Atari’s stock took a huge hit in early December 1982, which is when the industry’s downfall officially started. E.T. was not the cause, and even if the game wasn’t released, the crash still would have happened.
http://www.decodesystems.com/zap-atari.html
Several 3rd-party companies started going out of business in 83, and when they did, they sold their inventories to distributors who turned around and dumped it on the market for pennies on the dollar. That pretty much erased the market value of everyone's games and hurt everybody else.
You can thank Jack Tramiel for the fallout in the home computer market, which claimed weaker competitors like T.I. and Timex, but the game market for home computers like Atari’s and Commodore’s got even stronger b/c of the home console market crash. By 1984 most major 3rd-party software companies like Activision already started shifting their focus on the home computer market, as did publications like Electronic Games.That would be the home computer price war that ended up pushing computer prices down to (sometimes below) console prices. (though, in some cases, that was only short-term, like the C64's nominal $100 price due to a limited time $100 rebate with the trade in of any game console or computer)
He didn't ruin them, he just tied them to the back of his truck and drove it down a gravel road for 10+ years, while burning nearly everyone who ever signed a contract to do business with him.Of course, then there's the myths about how Jack Tramiel "ruined" Atari, dropped the 7800 until Nintendo showed them the game market was still viable, etc, etc. (actually, they'd been planning on relying on games to support the company from day 1, the only reason the 7800 got delayed as it did was that Warner made a mess of things and left that out of the original sale)
I addressed much of that here already:
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...39#post1810739
You forgot to mention the 7800 actually saw limited release in 1984, as did the 2600 JR. Tramiel also went on record (after taking over Atari ) stating he had no interest in the video game market. His only interest was in the home computer market – primarily to seek revenge against Commdore for ousting him. When the video game console market took off 2 years later, there was a financial reason to dust off the 2600JR and 7800 (not to mention re-releasing the 8-bit computer hardware) – to sell off excess inventory. Even before he purchased Atari, he was responsible for why Atari's VCS keyboard device was never released - the engineers who designed it left Commdore and dared to do business with a competitor (Atari), so Tramiel sought revenge against them and tied them up in court with a b.s. lawsuit.
Don't worry “kool kitty” (whoever you are ) I won't hold my breath b/c I doubt those two will correct any of that. They're clearly pro-Tramiel/anti-Bushnell, and any books they write will reflect their biased opinions. Tramiel was quite a ruthless and vengeful person and not just with competitors but with subcontractors, employees, etc. Bushnell made his share of mistakes in the business but he's done more for the history of video games than anyone ever did and ever will, esp someone like Tramiel. They can dig up all the memos, post-it notes, and napkin scrawlings they want, but history has already judged Bushnell and Tramiel.Oh, and of course there's the many, many lies and myths surrounding (usually created and perpetuated by) Nolan Bushnell.
Pretty much all of that (and a lot more) will be corrected in Curt Vendel and Marty Goldberg's upcoming books. (don't hold your breath though, it's going to be a fair while before those get completed and publishing)