Acura

RSX receives a minor update. Other currently popular titles for Atari include the RollerCoaster Tycoon and Driver series. New 2nd-generation RL introduced. Enter the Matrix which was developed by Shiny Entertainment sold 1.38 million units for the Sony PlayStation 2 and therefore made the List of best selling computer and video games. Minor update to 1st-generation MDX. These titles represent some of the most expensive video games ever developed. New TSX sports sedan introduced. Atari also released a series of games based on the smash-hit The Matrix movie trilogy including Enter the Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo.

New 3rd-generation TL introduced. Following the success of the Budokai and Legacy of Goku series, Atari has released numerous other Dragon Ball titles including Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2, Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, Dragon Ball GT: Transformation and Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout. NSX is updated. The best selling Budokai series is developed in Japan by Dimps and includes Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi. New 4th-generation Integra introduced as the RSX. These games have topped the best-seller charts for numerous console platforms since the release of Atari's first Dragon Ball Z game, The Legacy of Goku in 2002, which was the first Dragon Ball game to be made by an American company, Webfoot Technologies, and is one of the best-selling Gameboy Advance games of all time (#16). (Canada only). These include the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series of games for next-generation console systems and the Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku series of games for the Gameboy Advance.

New 2nd generation EL model. Recently, Atari's top-selling titles have been the Dragon Ball Z games based on the popular anime license from Toei Animation in Japan. New MDX luxury SUV introduced. Atari Masterpieces Volume II is scheduled to be released in March 2006. New 2nd-generation CL coupe introduced. Atari Masterpieces Volume I includes classic arcade games: Asteroids, Battlezone, Black Widow, Millipede, Missile Command, Red Baron, Lunar Lander and Super Breakout, and features an exclusive interview with Nolan Bushnell. No CL model for 2000. Also, in late October 2005, Atari released one of two collections of its classic arcade games only for the Nokia N-Gage console, titled Atari Masterpieces.

New 2nd-generation TL introduced. Due to popular demand, Atari released a new version of the Flashback console, titled Atari Flashback 2, in August 2005. Integra receives a minor update. Overall, many enthusiasts believed that the Flashback did not capture the true Atari experience. (Canada only) New 2-door coupe TL introduced as CL. Since the games were all recreated on hardware more closely resembling the Nintendo Entertainment System than the 7800, some of the aspects of certain games concerning the sound, graphics, or gameplay were either changed or omitted. New EL (based on Civic sedan) is introduced. Many people felt that the device itself was far too small, and the joysticks felt very dissimilar to those of the 7800.

(Not sold in Canada) New 3rd-generation Legend introduced as the RL. The Flashback did fairly well in sales; however, many Atari fans felt disappointed. New SLX SUV model introduced. Unlike most plug-and-plays, the Flashback was not powered by batteries, but an (included) AC adaptor instead. New 2nd-generation Vigor introduced as TL. Twenty titles were built into the system. New 3rd-generation Integra introduced. The two controllers were small as well, having a joystick and two red buttons on each side.

Minor update to 2nd-generation Integra. The device they produced looked like a minute version of the Atari 7800 console originally released in 1984, 20 years previously. New NSX model introduced. The same year that the Paddle Games were released, Atari released a TV game of their own which they called the Atari Flashback Console. New 2nd-generation Legend introduced. However, as stated, neither of the games were directly released by Atari. New Vigor model added to Acura's line-up. In 2004, the same company created a device called Atari Paddle Games, in the shape of one of the 2600's "paddle" controllers with appropriate titles included.

New 2nd-generation Integra introduced. It was battery-operated and shaped similarly to an Atari 2600 joystick, and included A/V ports. The Acura brand is introduced to North America by Honda. In 2002, Jakks Pacific, a toy making company, released a plug-and-play video game console called the Atari 10-in-1 TV Game, believed by many to arouse interest in the concept of self-contained entertainment devices that did not require separate hardware to operate.
. It named its European operations to Atari Europe, and kept the main holdings company as Infogrames Entertainment. . On May 7, 2003, Infogrames officially reorganized its US subsidiary as a separate entity known as Atari, Inc..

And while the slow-selling NSX has been discontinued for the 2006 model year, Acura has promised a redesigned model sometime in 2007 or 2008. In October 2001, Infogrames announced that it was "reinventing" the Atari brand with the launch of three new games. It should debut in mid-2006 as a 2007 model. Midway left the arcade industry in 2001, and shut down Midway Games West in 2003 - closing the chapter on what was left of the original Atari arcade division. In the future, Acura will introduce the RDX, a smaller SUV set to feature the RL's SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive). Over 1999-2000, Midway held closed door proceedings with Hasbro which ultimately led to Atari Games being renamed Midway Games West. The company has now re-established itself with a consistent performance-oriented image, while also maintaining its reputation for outstanding customer service and reliability. In 1998, Midway was sold to its shareholders and spun off as a separate company.

Acura's new models—particularly the RL and TSX—have been well received by the motoring press. WMS brought the properties under Midway (which it now renamed Midway Games Inc.), and re-instated the Atari Games name. A new RL debuted in 2005, this time with a 300-hp V6, more exciting styling, and innovative Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD), a system capable of sending almost all of the RL's power to just one wheel in a turn. By 1996, Time-Warner sold TWI to WMS Industries, Inc., owner of Midway at the time. This model became the only 4-cylinder sedan in Acura's line-up, replacing the Integra sedan. At that point Atari Games ceased to exist and became part of Time-Warner Interactive. The same year, Acura introduced the TSX, a European-market Honda Accord loaded with features, as a cheaper alternative to the BMW 3-series. The new Time-Warner eventually started gaining more and more shares in the company until they eventually owned the company completely again by 1994.

