The Incredible Story of the E.T. Atari Game Being Buried in the Desert
The video game industry was experiencing a significant surge during the 1980s. However, everything was turned upside down by a single game. A game released for Steven Spielberg’s E.T. movie, produced by Atari, gained notoriety as one of the worst games in history. This game was so unsuccessful that it led to the industry's downfall. Moreover, during the same period, there was another E.T. game secretly released by a Canadian company.
Here lies one of the most intriguing legends in gaming history.
The official E.T. game, launched in 1982 with Spielberg's endorsement, was introduced to the market with a significant marketing triumph.
However, due to the rushed production process, the game was completed in just six weeks. This led to a great disappointment among players who were confronted with an E.T. character that aimlessly wandered and constantly fell into pits.
Despite its release coinciding with the holiday season, the sales ended disastrously. It even resulted in Atari suffering losses in the millions of dollars. This failure was one of the key factors that contributed to the video game crash of 1983.
During the same period, Skill Screen Inc., founded by Peter and Tom Banting in Canada, was in the process of developing a similar game.
The game titled 'Extra Terrestrials,' which was launched in 1983, aimed to capitalize on the popularity of the E.T. movie. Despite being unlicensed, the game was almost a mirror image of the film in terms of its characters and storyline.
Museum experts even pointed out that had the game achieved significant sales figures, it could have potentially faced a copyright lawsuit. However, misfortune dogged their steps. The game was wiped out in its early stages due to the market crash caused by the infamous reputation of the official E.T. game.
The official Atari game was received so poorly that hundreds of thousands of unsold copies were consigned to the trash.
In 1983, a rumor spread like wildfire about 14 truckloads of video game cartridges and hardware waste being buried in Alamogordo, New Mexico. This event was discussed as an urban legend for years. Even Atari officials denied the rumor, responding with a vague 'we don't know.' However, a dig conducted in 2014 revealed the truth of this burial.
The hundreds of thousands of cartridges unearthed from the landfill have since become a symbol of the biggest failure in gaming history.
The game Extra Terrestrials managed to sell merely a few hundred copies before it quietly vanished from the market.
However, today it is considered a priceless treasure for game collectors. The resurgence of this game was triggered by Peter Banting's donation of the only copy to the Brantford Computer Museum in 2011.
This game, once virtually unknown, is now recognized as one of the rarest pieces from the Atari era. Its obscurity, overshadowed by the official game and its disappearance with the market collapse, has made it one of the most intriguing game stories in history.
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