ព័ត៌មានសំខាន់
The 1982 release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600 is widely remembered as a catastrophic failure that triggered a massive financial crisis for Atari and contributed to the 1983 North American video game industry crash. Driven by overconfidence following the film's global success, Atari secured the license for 20 to 22 million dollars.
Development was severely compromised by an impossible deadline set by CEO Ray Kassar. Programmer Howard Scott Warshaw was forced to complete the entire design and coding process in just five weeks, a fraction of his typical five to nine-month development cycle, to ensure the game reached stores for the holiday season.
The resulting gameplay was criticized for being frustrating and confusing. Players struggled with unresponsive controls and a level design filled with pits that were difficult to exit. These technical flaws, combined with persistent FBI agents and poor graphics, led to widespread consumer disappointment after an initial 1.5 million copies were sold.
Atari produced 5 million copies, far exceeding the number of consoles in circulation. Following the market collapse, millions of unsold cartridges were discarded. While long considered an urban legend, the burial of these games in Alamogordo, New Mexico, was confirmed in April 2014 when a documentary team excavated the site, providing physical evidence of the corporate failure.
