Around the same time that Atari was plunging the home video game industry into turmoil with E.T. the company was also hard at work on a game featuring perennial comics favorite Charlie Brown.  Good Luck Charlie Brown cast players as the legendary blockhead and required that our hero keep his kite in the air away from airborne obstacles and the famous Kite Eating Tree.

Pushing the joystick left and right moves Charlie Brown around the screen.  Pushing up and down will let out or pull in the kite string, thus making the kite move up and down.  If the kite hits an obstacle the game will freeze for a moment and Charlie Brown will have to start again, but if the kite hits the Kite Eating Tree, Charlie Brown will actually flip over and all the obstacles will turn black which may signify a different type of "death" with a different penalty. 

The game was finally scrapped sometime in 1984 after missing a 1983 release date.  Now all these years later it's popped back up at a flea market in Wisconsin, and one lucky collector has acquired what may be the only known beta cartridge to still exist.  He's even posted a clip of the game in action.  Interesting stuff even if it looks more frustrating than fun.

(via Lost Levels)