A closer look

In 1983, the video game market was flooded with so much absolute garbage (looking at you, E.T. for the Atari 2600) that consumers just completely stopped buying them. The industry experienced a catastrophic 97% drop in revenue in just two years. Retailers were marking down consoles to clearance bin prices, and the media declared gaming a dead fad. It took a plucky little Japanese plumber to resuscitate the entire medium a few years later.