E.T. for the Atari 2600
From Invertopedia, the encyclopedia of how things fail
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was Atari's 2600 game of Steven Spielberg's 1982 film. Atari paid a reported $21 million for the rights[1][2] and gave designer Howard Scott Warshaw about five and a half weeks to make it in time for Christmas[1]. Atari made about 4 million cartridges[3][4], far more than it sold[2][3], and in 1983 it dumped unsold stock in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico[1][5]. A documentary crew dug the cartridges up on April 26, 2014[5][6].
Contents
The bet
E.T. was the blockbuster film of 1982[4], and Atari's consoles dominated home games[2]. A game of the film, on the shelves by Christmas, would sell in the millions on the strength of the name alone[4]. Atari was so sure of it that it made more E.T. cartridges than there were Atari 2600 consoles in homes, hoping the game would sell the hardware too[1].
The catch was time. The game was approved in late July 1982 for a Christmas launch[1], which left one designer about five weeks to design, write and test it[2][5].
What happened
| Summer 1982 | Atari secures the E.T. game rights. Reports put the price at $21 million to $22 million.[1][2][4] |
|---|---|
| Late Jul 1982 | Atari approves the game for a Christmas launch and gives it to Howard Scott Warshaw, with a September 1 deadline.[1][3] |
| Sep 1982 | Warshaw finishes in about five and a half weeks. His earlier Spielberg tie-in, Raiders of the Lost Ark, had taken about nine months.[1] |
| Dec 1982 | E.T. is rushed into stores for Christmas.[2][3] |
| 1982 – 1983 | By the fall of 1983 it has sold about 3.5 million copies, by Atari historian Curt Vendel's count, against 5 million made.[2] |
| 1983 | Atari loses $539 million for the year, with E.T. one of several missteps.[4][7] |
| 1983 | Atari trucks unsold and returned stock from its El Paso, Texas, center to the Alamogordo landfill and covers it with concrete. The manager in charge says he had 728,000 cartridges to get rid of.[2][5] |
| 1984 | The original Atari company folds.[2] |
| Dec 2013 | Fuel Entertainment wins the rights to dig up the landfill.[6] |
| Apr 26, 2014 | A documentary crew digs up E.T. cartridges, boxes and manuals, along with other Atari games.[5][6][8] |
The kill shot
A hard deadline beat the game. E.T. shipped for Christmas whether or not it was fun, in quantities set by hope instead of demand.
The ship date was fixed before the work began. Warshaw later said the company took too long to secure the rights, and with Christmas production pressing he was left with just five weeks to design, write and test the game[5]. "It was a game that was done in five weeks," Warshaw said at the dig. "I did the best that I could, and that's OK."[2]
The second mistake was the print run. By Vendel's account Atari needed to sell out of every unit it made to break even on a license that promised Spielberg $21 million[2]. It made more cartridges than there were consoles to play them on[1], and the returns that followed were a problem the company had never faced and was not ready to handle[2].
Red flags ignored
- The date came before the design. The game was approved in late July for a Christmas launch[1], leaving about five weeks to build and test it.[5]
- The license set the bar, not the game. A $21 million promise to Spielberg meant Atari had to sell out its whole run to break even.[2]
- More cartridges than consoles. Atari made more E.T. cartridges than there were 2600s in homes.[1]
- A cheap thing at a full price. Each cartridge cost about $4.50 to $6 to make and sold for $39.95, so the margin hid how much depended on volume.[4]
The cost
About $21 million for the license[1][2], and about 4 million cartridges made[3][4] (Vendel put it at 5 million[2]). The story that 3.5 million unsold E.T. cartridges went into the ground is a myth, according to Atari historians Marty Goldberg and Curt Vendel[1]. The manager in charge of the 1983 dump said he had been told to get rid of 728,000 cartridges[5], and Vendel said E.T. was one of more than 20 titles found in 2014 and may be no more than a fifth of the total[2].
For Atari, 1983 ended with a $539 million loss[4], including a single quarterly loss of $310 million[7]. The original company folded in 1984[2].
The inversion
A ship date you can't miss is a quality bar you will miss. If the date is fixed, cut the scope and the print run to match the time you have, and make only as many as people have asked for.
What survived
The game and its maker. The city of Alamogordo agreed to give the filmmakers up to 250 of the dug-up cartridges and planned to sell the rest[5], and the dig became the documentary Atari: Game Over, directed by Zak Penn[6].
Warshaw became a psychotherapist in Silicon Valley. He also made Yars' Revenge, one of Atari's best-rated games, and jokes that this gives him "the greatest range of any game designer in history."[2]
References
- ^ “E.T. dig hits Atari 2600 cartridge gold”. bit-tech (Gareth Halfacree), April 28, 2014. The $21 million deal, late-July approval for Christmas, Warshaw's 5.5 weeks against nine months for Raiders, more cartridges than consoles, the El Paso stock dumped at Alamogordo, and Goldberg and Vendel calling the 3.5 million figure untrue.
- ^ “Searchers unearth grave of 'E.T.,' the video game Atari wanted us to forget”. CNN (Matt Smith), April 27, 2014. Curt Vendel on the $21 million license, 5 million made, about 3.5 million sold, returns, 14 truckloads under concrete, more than 20 titles found; Warshaw's quotes; Atari folding in 1984; Warshaw's later career.
- ^ “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (video game)”. Wikipedia. Supplementary: the July 27 commission and September 1 deadline, December 1982 release, 2.6 million sold by end of 1982, about 4 million made.
- ^ “Where Atari's 'E.T.' Ranks Among Video Game Flops”. FiveThirtyEight (Mona Chalabi), April 14, 2014, archived. A reported $22 million for the rights, 4 million cartridges, $4.50 to $6 cost against $39.95 retail, Atari's $539 million loss.
- ^ “Diggers find Atari's E.T. games in landfill”. Associated Press via USA Today, April 26, 2014, archived. The dig; James Heller's 728,000 cartridges from the El Paso warehouse and the concrete; Warshaw's five weeks to design, write and test; up to 250 cartridges for the filmmakers.
- ^ “Long-Buried E.T. Cartridges Unearthed at New Mexico Landfill”. Xbox Wire, April 26, 2014. Fuel Entertainment's December 2013 excavation rights, the April 26, 2014 find, and the documentary Atari: Game Over directed by Zak Penn.
- ^ “Lost treasure of Atari REVEALED”. The Register (Simon Sharwood), April 28, 2014. Atari's $310 million quarterly loss in 1983.
- ^ “Atari Alamogordo Excavation Collection”. University of North Dakota, Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections. The April 26, 2014 excavation and the mix of titles found (its collection description quotes Wikipedia).