Alamogordo approves Atari excavation

[Paul Westphal]

According to an article that can be found at pcmag.com, a gaming company just got permission from the city to open the famous dumpsite and document the event with a film crew.

[sqoon]

I'm still willing to be the carts were crushed. Landfills at the time crushed the garbage by rolling heavy equipment over it. The idea with many is that the land can one day be built over.

 

Think about it though. If they really dumped millions of CIB games in that landfill, the crush roller would only really crush the first foot or two on the top layer of that pile. Those boxes had air inside and acted as a cushion against damage to the packaged games on the bottom and interior of that pile. I will guess that the first layer they uncover for this documentary will be uselessly mangled, but digging deeper will unearth some pristine condition games.

[+nanochess]

I'm very worried, if I had an E.T. cartridge it would drop of value from 0.50 to 0.49 USD by the new availability of cartridges

[Donnicton]

Looks like NPR has picked up on the story as well.

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/31/187606960/atari-dump-will-be-excavated-after-nearly-30-years

[Paul Westphal]

^{PCMAG.COM/ARTICLE2/0,2817,2419808,00.ASP}

[Gregory DG]

I'll be surprised if they find it. I guess they could look for a giant concrete blob. Hope they bring a jackhammer!

[fibrewire]

^{PCMAG.COM/ARTICLE2/0,2817,2419808,00.ASP}

 

just click http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2419808,00.asp

[bennybingo]

I'm very worried, if I had an E.T. cartridge it would drop of value from 0.50 to 0.49 USD by the new availability of cartridges

You are swinging for the fences @ $0.50 for an E.T. cart!

[+Random Terrain]

I'll be surprised if they find it. I guess they could look for a giant concrete blob. Hope they bring a jackhammer!

 

They don't need a jackhammer. They need this:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQtxVT39fSc

[bomberpunk]

^ wow that was horrible. ^

[Atari2600Lives]

I guess best case scenario is if they find some undiscovered proto types

Edited June 1, 2013 by Atari2600Lives

[ApolloBoy]

Didn't Atari do their dumping in Sunnyvale as opposed to New Mexico? I remember reading in Curt and Marty's book that Atari dumped a bunch of unsold inventory in a dump in Sunnyvale, then crushed it all and covered the remains.

[Supergun]

Yeah, I really doubt anything in there is salvageable, nor do I believe that's why they'll be digging. It will still be quite interesting to learn just what was buried, if anything.

 

..Al

 

I must say however that something about this whole thing really intrigues me. I am very curious about where this may lead. There are so many directions that the story could end up going.

 

If they find any, even just somewhat salvageable, items, and even if they are E.T. & Pac-Man cartridges, I can see those items fetching top dollar on eBay and such from crazy collectors and even non gamers across the globe. (Just like how thousands of worthless chunks of dirty old concrete sold like hotcakes back in 1989 or so because they were pieces of the Berlin Wall)

 

And even if they find absolutely nothing, we now have a conspiracy / scandal with Atari right in the middle of it. They will have been proven to be liars, and could even be financially responsible for whatever "tax write off" they may have gained 30 years ago from the alleged & required destruction.

 

And heck, if any prototype hardware, software, or packaging is found among the salvageable items, now your talking major payday and hype / publicity as well.

 

The beauty in it all is that regardless of which of the above scenarios happens, or even if some other random scenario occurs, either way, the documentation of the drama through pictures & video will bring publicity and generate revenue for the company involved. So this is a win win no matter what happens. Hell the entire idea of this is absolutely ludicrous and out of this world which also helps to make it so interesting. I would have never even thought something like this was even remotely possible to organize, let alone legal to do so. How the hell these guys cut through whatever legal & bureaucratic red tape surfaced when they decided to pursue this is a mystery to me. Alamogordo must be a completely desperate part of the country; desperate for attention, revenue, and/or tourist dollars. Or they're really bored. Don't they have a bowling alley or something? LOL

[bennybingo]

Maybe, when they finally excavate the dump site, they will find a Yar at the bottom of the pit...

 

 

or perhaps, Indiana Jones...

 

[Lendorien]

I just think this is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Landfills are huge mounds. It could be buried dozens of feet down, even if you can find the correct spot, it's not going to be a simple excavation.

[RickR]

Finally the pits in ET make sense...they were GARBAGE pits.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I'm still willing to be the carts were crushed. Landfills at the time crushed the garbage by rolling heavy equipment over it.

I would guess that 99% or more were crushed. But the carts are build pretty sturdy and together with the sheer numbers of carts which were dumped there, IMO there is a good chance that quite a few physically survived the process.

[+Random Terrain]

Finally the pits in ET make sense...they were GARBAGE pits.

 

That does make sense. Garbage players with crappy eye–hand coordination always fall into the 'pits.' E.T. was probably created by the game gods and beamed down into the mind of HSW to separate the wheat from the chaff. People who couldn't stop falling into the 'pits' and couldn't figure out how to get out of them will be banned from "video game heaven." They'll be forced to go to "accompanied by an adult pony ride heaven."

[JamesD]

Lets how this isn't a Heraldo moment.

[almightytodd]

Can someone please merge this thread to the one RT started two days ago? Thanks!

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/212888-alamogordo-approves-atari-excavation/

[almightytodd]

What bothers me about this, is that it perpetuates the myth of how E.T. was the "worst Atari game ever made" and it "was responsible for the collapse of the home video game industry". Quoting from the PC Magazine article here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2419808,00.asp

 

 

"Atari reportedly ordered 5 million copies of E.T. ahead of the title's release but wound up selling just 1.5 million. What's more, a large number of purchased copies were reportedly returned by customers frustrated with the game's notoriously poor graphics, confusing gameplay, and all-around awfulness.

 

Just how bad was E.T. the Extra Terrestrial? You can see for yourself in this video review from SmashAttackGames..."

 

Okay, first of all, for a 2600 game of that era, the graphics are quite good; far from "notoriously poor". The gameplay is confusing, if you don't RTFM. But if you spend a little time learning what the game is actually about, and follow the tips from Random Terrains' web page, it's quite playable.

[JamesD]

Lets how this isn't a Heraldo moment.

hope

[mkiker2089]

Rather than digging through a landfill I'd like to take a walk through Best Electronics warehouse. They bought rights to empty the building when Atari went out.

[bennybingo]

"accompanied by an adult pony ride heaven."

a quote that conjures many horrible images in my head...thanks a lot a RT.

[Tanman]

They should do it up right by lowing someone into the hole wearing an ET costume.