Atari blew it. At the start of the eighties, the manufacturer of the world’s best-selling console allowed its market to be flooded with mediocre games, published by reckless and cynical third-parties. Meanwhile, the company over-hyped and over-manufacturered its own monstrosities, the likes of ET and the awful VCS conversion of Pac-Man produced in their multi-millions. Then in 1983, amid other contributing factors, the console industry collapsed. And now, just as the economy is beginning to resemble the mess of the early ’80s, so is the console business. It is an age of hubris and panic. Read the full story at The Guardian.