In 1983, the US video game industry generated over $3 billion in revenue. By 1985, it was down to about $100 million, a self-inflicted collapse. This episode breaks down the video game crash of 1983, starting with Atari's closed loop around the 2600 and Space Invaders, the four programmers who left Warner Communications to found Activision after being compared to towel makers on a loom, and how a console with no security measures let anyone manufacture a compatible cartridge.

We trace the gold rush of Quaker Oats, Purina, and shovelware like Chase the Chuck Wagon, the year the industry produced roughly 200 percent more cartridges than there were consoles, the discount bin death spiral, and the Commodore price war and William Shatner ads that offered a superior alternative. Then we separate myth from fact in the Alamogordo landfill and expla ...