1. ET: Extra Terrestrial The Game
Perhaps the most laughable launch in gaming history, and a title that frequently puts in a strong performance in any 'Worst games of all time' list is the shambolic film tie in for ET: Extra Terrestrial. Atari was looking to capitalise on the phenomenal success ET experienced at the box office that summer and handed over an impressive $25 million for the rights to make a digital playable adventure of the beloved film in time for the Christmas period. This was going to be easy money for everyone at Atari, surely? Lone developer and American man Howard Scott Warshaw was contacted by the big brass at Atari, at the request of Spielberg himself, to develop the game for them which would have been any developers dream job at the time. That was until Atari informed him he had only five weeks to code the game which to his credit, Warshaw accepted the challenge and deemed it a honour that Mr Spielberg requested him by name, after his work on Raider of the Lost Ark videogame. The $200,000 paycheque was also a bonus along with the all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. Warshaw gave the short turnaround time a crack, and after a meeting with Spielberg, who spluttered the unoriginal thought of asking the game be more akin to Pac-man, Warshaw stuck with his original design plans of a small adventure based around the film's plot. ET launched in time for Christmas as planned, with Atari paying for around five million units to hit store shelves. Roughly 3.5 million of those were returned to Atari after a disastrous launch which caused a loss of around $100 million for them, that isn't exactly petty cash for any company, especially in 1982. ET was a dreadful game that suffered the wrath of the critics, and to this day lives on in infamy as being the worst gaming launch failure of all time. According to various sources, most of the 3.5 million cartridges are buried under a cement landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico although nobody has any concrete proof of this, but an excavation of the area was announced earlier this year. ET also has the distinct honour of being the sole game that caused the legendary video game crisis of 1983. ET: The Game is a true real life horror of a gaming launch but also one to look back at and enjoy the hilarity of the whole situation. That concludes our 10 disastrous gaming launch failures for everyone to point and laugh at that will always be fondly remembered by gamers who have no interest in any of those titles. Lucky escapees were World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV and NBA Elite 11 who also suffered botched launches but I didn't find them as interesting or entertaining as the list provided. Has there been any left out that you fondly and angrily remember? Let us know in the comments below.