Major Empire Interactive Titles, Including Animal Paradise, Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams, Pipe Mania, Unsolved Crimes and Other Soon to be Announced Titles to be Exclusively Distributed by Atari, Inc.

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New York - Video game publisher Atari (NASD: ATAR), which last week agreed to merge with its major shareholder, France-based Infogrames, announced on Friday that the Nasdaq has delisted its shares, effective today.

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In November, Atari (ATAR) was flatlining; it posted a $11.9 million quarterly loss and said that there was 'substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.' That was before it stopped developing games. And then its CEO quit.

Now Infogrames, Atari's majority shareholder and the owner of the "Unreal" series, says its buying the rest of Atari for $11 million. They've also agreed to float Atari a $20 million loan to cover day-to-day operations until the deal is finalized.

Atari isn't the only game publisher in trouble. Even a popular franchise like "Tomb Raider" wasn't enough to keep SCi from seeking a lifeline from Time Warner (TWX) and a wealthy English investor last week.

Atari is the maker of the first modern video game console, but it was pushed out of that business in the early 90s. Its last console was the Atari Jaguar, released in 1993. Rumor is Infogrames may take the Atari name, but then the question is, does the Atari name still have any cachet with gamers?

See Also:
Lara Croft Saved? SCi Raising $119M From Time Warner, Others (TWX)
Lara Croft On Life Support? SCi Interactive Needs A Buyer

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It’s been another incredible month for stocks, and especially for those on my watch list. With rare exception, stocks of all shapes and sizes are getting pummeled and are presenting us with great buying opportunities for those with a long term investment horizon. I recently wrote that now was a fantastic time to buy shares of companies you have been watching and where the fundamentals present an excellent risk/reward scenario. My watch list is no different, and this month I have a broad range of stocks that I am looking at for possible inclusion into the PeakStocks.com portfolio. These stocks enter and exit my Top 5 as constant fluctuations in both price, market conditions, and business fundamentals constantly alter the investment thesis. Today I wanted to[More...]

A precipitous drop in share price of some of the stocks that I have, and will continue to recommend, on PeakStocks.com is not uncommon.In fact, on my Investing Style page, I outline the risk factors that come with investing in these types of stocks, and the fact that you have to be prepared to lose 50% of your investment in rapid fire succession.Most of these names are usually thinly traded, have small market caps, and can be influenced through various events, most of which have nothing at all to do with the actual company and its operations or financial condition.The same can be said of the latest share price decline in uWink ( Nasdaq: UWKI.OB). [More...]

It’s time to go Hollywood! [More...]

Good morning. Along with more earnings reports, investors have a lot of mixed economic data to keep them busy ahead of tomorrow's jobs report. At 10:AM we also have reports on construction spending and the ISM. [More...]

from Louis Jacobs of Theflyonthewall.com

Nintendo’s Risks Reap Big Rewards

In the competitive video game market, there are three main players: Nintendo (NTDOY), Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNE). Nintendo is the oldest player of the three, beating out old timers like Atari (ATAR). Sony blasted into the scene in 1994 with the Playstation, which is the best selling game console of all time. Microsoft also joined in and put up a respectable challenge with the Xbox system. All the while, Nintendo lagged behind with their Nintendo64 and Game Cube systems, which were more geared towards a younger market rather than the traditional gamers.

The tables have now turned. Nintendo’s revolutionary Wii system has been outselling both competitors by wide margins. Wii is revolutionary in the sense that it uses a motion control wireless controller that is based on human body movements whereas the new generation Microsoft and Sony systems use traditional game pads.

Nintendo took a big risk for their new system with their innovative controller when the other systems were continuing with the more traditional route and focusing on the already established gamer demographic: teenage males. The risk seems to have paid off as Nintendo broadened the market by generating interest outside the $13 billion video traditional market.

The Wii is outselling Microsoft’s Xbox 360 by almost a million units even though the Xbox 360 was launched a year earlier. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has lagged even further behind, selling 3.6 million units compared to Wii’s 10 million.

