It's no secret that Atari has been financially strained for some time. Now comes word that, effective this morning, the company has been removed from the NASDAQ listing and trading of Atari shares has been suspended. Atari plans to request a review from the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council, which could alter or dismiss the delisting and suspension at its conclusion. Atari now expects to be quoted on the Pink Sheets, an electronic quotation service maintained by Pink Sheets LLC. The Pink Sheets allow continued trading of securities of delisted companies.

Despite the news from NASDAQ on the delisting, Atari still intends to move forward with its plan to be wholly absorbed by its majority shareholder, Infogrames, which currently controls about 51.4% of Atari's common shares. According to the statement released on the issue this morning, Atari believes that its delisting from NASDAQ "will not affect the pending merger transaction".

Atari's financial difficulties haven't seemed to stop the company from continuing as "normal". The company is still banking on the release of its new Alone in the Dark title, due on store shelves next month.