http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthi...ies-at-age-83/
One of the most important figures in both computing and gaming history has passed away today at the age of 83.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthi...ies-at-age-83/
One of the most important figures in both computing and gaming history has passed away today at the age of 83.
Just read the same article. The man will always be remembered as one of the more influential forces in the video gaming industry. RIP, Jack.
The man did so much more for the world of computers than Steve Jobs did. But he won't get recognized by congress. It's such bullshit.
Computers for the masses, not the classes.
He's the one that stopped the 7800 in 84..Seeing how good the NES sold in 86' He just though the 7800 out there
The guy is an industry legend. RIP, Jack.
Yeah! The C64 revolutionized the computer industry, by makIng home computing affordable without being under-powered.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSonicRetard
The man definitely was one of the driving forces behind the early home computer industry. Unlike others, he realized that development and the need for constantly producing new upgrades and porducts were crucial to succeed. Unfortunalely he was also an ornery bastard when it came to doing business, which is why people don't hold him that high in regard. Also, he lacked Steve Jobs' charisma.
But he definitely revolutionezed the industry. He's well worth being remembered.
Reading all these positive comments is strange after seeing years of hatred on the AtariAge forums... :?
I was never touched by the Commodore 64, so I'm indifferent...
I was so going to make a photoshop of that classic God picture with the finger touching, but then I realized I'm at work.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guntz
*Sigh*, I hate this job.
I wouldn't expect any love for the C64 on an Atari forum. Their biased towards the inferior Atari computers that got curb-stomped by Commodore.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantar
I wouldn't expect any love for the C64 on an Atari forum. Their biased towards the inferior Atari computers that got curb-stomped by Commodore.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guntz
To be fair, the hatred of Atari-Fans towards Tramiel mostly stems not from the competition with Commodore, but from the fact that many feel that the Tramiel-family ran the company into the ground after Jack took over in 1985 (Tramiel was ousted from his own company in 1984, and shortly there after took over Atari in order to take revenge on his former partners). He was the driving force behind the early success of Atari ST 16-bit computers, before Commodore got the ball rolling again with the Amiga; but he's also "credited" for the big-scale failures of the Jaguar, the Lynx, or the Tengen-Tetris-desaster. His reputation scared off many third-party-producers due to his hardball business practices, so there's probably some truth to that.Quote:
Originally Posted by gamevet
Nobody could save the Jaguar. It was a horribly designed piece of hardware.
I wonder if they'll bury him with the Swordquest sword that was never given out. :)
He had NOTHING to do with that. Tengen / Atari Games were a different company.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantar
Oh and nothing about the Jag design was horrible only the way the machine was marketed and supported. If you worked past the bugs the hardware is awesome.
R.I.P. Jack and thanks for all the great memories.
You don't think using parts of the aborted 32-bit panther instead of the full, original jaguar design isn't horrible?
You are right, I apologize, I had a name mixed up there. I still stand by everything I said about the ST, the Jaguar and the Lynx though. (You could also principally add the Handling of the Atari 7800 to that list, particularly its belated 1986 release).Quote:
Originally Posted by Crackdown
This is the best death news since Steve Jobs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crackdown
I believe Sam Tramiel was in charge of Atari during the time of the Jaguar, not Jack.
The Lynx was created by Epyx. Atari just sold it. You can argue their marketing sucked, but I think the main reason for system's lack of success was the hardware itself, and secondarily the lack of compelling software (which Epyx was supposed to provide). The Jaguar was Sam Tramiel all the way. I think Jack stepped down in 1989. Which also puts the Falcon disaster on Sam. Jack's worst flub was the XEGS.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantar
I've read an interview with the Original Lynx-developers at Epyx who made no secret out of their mistrust towards (specifically) Jack Tramiel. According to them (which, granted, is a very subjective POV), he practically drove Epyx to ruin so that he could buy the company for a bargain, which made it impossible for them to produce any more software. Also, Software sells Hardware - lack of decent third party support can kill any hardware regardless of quality, and by the time the Lynx rolled our there weren't many software developers left who were willing to do business with the Tramiels. But even worse, he had also managed to piss off retailers, greatly diminishing the possible places where Atari could sell their product - admittedly, that probably was a more important factor.
By the way, by no means do I want to belittle what Jack Tramiel did for the industry! Especially during his Commodore days he managed to immensely push progress. There's no denying though that during his lifetime there was a lot of hatred aimed at the guy, not all that unjustified in my opinion (though a colleague of mine happened to meet him once at a con after his retirement, and he described him as "one heck of a funny guy".) Speak no ill of the dead, I suppose...
It's classy to criticize someone for their mistakes while they're alive and it's classy to praise their acomplishments after they're dead.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guntz
If anyone is interested, here's a youtube video (1 hour and 28 minutes long) celebrating the 25th anniversay of the C64. The show features Jack Tramiel, talking about the C64, and how he got his start in the industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBvbsPNBIyk
There is so much wrong information in this thread I am stunned. People really shouldn't post stuff like this unless they know their video game history.
The ONLY thing the Jaguar shares with the Panther is a Motorola 68000 and even then in the Jaguar its not used as the CPU like it was in the Panther. Two totally different designs.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSonicRetard
No he wasn't and this mis-information has been corrected so many times its unreal. When Jack bought Atari it didn't include the 7800. He had to negotiate the rights with Warner Bros and pay off the designers of the machine GCC before he was able to release it. This is what caused the delay in its release nothing else. The 7800 did much better than the NES in its test market and was the machine everyone wanted, Nintendo took big advantage of this delay. Jack wanted the 7800 from day one but unfortunately had to fight to get it.Quote:
Originally Posted by KnightWarrior
And the Jaguar was designed by Flare, Atari just sold it. Both Jack and Sam were in charge during the Jag's lifetime.Quote:
Originally Posted by j_factor
That's correct, but not analogous.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crackdown
http://archive.org/details/LowEndCo1985
There's was really cool series (I think it used to air on PBS) called "The Computer Chronicles" meant to educate people about the basics of certain topics. This episode specifically deals with lower end computers of the time like the Commodore 64, and Atari ST. There's a pretty cool interview with both Jack Tramiel and Leonard Tramiel (his son) at 4:44 in the video about how they were able to sell the ST for less, and how he marketed it.
Not that it would have mattered much though. NES still would have beat the crap out of it.Quote:
The 7800 did much better than the NES in its test market and was the machine everyone wanted, Nintendo took big advantage of this delay. Jack wanted the 7800 from day one but unfortunately had to fight to get it.
The 7800 was doomed from the start, with most of its library consisting of Atari's 8-bit (old arcade games) computer ports.Quote:
Originally Posted by tomaitheous
I actually downloaded that video, very interesting to watch. Thanks for the link!Quote:
Originally Posted by 16-bit
RIP, Jack. I do not consider you a moral role model in how you ran your businesses, but no one can deny that you helped make gaming what it is today.