But while Wii has been a hit with the casual newcomer gamers, it has not fared quite as well with the traditional demographic. Part of this reason is that Wii games have scored so poorly on reviews. William Usher of cinemablend.com, an entertainment website, opines that some of Wii’s titles are some of the worst game releases of the year and have terrible reviews. Usher also believes that true gamers must be louder against publishers who are making these poor-quality titles and trying to cash in on the casual gamer.

“Casual gamers” don’t seem to care much about “quality titles” as they keep snapping up Wiis. Regardless of what critics like Usher say, Nintendo and its game publishers are laughing all the way to the bank with their strategy while Sony and Microsoft, who are staying within their traditional niche, are lagging far behind.

Elizabeth Harrow takes a look at news on the Street before the market opens.

Atari, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:ATAR) was King in the early 1980's but now with debt and lack of new creative game titles, shares stand at $1.66.  Every Game Company stock has been making news and cashing in: Activision (ATVI), Midway (MWY), Take-Two (TTWO), Nintendo (NTDOY), and even Microsoft (MSFT). 

So why can't the original game maker come back to life?  How is it that even late comer Bill Gates and Co. can throw a new game system and make Master Chief more popular than Harry Pitfall?

Activision which was once a game studio that put out Pitfall for Atari back in the day, now commands a $7.7 billion market cap and since Nov 26th its shares have surged 36% to $26.50 on the Vivendi deal.  Midway shares just jumped 47% since Dec 4th and Take-Two is up 21% since Nov 27th. The Wii has taken Nintendo to the promise land and the Halo series and the XBOX 360 has put Microsoft back into the $30 share level.  Then there's the company that started it all, Atari, they can hardly finance their day to day operations.  Their latest game title is yet another play on Godzilla.  GODZILLA UNLEASHED for crying out loud?  Did anyone question the management or the creative team that thought up this outdated and lame concept!? 
"Okay guys I got it.  Let's bring back Godzilla.  Now I know it sucked in that Matthew Broderick version a few years ago but hear me out, this time we let the guy playing the game actually be Godzilla.  Huh, huh, you with me! (a series of nodding heads around the room)."

Godzilla is about as cool to gamers as the recent Hanna Montana fad is to them, it's not.  Godzilla is played out and now that Shiny Entertainment is no longer at Atari, they have no creative juices.

The only thing Atari has going for them lately is their Classic Atari game titles, and their new PSP game'ATARI CLASSICS EVOLVED' has great Matrix like cover art, but the all the games are now just a click away by a Flash version hosted on a website near you.  I really think this is their only hope for the Holiday season, because it's not Godzilla done over again or DragonBall Z, it's all about the retro games. 

I love Atari, but I love the old games and these days if you don't have a hit title, you should not be company with shareholders, just stay in your Mom's garage.

So what's Atari been up to in the past few months while everyone else has been kicking ass?

Just the usual restructuring initiatives and paying out $3.5 million to settle a dispute with FUNimation Productions Ltd. They got entered into an amendment to the senior secured credit facility with BlueBay High Yield Investments S.A.R.L. to increase its borrowing capacity under the facility to $14 million from $10 million.

Atari's lack of revenue and net profit is headed toward a black hole:

In Millions of USD (except for per share items)	12 months Ending 2007-03-31	12 months Ending 2006-03-31	12 months Ending 2005-03-31	12 months Ending 2004-03-31	9 months Ending 2003-03-31	12 months Ending 2002-06-30
Revenue	122.28	206.80	343.84	468.94	376.89	419.05
Other Revenue, Total	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total Revenue	122.28	206.80	343.84	468.94	376.89	419.05
Cost of Revenue, Total	72.63	133.60	200.24	260.07	197.55	212.38
Gross Profit	49.66	73.19	143.59	208.87	179.34	206.66

These days, if you don't have a hit franchise or a great game in the works, you're a nobody.

Activision's Guitar Hero, Microsoft's Halo's, Take-Two's BioShock and Grand Theft Auto series, and Atari with their old played out games?

No hit, no money, and no love from Wall Street.

Atari needs to take the last bit of money they do have and get their brightest and least under paid guys working for them and ask them "Do you guys have any new ideas?"  Whatever they say, is more valuable then any Atari Inc. Officer, VP, director or manager has to offer because as of today, Atari is worthless.