Yesterday, during the big Atari press conference in London, Infrogames President Phil Harrison mentioned that Atari is planning on future installments of Forgotten Realms games Baldur’s Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, Neverwinter Nights and the racing game Test Drive Unlimited. Being that I am a huge Baldur’s Gate fan, I cannot believe I missed this yesterday, but here it is anyway.

The bad news, at least for fans of any of the above titles, is that none will be released within the next year. However, Harrison did promise that “you will hear more from these but not today, because we’re focused on 2009″. Fine then, dangle the worm out there in front of us, let us bite and then just let us float in the water a bit there Phil. We don’t mind (note the sarcasm).

What else the company may have in store for Neverwinter Nights remains to be seen, because they just released the Storm of Zehir expansion last month. However, the thought of actually getting my hands on another Baldur’s Gate game is what really excites me. The PC games were very fun, and even the console version Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance was loads of fun especially with Drizzt popping in at the end (Interplay, Black Isle Studios)– but I won’t even mention the crappy Dark Alliance 2. Wait, I just did. Yeah, it sucked. Hopefully Atari will not make the same mistakes Vivendi and Black Isle did with that stinker should they decide to revisit the console route with it the series. Unless, of course, Vivendi holds the console rights. I have no idea and don’t really care. I just want another good Baldur’s Gate game.

At any rate, Phil Harrision also mentioned what Eurogamer called an “early-09 pledge” for actual retail releases of Sam & Max: Season Two on PC and Wii (no exact date given), and Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution for Wii in March.

As soon as we know more about any of the above titles, we will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, for more information on any of these game, just hit one of the many links.

UPDATE: You can watch and download the hour long keynote speech featuring Phil Harrison and David Gardner here.

David Gardner, CEO of Infogrames, has been working hard on transforming his company, with the help of president Phil Harrison. Among the list of changes the two are contemplating, dropping the name of Infogrames for Atari is a tempting proposition.

“I’d like to consider that, I think that would be the final mark of the transformation from Infogrames to Atari,” said Gardner. “We have a new board of directors, a new management team that’s less than a year old - so yes, it’s really continuing.

“We like to think of Infogrames, instead of being the tired, old company, we like to think of it as the best-funded, best-branded, most energetic start-up in the history of computer gaming.”

While I think a move to the Atari name would be refreshing for Infogrames internally, I don’t know anyone who would characterize Atari as being the best branded, best funded, or anything else of the sort.

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Harrison explained that he and Gardner had been brainstorming ideas for a new company. When the opportunity to take over Infogrames presented itself, it fulfilled everything the two wanted.

“We had a very interesting series of dreams, of discussions, about if we were to create a company, what kind of company would it be, and what direction would it be headed in,” he said. “We got quite a long way down that path, and then, out of leftfield, this opportunity came along.

“When we were evaluating it, we thought about what we would want from a successful company. You’d want people, products, you’d want revenue and cashflow. You’d want some infrastructure, some offices around the world, and it’d be great to have a brand that was a global brand.

“And I tell you, that was the hardest thing when I was trying to brainstorm this, when I was trying to come up with a brand that we could use worldwide - every time I came up with a new name for a games company, I’d Google it and find that somebody had already taken it.

“So when we were looking at what we’d need to create a successful company, and then we evaluated what Infogrames has, it ticked all the boxes.”

Apparently a history of threats to have its most valuable asset delisted from NASDAQ wasn’t one of those boxes.

Infogrames expects to sell 2-3 million units of Alone in the Dark and is hoping that the game will boost the company’s revenue for the fiscal year. Chief Executive David Gardner has stated that his top priority was for Infogrames to break even instead of continuing to loose money.

Alone in the Dark will be available for the PC, PS2, Xbox 360 and Wii on June 24th (PS3 later in the year) and Gardner expects to see the game pull the company out of the red during the game’s life span:

“Over the life of the product in this business year across platforms we are expecting between 2 and 3 million units.”

Thats a tall order, but here’s hoping that the game does indeed help the company out - providing it is everything it is being hyped up to be.

Via: Reuters

While already the majority shareholder in the company, Infogrames announced this week that it intends to buyout the remaining Atari stock it doesn’t already own. The offer would be for $1.68 per share.

Atari’s board of directors has said that it will take a thorough look at the offer before making a decision. Atari is viewed as a major brand for Infogrames under the new leadership of CEO David Gardner and president Phil Harrison.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that this deal will go through (with little to no negotiating on the stock price) and Infogrames will have taken another step forward in their revitalization of the company. I’m excited to see what Infogrames does with Atari and what Phil Harrison has in store for us.

via GamesIndustry.biz

Making his first speech since being named president of Infogrames, Phil Harrison addressed colleagues roughly half a day later. He and Atari CEO David Gardner talked Monday about “the vision Phil and I have been sharing and really enjoy, the idea of the future of a network-centric gaming world.” Harrison had big words for Atari, claiming the company is “the best opportunity that exists in the industry today to redefine, refocus and re-energise an incredible brand, an incredible group of people towards that networked future.”

Harrison wasn’t overly specific when explaining why he decided to resign from his position at Sony, only saying that “the things that excited me the most, the things that turned me on as a gamer, and as a business person, and as a creative person were the future of our industry, the connected community experiences - all the things we’re starting to see emerge that are really exciting players around the world.

“And those are the things I started thinking about in terms of creating a company or getting involved with a company to really shape and direct a business towards that future.”

The two execs seemed very upbeat and tried to get across the fact that they don’t intend to turn Atari into a “big corporate entity,” maintaining that their plans for Atari would be “fun.” The two didn’t even bother to wear suits or ties, prompting Harrison to point out, “As you can see David and I are the suits.” Oh, I see what you did there, Phil.

I must say, I’m very intrigued by Atari now that Harrison is at the helm. Previously, I really didn’t see them as a top tier game developer or publisher. Now, I can certainly see Atari becoming a very important piece of the industry.

via GamesIndustry.biz

Following his unexpected departure from Sony as head of worldwide studios, Infogrames has named Phil Harrison president of the company. He’ll work alongside the company’s new CEO, David Gardner.

“This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari - one of the industry’s legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over.
“I am especially excited to be working on this challenge together with David, one of the most respected leaders and successful executives in our industry,” said Harrison.

This was rumored to be the case, following Harrison’s apparent disenchantment with his former employer. A few weeks ago, we reported on how he was frustrated with his colleagues in Japan who believed there to be no market for social games in Japan – a market Nintendo is now thriving upon.

via GamesIndustry.biz

According to videogaming247, we should expect a major announcement from Atari on Monday. We all know Atari is in bad shape, so it was only a matter of time before they were forced to make some type of announcement. Could they be restructuring again? Are they selling the company? We have no idea, but we’ll certainly find out tomorrow.

A source close to Atari, speaking under conditions of strict anonymity, has told us that an announcement from the publisher’s top brass is expected on Monday morning.

Word has also reached us that new Atari boss David Gardner and Phil “you’re not SCEEing any more” Harrison are are on the same flight to New York on Monday.

Via videogaming247