1983: The year the video game industry collapsed and the secret of Atari

In the history of the video game industry, few events have been as shocking as the video game crisis of 1983. This collapse not only marked the end of a golden era for video games in the United States, but also left an indelible scar on the memories of those who lived through those times.

In the early 1980s, the video game industry was booming. With commercial hits such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, video games became a cultural phenomenon. However, the rapid and uncontrolled growth of the industry, coupled with a saturation of the market with low-quality products, set the stage for a catastrophe.

The turning point came in 1983, when a combination of several factors led to the collapse of the industry in the United States. Overproduction of consoles and video games, unfair competition, and a lack of quality control meant that many products sat on the shelves unsold. One of the most emblematic examples of this excess was the release of Atari's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a title that went down in history not for its success, but for its infamy.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, based on Steven Spielberg's blockbuster film, was developed in record time in the hope of cashing in on the Christmas season. Despite this, the game turned out to be a technical and commercial disaster, contributing significantly to the crisis. Atari, unable to sell the millions of copies it had produced, made a radical and unprecedented decision: to bury the leftover cartridges in a landfill in the New Mexico desert.

For decades, the story of the burial of these games was considered an urban legend, until a 2014 excavation in Alamogordo, New Mexico, confirmed the veracity of the facts. Urban archaeologists uncovered thousands of Atari cartridges, including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, confirming one of the darkest and most fascinating chapters in video game history.

However, not all the stories of the 1983 video game crisis are buried in the desert. At OXO Video Game Museum, you can find an original copy of Vanguard, another Atari title that suffered the same fate. This copy is not only a collector's item, but is also accompanied by its certificate of originality, underlining its authenticity and historical value.
This copy is a testament to a bygone era; a reminder of the ups and downs that have marked the path of this ever-evolving industry.

The video game crisis of 1983 not only taught valuable lessons about the importance of quality and innovation, but also paved the way for a renaissance of the industry with the arrival of new consoles and more sophisticated games.