ATARI AND ALLIANCE GAMING ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT FOR SERIES OF SLOTS BASED ON ATARI VIDEO GAMES
New York, New York, September 9, 2004 - Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) and Alliance Gaming Corp. (NYSE: AGI) announced today a licensing agreement to develop a series of slot machines based on classic titles from Atari's extensive video game library.
Under the agreement between Bally Gaming and Systems, a business unit of Alliance Gaming, and Atari Interactive, Inc., an Atari affiliate, slot machines based on Atari titles are under development, with the first - based on PONG® - scheduled to be debuted by Bally's at the upcoming Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas on Oct. 5-7, 2004 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In addition to PONG, the deal includes other well-known Atari classics such as Asteroids®, Centipede® and Breakout®.
"There is a huge population that grew up with these Atari games and that audience is still clamoring for ways to recapture the fun of their first gaming experience," said Wim Stocks, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Atari. "Atari is committed to ensuring that fans of our classic games have access to them wherever and however they seek entertainment. By joining forces with Alliance and Bally, we know that we'll reach a large audience of gaming devotees."
"Titles such as PONG and Asteroids evoke such a strong favorable response with gamers of all types and we're excited to team up with Atari to produce a series of slots that will showcase these timeless classics and give casino visitors a memorable new form of entertainment," said Richard Haddrill, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Gaming Corp.
About Alliance Gaming
Alliance Gaming is a diversified gaming company with headquarters in Las Vegas. The Company is engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution and operation of advanced gaming devices and systems worldwide, operates a gaming machine route in Louisiana and operates a casino in Vicksburg, Miss. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.alliancegaming.com.
About Atari
New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining games such as DRIV3RTM, Enter the MatrixTM, Neverwinter NightsTM, StuntmanTM, Test Drive®, Unreal® Tournament 2004, and Unreal® Championship; and mass-market and children's games such as Backyard SportsTM, Nickelodeon's Blue's CluesTM and Dora the ExplorerTM, Civilization®, Dragon Ball Z® and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext - ISIN: FR-0000052573), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com.