Phil Harrison now president of Infogrames

Have you always been asking yourself, where did Phil Harrison go? Well, he joined Infogrames. The ex-Sony Computer Entertainment president now plays a significant role in Atari‘s slow comeback – though that would be an understatement in itself. He is the president of Atari-parent Infogrames, after all. More at the full story.

Sitting right beside newly appointed CEO David Gardner, ex-SCEI president Phil Harrison took the seat of president at Infogrames after officially parting ways from Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios last week – albeit with a bitter note. Now in league with the parent company of the slowly progressing Atari, Harrison’s arrival seemed to have breathed new life and hope for the company.

Harrison was reported to have arrived in Atari’s headquarters early in preparations for his new duties, and he additionally cited his own visions and goals that he wished the company would pursue. Of course, they revolved around the pursuit of casual and family games development – an idea that Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ) rarely listened to. Harrison said:

This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari – one of the industry’s legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over.

And it appears that Infogrames is more than willing to realize Harrison’s vision. Gardner himself said that Infogrames will be refocusing its energies and resources to become an industry leader in the online gaming market.

Even the boss of Eden Games (formerly known as Eden Studios), renowned for its role-playing game line-up and responsible for developing Atari’s Alone in the Dark 5, is impressed.

“I don’t know Phil very well, but what I know about his job and what he’s done in the past, he has very strong feelings about games and where the industry should go,” said David Nadal, current head honcho at Eden Games. He even said that Harrison’s constant promotion of EyeToy, Buzz, and SingStar soon served as inspiration to them – perhaps even as far to encourage Eden to innovate their own games just as well.