E.T. Found In New Mexico Landfill

[timster]

 

One of the most infamous urban legends in video games has turned out to be true.

 

Digging in Alamogordo, New Mexico today, excavators discovered cartridges for the critically-panned Atari game E.T., buried in a landfill way back in 1983 after Atari couldn't figure out what else to do with their unsold copies. For decades, legend had it that Atari put millions of E.T. cartridges in the ground, though some skeptics have wondered whether such an extraordinary event actually happened.

 

Last year, Alamogordo officials finally approved an excavation of the infamous landfill, and plans kicked into motion two weeks ago, with Microsoft partnering up with a documentary team to dig into the dirt?and film the results.

 

Today, it's official. They've found E.T.'s home.

 

Top image via Microsoft's Major Nelson.

 

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More photos via Wired's Chris Kohler:

 

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source: http://kotaku.com/e-t-found-in-new-mexico-landfill-1568100161

[Lingwo]

i bet it still works too :laugh:

[+Red King Subscriber²]

How many were found?

[123456789A]

They could sell these on eBay now and make more money than they were originally worth.

[Max Norris]

And here I thought it was just an urban legend. Hopefully this time around they get recycled a bit more responsibly.

i bet it still works too :laugh:

Heh probably, just blow the thing out and it's as good as new. Sometimes miss ye olde cartridge days.

[D!ABOL!C]

That is totally awesome that they found them! Quickly, to the Smithonian!

[Hum]

Will this work on my Atari 800 ? :shifty:

[neufuse Veteran]

I find it amazing they knew exactly where to dig... someone must of known the exact location to get it so fast.

[xendrome]

I find it amazing they knew exactly where to dig... someone must of known the exact location to get it so fast.

 

Or there are thousands of them, and I do believe someone knew the approx area where they were buried.

[Brian M. Veteran]

I have one of these carts upstairs - it's one of those games that's so bad it's actually good!

[seta-san]

completely awesome

[HawkMan]

I find it amazing they knew exactly where to dig... someone must of known the exact location to get it so fast.

 

the location wasn't a secret. 

[FiB3R]

Thankfully they didn't rely on the cloud back then, otherwise the gameplay would now be ruined, and the graphics would be crap.

[neufuse Veteran]

the location wasn't a secret. 

The general location wasn't a secret, but to be able to find it that fast is amazing. And this happened a good bit of time ago now, peoples memory can fade even when there are a bunch of people in the know.

 

Part of the legend was that they buried them in concrete... that part apparently isn't true?

[Skyfrog]

They have no idea what they've done.

 

[HawkMan]

The general location wasn't a secret, but to be able to find it that fast is amazing. And this happened a good bit of time ago now, peoples memory can fade even when there are a bunch of people in the know.

 

Part of the legend was that they buried them in concrete... that part apparently isn't true?

 

Ground penetrating radar.

 

and if there was a concrete slab on top that point out the location to dig easily. 

[Torolol]

discovered cartridges for the critically-panned Atari game E.T., buried in a landfill way back in 1983 after Atari couldn't figure out what else to do with their unsold copies.

one of reason why game publishers really want to abolish physical copies with digital distribution only, so they can't accidentally replicates the Atari'ET 'mistakes'.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

This is pretty awesome, proving that the "myth/legend" actually turned out to be true! I'd watch the documentary! (but I don't have an Xbox, so hopefully they will make it so that everyone can watch it)

[GotBored]

with Microsoft partnering up with a documentary team to dig into the dirt?and film the results.

 

Who would watch a documentary of some people digging up an old game? I don't get what the fuss is about.

[trooper11]

Who would watch a documentary of some people digging up an old game? I don't get what the fuss is about.

The documentary is not just about the dig itself. The dig is just used as a kind of catch for the viewer. Its a piece of history exposed in the present day used to lead into a documentary on the story around the game and Atari.

Its just a neat little piece of history. Not everyone gets into such stories though. I agree that a documentary that only talked about the dig itself would not be as exciting.

However, there have been tv specials in the past that did focus on just a dig that happened live with varying results. I remember some done in Egypt and then one very bad one done in the US (Al Capone's Vault :laugh:)

[gameboy1977]

I remember that I played that old game on Atari in around 1986 to 1988, and I bet it was hard game. I don't understand this game when I was younger until I understand Nintendo video games in late 1988 (it was Christmas day).

[Ones And Zeros]

The documentary trailer has been posted:

 

 

Looks pretty interesting

Edited August 1, 2014 by Andrew G.

[Hum]

Deport ET !