ET Cartridges Found in Desert Landfill After 31 Years

[alec006]

The "rumors" about the Atari landfill are now proven true, I'll be damned.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3413459.shtml
(http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3413459.shtml)

[kainemaxwell]

https://twitter.com/majornelson/status/460129185277968385

Awesome.7448

[fergojisan]

It wasn't an urban legend or a mystery, it was a documented fact. Atari dumped the contents of a warehouse in Texas, which companies do from time to time. Now, this is just going to perpetuate the claim that Atari destroyed the video game industry. People forget that Atari CREATED the video game industry, and this is not going to help.

[PizzaKat]

How long before these carts are on Ebay?

[bb_hood]

wow they dug up a bunch of mega common dirty games. Nobody wanted them then and I doubt anybody would want them now.

[SparTonberry]

Actually some might given it's a historical artifact now.

[bb_hood]

Actually some might given it's a historical artifact now.

how would one of those carts be any different from the one I own (after I put a handfull of dirt on it)?

[megasdkirby]

how would one of those carts be any different from the one I own (after I put a handfull of dirt on it)?

Give some time to AtariAge members. They will somehow justify it.

:)

And I also bet some will send copies to VGA to have the carts "graded".

90+ of ET Trash.

Give it time.

[Ro-J]

I don't know, I think it might be kind of cool to own one of the landfill carts, if only for novelty's sake or as a conversation piece. I wouldn't pay a whole lot for it, but for the right price I'd consider it.

[Steve W]

I'd love to know if some of them are still functional. I suspect that Atari's stuff was so durable that, rust aside, they might still play. Meanwhile, if you sneeze near a Colecovision console, it corrupts the machine and dies. If you dropped a "Heavy Sixer" Atari 2600 from low orbit, dig it out of the quarter-mile wide impact crater it'll form, and plug it in there's a good chance it'll still work. After the sun expands and swallows the Earth in five billion years, all that'll still be floating out in the rubble left over are Atari 2600s and Commodore 64 monitors. At least future alien explorers can play some good ol' video games.

[treismac]

how would one of those carts be any different from the one I own (after I put a handfull of dirt on it)?

Dude, I've already mailed off a busted up E.T. in a ziplock bag of dirt to get VGA graded, so I'll let you know after I turn around and sell it on eBay.

[treismac]

Give some time to AtariAge members. They will somehow justify it.

:)

And I also bet some will send copies to VGA to have the carts "graded".

90+ of ET Trash.

Give it time.

Damn. You beat me to the VGA joke.

[kainemaxwell]

here's some more pics:
http://news.xbox.com/~/media/images/media%20assets/entertainment/xbox%20entertainment%20studios/atari%20dig/atari%20dig_evidence.jpg?h=827&w=620

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmK4ITJIAAAIuOz.jpg

[T2KFreeker]

I laugh at the craziness. How is it a "Rumor" if there is actual news stuff from the day proving that it actually happened? it's not a rumor or an urban myth, it was fact all along. Anyone from the day that watched the news or read the news paper probably knew about it and already knew the stuff would be found. I can understand the fascination of finding the old carts, but the whole "Myth" or "Rumor" when it never was that in the first place, I just don't understand how it happened.

[Gamevet]

I'd love to know if some of them are still functional. I suspect that Atari's stuff was so durable that, rust aside, they might still play. Meanwhile, if you sneeze near a Colecovision console, it corrupts the machine and dies. If you dropped a "Heavy Sixer" Atari 2600 from low orbit, dig it out of the quarter-mile wide impact crater it'll form, and plug it in there's a good chance it'll still work. After the sun expands and swallows the Earth in five billion years, all that'll still be floating out in the rubble left over are Atari 2600s and Commodore 64 monitors. At least future alien explorers can play some good ol' video games.

Yes it is!

