# (Are You Sh!#ing Me?) One Game Almost Killed the Entire Video Game Industry

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/are-you-sh-ing-me-6458770/are-you-sh-ing-me-one-game-almost-killed-the-entire-video-game-industry
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/are-you-sh-ing-me-6458770/are-you-sh-ing-me-one-game-almost-killed-the-entire-video-game-industry.md
Podcast: [Are You Sh!#ing Me?](https://stenobird.com/podcast/are-you-sh-ing-me-6458770)
Published: 2026-06-19T13:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aysm/episodes/Are-You-Sh-ing-Me--One-Game-Almost-Killed-the-Entire-Video-Game-Industry-e3ku815
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/e55363cc/podcast/play/121626085/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-17%2F426338453-44100-2-b3f57733d597a.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/are-you-sh-ing-me-6458770/episodes/are-you-sh-ing-me-one-game-almost-killed-the-entire-video-game-industry
Duration seconds: 287

## Resource

What do greed, bad business decisions, a terrible movie tie-in, and a New Mexico landfill have in common? The Video Game Crash of 1983. In this episode of Are You Sh!#ing Me?, Brett dives into one of the biggest business disasters in entertainment history. Atari was printing money, arcades were packed, and video games seemed unstoppable. Then the industry collapsed almost overnight. Discover how a flood of low-quality games, too many competing consoles, and the infamous E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game helped wipe out nearly 97% of the North American gaming market. Learn why millions of unsold Atari cartridges ended up buried in the New Mexico desert and how Nintendo used the industry's biggest failure to build a gaming empire. It's a story filled with corporate arrogance, rushed deadlines, spectacular mistakes, and one of the greatest comebacks in pop culture history. Grab a beer and join Brett for another edition of Something I Learned While Avoiding Real Responsibilities. Are you sh!#ing me? Nope. This one actually happened. Cheers! SEO Keywords: Video Game Crash of 1983, Atari crash, Atari E.T., E.T. video game, Nintendo NES, video game history, gaming history, Atari landfill, Alamogordo New Mexico, Howard Warshaw, retro gaming, video game industry collapse, Nintendo Seal of Quality, classic video games, gaming documentary, Atari 2600, 1980s gaming, gaming facts, business failures, pop culture history #AreYouShittingMe #AYSM #VideoGameCrash1983 #Atari #Nintendo #ETAtari #RetroGaming #GamingHistory #VideoGames #NES #SuperMarioBros #Atari2600 #GeekHistory #PopCulture #HistoryPodcast #AYSMPodcast #GamingPodcast #DidYouKnow #FunFacts #SomethingILearnedWhileAvoidingRealResponsibilities

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