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The Tech Archived · VIDEO ESSAY

What Happened to Atari? How the Company That Created Gaming Destroyed Itself

Atari helped turn video games into a global industry, dominating the home console market with the Atari 2600 before suffering one of gaming's most dramatic collapses. But was the infamous E.T. game really responsible? This documentary explores Atari's rise, the departure of the developers who founded Activision, the flood of low-quality games, Warner's corporate decisions and the 1983 video game crash. We also look at how Nintendo rebuilt the market Atari once controlled and why the legendary gaming company never fully recovered.

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Atari helped turn video games into a global industry, dominating the home console market with the Atari 2600 before suffering one of gaming's most dramatic collapses. But was the infamous E.T. game really responsible? This documentary explores Atari's rise, the departure of the developers who founded Activision, the flood of low-quality games, Warner's corporate decisions and the 1983 video game crash. We also look at how Nintendo rebuilt the market Atari once controlled and why the legendary gaming company never fully recovered.

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