Overview
The Atari Video Game Burial Excavation refers to the excavation of a mass burial site of unsold video game cartridges and other products in April 2014, originally undertaken by American video game and home computer company Atari.[11] The excavation itself gained wide attention due to the recovery of thousands of copies of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game,[1] a game released a year prior to the burial which is often regarded as one of the worst videogames in existance.
Background
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial[1] is a 1982 adventure video game based on the film of the same name and developed for the Atari 2600 video game console. The development of the game began in July 1982 and was completed before the end of the year, following the commercial success of the film in June 1982.
Anticipation for E.T. was high in 1982 and the game eventually sold 1.5 million units, becoming one of the best-selling Atari 2600 titles. However, between 2.5 and 3.5 million cartridges went unsold and about 3.5 million of the 4 million produced were sent back to Atari as unsold inventory or customer returns, the latter which went alongside the large amount of negative reception for the game which would later evolve into the game being regarded as one of the worst games in existance.
Atari Video Game Burial
The Atari video game burial[2] was a mass burial of unsold video game cartridges and other products in a New Mexico landfill site, undertaken by American video game and home computer company Atari in 1983, following the company’s financial difficulty and several problem titles it released. The burial has long been regarded as an urban legend by a minority and the event has become a cultural icon and a reminder of the North American video game crash of 1983.[12]
Notable Developments
Excavation
On May 28, 2013, Fuel Industries was granted six months of access to the landfill to film a documentary about the burial and to excavate the dump site. Though the excavation was momentarily stalled, they eventually managed to get started on April 26th, 2014. Fuel Industries, Microsoft, and others worked with the New Mexico government to excavate the site to validate the contents of the landfill as a public event.
The same day when the excavation started, the results revealed the existence of the discarded games and some hardware, affirming the original speculation on the landfill’s contents. Following the discovery of the cardridges, James Heller, the former Atari manager in charge of the original burial, revealed to the Associated Press that there were only 728,000 cartridges buried at the site.[3] Bystanders were also given the chance to play the game at the site. Many news sites and video games websites also quickly followed with articles about the discovery, such as The Guardian,[4] The Star,[5] Fox News,[6] Mashable,[7]IGN,[8] Polygon[9] and The Daily Mail.[10]
Search Interest
External References
[1]Wikipedia – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
[2]Wikipedia – Atari Video Game Burial
[3]NPR– Diggers Find Atari’s E.T. Games In Landfill
[4]The Guardian – Film crew finds Atari ET games in New Mexico archaeological dig
[5]The Star – Hundreds of Atari E.T. game cartridges unearthed in landfill
[6]Fox News – Game enthusiasts find Atari’s E.T. games in landfill
[7]Mashable – Legend Confirmed: Atari 2600 ‘E.T.’ Game Discovered at New Mexico Dig
[8]IGN– The Dig: Uncovering the Atari E.T. Games Buried in New Mexico Desert
[9]Polygon – E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill
fn10 The Daily Mail – Lost cache of Atari 2600 E.T. ‘the worst game ever made’ discovered at a New Mexico landfill dig
[12]Wikipedia – North American video game crash of 1983