Lookie what I found!

[GameSlaveGaz]

www.angelfire.com/comics/phkkdupcomics/rarecrap.jpg

One of the rarest pieces of crap in video game history! If anyone here actually doesn't know the story of the ET cart for 2600, I dunno what you're doing here! LOL. But I found this bad boy at Game Zone in lovely Salem, MA for only $1.95! And they had 3 copies!!! Can you believe that? I know that thousands upon thousands of unsold carts were destroyed, but how many are still in circulation? Cuz I thought this game was really rare, and for a tiny game store in MA to have 3 carts is kinda random. The kid working that day didn't even know the importance of what he was selling me.

When my boyfriend bought his ET, it was at another tiny game store, this time in Harvard Sq, Cambridge, MA. This place was miniscule, but the guy who ran it was a hardcore gamer who knew his stuff and whenever we were there, we chatted him up for a good hour and one day he was like "Ooh, I gotta show you something" and pulled out two ET carts and we were like WHAT?! YOU HAVE TWO?! And he said "I don't even know what I'd sell them for, I never thought I'd see one" but my boyfriend was curious, so he looked in some book and said $3, and my boyfriend said "I'll take it!"
So, my rare piece of crap is a buck cheaper than my boyfriend's identical piece of crap. I feel special. Now if I could only convince him to hook up his 2600, we'll be all set

[QBert]

Nice deal!

Go easy on her guys... ;)

[MrSmiley381]

I... don't think ET is rare. Just crappy. They destroyed a bunch of copies because they made too damn many. Unless it's some other ET thing, because that pic link was broken.

Unless, it really IS rare, because I have a complete copy.

[emumuumuucowgomoo]

www.angelfire.com/comics/phkkdupcomics/rarecrap.jpg

One of the rarest pieces of crap in video game history! If anyone here actually doesn't know the story of the ET cart for 2600, I dunno what you're doing here! LOL. But I found this bad boy at Game Zone in lovely Salem, MA for only $1.95! And they had 3 copies!!! Can you believe that? I know that thousands upon thousands of unsold carts were destroyed, but how many are still in circulation? Cuz I thought this game was really rare, and for a tiny game store in MA to have 3 carts is kinda random. The kid working that day didn't even know the importance of what he was selling me.

When my boyfriend bought his ET, it was at another tiny game store, this time in Harvard Sq, Cambridge, MA. This place was miniscule, but the guy who ran it was a hardcore gamer who knew his stuff and whenever we were there, we chatted him up for a good hour and one day he was like "Ooh, I gotta show you something" and pulled out two ET carts and we were like WHAT?! YOU HAVE TWO?! And he said "I don't even know what I'd sell them for, I never thought I'd see one" but my boyfriend was curious, so he looked in some book and said $3, and my boyfriend said "I'll take it!"
So, my rare piece of crap is a buck cheaper than my boyfriend's identical piece of crap. I feel special. Now if I could only convince him to hook up his 2600, we'll be all set

Nah.

ET is about as common as they come for the 2600 - right up there with Pac Man and Combat.

The "millions of unsold carts omg destroyed" story reeks of one of those silly urban legends, created internally within Activision by game programmers as a semi-joke way of saying "they were thrown out", then retold and spread so many times that people believe it as literal fact. Look at it logically, though - cost of renting a bulldozer - many many dollars. Cost of evacuating land - many many more dollars. Net result: one big loss. BTW DID YOU KNOW THAT ALL UNSOLD GAME.COM UNITS WERE STRAPPED TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA AND INCINERATED? STRANGE BUT TRUE!

What's much more likely is that thousands of copies were put on clearance, and after the videogame industry "crashed" a year later, whatever was left in the warehouse was cleared out - probably offloaded to one warehouse company, which sold it to another, and eventually found its way to Best Games.

They may have also been unloaded on Mexico - remember, whenever it's possible to make a profit, even 40 pesos for the cardboard boxes they pack the complete games into, a company will. Especially when the industry is suffering from dark times.


As for the price - $1.95 complete is in line with what Best Games offered back when they were still in business. Nowadays I'd expect to see it go for around $4.95 complete, just because it's R@RE in the eBay sense of the term.

[pacmanhat]

I... don't think ET is rare. Just crappy. They destroyed a bunch of copies because they made too damn many. Unless it's some other ET thing, because that pic link was broken.

Yeah...it isn't particularly rare, at all. Yes, tons of them were sent to a landfill, but there are still tons that weren't. To be fair, I was aware of the first part of that WELL before I was aware of the second part. It's rather easy to assume rarity based on the landfill thing, but it unfortunately isn't accurate.

