Quoted from TOK:Atari was pretty much dead while Williams was still making their biggest games (remember the Jaguar and Lynx? Two giant duds between 89 and 93). They weren't even a real company by 1998, just a name purchased by Hasbro to slap on their gaming division.
Kind of off topic:
"Atari" still exists today, believe it or not. Infogrames is wearing their dead skin, with a very small staff. Question is: Why would they emerge out of bankruptcy, only to lose more money in the process?
It's not even the real Atari anyway. Bunch of copyright trolls, bullying Jeff Minter and his brilliant TxK game. I bet he'd make a better version of Asteroids instead of what they came up with recently.
OP: Now I'm pretty mad that Neil Nicastro hated pinball. I'd be surprised if he's still the head of WMS today.
