Atari Fit™: Atari Opens Classic Games Vault to Launch Digital Fitness App

It's been a couple of decades since Atari was at the forefront of the home video game industry with hits like Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Breakout. Since then, the company has lagged behind other leaders in the gaming world-but CEO Fred Chesnais is hoping to change that fact.His first step? Catching up with competitors by introducing a new product in a field it's admittedly a bit late to the game with: Fitness.Atari Fit, a "gamified fitness app" that features "full-body circuit workouts, running programs and custom routines" will launch in early 2015, the brand announced this week. Atari worked with a National Academy of Sports Medicine specialist Michael Porter to develop the app.[more]Atari is using its rich archive of games to incentivize folks to get fit. To unlock such classic games as Pong, Centipede and Super Breakout, users need to reach certain fitness goals. Atari has also partnered with Walgreens to give users points in the retailer's Balance Rewards program."We look forward to welcoming Atari into our Balance Rewards for healthy choices program," stated Adam Pellegrini, Vice President of Digital Health, Walgreens (who recently spoke to brandchannel). "Atari's knowledge of gamification will bring a new dimension to our program."According to the press release, Atari Fit "will be packed with numerous social features, and compatible with the industry's most popular wearable health and fitness devices, including Fitbit and RunKeeper. Atari Fit will also aggregate data from other world-renowned fitness apps, such as Google Health, allowing users to track all of their fitness activity statistics in one mobile application."It will also include "a robust set of tracking capabilities to capture the user's distance, speed, pace, time and calories burned.""Atari Fit is the first fitness app to motivate and reward players with gameplay for being active in between gaming sessions," stated Atari CEO Fred Chesnais."It's a gamified fitness experience with an Atari twist. Players are motivated to work toward their fitness goals, while offering a fun, competitive experience where they earn coins and can unlock their favorite classic Atari games," he added. "The team and leaderboard components are especially unique to the Atari Fit experience, as players around the globe can exercise, play and get healthy together."As the Washington Post notes, CES mainstay Atari "nearly" introduced the world to fitness gaming 30 years ago with "the Puffer," an exercise bike concept that powered video games-but never made it past the drawing board.Things have certainly been looking up for the gaming giant. In the first half of its fiscal year, which ended at the close of September, Atari reported that its revenue was $4.6 million compared with $1.3 million in the same period last year.Another positive note for the company came in the form of another one of its classic games: E.T., The Extra Terrestrial.A vintage game cartridge, which was found in a New Mexico landfill as part of a project to unearth unsold Atari gear that had been dumped there in 1983, will now be displayed in the Smithsonian museum. Though the relatively unsuccessful E.T. game isn't necessarily remembered fondly at Atari, the event further cements the brand's historical cachet."The Smithsonian is no hall of fame-it's our job to share the complicated technological, cultural, and social history of any innovation, including video games," Smithsonian technician Drew Robarge told PC Mag.Though Atari's identity may be set in the past in the minds of many consumers, the company's leaders are still focused on the future and seeking out new technology."We have had discussions with Oculus and are considering VR integration in future games," Chesnais told HITC Tech. "We see Atari in 10 years as a successful interactive entertainment production company that has created many fun, innovative and different types of gaming experiences-and continues to do so."• Follow us: @brandchannel on Twitter and brandchannel on Facebook. Connect with Mark on Twitter: @markjmill