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d76/Gamevet/qJXWEsv_zps8408c667.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/Gamevet/media/qJXWEsv_zps8408c667.jpg.html)

[alec006]

I laugh at the craziness. How is it a "Rumor" if there is actual news stuff from the day proving that it actually happened? it's not a rumor or an urban myth, it was fact all along. Anyone from the day that watched the news or read the news paper probably knew about it and already knew the stuff would be found. I can understand the fascination of finding the old carts, but the whole "Myth" or "Rumor" when it never was that in the first place, I just don't understand how it happened.

For years, I've heard back and forth that even when it was reported by news media, it still became a "urban legend" or "rumor". No one has ever dug up the site until now and that I'm guessing is what led to it being believed to be a rumor rather than fact.

[Atarileaf]

Yes it is!

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d76/Gamevet/qJXWEsv_zps8408c667.jpg (http://s33.photobucket.com/user/Gamevet/media/qJXWEsv_zps8408c667.jpg.html)

If it wasn't bad enough, having to play ET in a windy desert, but the poor kid has to use those awful proline sticks to play it :D

[bb_hood]

here's some more pics:
http://news.xbox.com/~/media/images/media%20assets/entertainment/xbox%20entertainment%20studios/atari%20dig/atari%20dig_evidence.jpg?h=827&w=620

In this instance, CIB stands for Complete In Bucket.

[Gamevet]

More like Crushed in Box. :bigmac:

[Zama]

:popcorn: Atari tried to bury their past but fate would not let them escape their destiny :)

[spman]

So is there anything stopping me from taking a hammer to a copy of ET tomorrow, rolling it through the dirt, and listing it on ebay tomorrow as having come from this landfill?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

:popcorn: Atari tried to bury their past but fate would not let them escape their destiny :)

sounds like a newspaper headline to me!

[StarBlazer]

here's some more pics:
http://news.xbox.com/~/media/images/media%20assets/entertainment/xbox%20entertainment%20studios/atari%20dig/atari%20dig_evidence.jpg?h=827&w=620

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmK4ITJIAAAIuOz.jpg


Looks like pics of stuff from my local flea market this morning. "Them atari games is rare" says the guy behind the table, "$3 each or $15 per bucket".


That landfill wound having more treasure in it that Al Capone's vault! lol

[bb_hood]

sounds like a newspaper headline to me!

Here is a more accurate headline: Trash excavated from garbage hole



(except for that centipede game, that game is sealed and mint)

[Emperor Megas]

More like Crushed in Box. :bigmac:Outstanding.

[JSoup]

I like how many of those games have cleaner labels than my copy. :/
Or that they still work after all that time being exposed to the elements, while flea market copies in the sun are a coin toss.

[The Adventurer]

If I read the article correctly they were sealed under concrete. That would protect them pretty well from rain water.

[rik1138]

It wasn't an urban legend or a mystery, it was a documented fact. Atari dumped the contents of a warehouse in Texas, which companies do from time to time.

Actually, what I believe was 'urban legendy' about the dump was that it was nothing but 1000's (or millions) of copies of ET. But, what this dig has actually done is debunked the legend. As you stated, there was no doubt (or shouldn't have been) that Atari dumped a lot of games and stuff there, but now we know it was mostly non-ET games (at least based on what's been dug up so far), not that it was just a place to hide a warehouse of a single game title...

That's the part that became legend though, that it was all just ET because they made _SOOO_ many of them.

ET wasn't even the first cartridge found... The press is just using ET to make headlines since no one would give a sh*t if they said 'bunch of worthless common 2600 games found in landfill'.

[Bojay1997]

Actually, what I believe was 'urban legendy' about the dump was that it was nothing but 1000's (or millions) of copies of ET. But, what this dig has actually done is debunked the legend. As you stated, there was no doubt (or shouldn't have been) that Atari dumped a lot of games and stuff there, but now we know it was mostly non-ET games (at least based on what's been dug up so far), not that it was just a place to hide a warehouse of a single game title...

That's the part that became legend though, that it was all just ET because they made _SOOO_ many of them.

ET wasn't even the first cartridge found... The press is just using ET to make headlines since no one would give a sh*t if they said 'bunch of worthless common 2600 games found in landfill'.

