NFT Lootboxes for anniversary, who would have guessed it's Atari, again.

[Thaldor]

Summary

From the biggest gaming company to a holding company to a revived zombie with more than you remember questionable ventures. It's "Atari" time again!

 

To celebrate the brands 50th anniversary "Atari" doesn't bring you a new console that is a PC, nor it does bring more retro stuff, but a giftable NFTs in lootboxes called GFTs.

Quote

”GFTs are like Hallmark Cards for the next generation,” Republic Realm CEO, Janine Yorio, said in a press release. Except rather than being small, predictable tokens of appreciation, GFTs are governed by loot tables with predetermined random rates, because what says “happy anniversary,” or “get well soon” like a 0.2% chance at an Epic drop?

So, you buy a box, which you can gift or keep, open it and out comes random Atari related NFT. Not at all questionable, not at all condensing everything wrong with the world and games into a single package.

 

 

My input

Not really a news that "Atari" jumps yet again into the grey pool of questionable businesses. After all "Atari" does still have its own cryptocurrency that is going to be used in its maybe some day opening online casino and last years "Atari" has sold some of its art as NFTs. I don't even know does someone even care about "Atari" at all except if you have a questionable business that sounds somewhat doable and you need some "big" brand to slap its sticker on it. Even the "Atari Casino" has now turned to be some kind of unlimited metaverse with casinos, sports and leisure activities running on crypto and NFTs (if you missed the video, I don't blame you, get a bucket near).

 

It's more sad that "Atari" goes to these adventures to crypto and whatever they think they could make money because there still seems to be at least couple companies who have real interest in Atari legacy (notice the missing dittos, I do not consider the modern "Atari" to be any relation to the old Atari). While VCS wasn't anything extremely great, it was still a solid product that finally shipped, so it's really something and not just another Indiegogo scam. There also seems to be at least one game studio working under "Atari" that has actually done pretty decent job with old Atari games, actually Breakout Recharged will release in couple weeks and if it's similar to Black Widow-, Asteroids-, Missile Command- and Centipede Recharged, it's going to be less than $10€ and pretty ok for the price.

 

Sources

https://kotaku.com/atari-nft-loot-box-crypto-ethereum-blockchain-metaverse-1848433762

https://www.polygon.com/features/22880558/atari-50th-anniversary-plans

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-27-atari-releasing-giftable-nfts-to-celebrate-50th-anniversary

Careful with this one, this is the real : https://gftshoppe.com/atari

[jaslion]

Also this has major mmo random lootbag feels and irl cardgame pack stuff where the "gift" is worth more unopened than opened. This is going to be such a mess of a thing.

 

That and the usual crypto nft bad stuff that I've said over and over.

 

Can't wait to see this blow up it's always entertaining.

[Spotty]

I can't find anywhere that says what the actual contents of the GFTs are? Is it digital artwork? Their roadmap says "More to come in the Metaverse" so I guess it's going to be assets in the metaverse?

 

 

 

I guess if you're dumb enough to buy 4 of them you're dumb enough to buy a 5th.

 

 

Also I just noticed this but why is there a an downward trending line and a sad face next to GFT Reveal? Is it foreshadowing the worthlessness of the GFTs once people realise what they are?

[Thaldor]

@SpottyMy guess is as good as yours. Most likely they themselves even don't want to know what the GTFs are, just second to those who bought them.

 

My bet is on that is bound to the "Atari" pyramid sche... token and can be used only in the "Atari" Casi... metaverse (why these words must be so hard, can't they just call them what they actually are especially in this case?). So they will be cash crabs including only disappointment, suffering and sadness.

[tikker]

23 minutes ago, Thaldor said:

that is bound to the "Atari" pyramid sche... token and can be used only in the "Atari" Casi... metaverse (why these words must be so hard, can't they just call them what they actually are especially in this case?).

Speculations about Atari's intentions aside, what do you find so

 

weird about a currency that can only be used in the ecosystem it is designed for? The EUR can only be used in the EU, the CAD in Canada, the JPY in Japan, BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain, ETH on the Ethereum blockchain etc. etc.

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

I can't find anywhere that says what the actual contents of the GFTs are? Is it digital artwork? Their roadmap says "More to come in the Metaverse" so I guess it's going to be assets in the metaverse?

Sounds like it will be artwork:

Quote

Produced by “metaverse developer” Republic Realm in partnership with Atari, each NFT loot box will contain one of 10 images inspired by the gaming company’s past.

 

[Thaldor]

5 hours ago, tikker said:

Speculations about Atari's intentions aside, what do you find so

 

weird about a currency that can only be used in the ecosystem it is designed for? The EUR can only be used in the EU, the CAD in Canada, the JPY in Japan, BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain, ETH on the Ethereum blockchain etc. etc.

As I said "especially in this case". I don't mean every coin out there is pyramid scheme but once it starts with "Hey! We are making this online casino that isn't limited by anything and it only uses our new cryptocoin that selected few can buy at X and more at time Y before it goes public" and it rides on a brand that has been basicly dead couple decades, actually so dead it's current CEO bought the CEO place for a mere $10 million, you kind of can smell something burning.

I am also questioning the coins from the more practical stand point. Like what is the value of a currency you cannot use? What is the value of the Bitcoin when no one finds its mining and so handling the transactions profitable enough or the transaction fees rise to a point even transferring huge amounts wouldn't be wise? Another question is the backing, normal banking is pretty well controlled, you need to have insurances, bumper funds, certain level of transparency, your actions are controlled by law to some degree and you cannot do whatever you want. Only with "real" currencies we already have problems like companies giving out small loans funded by selling their "imagination" stocks to people, basicly working as banks but without legally being banks, and then hits the fan and they just close up and give anyone asking for their moneys back the finger, at least with these we have paper trails and required paperworks to start looking if something illegal has been done and who has done and what. And don't give me the "transactions can be followed" because they do not mean anything if you cannot connect the wallet to a person and nothing stops you from moving everything to a local wallet and selling that USB-stick to someone else and it doesn't really help the situation how many places you can use crypto as anonymous payment method and not give even your first name to spend thousands and thousands and I wouldn't be surprised if there already was some online casino that won't ask any questions as long as you use crypto basicly making money laundering super easy.

[Salv8 (sam)]

i wonder if they are gonna make a E.T nft.

ahahahhaahahahaha!

oh, but in all seriousness this is from a company that is on it's way to the grave, they'll try anything to prolong the inevitable.

[CTR640]

Is Atari still a thing? I thought they have gone bankrupt?

[StDragon]

46 minutes ago, CTR640 said:

Is Atari still a thing? I thought they have gone bankrupt?

Atari IP is in name only. The original company went defunct long ago as the name was passed around the industry like a hot potato.

 

Anyone remember Atari Force? I loved the acronym for it. A.T.A.R.I. (Advanced Technology And Research Institute)

[Mark Kaine]

12 hours ago, CTR640 said:

Is Atari still a thing? I thought they have gone bankrupt?

nope.

 

"In April 1996, after an unsuccessful bid by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, the company was sold to WMS Industries, owners of the Williams, Bally and Midway arcade brands, which restored the use of the Atari Games name.^[39][40] On November 19, 1999, Atari Games Corporation was renamed Midway Games West Inc.,^[41][42] resulting in the Atari Games name no longer being used."

 

The story is much longer obviously, and Atari never went bancrupt either afaik, they just kept getting sold and split etc between different companies and long stopped making hardware.

 

Atari is now "Infogrames" which renamed themselves "Atari SA"… nothing to do with the original "Atari Games" at all.

[Elijah Kamski]

EA: Surprise mechanics!