[xer0x]

The author doesn't mention it, but many people who never played E.T. read articles in videogame magazines about this game was amongst the things that killed the videogame industry in the 80s. (Oh, see dang's post for tons of related links)

[Narishma]

It only killed a small part of the video game industry (consoles) in a specific country (USA) and only for a couple of years. IMO this crash is given way too much importance for what it actually is.