I don’t really want to go back and actually give you a hard number on how many times we (or any other outlet) have reported about Atari being threatened with delistment by NASDAQ. Trust me, it’s been quite a few, as this has been brewing for what feels like years. But the Infogrames subsidiary has finally seen itself delisted from the NASDAQ Global Market, which suspends trading of the company’s shares.

Atari plans on requesting a review, according to GI.biz, which could potentially allow for Atari stock to be traded even if the suspension is not ended. The company is expecting to be quoted on the Pink Sheets, which allows for companies that have been delisted to continue trading.

We know that Infogrames has big plans for Atari — or at least the Atari name. How this will affect those plans remains to be seen, but this certainly isn’t going to help the situation for Phil Harrison and company.

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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.

With the potential acquisition of the company by Infogrames a strong possibility, Atari has named Jim Wilson its new CEO and president, effective immediately. His duties had been held by a restructuring officer since previous CEO David Pierce announced his resignation late last year.

Wilson has previously worked in executive management with a number of companies, including The Walt Disney Company, Vivendi Universal Games, Universal Interactive Studios and Sony Wonder/Sony BMG, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

“Atari Inc, with its world-renowned brand and strong library of game franchises, has a tremendous opportunity in North America,” said Wilson.

“I look forward to working with the Atari team and shareholders to lead Atari, Inc. into its next phase of growth.”

It’s unclear what sort of impact this will have or if this is a sign as to whether Atari will accept or dismiss Infogrames proposal to fully acquire any outstanding Atari stock. After being threatened once again with a delisting from NASDAQ, it seems like the Infogrames offer is the best option available for Atari.

Yes, it’s happening once again like a bodily function the company just can’t shake – Atari is once again being threatened with a delisting by the hands of NASDAQ. In the past, it’s been due to the company’s declining value and failing to file annual reports on time. This time, it’s a failure of a NASDAQ requirement to have the company’s value reach and/or exceed a value of $15 million for ten consecutive days, which Atari did not do by the March 20 deadline.

Atari has requested a hearing before a NASDAQ panel so that they may appeal the decision, according to GamesIndustry.biz. Given Infogrames’ attempt to acquire the rest of Atari, they might be able to make a solid argument. However, Atari admits that there are no assurances one way or another, so a NASDAQ delisting might be unavoidable at this point.

Things are off to a rocky start for the Phil Harrison Atari era, but I feel confident in saying he’ll be able to help turn things around.

Atari continues in its downward spiral as it is warned for the second time this year that Nasdaq may delist its stock. The market value of Atari’s stock has fallen below $15 million. If it fails to rally within thirty days it will be delisted. The company has suffered through a number of hardships this year from board firings, layoffs, late financial reports and withdrawal from game development. Atari isn’t down for the count yet. The company has until March 20th to get its affairs in order and barring that will be able to appeal the decision

It’s ironic that Infogrames bought the Atari name because of the marketability of the brand with the video game industry in the US. Now this incarnation is poised to suffer the same fate as the original company.

I’m just glad that CD Projekt only published The Witcher through Atari as it’s one of my favorite games for the year.

via Joystiq

If you aren’t excited about Call Of Duty 4, I’ll have to find out what rock you have been under. I’m still on my Halo 3 binge, but that might all come to a halt in the near future. I was captivated with the COD 4 beta gameplay and have been excited about the title ever since. Activision has just announced a Play and Win Sweepstakes for Call Of Duty 4 that will begin on Friday, Nov. 16 at 12:01 EST. Prizes will be awarded all weekend, including COD t-shirts, autographed posters, Microsoft Points, an Xbox 360 Elite Console and much more. This is definitely a reason to put down Halo 3 and Guitar Hero 3 for a weekend of COD madness. Check after the break for the full press release.

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Okay, look. Halo 3 is out now. Millions of people are playing it. Can we please stop the publicity stunts? Please?

Anyway, yesterday Shane Kim from Microsoft, a few guys from Bungie, and a guy dressed as Master Chief rang the closing bell at NASDAQ. They then wandered into Times Square for a few photos with the NASDAQ sign. My guess would be this was a way of commemorating how Halo 3 raised Microsoft’s stock considerably once it went on sale. You can check out more photos of the event at Major Nelson’s Flickr album.

How the mighty have fallen. The bad news just keeps getting worse for ol’ Atari. It’s been a rough couple of years for them, as they posted a $71 million dollar loss for fiscal 2006 which forced them into firing 20 percent of their employees. To make things worse, Atari has just announced that the NASDAQ exchange is threatening to delist their stock for lack of fiscal reports for 2007.

Could they just be delaying the inevitable? The Atari stock is currently listed at 2.70 a share and falling, and any more negative financial news would be disaster for the company. Let’s put it this way, getting delisted from the exchange is BAD. It would certainly force Atari into desperate measures, if not bankruptcy. Let’s hope this classic developer can pull things together in time.