Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty two, Atari players across the country settled
Speaker 1: into their shag carpeting. Homework went by the wayside, and
Speaker 1: so did sleep. These gamers only had one thing on
Speaker 1: their minds sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game.
Speaker 1: Epic and ambitious. The company promised one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: thousand dollars in prizes to four finalists, with the Sword
Speaker 1: of Ultimate Sorcery going to the grand prize winner.
Speaker 2: And I could believe it. Theatrics from mom. You know,
Speaker 2: she starts crying. You know, there wasn't too much work
Speaker 2: at the time, and I just got this, you know,
Speaker 2: three dollars and thirty five cent an hour minimum wage
Speaker 2: JAB And next thing, you know, I got just pick
Speaker 2: in twenty five thousand dollars prize.
Speaker 1: But what started as a video game promotion would become
Speaker 1: one of the most controversial moments in eighties pop culture,
Speaker 1: with broken promises, urban myths, payoffs, and a central mystery
Speaker 1: that's consumed fans for decades.
Speaker 3: I never ended up seeing these prizes in person.
Speaker 1: As Atari ran into financial woes. It wasn't long before
Speaker 1: sword Quest spun out of control, which leads us to
Speaker 1: the biggest question of all, how did all of those prizes,
Speaker 1: valued at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars become something
Speaker 1: of a lost treasure?
Speaker 4: So I had heard stories about these amazing things. I
Speaker 4: saw a picture of them here and there. I can
Speaker 4: honestly say that in my entire experience, in my life
Speaker 4: so far, I have never actually been in the same
Speaker 4: room with any of these items.
Speaker 2: But he melted down part of it to pay for college.
Speaker 1: I'm Jamie Loftus. Join us for the Legend of sword Quest,
Speaker 1: a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing
Speaker 1: sword Quest prizes. You'll hear from the legends of Atari,
Speaker 1: video game historians, and the sword Quest competitors. We'll follow
Speaker 1: the quest for missing treasure across four decades.
Speaker 3: There was a letter envelope just tucked in the side
Speaker 3: of a shoebox, and I opened it and I found
Speaker 3: those photos, so I knew what this was. There's no
Speaker 3: obvious security, right, it's just laying on the table.
Speaker 1: Probably millions.
Speaker 3: I would think somebody would pay for it. It's almost
Speaker 3: like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in
Speaker 3: a way.
Speaker 1: Listen to the Legend of sword Quest starting September twelfth
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts.