Warshaw intended the game to be an innovative adaptation of the film , and Atari thought it would achieve high sales figures based on its connection with the film , which was extremely popular throughout the world . Negotiations to secure the rights to make the game ended in late July 1982 , giving Warshaw only 5 and a half weeks to develop the game in time for the 1982 Christmas season . The final release was critically panned , with nearly every aspect of the game facing heavy criticism . '' E.T. '' is often cited as one of the worst video games of all time and one of the biggest commercial failures in video game history . It is cited as a major contributing factor to the video game industry crash of 1983 , and has been frequently referenced and mocked in popular culture as a cautionary tale about the dangers of rushed game development and studio interference . In what was initially deemed an urban legend , reports from 1983 stated that as a result of overproduction and returns , millions of unsold cartridges were secretly buried in an Alamogordo , New Mexico landfill and covered with a layer of concrete . In April 2014 , diggers hired to investigate the claim confirmed that the Alamogordo landfill contained many '' E.T. '' cartridges , among other games . James Heller , the former Atari manager who was in charge of the burial , was also at the excavation and admitted to the Associated Press that 728,000 cartridges of various games were buried
cartridges were secretly buried
Atari video game burial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (video game)