Fred Chesnais wants to change that. As Atari's new CEO and majority shareholder, Chesnais is leading what he hopes will be a turnaround of the 42-year-old brand, which emerged from bankruptcy proceedings last year. For Chesnais, who also served as Atari's CEO between 2004 and 2007, it's a second chance to make Atari relevant to a new generation.

His first step: let other people be Atari. Rather than immediately trying to reclaim Atari's place as a top gaming company–a goal that has eluded many other CEOs with many different comeback strategies over the years–he's planning on licensing that almighty brand to other studios who are already adept at building games for today's audience. "Corporations die," he says. "Brands like Atari don't."