For a lot of people, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is viewed as the nadir of interactive entertainment, yet the game is not as uncommon as many believe.
What do you do when a game you just acquired turns out to be utterly terrible? Do you ask for a refund from Steam? Do you uninstall it while fuming silently? Do you take the game box and bury it in the desert near your residence?
The latter destiny was once faced by the Atari version of E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial. The game is infamous for its dreadful quality, and even Atari itself once interred 792,000 copies in a deserted location in New Mexico – an event that is now referred to as the “Atari Video Game Burial.” You might assume that a game buried in the sand would be harder to retrieve than E.T. itself nowadays. But that’s not the case! Recently, fresh evidence has surfaced on Reddit suggesting that the alien is still very much around!
“My grandmother has the game at her place”
Reddit user Animusical shared a screenshot on Reddit stating: “I never thought I’d encounter one of these in real life.”
Below is an image showcasing a cardboard box containing several vintage Atari games. One of them is E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial.
However, rather than receiving a slew of equally astonished “Wow!” and “Hui!” replies, it appears that the game isn’t really that scarce after all.
In the aforementioned Reddit thread alone, there are several comments like this one:
– “It’s a very common and disliked game, regardless of the desert tale.” – Source
– “My grandmother has a copy at home. It belonged to my aunt’s Atari. I never comprehended the game.” – Source
– “ET was one of the best-selling Atari 2600 titles. It absolutely shouldn’t be priced at ten dollars. In fact, none of the games in the image should exceed a dollar.” – Source
– “You can find the game on eBay for roughly $10.” – Source
Is this really the case? We conducted some inquiries.
Expensive? Rare? Here’s what we discovered
As is often true, the answer is a piece of toast with butter on just one side. Uh, hold on. A coin with two sides… a sword with two edges… oh, you grasp what we mean!
– Do you want E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial in its original casing, preferably with some sand on top? Then you’ll need to reach deep into your wallet, because these well-preserved versions are truly rare and will set you back a cool 229 euros. Even then, you’ll have to accept wear and tear on the packaging, which is usually unacceptable for collectors.
– Want E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial in its original box and in pristine condition? Then gather your funds (don’t overlook the couch cushions!), because prices frequently soar to around 500 dollars.
– Looking for E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial just as a game? Yes, then the Reddit users are correct. The title itself is neither uncommon nor pricey. On eBay, it’s already being offered for under twenty dollars. So if you wish to experience this questionable gem of video game history, you won’t need to spend excessively.
To this day, E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial is regarded as one of the earliest significant video game disasters. According to Ray Kazar, Atari’s CEO at that time, four million copies were dispatched, of which 3.5 million were returned – ouch!
Considering the development time, however, the fiasco was predictable. While other Atari games during that era generally took about three to four months to create, E.T. was expected to be completed in just 38 days.
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