I'm not saying YouTube videos and I'd even managed to load a rip of the ROM via an emulator.

However, none could really prepare me for holding a physical copy of the worst game ever

made in my hands.

A new copy will run you around 300 bucks on eBay.

I was able to buy a used copy for less than 10 bucks, plus shipping.

The cartridge came out around the same time I was born.

It's weird to hold something as old as I was in the palm of my hands.

The label was scuffed and the few sections had been peeled off over the years.

It was clear that someone had tossed it in a box and left it there for quite some time.

I bought a few different Atari 2600s on eBay over the past few years.

There were quite literally so old that most of them wouldn't start.

In this particular case, I pushed the cartridge into the console and got this weird error screen

where the television flashed green and black while making this loud screeching noise.

I am hooked the Atari and pushed the cartridge into my retron console.

A blue screen with orange letters spelling out ET came to life on my television,

along with this cute green rendering of ET that looked like the Mongaloid offspring of Yoda

mixed with UGNOT.

A few button presses later I found myself navigating dark green obstacles on a light green backdrop.

It wasn't long before I remembered that some of the dark green obstacles were holes,

and I moved around aimlessly collecting items and running from sprites that would make Mario

look like the Mona Lisa in comparison.

This continued for a few hours before I got bored and stepped away from the television

...