This was during the era (the early 80s) when videogames were on the verge of death. Atari, Intellivision, and countless others were competing against one another, but interest in their products went downhill. It wasn't until Nintendo's first appearance in the states in 1985 when popularity for videogames was revived.
True, Phant...I got an Atari 2600 in 1982 and loved it even though it was already considered crappy. The funny thing is one of the video game cartridges (oy, remember THOSE?) I had was Donkey Kong by Nintendo. The version for the 2600 sucked, but who would have thought that just a few years later, Nintendo would rise to the top of the video gaming industry and stay there for years?