REVIVE AN ICON
Atari approached Maestro with an urgent plan. Their goal was to return life to the most famous console of all time. The one that started it all. It was a bold idea, and company management sought a distinct hardware experience that could deliver on their ambitions and satisfy decades of lust within the fan base.
Maestro Contribution: System Architecture, Product Requirements Document, Use Case Documentation, Thermal System Validation, Electrical System Architecture. Industrial Design by Dana Krieger
Maestro developed system architectures to meet the board area and thermal dissipation requirements of the high level game play targets identified by Atari product management.
In a highly collaborative process between Industrial Design and Engineering, an aligned product vision was quickly identified which balanced cosmetic goals and system architecture requirements including I/O placements and thermal management.
Despite the aggressive timeline Maestro’s ability to think beyond the standard five-sided box approach to consumer electronics enclosures, a provocative product architecture was derived that maximized cooling opportunities and allowed Atari to manufacture small parts in single pull, low tonnage tools. This proposal delivered on the heritage of unconventional thought that is expected of the Atari Mark AND accommodated the business realities of working with widely available molding machines.
Like the console, the classic joystick deserved a modern treatment and a user experience update to support modern gaming.
LEVEL COMPLETED
Maestro delivered a compelling product vision and a plan to meet an aggressive realization schedule to support a massively successful crowdfunding initiative. Following the campaign, Atari management shifted focus to a more traditional product architecture in an effort to minimize development risk.