Atari Closes It's Doors

---

Sadness comes again when saying goodbye to the last true Atari remnant
By Curt Vendel

February 7, 2003

Another sad chapter is added to the Atari Legacy:

Feb 7th, 2003 marks the true end of an era unlike any other...

What started out in a garage at 2965 Scott Blvd. Santa Clara Ca. will come to an end at 675 Sycamore in Milpitas today as Midway drops the axe and "Midway Games West" (Formerly Atari Games Corporation) lays off the remaining 30 employee's working there. Many will stay on for a few weeks tying up loose ends and shutting off the lights, but officially today is the day that the worlds Pioneering Video Game Company's legacy and existence comes to an end...

In the coming weeks the building will be cleared of people, furniture, equipment, hardware and paperwork. What was the birthplace of many laughs, smiles, challenges and thrills will slowly and quietly drift off into the nothingness that has been commonplace within the Valley for decades.

To be that last person... the one who will stand in the doorway, looking in and seeing the emptiness of it all, to listen to the quietness that itself will echo a myriad of electronic bleeps and beeps, synthesized theme music and trademark sound effects that many recognize in a heartbeat. The fading glow of screens no more, of flashes and pulses emitting onto the walls, ceiling and long gone faces of gamers and engineers alike... The door will lock and the final car will exit the parking lot, all that is left is a shell that stands alone, stands proud as its ghosts within play-on until the next tenant moves in...

Curt Vendel,
Atari Historian: The Atari Museum
http://www.atarimuseum.com