Actually, I think there were and still are some people that don't believe this really happened despite all the earlier documentation. I think the dig was just a huge publicity stunt and not necessary, but even after the find yesterday, there are still people posting on various forums claiming that the items were planted. It kind of makes me sad that there are people that go for conspiracy theories despite overwhelming evidence contradicting their crazy beliefs.

[Bandicat]

I remember the first article I read about the dumping stated that in addition to the cartridges, failed Atari prototypes were also thrown into the landfill. All the articles I am reading seem to only be focusing on the ET game, but mention "other computer equipment." Has anyone discovered any of the "other computer equipment?"

[JSoup]

Actually, I think there were and still are some people that don't believe this really happened despite all the earlier documentation. I think the dig was just a huge publicity stunt and not necessary, but even after the find yesterday, there are still people posting on various forums claiming that the items were planted. It kind of makes me sad that there are people that go for conspiracy theories despite overwhelming evidence contradicting their crazy beliefs.

What's probably lending to the conspiracy theories is that they are finding complete, intact copies of the game. That really shouldn't be surprising, giving the whole sealed in concrete thing. But the story most people know is that the games were either crushed first, then buried or the other way around. Looking at the documentation shows that the only crushing that took place was pretty much what was standard protocol for a landfill, but that's not the story people have been reading for 30 years. So, skepticism.

[Niku-Sama]

I'df be curious if there was any prototype stuff in there

[Raedon]

They were in the desert under concrete...should be good. I've pulled 2600 carts out of a plastic box full of water at a flea and they still worked.

[treismac]

If it wasn't bad enough, having to play ET in a windy desert, but the poor kid has to use those awful proline sticks to play it :D

Hahahaha!!! No doubt the kid will be a retro gamer for life after this experience.

[ZeroHPDamn]

Everytime I see something on or read about this story all I can think of is the CODE MONKEYS episode.

http://s.mcstatic.com/thumb/5584405/16353097/4/flash_player/0/1/et_lizard_creature_and_me_code_monkeys.jpg

[Rickstilwell1]

The ebay idea is hilarious. People paying for legitimate destruction and flagging counterfeit destruction.

[FrankSerpico]

I'm always amazed at how much fascination ET still commands, and how many people who weren't even alive at the time of its release are dead set on the idea that "it caused the great craaaaash!" It's simply one of hundreds of terribad licensed games for the 2600. That's it.

[Gameguy]

So they found copies of the game buried in the landfill, but they haven't found the body of the guy who programmed it?

[Mayhem]

Howard Scott Warshaw is still very much alive, and was there at the dig :p

[JSoup]

So they found copies of the game buried in the landfill, but they haven't found the body of the guy who programmed it?

Apparently Howard Warshaw (E.T. and Yars' Revenge) was present when they broke ground, if first hand accounts are to be believed.

[Steve W]

There are photos of Warshaw being handed the first cartridge pulled out of the ground.

One of the reasons why this stayed in the "rumor" category for so long was because Howard Scott Warshaw claimed several times that he had never heard of the unsold or returned games being dumped in the landfill. I've read that from him in a couple of articles throughout the years. So that helped take it from hazily remembered fact to vague internet rumor over the course of 30 years.


That copy of Centipede they retrieved looks like it was stored in one of those plastic cases that shops like Target used to put games in so they could be hung from pegs. I've only got one or two of those, I always wished I had more.

[tom]

So as already stated in the Book Atari Inc Business is fun they buried stuff, not just ET games, but numerous different carts, inventory and other stock.

That 1 million ETs buried in the desert was just crappy made up stuff.
On the other hand, it's nice folklore and keeps the Atari name alive.

[CRTGAMER]

I remember the first article I read about the dumping stated that in addition to the cartridges, failed Atari prototypes were also thrown into the landfill. All the articles I am reading seem to only be focusing on the ET game, but mention "other computer equipment." Has anyone discovered any of the "other computer equipment?"

