12 Video Games Too Big To Fail (That Did Anyway)
10. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Why It Was "Too Big"
A video game based on a colossal hit movie - what could go wrong? As much as video game movies have a sour reputation nowadays, back in 1982 there wasn't even a lingering doubt that E.T. for the Atari 2600 would be anything less than a stonking hit.
Between the worldwide love for Steven Spielberg's instant classic movie and the Christmas time release, this was quite literally a fool-proof plan if there ever was one.
Why It Failed Anyway
Designer Howard Scott Warshaw was given just five weeks to build the game from scratch to meet a brutal production deadline, and if you know anything at all about video games, it's that rushing them out the door - especially in the days before downloadable updates - is never a good thing.
Unsurprisingly, reviews panned the game for basically every aspect of its production.
The Damage
Despite initially strong sales, the disastrous reviews and atrocious word-of-mouth quickly caused sales to tank, sinking well below expectations set by Atari, who paid a princely $20-25 million for the game rights.
It's been estimated that 3.5 of the 4 million manufactured cartridges either went unsold or were returned by angry customers, causing Atari to report $536 million in losses in 1983 and lose $1.3 billion in stock market valuation.
Consumer interest in the Atari 2600 dwindled and Atari eventually went under, causing the infamous 1983-1985 video game crash, where the industry lost 97% of its value over a mere two-year period.
Today E.T. endures only as a bizarre curio for retro gaming enthusiasts, and is best-remembered for several hundred thousand unsold copies being buried in a New Mexico landfill.