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Note: This is the second in a series of interviews with Don Thomas conducted thru the internet. Don Thomas was the Director of Marketing for the Atari Corporation when this interview took place (January 1996).
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- The Interview -
- Mike:
Don, there is alot of concern about the future of the Jaguar and Atari itself after the last two series of layoff's or resignations of major figures at Atari like Ted Hoff. Can you tell us about how many people have left and how many remain?
- Don: I don't know how many have left Atari. There about 25-30 of us now if you consider just Atari U.S.'s main office.
- Mike:
There's rumors that Atari is vacating the offices in Sunnyvale CA and moving into smaller offices. Is this true.
- Don: We've already moved. This is our first week in the new offices.
- Mike:
Is this just a cost saving measure since with less people, Atari doesn't' need all the office space?
- Don: Sort of. Our lease was up and we've been considering more efficient offices for several years. This year the landlord and Atari couldn't agree on a price.
- Mike:
With Ted Hoff's resignation, I've heard that Jack T. is back in charge of Atari's operations and has lowered prices on some games again?
- Don: Ted changed a few things that may have affected prices before he left. I don't know of any other price changes since that time.
- Mike :
Did Babbages just hold off on placing orders for these games??
- Don: I cannot pass that on out of respect of our relationship with our customers. I can tell you in overall terms that Atari fulfills all with all our customers as promptly as possible.
- Mike:
Can you comment on upcoming games? It's been rumored that the Yak, Jeff Minter will not be back developing for the Jaguar. Can you tell us anything on this?
- Don: I'm not sure what more can be said. Jeff finished Defender 2000 and decided to go elsewhere to work.
- Mike:
I know in messages back and forth on Catscan BBS (which Don is the Sysop of) that Wal*Mart has been playing alot of orders to restock Jaguar sales in there stores. Do they really seem to be happy with the amount of sales on the Jaguar?
- Don: A retailer is always happy with sell-through and profit margin. :)
- Mike:
Is it the prior Jaguar owners purchasing games...
- Mike:
Or are the Jaguar units themselves flying off shelves and into new homes.
- Mike:
Can you comment on whom is the largest retail sales leader for the Jaguar.
- Don: I can tell you the Jaguar sells well through Electronics Boutique, Software Etc., Babbages, Wal*Mart, select Montgomery Ward locations and the cumulation of a lot of ma and pa shops nationwide.
- Mike:
When will Atari be releasing info on Christmas season sales figures and if the $99 price drop really spurred on sales of the jaguar.
- Mike:
What about games still in the pipeline of development. I've heard that after those in the pipeline, we might not see many more. I've tried contacting a number of developers and none have heard anything from Atari on future development for the Jaguar. One told me they would be forced to develop the game for PC release under Atari Interactive and then if game sales were good, it would be ported over to the Jaguar. If this is true, won't that hurt Jaguar sales.
- Don: Ever since Ted came to Atari, we've taken a hard look at our development strategies and there have been changes. It's no secret that Atari had a lot of plans and had some problems making them all happen on time. Those problems may have been due, in part, to how Atari managed the projects, but that would be only one of the places to point fingers. Having said all that, we have made changes to correct internal faults to manage projects. It may be possible that some developers do not like those changes, but Atari will not discuss our relationships with developers publicly.
- Mike:
We've spoken in private message on Catscan about the possibility of AVP2...
- Don: All that should be said and all that we should have discussed is that Atari's interest to develop games around the Alien and Predator characters is a licensed right. If and when such rights are considered a profitable interest by all parties, then I imagine we will announce any agreements that are subsequently made. I know of no currently announced plans to develop sequels to AvP.
- Mike:
If Atari is having financial troubles with low sales of the Jaguar overall when compared to the massive initial sales of the Sony PCX,
- Don: When a company loses money, it is a financial "trouble" they need to deal with. Competition is just one of the factors.
- Mike:
John Mathieson, the developer of the Jaguars RISC chipset has moved on to other jobs. Have you heard from him and how's he's doing?
- Don: No. I wish him well, but I haven't heard from him.
- Mike:
How about Bob Brodie, the former Director of User Groups for Atari. Has anyone heard from him lately?
- Don: He shows up from time to time on the Internet. Great Guy. I understand he is doing very well.
- Mike:
What do you personally feel about the future of the Jaguar & Atari.
- Don: The Jaguar is a tremendous value. I hope more and more people show an interest to support a company that's doing everything possible to offer top technology at affordable prices. The secret lies with how well the consumer wants an affordable high-tech alternative.
- Mike:
...3 years latter, where does Atari sit?
- Don: Who nows what will happen in 3 years? If you ask Sega, Nintendo, Sony, Atari... they'll all have biased visions of where the industry will be in 3 years, but the truth is, the consumer decides that more than the corporations do.
- Don Thomas
Atari Interactive
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