Atari US Operations, the Original Gaming Company that Brought Us Pong & Asteroids Files for Bankruptcy

Now this is a blow to my childhood … Before Nintendo, before Gameboys, before Wii, before the Internet, before Madden Football and before Call of Duty … There was Atari and Pong!

Atari US, the company that brought us Pong, Asteroids and many of the original video games that kids today would think are archaic, has filed for bankruptcy. Say it isn’t so. Atari was the company 40 years ago that helped spearhead the video game industry with such games as Pong, Asteroid and Centipede, as well as consoles to evolve the consumer electronics field has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing was made in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and covers Atari Inc., Humongous Inc. and California US Holdings Inc.

The U.S. operations of iconic but long-troubled video game maker Atari have filed for bankruptcy in an effort to break free from their debt-laden French parent.

Atari Inc. and three of its affiliates filed petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York late Sunday.

Its leaders hope to break the American business free from French parent Atari S.A. and in the next few months find a buyer to take the company private. They hope to grow a modest business focused on digital and mobile platforms, according to a knowledgeable person not authorized to discuss the matter privately.

Although the 31-year-old brand is still known worldwide for its pioneering role with video games such as “Pong” and “Asteroids,” Atari has been mired in financial problems for decades. Since the early 2000s it has been closely tied to French company Infogrames, which changed its name to Atari S.A. in 2003 and in 2008 acquired all the gaming pioneer’s American assets.

In the 1970′s during the ‘Golden Age of Arcade games, if you had Pong or an Atari game system, it was the equivalent of all of today’s gaming systems put together in one. It was your house that everyone went to after school.