
First Atari Hotel to Begin Construction in Phoenix in Mid-2020 - bdcravens
https://atarihotels.com/news/atari-announces-world-class-video-game-themed-atari-hotels-first-atari-hotel-to-begin-construction-in-phoenix-in-mid-2020/
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rideontime
> "Let’s face it, how cool will it be to stay inside an Atari?!” said Napoleon
> Smith III

I have a feeling he's going to be very disappointed by the answer to this
question.

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kabdib
If it's anything like working at Atari was, they'll "have layoffs" in the
middle of the night and eject you onto the street around 2AM. Good luck
getting your luggage. :0)

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smolder
Just an FYI, nothing branded "Atari" in the last 20 years or more has had
anything to do with the home computer/console maker. The brand has been passed
around and milked for recognition.

~~~
bionsystem
Disclaimer : I'm a shareholder.

Atari is now owned by French video games company Infogrames which renamed
itself as Atari, and it is publicly listed. They bought back all of the
liquidated american brands and since 2013 they've done a ton of work to get it
out of debt (which is now done).

So, they effectively own pretty much all of the original IP and brand, it's
just that the company is a rebirth with a new staff and new ambitions. Mostly,
they work through partnerships, with little in-house dev, kind of like what a
movie producer would work with a few movies licences.

~~~
JohnFen
Correct. Which means, as smolder said, the Atari we all remember and love is
long gone. The Atari that exists now is nothing but a brand.

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chasing
So, a mediocre hotel with Atari logos on everything and maybe some big Pole
Position graphics painted on the walls of the lobby. And a few sets of VR
goggles that will immediately become broken and unmaintained?

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PostPost
Good, they're on track to complete their Los Angeles infrastructure by 2049:
[https://bit.ly/2OwBYNi](https://bit.ly/2OwBYNi)

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el_cujo
>Hotel development and design is being led by Shelly Murphy’s GSD Group and
Napoleon Smith III, producer of the wildly successful Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles film franchise reboot.

Interesting choice.

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jagged-chisel
I take issue with "wildly," but I suppose it's hard to argue with a 4x ROI...
:-/

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philistine
I bet the final hotel, if it ever gets built, will not have the architectural
swooshes.

Those useless details are there for PR when sharing the renders, and are
immediately dumped afterwards.

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stronglikedan
Isn't Phoenix mostly just a connecting hub? If I'm going to vacation in a
ridiculously hot, dry, arid place, it's gonna be Vegas, likely by way of a
layover in Phoenix where I don't even leave the comfort of the airport.
Although, it has been a few years, so maybe things have changed, unlike
Phoenix's climate.

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ghostbrainalpha
Vegas is getting an Atari hotel as well.

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mattmar96
Isn't the point of visiting a place to experience it? What's the point of
flying/driving somewhere only to put on a VR headset when you arrive?

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giarc
I suspect the hotel would attract conference groups focused on gaming and
tech.

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mumblemumble
Trying to impress people from those groups with hotel-supplied VR headsets
would trap them into a pretty heinous rendition of the Red Queen's Race.

I'm guessing sci-fi and furry conventions would offer a better product-market
fit. By definition, most the people there are there on leisure time, so
they'll be generally more interested in playing. And the crowd won't be a
bunch of people who are making a career of rendering all the hotel's expensive
electronics obsolete.

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papreclip
History will look back on mine as the manchild generation. Can't say I'm not
doing my part, though

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purplezooey
Why can't they start in the bay area where we desperately need to build
hotels. Any hotels. Phoenix does not strike me as a thriving hotel market.

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barcoder
I like this idea of mixing real and virtual

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tsukurimashou
so AR? :p

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zelias
An AR _hotel_, specifically. If done well, it could create an entirely new
kind of vacation experience, especially in areas that do not naturally get a
lot of tourist traffic.

