Driv3r 'a half-baked product'

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[Multi] Atari chief tells it like it is at annual conference

Thursday 10 August 2006
Atari's Driv3r was "a half-baked product that was pushed out the door for revenue reasons," according to the publisher's sales and marketing vice president, Nique Fajors.

Fajors was making a frank assessment of the company's past performance when he made the remarks about the driving action game at Atari's annual press event, currently running in Los Angeles. He also stated that Atari will be putting a stronger emphasis on quality control and so will be hiring teams who feel "disgust with losing and disgust with being mediocre".

Big things were expected of Driv3r when it was released in 2004 but, despite having some success commercially, it received something of a critical mauling. And, while it's refreshing to hear such candour from a games publisher, it's interesting that this admission has come just a few weeks after Atari's sale of the Driver franchise to Ubisoft.

As for Atari's future, it seems online is the way forward. Fajors says that the company intends to raid its back catalogue for Live Arcade releases and establish an online community through an Atari Online site.