In July 2009, Atari lost its gaming license to Namco Bandai Games.