Author Topic: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games and...succeed... UPDATED!  (Read 1636 times)

NightWolve

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5277
Quote from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/04/25/unearthing-atari-games/8170899/ link=http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/04/25/unearthing-atari-games/8170899/
Hidden for three decades in a landfill deep in the New Mexico desert lie thousands of Atari cartridges from what is widely believed to be worst video game ever made — or so the urban legend goes.

A group of filmmakers hopes to get to the bottom of the mystery Saturday by digging up the concrete-covered landfill in search of up to a million discarded copies of "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" that the game's maker wanted to hide forever. The game and its contribution to the demise of Atari have been the source of fascination for video game enthusiasts for 30 years, and the search for the cartridges will be featured in an upcoming documentary about the biggest video game company of the early '80s.

"Bottom line, this is just trash. But there is a legend in it, we want to unlock that legend, that mystery," a spokeswoman for the public relations firm working on behalf of Xbox Entertainment Studios, one of the companies developing the film. The documentary is expected to be released later this year on Microsoft's Xbox game consoles.
Quote from: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/26/6355644/diggers-ready-to-unearth-ataris.html link=http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/26/6355644/diggers-ready-to-unearth-ataris.html
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. -- A construction crew is digging through several feet of dirt and trash in a New Mexico landfill to reach what they believe is a giant cache of cartridges from what some call the worst video game ever made.

A New York Times article from 1983 reported that Atari cartridges of "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" were dumped in the landfill in Alamogordo.

Fuel Entertainment is producing a documentary about the search.

The videogame's commercial failure was partially responsible for the demise of Atari in the early 1980's.

The contents of the "Atari Grave" have become urban legend, with blog posts speculating about millions of cartridges and other Atari projects buried there. A spokeswoman for Atari says the company changed hands many times since 1983 and does not know what is buried there.




So...will this urban legend of an alleged "Atari Grave" finally be uncovered ?? ;) Somebody thought about it enough to actually take it this far... Heh-heh.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2014, 09:22:57 AM by NightWolve »

InfraMan

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 306
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2014, 07:52:54 AM »
Oh cool, this is starting today! Last I heard, the dig had been delayed pending government approval... glad to hear things are going forward finally!



synbiosfan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 716
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2014, 09:07:05 AM »
Now go dig out those Atari games that have been stored in your attic/basement/garage and you can list them on eBay claiming to be from the dig site! :P

bob

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4910
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2014, 09:14:49 AM »
Night Creatures is way worse.

InfraMan

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 306
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2014, 09:31:44 AM »
Night Creatures is way worse.

I don't know... give the choice, I think I'd rather play Night Creatures.

Now Ballistix, on the other hand...  :lol:


KingDrool

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1990
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2014, 10:11:33 AM »
So...will this urban legend of an alleged "Atari Grave" finally be uncovered ??


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

Pretty f*ckin' cool, I think.
Games I Need: Bonk 3 (HuCard), Legend of Hero Tonma, Magical Chase, Soldier Blade, Super Air Zonk.

Got one to sell? PM me!

NightWolve

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5277
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2014, 10:44:22 AM »
So...will this urban legend of an alleged "Atari Grave" finally be uncovered ??


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

Pretty f*ckin' cool, I think.

Woah! Could it be, already ?? Hah!



« Last Edit: April 26, 2014, 12:43:04 PM by NightWolve »

TheClash603

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4054
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2014, 11:42:58 AM »
Centipede is awesome, how did that get in there?

If this rumor is true, shouldn't there be about 100,000 of them over there?  Just finding a few is kinda fishy.

KingDrool

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1990
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2014, 02:04:46 PM »
Centipede is awesome, how did that get in there?

If this rumor is true, shouldn't there be about 100,000 of them over there?  Just finding a few is kinda fishy.

According to the article:

Quote
The AP reports they've found "hundreds" so far, and we'll keep you updated as they keep digging.
Games I Need: Bonk 3 (HuCard), Legend of Hero Tonma, Magical Chase, Soldier Blade, Super Air Zonk.

Got one to sell? PM me!

Sadler

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1065
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2014, 02:18:20 PM »
I'm curious how many different titles they'll find.

Tatsujin

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12311
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2014, 03:31:24 PM »
yeah I find that kinda strange too, why they have to dig them out like separated gold nuggets all over the place, rather than all stacked together in one place.

I mean did atari burried them back in 1983 like single seeds on a field?
www.pcedaisakusen.net
the home of your individual PC Engine collection!!
PCE Games coundown: 690/737 (47 to go or 93.6% clear)
PCE Shmups countdown: 111/111 (all clear!!)
Sega does what Nintendon't, but only NEC does better than both together!^^

PunkicCyborg

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3714
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2014, 04:45:17 PM »
yeah I find that kinda strange too, why they have to dig them out like separated gold nuggets all over the place, rather than all stacked together in one place.

I mean did atari burried them back in 1983 like single seeds on a field?
well they have big holes in the ground and they stack all the trash into a pile and push it in the hole with a bulldozer so im sure it's all mixed in with lots of other trash.
(19:28:25) GE0: superdead told me in whisper that his favorite game is mario paint

HailingTheThings

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3229
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2014, 05:16:01 PM »
This is super cool. I hope they have plans to recycle any and all carts found to make new repro carts or something along those lines. Yeah!

Joe Redifer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8178
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #13 on: April 26, 2014, 05:42:59 PM »
So has anyone thought to try out any of these carts to see if they still work?

InfraMan

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 306
Re: Diggers begin quest to unearth Atari's E.T. games...
« Reply #14 on: April 26, 2014, 06:10:20 PM »
I'm just curious as to how they're going to make an entire documentary out of this.