THIS. I get the impression the warehouse dump were all games destined to ship to store shelves. Still, there is that picture of 2600 official release Centipede when the original story claimed only ET carts (not whole boxes) were disposed. One can hope some prototypes are buried in there.

[Aussie2B]

Supposedly there were over a million excess copies of E.T., but I don't know why anyone would believe that ONLY E.T. got trashed when there were even more excess copies of other games. It's not like Atari had just one temporary brainfart and royally screwed up with one single release; they established a routine of mindbogglingly horrible business decisions.

[Sparkster]

I think it's fantastic that they unearthed something. It may not have been the legendary "millions" of copies, but the fact that they found something to lend credibility to the story is awesome.

[Gamevet]

Supposedly there were over a million excess copies of E.T., but I don't know why anyone would believe that ONLY E.T. got trashed when there were even more excess copies of other games. It's not like Atari had just one temporary brainfart and royally screwed up with one single release; they established a routine of mindbogglingly horrible business decisions.


I've heard that they had manufactured like 12 million Pac-Man carts and only managed to sell @ 7+ million of those. There may be other locations that have tons of these carts buried under the desert ground.

I'd guess that they made even more E.T. carts, considering the amount of money they had paid for the license.

[Greg2600]

To be honest, I never understood the myth/passion for this dump. EVERY major business/manufacturer in the United States dumps tons and tons of excess merch into landfills. Why is this garbage so special? From what I've read, what they found was basically everything Atari was dumping from their plant in Texas. Of which non-ET stuff outnumbers ET carts.

[Gamevet]

To be honest, I never understood the myth/passion for this dump. EVERY major business/manufacturer in the United States dumps tons and tons of excess merch into landfills. Why is this garbage so special? From what I've read, what they found was basically everything Atari was dumping from their plant in Texas. Of which non-ET stuff outnumbers ET carts.

It was a symbol of the console crash of the '80s. E.T. was pretty much the poster-child for how poorly the industry was being managed, with games like it and Pac-Man having more copies than their were owners of the consoles. Those unsold games had to go somewhere.

[Gameguy]

Howard Scott Warshaw is still very much alive, and was there at the dig :p

Apparently Howard Warshaw (E.T. and Yars' Revenge) was present when they broke ground, if first hand accounts are to be believed.

There are photos of Warshaw being handed the first cartridge pulled out of the ground.
I just assumed that with Atari being disappointed with the sales of that game, they'd take it out on the guy who made it. So he was all there for sure? Not just "Weekend at Bernie's" there? :p

[PizzaKat]

Aww, what did Centipede ever do to be buried with that trash

[JSoup]

Aww, what did Centipede ever do to be buried with that trash

Meant as a way to sanctify the grounds, perhaps?


But seriously, E.T. isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's not amazing by any stretch, but it's not complete ass either.

[bb_hood]

Aww, what did Centipede ever do to be buried with that trash

I KNOW!!! Thats a GOOD game!!




But seriously, E.T. isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's not amazing by any stretch, but it's not complete ass either.

I gotta disagree. TECHNICALLY speaking its not the worst.. but its really pretty bad.

They gotta come up with some official 'game badness' scale, kinda like Mohs hardness scale but for bad games.

[Niku-Sama]

I wonder what effect this is going to have on these games prices that they are digging up.

And still like I said before I wonder if there's any prototype stuff in there, now interested in hardware over games. You know they have had to bury systems in with that stuff

[Aussie2B]

Eh, it's not like these games can really go any lower in value. Unless they find some dumped prototypes or something, all these games were way overproduced blockbusters, so even without these mangled landfill copies, they're still super common and cheap.

[Collector_Gaming]

Eh, it's not like these games can really go any lower in value. Unless they find some dumped prototypes or something, all these games were way overproduced blockbusters, so even without these mangled landfill copies, they're still super common and cheap.

but now you can own a "fabled landfill copy"

[tom]

ET the most valuable game in video gaming history:

http://www.gamegavel.com/item.cgi?show_item=0000940332

[tom]

Aww, what did Centipede ever do to be buried with that trash
Why don't people understand, Atari buried excess stock, not a certain game only. They buried video games, hardware, inventory, paperwork, maybe secretaries, the lot. NOT ONLY ET.
It's best you guys read the Book Atari Inc Business is fun

[tom]

Meant as a way to sanctify the grounds, perhaps?


