In Your Face Kotick! Ghostbusters: The Videogame Picked Up by Atari

Activision’s Bobby Kotick may have dumped Ghostbusters: The Videogame from his company’s roster because he felt it lacked potential in the exploitation department, but thankfully that has not stopped Atari from picking the game up. Original Ghostbuster Dan Akroid may have broke the news of the Atari partnership on October 15, but the publisher made it official last night while gamers slept snugly in their beds.

The announcement stated that the company has been working with developer Terminal Reality and Sony Pictures Consumer Products to ensure that the Ghostbuster’s brand would arrive in stores just in time for the movie’s 25th anniversary in 2009. No exact date was mentioned by Atari, but the original Ghostbusters film arrived in theaters on June 8, 1984 so until we get a more concrete statement from the publisher, we should expect the game to arrive sometime during June 2009 when Sony’s releases the anniversary editions of the movie.

Now, before everyone gets worried about Atari being the publisher for the game, just remember that despite the financial woes over the past year and a half that eventually got the publisher along with their parent company Infogrames Entertainment delisted from NASDAQ, don’t write them off as dead in the water just yet. Atari was the Asian, American and European publisher for The Witcher, which was a pretty big hit for a new intellectual property and their moniker is also attached to the upcoming Sacred 2: Fallen Angel which has had some positive buzz surrounding it. So with Ghostbusters being one of the most highly anticipated games since it’s announcement in November 2007, it is safe to assume that Atari now has a golden goose on their hands.

President of Infogrames, Phil Harrison, had this to say about the new addition to Atari’s library:

“Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a fantastic addition to Atari’s global line-up in 2009. The title has built considerable anticipation and excitement among game fans for its high quality action and all-out mayhem. There’s no more thrilling Ghostbusting experience to be had, short of building your own proton pack.”

The game will be made available for all consoles currently on the market, along with the Nintendo DS and PC so it boggles the mind that the only reason Bobby Kotick and Activision passed on this was because they seem only concerned with sequel potential. As far as Ghostbusters not having “the potential to be exploited every year on every platform” like Kotick thinks games should be, why would we want Ghostbusters to have a new game come out every year? Remember how the movie Ghostbusters II failed to bring audiences the same joy as the original? That is what happens when popularity is exploited *cough Guitar Hero*.