Atari

Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore International, manufacturer of the Commodore 64 and Amiga, has died aged 83. Forbes reports that Tramiel, a Polish-born Auschwitz survivor who founded Commodore after emigrating to the US, passed away surrounded by family on Sunday. More >

A large number of publishers are sending letters to those they claim have illegally downloaded games, threatening legal action unless they pay fines of several hundred euros. After CD Projekt said last week it would no longer be pursuing those it claim pirated PC RPG The Witcher 2: Assassin Of Kings, Torrentfreak dug deeper and found a host of publishers were doing the same thing, and that the practice is not limited purely to new releases. More >

Atari has said it will "vigorously protect" its IP after one developer said he received legal threats from the company concerning his games on the App Store. As we reported yesterday, two games from indie studio Black Powder Games, Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme, were removed from the App Store at Atari's behest due to their similarity to the company's classic Battlezone. More >

Atari is reportedly threatening legal action against developers whose games the company believes infringe on its IP rights. A post on Kickstarter by Los Angeles-based Black Powder Games claims that Atari enforced the removal from the iOS App Store of two of its games, Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme, due to their resemblance to Atari classic Battlezone. More >

Ed Logg, part of Atari's coin-op division in the 1970s and 1980s who was lead developer on Gauntlet, will be given the Pioneer Award by the Academy Of Interactive Arts And Sciences (AIAS) . Logg was also co-designer of Centipede and Asteroids, and will be presented with the award by Mark Cerny, a consultant who worked alongside Logg at Atari, at a Las Vegas ceremony in February. More >

Atari has appointed a number of new executives as it continues to expand into the mobile and social gaming arenas, hiring Robert Mattes as chief financial officer, Owais Farooqui as senior VP of digital publishing, and Maria Pacheco as VP of mobile. Offering 20 years of senior level financial management experience and “in depth experience from various online and micro-transaction business models”, Mattes will be responsible for Atari's finance, accounting, IT and various administrative functions. Farooqui, who joins from tournament games company King.com, and Pacheco, who most recently served as vice president of marketing for Vivendi Games Mobile, will be “charged with developing and executing a cohesive mobile, social and online strategy for the company designed to best leverage Atari’s legendary gaming franchises for a new generation of gamers across online, smartphones and tablets”. Atari CEO Jim Wilson said: “As we continue to evolve our business, Owais and Maria will be instrumental in helping us build the digital vision and strategy for the overall Atari brand. Robert is accomplished financial executive who brings a significant background to address our continued expansion into emerging platforms. His financial transaction experience will also be important as Atari continues to grow.”

Atari announced in May that it was to sell the Champions Online developer to Chinese MMOG firm Perfect World, and the sale has now been completed. Atari said it would use the €35 million (£30.6 million) raised in the deal to pay down its debts, with the remainder used to fund social and mobile development, licensing costs, and other, higher-margin operations.

The US firm whose legal action against mobile developers prompted the intervention of Apple has widened the scope of its lawsuit over infringement of patents covering in-app purchasing. While one developer - Vietnamese studio Wulven Games - has been dropped from the lawsuit, five more, far-higher profile companies have been added. Rovio is named for Angry Birds, Electronic Arts for The Sims 3, Atari for Atari's Greatest Hits, Square Enix for Big Hit Baseball, and Take-Two for NHL 2K11. Lodsys is clearly not intimidated by big companies: it is also suing the likes of HP, Adidas and The New York Times.

Kidscreen reports that Atari has filed a federal lawsuit against US distributor Tommo, claiming copyright and trademark infringements and unfair competition. The suit alleges that Tommo is manufacturing and distributing a counterfeit version of the Flashback 2 console, a plug-and-play version of the Atari 2600. Atari is seeking $30 million in damages.

Californian developer Cryptic Studios sold to Chinese online gaming firm Perfect World after two years of losses.