Atari

Founded in 1972, Atari has gone through several incarnations over the years. First established as Atari Inc. by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, Atari helped launch the video game revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. The company's first hit, Pong, was released in 1972 and helped establish video games as an industry. The Atari Video Computer System (later renamed the Atari 2600) was introduced in 1977 and helped create the home console market. Atari introduced several other home consoles over the years, including the 400/800 series, the 5200, the 7200, and the Atari Jaguar. The company's first and only major handheld system, the Atari Lynx, was released in 1989. The Jaguar represented the last Atari console to be produced and the last console to be produced by an American company until Microsoft launched the Xbox in 2001. Atari remains alive and well as a software and game development company responsible for hit titles like Stuntman, Unreal Tournament 2003, Eve Online, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Enter the Matrix. Interest in vintage Atari games remains high, with dedicated consoles like the Atari Flashback series still in production. A chain of video-game themed Atari Hotels was announced in early 2020.