('''IESA''') () is an international
Holding Company headquartered in
Villeurbanne ,
Lyon ,
France . It owns 51.2 percent of '''
Atari, Inc. ''', headquartered in
New York, N.Y. ,
USA , and '''Atari Europe'''. It was founded in
1983 by
Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the benefits from an introductory computer book. Through its subsidiaries, Infogrames
Produces ,
Publishes and distributes
Interactive Games for all major
Video Game Console s and computer game platforms.
The founders wanted to christen the company ''Zboub Système'', but were dissuaded by their juridical consultant
Author excerpt from Daniel Ichbiah, ''La saga des jeux vidéo''. Vuibert. 2004. ISBN 2-7117-4825-1. They then, according to Bonnell in a TV interview, used a mix-and-match computer program to suggest other names, one of which was "Infogramme": a
Portmanteau of the
French words "informatique" (information technology) and "programme" (a computer program). The final choice, "Infogrames", was a slightly modified version of that suggestion, and is pronounced in
IPA Pronunciation .
The company logo is an
Armadillo (''tatou'' in French), chosen when the company was moved to
Villeurbanne . Bonnell commented: "This dinosaur (''sic'') is our symbol. The armadillo always survives to the changes of his environment, from the thawing of the ices, to the worst of the heat waves."
was also the name of the official
North America n subsidiary of Infogrames Entertainment
SA . It was founded in
1993 as '''
GT Interactive ''', and purchased in
1999 by Infogrames. In
2001 , Infogrames, Inc. purchased and absorbed '''
Hasbro Interactive ''', which encompassed
MicroProse ,
Atari and
Game.com . In October 2001, Infogrames announced that it was "reinventing" the Atari brand with the launch of three new games. On May 7, 2003, Infogrames officially reorganized its US subsidiary as a separate entity known as Atari, Inc.. It named its European operations to Atari Europe, and kept the main holdings company as Infogrames Entertainment.
In late 1980s Infogrames was noted for its French computer games that featured often original game ideas and occasionally humorous content. They had acquired several licences for popular ,
2006
