Atari’s newfound purpose in establishing itself as the backbone of classic/retro gaming has taken another interesting step with their announced acquisition of the Intellivision brand, including a substantial number of game properties. The Amico console however will be spun off and remain in the hands of its owners.

The full announcement can be found here and Atari are already in full swing with the brand again selling merchandise from their store. While the Atari 2600 outsold the Intellivision by a considerable amount, the console was well regarded with a number of exclusive titles that never went to other platforms. It lived on through a number of small successes with compilation titles for PC and consoles however it all went downhill with development of the Amico and this seems like the death knell for the console entirely. It would not surprise me if Atari got all of it for a fantastic deal.

Once again, the Atari we have now has surprised me. A long time ago I looked back at what I thought was dead brand that previous management tried to resuscitate through bad business decisions. Now I see a team that knows the value of what they have and are making smart moves in finding the means for them to live on in the long term. How this particular transaction pays off we probably won’t know in the short term, but it certainly provides more IP for their studios to work with in their own unique ways.