Get Ready to Stay in an Atari-Brand Hotel!
Chicago is not only the windy city but now also one of the eight U.S. cities that has been selected as a possible site for an Atari brand hotel. Details right now are incredibly limited, but the construction of the hotel should start as early this year in Phoenix, Arizona. The hotels are going to feature fine dining and of course arcade bars.
However, the cherished video game maker has yet to release the address of any of their potential sites, and the Atari spokesperson is still leaving our messages on “read”, so as of right now there’s no certainty that one of these locations will be in the Chicago area, but people can dream can’t they?
There’s also no menu out there for the kind of food that will be served, but I think it’s safe to assume that it’ll be Pac-Man pellets. Outside of Phoenix and Chicago the other sites that are being mentioned are Austin, Las Vegas, Denver, San Jose, and Seattle are all possible candidates for right now.
Atari is now a subsidiary of a French company, but in it’s heyday in the 80’s the gaming company was riding high with their sexy woodgrain consoles like the Atari 2600. Later on they were de-throned by the likes of Sega and Nintendo and they kept afloat in the gaming industry with some awesome titles like RollerCoaster Tycoon, but long ago they were the ones that came out big in the gaming world with Pong, Missile Command, Centipede, and Asteroids!
Right now they are partnering with True North Studio and GSD Group, showing off their renderings emblazoned with their iconic Atari logo. They are definitely trying to go the route of bringing in old-school video game players and some of the hotels are even being rumored to support eSport tournaments. Atari is also promising a “fully immersive” experience at their hotels with virtual reality attractions and the latest high-tech gear.
Chicago has had a long history with video games, and Nether Realm Studios who brought you Mortal Kombat is currently stationed in Avondale. Namco, who brought you Pac-Man also has their own arcade restaurant/bar in the area, so this would seem like prime real estate for an Atari themed hotel.
Atari has been seeing a lot of delays in trying to put out their next-gen console, and it might be because they’re building these awesome Atari themed hotels.