But seriously, E.T. isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's not amazing by any stretch, but it's not complete ass either.

http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo12/Alison123456789/ET1_zps5e4fcc56.jpg

http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo12/Alison123456789/ET2_zps7c8d9759.jpg

http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo12/Alison123456789/ET3_zps904bc0fc.jpg


Info from Digital Press Guide Advanced, sorry about the misprint (Activision instead of Atari, DP error)

Thing is most people here probably never played the game.
I mean, if a 12 year old girl manages to beat the game, how stupid are the boys at playing video games?

[bb_hood]

but now you can own a "fabled landfill copy"

They should sell dirt from that landfill so collectors can make their own semi-authentic copy.

[JSoup]

[pretty informative book scans here]

For me, it's a perspective thing. I can totally see why someone would have been pissed when the game was new, I've made bad game purchases as I'm sure everyone else has. But hindsight is 20/20 and I only played three cents for my copy of E.T. and I'm sure most modern collectors payed somewhere in that range as well. At that price, I'm a sufficiently less annoyed at a bad game being bad and am willing to look for the silver lining.

All that said, I figured there would be at least one guy back then who liked the damn thing.

[Bojay1997]

To be honest, I never understood the myth/passion for this dump. EVERY major business/manufacturer in the United States dumps tons and tons of excess merch into landfills. Why is this garbage so special? From what I've read, what they found was basically everything Atari was dumping from their plant in Texas. Of which non-ET stuff outnumbers ET carts.

Agree strongly. My grandfather worked for Phillips and Motorola in the 1960s and I know for a fact that they used to regularly dump televisions, consumer electronics and other overstock items from the warehouse he used to work at. In part it was to avoid flooding the market with older goods that would go for a discount when the new models were rolling out. I also find it irritating that this became a "rumor" when the factual evidence that it happened has been readily available for a long time.

[Greg2600]

Why don't people understand, Atari buried excess stock, not a certain game only. They buried video games, hardware, inventory, paperwork, maybe secretaries, the lot. NOT ONLY ET.
It's best you guys read the Book Atari Inc Business is fun

Yes, and not just dumped. Atari used to throw massive amounts of documents and materials out in their normal refuse. It's dumpster diving back in the day by guys like Curt Vendel who rescued very important documents. I forget the other guy's name, but he is a collector and lived in CA, and would claim and buy pallets on top of pallets of disposed Atari documents. He also saved countless samples of game artwork from the trash. So if they come back and say, hey we found some artwork or important documents or prototypes, then I'll be happy.

By the way, I saw a video Jerry Jessop posted on facebook, and the dig site looks like something out of Star Wars. Very inhospitable place out there!

[Gamevet]

For me, it's a perspective thing. I can totally see why someone would have been pissed when the game was new, I've made bad game purchases as I'm sure everyone else has. But hindsight is 20/20 and I only played three cents for my copy of E.T. and I'm sure most modern collectors payed somewhere in that range as well. At that price, I'm a sufficiently less annoyed at a bad game being bad and am willing to look for the silver lining.

All that said, I figured there would be at least one guy back then who liked the damn thing.

My brother borrowed the game from a rich kid he knew at school. We played the game for several weeks and even though the pits were a pain, we eventually learned where not to step and how to quickly get out of them. I thought the game was pretty decent, but figuring out how to collect the parts was somewhat confusing. I was actually thinking about finding a boxed copy about a month ago. I shouldn't have waited around, because the price is probably going to go up now.

[rik1138]

What's probably lending to the conspiracy theories is that they are finding complete, intact copies of the game. That really shouldn't be surprising, giving the whole sealed in concrete thing. But the story most people know is that the games were either crushed first, then buried or the other way around. Looking at the documentation shows that the only crushing that took place was pretty much what was standard protocol for a landfill, but that's not the story people have been reading for 30 years. So, skepticism.

