Space Race (video game)
Development of "Space Race" began soon after the founding of Atari in Summer 1972 under the name "Asteroid". Co-founders Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney had the initial idea for the game while developing the 1971 "Computer Space", the first arcade video game, but felt the more complicated "Computer Space" was a better first game. After leaving Nutting Associates and founding Atari in May 1972, Bushnell spent a few days designing "Asteroid", but soon had to drop the project to focus on running the company. After the release of "Pong", Atari's first game, development resumed on the title in Spring 1973. Dabney has claimed credit for the game's final design, though "Pong" designer Allan Alcorn has stated that he and Bushnell may have been involved as well. "Asteroid", codenamed VP-2, was designed to be a racing game that would be simple to create to fulfill an earlier contract with Bally Midway; Atari had initially offered "Pong" during its development to fulfill the contract, but had been rejected. The company was also interested in producing a very different game from their previous success, as they felt that innovative design was what would separate them from their competitors, which they saw as flooding the market with "Pong" clones rather than making new video games.
Harry M. Rubin
Atari, Inc. released the rights to develop a live action film version of Alone in the Dark, one of Atari's most acclaimed video game series. The original Alone in the Dark video game received critical acclaim upon its release and is considered a breakthrough and influential title, as it was the first 3D survival horror game. In 2009, Empire included Alone in the Dark on their list of 100 greatest video games of all time. Further the "Alone in the Dark" series gave birth to several critically and financial successful titles including "Alone in the Dark", "Jack in the Dark", "Alone in the Dark 2", "Alone in the Dark 3", "Alone in the Dark 4", "Alone in the Dark: New Nightmare". Atari CEO, Bruno Bonnell, and Rubin, then Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, served as co-executive producers for the movie . The cast included major film actors such as Golden Globe-winner Christian Slater who starred in the lead role as Edward Carnby, and Tara Reid, star of The Big Lebowski. The film was directed by three-time Razzies nominee and "Worst Career Achievement" winner, Uwe Boll, who also served as the film's executive producer. The film received a widely negative critical and box office response. Uwe Boll and Tara Reid were nominated for Worst Director and Worst Actress in a Lead Role at the Golden Raspberry Awards.