Atari’s 'Extra-Terrestrial' is biggest flop in game history, linked to ‘huge mystery’
Atari's 1982 'E.T.' video game, long considered a commercial failure, became the subject of a mystery regarding the disposal of unsold inventory. A 2014 excavation in a New Mexico landfill confirmed that thousands of cartridges were buried there, ending years of speculation.
Why it matters
The story serves as a significant case study in video game history and the consequences of poor product management during the industry's early years.
Atari released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982, and it is considered one of the worst failures in video game history. By then, Atari was experiencing financial difficulties, with falling console sales and increased competition. Unsold copies of the game were discovered in a warehouse in El Paso and were rumoured to have been disposed of in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The landfill's location remained a mystery for many years.The mystery unfolded in 2014, when a dig at a New Mexico landfill led to the discovery of 1,382 Atari game cartridges, including games such as "E.T.", "Centipede", and "Pac-Man". The discovery confirmed the myth that some of the company's games were dumped at the landfill; it also raised questions about the landfill's size, since the digging was not extensive enough.
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