A new TL debuted in 2004, equipped with sharp, Italianate styling and a 270-hp V6, and available with a 6-speed manual transmission led to a dramatic increase in sales for Acura. In the meantime, Atari Games was bought out by its employees in 1986, who also founded Tengen to bring their arcade games in to the home. Other cars in Acura's line-up during this time included the 3.2 TL, 3.2 CL, RSX (formerly the Integra), and the supercar, the NSX. The brand name changed hands again in December 2000, when French software publisher Infogrames took over Hasbro Interactive. It was given top honors by Car and Driver in its first comparison test against seven other SUVs. This transaction primarily involved the brand and intellectual property, which now fell under the Atari Interactive division of Hasbro Interactive. The MDX was a car-like and fun-to-drive crossover SUV with little off-road capability that catered smartly to the demands of the luxury SUV market. In March 1998, JTS sold the Atari name and assets to Hasbro Interactive for $5 million—less than a fifth of what Warner Communications had paid 22 years earlier.

The MDX replaced the slow-selling SLX, which was little more than a rebadged Isuzu Trooper. There are also websites dedicated to the release of new products for the original Atari consoles and computers, such as AtariAge. In the early 2000s, Acura refreshed its line-up, arguably beginning with the introduction of the MDX, a popular three-row crossover SUV based on the Honda Odyssey minivan. Although the original Atari ceased to exist, a large amount of underground development remains for Atari's game systems and computers of the 1970s and 1980s, and many of the retro-gaming conventions (such as World Of Atari, Classic Gaming Expo, Philly Classic, and the Midwest Gaming Classic), focus largely on Atari. This reputation has continued to this day, especially with the new RSX and TSX (see below.). Atari's role in the new company largely became a holder for the Atari properties and minor support, consequently the name largely disappeared from the market. Parent company Honda's reputation as a maker of easy to tune and rev-happy engines with this demographic rubbed off onto Acura, and the Integra became a popular tuner car. In July 1996, Atari merged with JTS Inc.,a short-lived maker of hard disk drives, to form JTS Corp.

Despite these letdowns, Acura did gain prominence in the 1990's with a younger group of people, the import tuner set. The result was a rapid succession of changes in ownership. Even the swoopy NSX lost sales as Acura barely changed the car from its original 1989 trim. In addition, Tramiel and his family wanted out. Its sluggish 210-horsepower V6 (later bumped to 225 hp) and front-wheel drive, together with anonymous styling that cautiously aped the larger, more powerful and more engaging Lexus LS400, did little against more prestigious, attractive and faster offerings from BMW, Audi, and Lexus, among others. By 1996, a series of successful lawsuits followed by profitable investments had left Atari with millions of dollars in the bank, but the failure of the Lynx and Jaguar left Atari without any products to sell. The 1996 3.5RL, which replaced the well-loved Legend, was seen by many as the epitome of Acura's new-found blandness. It was not nearly as powerful as Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation or Sega's Saturn and lacked the extensive third party support its Japanese competitors had easily secured for their consoles.

During this time, Acura switched to an alphanumeric formula for nomenclature. After a period of initial success, it, too, failed to meet expectations. Unfortunately, after this strong start, the mid- to late 1990s, Acura's model line-up became less and less inspiring and consequently, sales suffered. In 1993, Atari released its last console, the Jaguar. The car's meticulously engineered quality and sterling reliability were icing on the cake. As the fortunes of Atari's ST and PC compatible computers faded, consoles and software again became the company's main focus. The NSX, an acronym for "New Sports eXperimental", was hailed as the first (and perhaps, to date, the only) Japanese car capable of taking on Ferrari and Porsche. Atari lost.

In 1989, Acura introduced the NSX, a swoopy 276-hp two-door sports car. sued Nintendo for $250 million, alleging it had an illegal monopoly. Automotive journalists were impressed particularly by the Acura Legend. Also in 1989, Atari Corp. Other Japanese luxury brands (Toyota's Lexus and Nissan's Infiniti) sprang up in North America shortly after Acura's introduction of the Legend, a V6-powered coupe and sedan, and the Integra, which was offered with a 4-cylinder engine only. As a result, the Lynx lost market share to Nintendo's Game Boy, which had only a black and white display but was widely available. Before Acura, automobiles from Japan were primarily economical and were seen as reliable above all else. However, a shortage of parts kept the system from being released nationwide for the 1989 Christmas season.

Acura is credited with creating or being the first to tap into a market for luxury Japanese cars outside Japan. In 1989, Atari also released the Atari Lynx, a handheld console with color graphics, to critical acclaim. The brand will be expanded to the Chinese market in 2006 and the Japanese domestic market in 2008. Atari eventually released a line of inexpensive IBM PC compatibles as well as an MS-DOS compatible palm computer called the Atari Portfolio. Acura is a Japanese brand name used by Honda in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong since March 1986 to market luxury automobiles and near-luxury vehicles. Still, its closest competitor in the marketplace, the Commodore Amiga, outsold it 3 to 2. RSX. It was especially popular among musicians, as it had built in MIDI ports.

RL (new 2nd-generation). The Atari ST line proved very successful (but mostly in Europe, not the U.S.), ultimately selling more than 4 million units. NSX. Atari rebounded, producing a $25 million profit that year. MDX. Then, in 1986, Atari launched two consoles designed under the Warner Atari - Atari 2600jr and the Atari 7800 console (which saw limited release in 1984). TSX. In 1985 they released their update to the 8-bit computer line, the Atari XE series, as well as the 16-bit Atari ST line.

TL. Under Tramiel's ownership, Atari Corp. used the remaining stock of game console inventory to keep the company afloat while they finished development of their 16-bit computer system the Atari ST. EL (Canada only). Warner also sold the fledgling Ataritel to Mitsubishi. Models sold: