Phil Harrison No Longer President Of Atari

Phil looks like a mutated 12 year old in that picture

@dresam:

what snarky remarks are you referring to?

I hear Phil blames Superman for his job loss, but don't worry he vows to get revenge.

I think that Phil may have a lot of good ideas, but the problem is that Atari isn't the company that's going to be willing to bring ambitious ideas to life. Thus Phil probably weren't very effective for them. If I was Sony I'd grab him and put him in charge of HOME.

good luck mate...but why the blown up picture of him anyways?

heromoua

That's the biggest picture of Phil I've seen all day. And did you guys call Atari a "fledgling" company? Or did I misinterpret that?

@X201: Sony needs the gentle giant :(

phil you are a man among children, return to sony and the world will be right

Timothy Saskiewicz

Is it just me or does he look a lot like The Observer from Fringe?

[nymag.com]

Sorry to be the wet blanket here, but I still associate this guy with Sony's stonewalling arrogance; I still think of him and his way of doing business and all those embittered snarky little remarks as the reason why I've yet to purchase a PS3. Maybe it's just me.

dresam

Phil Harrison looks like one unpleasent fella.

@SocraticMethod: Have to agree, everytime I see a Sony keynote or press conferences - I begin to miss him. And also how he'd pronounce beta as "beeee-tah." :)

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): I think he should just go to Nintendo. His comments as President of Atari fit RIGHT in with Nintendo's philosophy as of late.

@SocraticMethod: I liked Phil while he was at Sony. I liked him when he first went to Atari... Then he had to make those infamous comments about the industry. The man can become QA now, for all I care... No... Actually, I want a QA position open for me if i can't find an English teaching Job in Japan (or wherever)... So, no, he should just leave the game industry.

A blind man saw this coming when he took the job. God only knows why he left Sony to join a sinking ship like Atari.

@Sotiris (The Bassist): Heh I was going to make the same comment.

Narishma

You can only fuck up so many companies Phil...

Lokicharms

@SocraticMethod: I love me some Sony but that knob Harrison used to make me swear at the screen. Can't stand the man.

Ungruntled

Go back to Sony!
Phil Harrison walks out at the Sony Conference at e3 would be the biggest megaton for me.

Van_Occupanther

Didn't Realize Phil Harrison was also the Bald Guy from Fringe

Filthy_O_Bedlam

@metallicorphan: He had something to do with Ghostbusters actually getting published in the UK at all. If it weren't for Sony's intervention, Ghostbusters wouldn't exist.

Svend Joscelyne

Damn! I wonder if he resigned or if he was forced to resign. If it's the latter then it's a major blow to his ego. Head of Sony then tried his luck with Atari and coming to this...

I wonder if the recent "failure" of Alone in the Dark and the rumored cancellation of the Witcher game has anything to do with this...

excaliburps

Personally I never liked the guy, cant really put my finger on why though.

@shatteredhalo :: Bring Xenogears to PSP, thanks!: I know! Think of the resolution! PPI!

@X201: SCEE hasn't done any work since he left, so I agree!

Come back...

@SocraticMethod: But...what about David "Hibernation" Reeves?
That man was great in all his "Alright, nappy-time SCEE" three times a day.

@hezz05: Eh, he's a pretty cool guy. Say rumble is last gen and doesn't afraid of anything.

crayonmonster

@SocraticMethod: Got to agree here, a really likeable figure that felt like he was there for the gamers.

@ghastlyprotector: Nice one.

Kaneda

We love you Phil... Everyone loves you... everyone...

I am not sure if this is Atari blaming Phil, or Phil just stepping down for his own personal reasons.... Yuck.

Heidern98

hey Phil, no one likes cammie dunaway maybe you should take her gig at Nintendo.

spider2544

So basically... Atari fired Phil Harrison, and instead of making a public embarrassment of the situation (to late), they just gave him a "non-sensical job title", until he can find another 6-7 figure salary job in this market.

Why in the hell did he leave Sony? That was stupid. Regardless of how you feel about them, good or bad -- Sony is a name that people recognized. Atari, on the other hand, has the nostalgia aspect. But, at the end of the day, their name is bullshit, and they're games are crap.

Ugh...why did you ever leave Sony.
Just go back to them please :/

What's with good companies losing their good businesspeople to other, meh-companies? Didn't Microsoft lose (oh his name is fleeing my memory at the moment) to EA Sports? Lol.

He eyes follow you.No matter where you go there he is staring back.

I'm getting kind of spooked by the whole thing.

@Joshua Forbes:

hahaha. it kind of took me by surprise too.

Seriously, you guys need to stop with the big pictures. About had a heart attack...

@Joshua Forbes:

Enormous picture is enormous...