[smork]

I don't think i've played the 'game' since 1983, but at $1.95 it's way, way overpriced. Money is better spent on a 40oz.

2600 Pac-Man sucks ass, but at least it's semi-enjoyable in a way. But hey, different tastes for everyone, right???

[CreamSoda]

To put it simply: You got PWN3D

LOL, I'm sorry but I always did hate these bragging threads(even more when the item in question isn't even rare). LOL

[Jumpman Jr.]

Something tells me he's kidding... something tells me he's not.
Either way, it looks like you've exceeded the bandwidth for your website where your image was hosted.

[digitalpress]

To put it simply: You got PWN3D

LOL, I'm sorry but I always did hate these bragging threads(even more when the item in question isn't even rare). LOL

She didn't get PWN3D. Not everyone has the background of videogaming history at their command, and new folks here don't always notice the online rarity guide lurking above the forum's main area.

It's a learning experience. And really, we were ALL new to this stuff at one time, so rather than mock someone who is new, try to remember what it was like when you were new and try to be one of those helpful people who informs rather than condescends.

[smork]

It's a learning experience. And really, we were ALL new to this stuff at one time, so rather than mock someone who is new, try to remember what it was like when you were new and try to be one of those helpful people who informs rather than condescends.

Quite true, Joe -- Hope I didn't come off as an asshole in my response (it's 2am where I am and I was trying to be funny). I'm the guy who doesn't even collect 2600 yet still owns a 2600 Sorcerer, which is far, far worse than ET :(

[BrokenFlight]

I learnt something new in this thread. I thought nearly ALL the ET games had been "disposed of". But to be fair, I don't have anything to do with atari so I don't know much about it. Just look at my collection in my sig to see how much of a hardcore gamer I am. LOL

[Arqueologia_Digital]

I cannot see the pic...

[Slimedog]

Somewhere I heard that they made more ET carts than there were 2600s at the time. I remember getting that game one christmas along with a vader 2600 to replace my woodgrain one that had been hit by lightning. What a great year.

[qbertandernie]

ive been collecting for years and still do stupid shit like grossly overpay from time to time...(even though $1.95 for complete ET doesnt seem so horrible...its $2!!!) i even recently spent twice what a game was worth due to lack of knowledge...so dont feel bad if people try to give you a hard time. you still got a complete game out of it for $2.

[QBert]

To put it simply: You got PWN3D

LOL, I'm sorry but I always did hate these bragging threads(even more when the item in question isn't even rare). LOL

She didn't get PWN3D. Not everyone has the background of videogaming history at their command, and new folks here don't always notice the online rarity guide lurking above the forum's main area.

It's a learning experience. And really, we were ALL new to this stuff at one time, so rather than mock someone who is new, try to remember what it was like when you were new and try to be one of those helpful people who informs rather than condescends.

See this is what I meant by be nice, now the Joe police is on ya. PWNED! hehe jk.

[VG_Maniac]

I think I payed like 50 cents for my copy of E.T. Even that was too much money for it! LOL

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Heh, I got you beat. I bought my copy of ET for a quarter in Hopedale, Massachusetts. :P


When my boyfriend bought his ET, it was at another tiny game store, this time in Harvard Sq, Cambridge, MA. This place was miniscule, but the guy who ran it was a hardcore gamer who knew his stuff and whenever we were there, we chatted him up for a good hour and one day he was like "Ooh, I gotta show you something" and pulled out two ET carts and we were like WHAT?! YOU HAVE TWO?! And he said "I don't even know what I'd sell them for, I never thought I'd see one" but my boyfriend was curious, so he looked in some book and said $3, and my boyfriend said "I'll take it!"

Would you happen to be talking about that small videogame shop located in the Garage? If so it turned into a small anime model store a couple years ago.

[CreamSoda]

To put it simply: You got PWN3D

LOL, I'm sorry but I always did hate these bragging threads(even more when the item in question isn't even rare). LOL

She didn't get PWN3D. Not everyone has the background of videogaming history at their command, and new folks here don't always notice the online rarity guide lurking above the forum's main area.

It's a learning experience. And really, we were ALL new to this stuff at one time, so rather than mock someone who is new, try to remember what it was like when you were new and try to be one of those helpful people who informs rather than condescends.

Heh, yeah I know what your saying man. Sorry if I came off as an asshole in my post(not intended that way). But to tell the truth I don't actually know that much about videogames/collecting and rarity myself. I'm just in it cause I have fun. lol :)