We'll Finally Know If Atari Buried Millions Of E.T. Games In New Mexico 31 Years Ago
If you're into video games at all, you're probably familiar with the story of Atari's failed "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" game.
If not, here's a brief account of how the legend goes:
To coincide with Steven Spielberg's astronomically successful film "E.T.," Atari purchased the rights to the character for about $22 million to release a game of the same name.
"E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" was made in five weeks and ended up being a huge commercial failure for Atari and is often labeled the worst game ever made. It's also considered one of many factors that led to the video game industry crash of 1983.
Here are a few shots from the game:
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According to VGChartz, the game sold under 2 million units. While it was one of the Atari 2600's better-selling games, it was estimated there were millions of cartridges that went unsold. According to multiple reports, Atari buried those copies in a landfill in Alamogorodo, New Mexico.
A 1983 article in The New York Times confirmed Atari games were indeed disposed of, but there were no mentions of specific titles:
"The company has dumped 14 truckloads of discarded game cartridges and other computer equipment at the city landfill in Alamogordo, N.M. Guards kept reporters and spectators away from the area yesterday as workers poured concrete over the dumped merchandise. An Atari spokesman said the equipment came from Atari's plant in El Paso, Tex., which used to make videogame cartridges but has now been converted to recycling scrap."
31 years later, Fuel Entertainment, Xbox Entertainment Studios, and LightBox Entertainment have been given permission to excavate the Alamogorodo landfill.
Thursday morning, Xbox announced on its blog it will dig up the location to see what was buried by Atari.
The excavation will be part of an upcoming documentary series from Xbox Entertainment Studios and producers Simon Chinn ("Man on Wire") and Jonathan Chinn (". It will be directed by Zak Penn ("The Avengers").
Microsoft is welcoming spectators to come to the dig site that will take place Sunday, April 26 from 9:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Here's the address:
Alamogordo Landfill
Alamogordo, NM 88310
(Near First Street and White Sands Boulevard)
At the end of the day, it would be tough to tell whether the E.T. games were buried since reports say the cartridges were crushed and ultimately covered with cement but it may finally put to rest a video game legend.