jasinner

Museums do have to touch up their artifacts though. Sunlight, oxidation, damage from being manipulated and must choose how to manage preservation vs preserving the integrity of the original. Restoring a game to working would be a radical option and one Im not sure I would personally agree with. The implication behind it is that games lose their "gameness" if they don't work but this will need reevaluation when none of these carts work in 50 or so years. Better to get used to them as simply historical now so it isn't so weird in a few decades. And besides we'll still have game-games and emulators. That said, I see this debate as a healthy and important one to have.

I think you are both arguing from the same side, which is great. I think this debate about the how of preservation is one institutions struggle with as well. And I'm glad there are others out there who see it as more than a paperweight.

I recommend reading Game After by Raiford Guins. It describes how games have evolved from entertainment objects to historical objects.

Per Joe Lewandowski, any cart without matching COA and tag are not to be considered authentic.

Ben Heck purchased one and got it working with a little elbow grease:https://youtu.be/72fBltUZ2b8 The carts were at a sweet spot in depth where they were not exposed to standing water so definitely possible. The two boxed e.t.'s to hit the bae look like they were purchased by speculators, the first an oddity/meteorite museum and the recent a trading card reseller. That said, Mr. Lewandowski (the guy who sold these initially) has indicated he has kept records of the initial sales and and perhaps the forthcoming book from one of the archaeologists may clarify on where they went.

A second copy of E.T. has been put up on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/371854254496

From what I understand, the games below the thin concrete barrier would not have been in better condition than those exumed. The top 15' was destroyed by rainwater and below 30' was the level of the local water table and was similarly destroyed. The recovered materials existed in a sort of sweet spot. And to answer the question, it smelled bad. Not like septic blackwater but sour like vomit or gym clothes a dirty tween hasn't washed all year. The smell eventually dissipated but I removed it from the ziploc. It would likely retain the smell if left in the bag.

Seems like a contentious topic but wanted to chime in it looks like one of the E.T.'s is being resold already: http://m.ebay.com/itm/Atari-E-T-Cartridge-in-box-from-the-Alamogordo-landfill-dig-/272081432174?nav=SEARCH