Justin Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 Jack Tramiel and Ray Kassar are frequent topics of conversation when discussing Atari history — but rarely Steve Ross, who impacted Atari’s fate more than anyone. Why has the conversation surrounding Steve Ross been a blind spot in Atari History? The guy built a parking lot and funeral home into Warner Communications. He personally pitched the E.T. deal to Spielberg—including $20M+ for licensing. He ordered the game be rushed through development in time for Christmas, after top VCS talent had already left Atari for Activision, and ordered the manufacturing of more cartridges than systems. Ray Kassar still had to answer to Steve Ross and Manny Gerard, and could make the argument that he “was just following orders.” Steve Ross made all the big decisions. He’s the one who bought Atari, and made the decision to give the company away. Towards the end Steve Ross was flying in to Atari from New York and effectively running Atari himself. Amazing and tragic story often overlooked by those interested in Atari history as most interest is in gaming or computing, and the teams behind the products. RickR, MistaMaddog, MaximumRD and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco1019 Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 I believe Steve Ross was also involved with The New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League back in the 1970s. DegasElite 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistaMaddog Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 That's a very good point! It seems everytime there's discussion about "Warner Management" it's easier to see them as faceless managers than the actual people who make the overall decisions. And Steve Ross appeared in plenty of video documentaries (not YouTube) about Atari along with Manny Gerard. There definitely needs to be a deep dive on this subject... RickR and DegasElite 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 (edited) Great point and absolutely correct. Steve Ross was involved in every bad decision Atari made: Sidelining Nolan Bushnell Hiring Ray Kassar Selling to Tramiel And as you mention, the ET fiasco. Edited October 8 by RickR DegasElite and MistaMaddog 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistaMaddog Posted October 9 Report Share Posted October 9 23 hours ago, RickR said: Great point and absolutely correct. Steve Ross was involved in every bad decision Atari made: Sidelining Nolan Bushnell Hiring Ray Kassar Selling to Tramiel And as you mention, the ET fiasco. Yep! Sure as heck wasn't John Morgan, who literally did nothing as Atari's President after Kassar left... RickR and DegasElite 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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