In this next week, I am going to be changing gears on this blog and will devote my time writing on it to more serious technological comics. Sure, it will still be geeky, and who knows, I might report on stuff like this in the future.

I will have to say that I have a kind of personal connection to this. As a kid, I loved the Atari 2600, and I also liked E.T.. When the film was a runaway hit, Atari decided that they were going to make a video game out of it.

They prepared the game to sell like hotcakes. They had more copies of the game than there were actual Atari 2600 consoles on the market. When the game hit the stores, it was a flop. Some people consider it the worst video game ever, and I remember playing it as a kid. The gameplay was not very good, and it was only fun for a few plays. I’m pretty certain this was the beginning of the end for Atari.

There is a huge rumor that all the unsold E.T. cartridges were buried in some landfill, but I’m not certain if this was a rumor until now. A screenwriter named Zak Penn (famous for superhero films) has made a documentary involving a dig in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

I am not certain why all the tech blogs and mainstream news is covering this story. What really is the point here, that Atari tried to make their shame disappear? Maybe were are all just nostalgic about this, at least anyone who had their childhood in the early eighties.

Say, here’s one to grow on: how could you make the E.T. video game good?

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