AtariGaming company Atari is looking to build gaming-themed hotels throughout America, with the first opening in Phoenix, Arizona.
According to its website, Atari wants to begin construction of its first hotel this spring, and all its hotels will feature what it describes as ‘fully immersive experiences for every age and gaming ability, including the latest in VR and AR’.
It’s also looking to build hotels in Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco and San Jose.
AtariAtari was created in the 1970s and became famous for its games like Pong and Roller Coaster Tycoon as well as its gaming console, the Atari 2600.
The upcoming hotel’s development and design is being led by Shelly Murphy’s GSD Group and Napoleon Smith III, producer of the wildly successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise reboot. They’re also working alongside Phoenix real estate developer Truth North Studio.
Napoleon Smith III said about the project:
When creating this brand-new hotel concept, we knew that Atari would be the perfect way to give guests the ‘nostalgic and retro meets modern’ look and feel we were going for. Let’s face it, how cool will it be to stay inside an Atari?!
I have to agree, it does sound pretty cool.
PexelsApparently more than 2.5 billion gamers across the world spent more than $152.1 billion (£116.8 billion) on games in 2019 alone, an increase of 9.6% year on year, so Atari will be hoping its new hotels will go down a storm.
Atari CEO Fred Chesnais spoke about the company’s new venture, saying:
Atari is an iconic global brand that resonates with people of all ages, countries, cultures and ethnic backgrounds and we cannot wait for our fans and their families to enjoy this new hotel concept.
We are thrilled to partner with GSD Group and True North Studio to build the first-ever Atari branded hotels across the United States. Together we’ll build a space that will be much more than just a place to stay.
Gaming fans appear to be intrigued by the new project Atari.
One person tweeted:
ATARI HOTELS?! Am I dreaming? Is this even real life anymore?
ATARI HOTELS?! Am I dreaming? Is this even real life anymore? https://t.co/CHRlM9gLCr
— Erin Plays (@ErinPlays_Games) January 27, 2020
Another Atari fan said he was ‘curious’ about the new concept.
His tweet read:
Atari Hotels are coming to Phoenix, then Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, and San Jose. I’m curious.
Atari Hotels are coming to Phoenix, then Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, and San Jose.
I'm curious. pic.twitter.com/AaQUzpWuHs
— JohnRiggs+ (@johnblueriggs) January 27, 2020
While this all sounds super exciting, and the company wants construction will begin spring 2020, the Atari Hotel’s website deems its plans, operational budget and finance ‘inherently uncertain’, meaning nothing is set in stone.
I guess we’ll find out in a few months if it starts building or not…
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Niamh Shackleton is a pint sized person and journalist at UNILAD. After studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Salford, she did a year at Caters News Agency as a features writer in Birmingham before deciding that Manchester is (arguably) one of the best places in the world, and therefore moved back up north. She’s also UNILAD’s unofficial crazy animal lady.