Actually, there is some mis-information around parts of this... From what I've read in the 1983 issues of the local paper, Atari sent many truck-loads of equipment there over the course of many days (weeks?).

On day 1, they just dumped it and left it there. That night, local kids looted the site grabbing what they could (and apparently trying to sell some of it to pawn shops the next day). So, from then on the material was dumped, driven over with bulldozers, a layer of normal garbage added, and then the concrete layer (as well as 24 hour security patrols).

What they dug up over the weekend was the day 1 dump. None of this was under concrete, or bulldozed (at least, any more than standard moving trash around in a dump bulldozing would do). I don't think they plan on digging up any of the stuff that's under the concrete unless the city decides it's financially worth it to do so.

As for the condition of the games, look at the pictures of all the other trash there. Cardboard boxes in nothing more than crushed condition. 1983 newspapers that you can just open up and read. Someone's 1979 tax return was seen in one video... Candy boxes (Starburst in particular), etc, etc... The trash was buried in a near-desert environment (i.e., no water and above the water table) underground (i.e., no oxygen), what would you expect it to look like? As much as we'd love to believe this, our trash doesn't magically dissolve back into atoms just because we bury it. :) A couple of controllers were also found for sure (I saw a picture of a keyboard controller like used for Star Raiders). And at least 20+ different titles were found, many of them in boxed (although crushed) condition (some of them even in the boxes used to ship them to retailers).


I remember the first article I read about the dumping stated that in addition to the cartridges, failed Atari prototypes were also thrown into the landfill. All the articles I am reading seem to only be focusing on the ET game, but mention "other computer equipment." Has anyone discovered any of the "other computer equipment?"

As for prototypes- Someone suggested this theory, based solely on speculation. Imagine you have a warehouse full of games you are trying to sell, and games being returned from retailers. Somewhere in this warehouse is also a bunch of company 'crap' (i.e., unsold prototypes and other stuff). After using this warehouse for a while, the stuff is likely to be sorted: Returns and stuff waiting to go out in front, by the door. Lesser desired items (and older returns), in the middle. 'Crap' that is never leaving way in the back. When you decide to unload the warehouse, you just grab what is at the door, and work your way back. Assuming that this might be true (and, just to be sure, this is based on nothing but a wild guess), it would be last truck loads of stuff you'd want to dig through... Per the stories above, what they've dug up is the first truck loads. The last stuff is dumped, crushed, garbage buried, tombed in concrete and earth buried in a different location...

It would certainly be cool if they keep exploring, but unless someone can _confirm_ prototypes were dumped, no one may bother going into that much effort...

As someone else mentioned, the whole thing was largely a publicity stunt for either the documentary, and/or Microsoft/Xbox.

[Bojay1997]

Looks like the City is moving forward with trying to profit from this.

http://www.alamogordonews.com/alamogordo-news/ci_25862460/city-still-deciding-what-do-atari-games

[buzz_n64]

Looks like the City is moving forward with trying to profit from this.

http://www.alamogordonews.com/alamogordo-news/ci_25862460/city-still-deciding-what-do-atari-games

I would pay upwards of $30 to get an E.T. cart with a letter of authenticity.

[bb_hood]

"If we run out, there are 790,000 more in that hole out there now that we know where they are at," he said. "But they are worth more. The less there is — that is why we didn't keep going."

Yeah sounds like they plan on milking it for what its worth.

[Sparkster]

Sorry for the random bump, but I figured this was the best place for this topic.

I'm on vacation in Vegas, and decided to check out one of the vintage stores nearby... I mean what else is there to do in Vegas ;)

Anyway they had a few TVs hooked up to a few systems, and E.T. was available to play as well as Super Mario 3. I would have done the E.T. on the easy setting, except the select switch was way out of reach. So I play SMB3, and some kid tells me of the "rumour" of E.T. cartridges in a landfill. It was pretty satisfying telling him that this is no longer a rumour.