Why did Atari et fail?

In 1983, Atari suffered a major setback when it released a much-hyped game called E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, designed in a record five weeks by a single programmer. The game was a commercial failure due to its poor quality and difficult gameplay.
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What caused the downfall of Atari?

This was attributed to several factors, including market saturation in terms of game consoles and available games, as well as a trend away from console games in favor of personal computers. The recession was harsh on everyone in the video game industry, including Atari.
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How did E.T. crash the video game market?

The reasons as to why the gaming industry crashed, were not merely due to E.T. or Atari itself. Rather, its release was symptomatic of and preceded by issues that were occurring at the time. By the early 1980s, too many companies wanted a piece of that sweet pie that was the video game market.
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Is E.T. in Atari worth anything?

As of September 2015, over $107,000 has been raised through the sales of about 880 unearthed cartridges, with one E.T. copy selling for more than $1,500. About 300 cartridges remain to be sold at a later date given the historical value of the cartridges.
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Why did Atari go out of business?

Faced with fierce competition and price wars in the game console and home computer markets, Atari was never able to duplicate the success of the 2600. These problems were followed by the video game crash of 1983, with losses that totaled more than $500 million.
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Inside the Worst Video Game Ever

What destroyed Atari?

As competition intensified, companies engaged in price wars both in games and consoles. This further confused consumers and led to lower-quality components being used to maintain profit margins. Believe it or not, Steven Spielberg's ET is widely considered to have been the final nail in Atari's coffin.
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Why did Nintendo sue Atari?

In December 1988, Atari filed a lawsuit against Nintendo for unfair competition under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Nintendo responded in November 1989, counter-suing Atari for unfair competition, as well as infringing both its copyright and patent for its cartridge authentication system.
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Is et Atari rare?

the Extra Terrestrial Atari cartridges netted over $108,000. Nearly 900 copies of the infamously terrible video game were sold on eBay after an April 2014 excavation in Alamogordo, New Mexico confirmed the urban legend that thousands of the cartridges were buried following the game's critical and commercial failure.
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Why was Atari ET buried?

Legend has it that Atari buried millions of unsold and returned copies of E.T., and perhaps other titles, in a New Mexico dump as the company struggled to stay afloat. Thirty years was long enough for the dump site—and the truth behind the story—to be lost.
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How many copies of ET were buried?

The myth had been half true. More than 1,300 cartridges were found at the dig. Former Atari manager James Heller was at the excavation, and confirmed that 728,000 games had been buried there, many of them successful titles, as well as inoperable spare parts. It was a warehouse dump by a company in trouble.
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Why did ET fail?

the Extra-Terrestrial, designed in a record five weeks by a single programmer. The game was a commercial failure due to its poor quality and difficult gameplay. Atari struggled to recover from the poor sales of E.T. and never recovered its reputation among the gaming community.
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How much money did Atari lose from ET?

By 1980, Atari was labeled as the fastest-growing company in U.S. history. Its operating income leaped from $174,000 in 1976 to $323 million by 1982 (but “E.T.” together with several other management missteps led to a $539 million loss just 12 months later). Expectations of the game itself were similarly high.
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Did the NES save gaming?

In the 1980s, the video game industry had almost put the final nail in its own coffin, and if it wasn't for Nintendo coming out with an innovative solution, the gaming industry as we know it wouldn't have survived the video game crash of 1983.
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How bad was Atari ET?

GameSpy's Classic Gaming called E.T. Atari's biggest mistake, as well as the largest financial failure in the industry. Reiley commented that the game's poor quality was responsible for ending the product life of the Atari 2600.
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Why did Atari fail in Japan?

In 1986, Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi noted that "Atari collapsed because they gave too much freedom to third-party developers and the market was swamped with rubbish games".
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Did ET cause the video game crash?

It has become commonplace in videogame history to almost single-handedly blame it for the 1983 US market crash. The story goes that Atari were so certain that the game would follow the astronomical success of the film that they actually manufactured more E.T.
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What company buried 700000 unsold video games in 1983?

Atari, legend holds, buried thousands upon thousands of new videogame cartridges here after the market tanked in 1983. Over time, the facts of the matter had been blurred as people came to believe they were all copies of E.T., the mega-flop Atari 2600 game based on the 1982 hit movie.
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How long did it take to make et Atari?

The game's problems stem from development being rushed at launch, only taking 5 weeks to develop. The game's poor quality is often blamed for the Video Game Crash of 1983 and was one of the main games found in the Atari video game burial in New Mexico, with around 1300 copies buried.
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Why did Nolan Bushnell start Atari?

Pong debuted at a bar in Sunnyvale, California, one evening in 1971. The game was literally overplayed; the machine broke down after being stuffed too full with quarters. Knowing he had a winning product, Bushnell founded Atari in 1972 with the help of his friend, Ted Dabney, and only $500.
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What Atari game is worth $10,000?

Red Sea Crossing wasn't even known in the Atari community until 2007 when it was found at a garage sale. It is a Christian game and was only sold via phone order. The only known ad for the game was in Christianity Today. Red Sea Crossing is the most expensive Atari 2600 game when it is cartridge only, by about $10,000.
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Was Mario made for Atari?

Mario Bros. was ported by other companies to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 7800, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The Commodore 64 has two versions: an Atarisoft port which was not commercially released and a 1986 version by Ocean Software.
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Does Atari exist anymore?

Atari's iconic games, including Pong®, Asteroids®, Centipede® Missile Command®, have been played by many millions, and the brand continues to bring joy to gamers with its expanding portfolio of PC, console and mobile games. Atari's core businesses include video games, consumer hardware, licensing and blockchain.
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