Atari - a name that was once absolutely synonymous with gaming, with being on the bleeding edge in technology, creator of worldwide phenomena such as Asteroids and Pong and more importantly, creator of the first home gaming console - could now be on its way back. This legend of high technology that hit a rough spot around the 80s when the gaming market cratered, never saw light at the end of the tunnel since then. It's been bought and sold by various corporations that found it attractive for its possibilities, but never found a way to actually have those possibilities made good on. Over the years, about $1 billion passed through the company and disappeared in bad investments. After 20 years in limbo the fortunes of Atari video games are finally turning around. The company has its offices in modest quarters in LA, and they have big plans to retake the videogame market that is rightfully theirs.

What's different this time is this: Nolan Bushnell, the original founder of Atari video games is on the board; people have big hopes - kind of in the way it was when Steve Jobs came back to Apple after decades. Atari's second shot at stardom is not going to be about making the games to sell at retail stores; Electronic Arts, the videogame maker, just reported major losses this quarter. Doing business selling DVDs on store shelves is fast becoming a thing of the past. What Atari plans to do is to create games for social networks - that's right, Atari is on Facebook. And the first releases are redesigned versions of grand hits from the past like Missile Command. Is there a reason why they choose Facebook games over other possible options? Of course, the answer is money. After having endured losses for years, Atari can't afford to spend more than $1 million or so on a game. And Facebook is just the right place for a company with massive appeal that is short on funds.

Atari Video Games over the past decades has been busy buying up other videogame companies; through one of their acquisitions in Europe, they're coming up with a new racetrack game called Road Test Drive Unlimited; they've already released a multiplayer Internet game known as Star Trek Online. They are beginning to put down roots. At this time, Atari's greatest assets are its massive library of grand old game names from the past. Its main plan for the future will involve building new versions of those all-time favorites. If you think about it, this may be kind of a risky strategy. If people keep seeing the same old names that they know from decades ago, it's going to turn Atari into a nostalgia brand - not a name for the future.

Actually, representing the past happens to be a part of Atari's natural appeal, and they want to not lose it in their quest of the new. There are movies coming up based on some of their titles; Universal is making a movie with the Asteroids and  Roller Coaster Tycoon game concepts. Only time will tell; but for now, Atari Video Games is back.