(I bet that didn't work)

SwKninja

Oh geez. Does this mean he doesn't get to make the big decisions anymore? Atari was actually starting to look like it'd be coming around as a respectable publisher again, and I'd hate to think of somebody else coming in and fucking it up.

He would have been a great David Reeves replacement at SCEE. Too bad that's probably not going to happen.

El-Suave

if he had anything to do with 360 not getting Ghostbusters in the UK then screw him

if not...then....well,good luck with wherever your future takes you

He should go back to Sony. I miss him there.

@X201: i concur sony really need him back.

OMG, he looks just like the Observer in Fringe!

Go to Microsoft and rule with J Allard ;)

SCEE needs you Phil!

Well no, actually...judging by PS3 sales in the US, SCEA need you!

Phil, please, go back to SCEE.

They need you, and we need you to be there.

X201

Well that wasn't pong.

I miss him being at Sony, really think he should've stayed with them.

But, best of luck to ya Phil.

that scared the hell out of me

Joshua Forbes

Go back to Sony......seriously.

godspeed you bald emperor

ghastlyprotector

Good luck to Phil. As much of a Sony fanboy I am, he's the only Sony exec I probably ever liked.

@Ungruntled: I will have to agree with you. I come as close to hate as I can come against someone who I don't even know.

He was such a bullshit spin-artist when he was with Sony, and he probably didn't change his tune much with Atari.

Kyle D Johnson

Harrison belongs to Nintendo.

IMO, he's the reason why Sony even bothered making HOME (and can we please all agree that it was a waste of resources?), instead of focusing on REAL gamer-focused features like cross-game VoIP, etc.

Again, I said "IMO".

orakga

@V1L3: You're right. I suck. I just realized I've become rabidly anti-Sony. Not pro MS or Nintendo or anything... just anti-Sony. It sucks. I just feel like they've taken a dump on gamers and are still squatting over our heads, straining, still trying to squeeze anything left out. Whether it's still true or not I don't even know. I've got to stop posting on Sony related posts until I buy a PS3 (when Sony lowers the price), because I rarely have anything good to say.

dresam

Phil, go back to Sony...they're waiting with open arms.

sascha23

@ghastlyprotector: har

I've never liked this guy! He had great ideas but wet promises!

Steve Amazin'

@Narishma: Hello, Walter. It's time to go.

amazinglarry

God I hated Phil "Spin Doctor" Harrision. Every word out of his mouth was a flatout lie or a spun lie made to sound like truth. He was great at what he did- look at the legions of Sony Fanboy's he created and lied to to make feel better about the PS3 in the early days... his legacy of bullshit will live on in forum threads forever- but as a gamer who just wanted a little truth now and again- I consider Philly boy a major negative in the PS history. As for his role at Atari... I never saw him do anything... so I liked him better there.

@bobtheduck: If ti means Reggie and Cammie would get fired, then Phil should go with them.

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): Microsoft would turn him into a douchebag.

Daniel Pizarro Sánchez

@SocraticMethod: Agreed. Industry needs more people like Phil Harrison. And by industry i mean Sony, Microsoft and NIntendo.

Daniel Pizarro Sánchez

@jamBot: They're more of a publisher, not a developer. Frankly, Phil was the best thing to happen to that company... and it gave me hope that they wouldn't pinch pennies be big ol' dicks when they would start publishing the next Neverwinter Nights.

But that's all out in the open now. I am a scared, shivering, destitute fanboy.

Tell Sony you are ready to accept a buy back offer.

@jamesjohnson01: Peter Moore was a horrible PR. MS has actually accomplished more with him gone.

Ben9

Is that the kid from Bully?

lolomfgisuck

@ghastlyprotector: God damn, I love me some Godspeed.

bysty

@dresam:I pity the man who misses out on great games (on any console) because of "snarky little remarks".

Sorry, did I say "pity?" I meant "laugh at."

I always get those two confused.

V1L3

@Lokicharms: I don't think it's actually physically possible to "fuck up" Atari.

They have only so many holes, and they were all filled to capacity.

V1L3

They can take your position, Phil, but they'll never have your chewing gum.

I think I'm the only one here who wants to see Phil go to Microsoft, so he can become the Secret Apprentice to Major Nelson's Darth Vader.

"Accept my friend request, PhilAtAtari, and we can rule E3 as Master and Apprentice!"

@V1L3: Agreed. Atari was shooting itself in the foot for a LONG time before Phil got there and turned it around to actually being halfway okay.

@Svend Joscelyne: Yeah, Sony was the "badguys" in that whole EU deal.

Go back to Sony!!

@bobtheduck: I fail to recall what comments, care to remind me?

Rockabully