Atari to hold off on PlayStation 3 titles until 2007

[Old_Timer!]

source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=18712

Sony is targeting hardcore market with new console, says Bonnell

Speaking in an exclusive interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell has confirmed that the publisher has no plans to release any PS3 games before 2007.

Bonnell said Atari intends to support all three next-gen consoles "fairly equally", adding, "It's just that we're lacking information about the PS3 at this stage, because we have basically a rough release date and a high retail price point.

"As far as the Wii and the Xbox 360 go, we'll be there for this season; for PS3, we'll probably have to wait a little later in the year before we release some new titles." And, according to Bonnell, that means no Atari titles on PS3 until 2007.

The PS3 is slated for a global launch this November, priced at 499 Euro for the 20GB model and 599 Euro for the 60GB version. But Bonnell does not believe that the console's high point puts it at any risk of failure: "I think that by deciding to put the PS3 at this price, Sony has chosen to really differentiate itself from the other consoles.

"The fact that you have Blu-ray, and the fact that it's HD compatible - all this is driving me to think that Sony is picking up the high-end of the market, the hardcore, passionate fans. There will be a time they can reduce the price and access more people, but clearly that's a technical choice that Sony has made to be selective on the field at stage one," he added.

Read the full interview to find out why we're likely to see Atari titles arrive on Wii much sooner than they appear on PS3, what the future holds for the company following its recent financial difficulties, and what Bonnell thinks about the new format E3.
Link to full interview: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=18711

[OmniStalgic]

Good read man...I think a lot of publishers and devs are waiting to put there games on PS3 untill 07 but whateva...It's looking like PS3 will have a really strong launch with there first party games and with the help of EA, i think they'll be just fine till 07 gets here...The only downside really, is if Resistance or Warhawk aren't must-have titles, then we probably won't see anything that really makes the PS3 shine untill 07...Especially with games like Gears of War coming soon

[Viper]

Atari waiting for 2007 and SNK waiting for 2009 (2009? Why so damn long?) are not good for Sony at all. Developers/publishers are very cautious companies and they'll follow trends. Nintendo witnessed this as a few devs did the same for GC and watched others follow just because.

Sure each dev/pub will make up their own mind but it's quite an influential issue granted neither company is really cream of the crop to begin with.

[RavenFox]

Resistance is a must have title for me so I beg to differ with that statement. Actually I wont beg I fully disagree.Thats your opinion right Omnicloud?

[my name is Nobody]

I think this question and answer is interesting.

Q. SO we might not see any Atari titles on PS3 untill 2007 ?

A Yes, which was always planned. we are just accelerating
some of the Wii Titles. because with the technology being so
close to the Gamecube, we are able to effectively convert
teams faster than on PS3.

My question what are the announced games from Atari for the
the PS3?

[yoshaw]

LOL!

Isn't 2007 coming like ONE MONTH after PS3 launch?

[OmniStalgic]

Resistance is a must have title for me so I beg to differ with that statement. Actually I wont beg I fully disagree.Thats your opinion right Omnicloud? No not at all? In fact I'm really excited about Resistance right now especially after reading my last PSM issue! I was just stating worst case scenario that Resistance or Warhawk are flawed or not that great then we won't have anything untill 07 with games like Heavenly Sword, MotorStorm, Lair, and MGS4. According to PSM tho-I shouldn't have any doubts about Resistance...


My question what are the announced games from Atari for the
the PS3? Probably a DBZ game LOL...that would be really interesting on a Next-gen system tho...

[Smokey]

will there be anybody left :(

[LaLiLuLeLo]

yeah. when ps3 launches there's only a month and a half left in the year.
BFD.

[Beenie Man]

Lets hope that Joystiq or Kotaku twist this and say'' Developers afraid of PS3 prices, PS3 losing even more support.''

[DC_613]

A whole one month without Atari and........... ahhhhhhhhhh ummmmmm what do they make again......... DRIVER.........Nuh.......... errrr, doomzed.

As for SNK.........well i expect a lot of crap in the later years, dev costs will have come down a lot by then.

[Bad_Boy]

that article is old, notice how they say they dont know the ps3 release date.

[yoshaw]

that article is old, notice how they say they dont know the ps3 release date.

It's a new article, date clearly says 2nd of August, 2006.

[Viper]

I wonder if they meant fiscal year instead of calender year?

[Bad_Boy]

It's a new article, date clearly says 2nd of August, 2006.
ah sorry, read that as feb 8th 2006 lol. im a silly american :P

but why do they say "It's just that we're lacking information about the PS3 at this stage, because we have basically a rough release date and a high retail price point."

They dont know the release date is nov11th/nov17th? What info are they lacking.

[Nameless]

This news is not good press for Sony, but not that impactful to gamers...
The developers holding off on development are B class developers for the most part, but hopefully this trend will not spread in the development community. Only time will tell...

If you hear that EA, Konami, Capcom, Namco, Ubisoft, Sega or any other well known 3rd party developer pull the plug on PS3 development I will run for the hills. Peace

[Viper]

The thing is that B class devs have made the PS and PS2 as popular as they are.

People buy the hell out of those crap games (hence why so damn many get sequals.)

[frosty]

I disagree, it's the extremely long list of AAA titles that made those 2 systems do so well.

Final Fantasy
Tekken
Resident Evil
Devil May Cry
MX vs. ATV Unleashed
God of War
Ico
Shadow of the Collosus
Twisted Metal
Grand Theft Auto
Driver
I could go on and on.

[Nameless]

I disagree, it's the extremely long list of AAA titles that made those 2 systems do so well.

Final Fantasy
Tekken
Resident Evil
Devil May Cry
MX vs. ATV Unleashed
God of War
Ico
Shadow of the Collosus
Twisted Metal
Grand Theft Auto
Driver
I could go on and on.
I agree completely Frosty, but Viper also has a point...
The large library of games that made PS1 & PS2 popular came from a variety of developers including B class developers. If the PS3 dominates marketshare the developers will continue to consider the console first when developing titles. Peace

[Lucent Beam]

LOL!

Isn't 2007 coming like ONE MONTH after PS3 launch?

My thoughts exactly.

I see no big drama with Atari waiting a couple months.

[Viper]

I disagree, it's the extremely long list of AAA titles that made those 2 systems do so well.

Final Fantasy
Tekken
Resident Evil
Devil May Cry
MX vs. ATV Unleashed
God of War
Ico
Shadow of the Collosus
Twisted Metal
Grand Theft Auto
Driver
I could go on and on.
While obviously a driving sales factor, they account for about 150 million software sales of the 2 billion sold. Discrediting the little titles is discrediting the largest share of game sales. As yourself would Sony discredit them?

[frosty]

well, why don't i see any of these "little titles" around when I go game at a friend's house?

[Viper]

I don't know but there are 1.85 billion discs out there that aren't one of those huge franchises. I'm just passing along the facts. You can't deny that's a huge chunk of the overall games sold and far outweighs the big franchises combined.

I don't know why it is, but it is.

[nelposto]

well, why don't i see any of these "little titles" around when I go game at a friend's house?

Because your friend doesn't have them, I'd imagine...