Inky Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 OTERO-LINCOLN COUNTY LANDFILL 4258 HIGHWAY 54 SOUTH ALAMOGORDO NM 88310 Latitude: 32.747647 Longitude: -105.967428 That's the new one, built in 1994. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 My project for monday is to contact the public library info desk to see what they've heard.. http://ci.alamogordo.nm.us/Library/coaplavailable.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 Inky's hot on the trail. That would be really nice to get some new info on this "myth" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 When the Morlocks attack, it'll be because we didn't send them a better game. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Charles Posted February 7, 2004 Author Share Posted February 7, 2004 Hi, A very excellent site regarding Howard Scott Warshall and Atari http://www.onceuponatari.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hswwsh Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 All I'm saying is I find it *unlikely* that this kind of thing went on as quietly as it is rumored. I am not saying it's impossible, I just think it is very unlikely. Remember that all of this moving and burying costs money. The accounting point is a good one, in that you can't write it off until it's gone. But how much can you afford to spend to trash it before you are losing even more money? And why not donate this stuff to charitable groups as gifts for the underpriviledged? You can still write it off that way and get some lovely press to boot It isn't a great decision to be faced with in the first place, that's for sure HSW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophero Sly Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 When the Morlocks attack, it'll be because we didn't send them a better game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 The accounting point is a good one, in that you can't write it off until it's gone. But how much can you afford to spend to trash it before you are losing even more money? And why not donate this stuff to charitable groups as gifts for the underpriviledged? You can still write it off that way and get some lovely press to boot Typical corporate thinking...some companies (even still today) would rather trash out dead inventory than make it available for free...like those discount stores smashing the old carts with a hammer. I guess they figure that the free product would hurt their bottom line in products still being sold. In other types of industry, they would trash it out so that they wouldn't be held accountable for any problems regarding those products (that was my company's motive). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hswwsh Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 Sad, but too frequently too true. Corporate good should never be confused with public good. Ah well, I just try to make sure my products bring something good to most people (even if it's just something good to criticize) HSW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaXpress Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 I've been told that when Chuck E Cheese gets rid of an old game, they are required to smash it into rubble before disposal. If I saw a Tempest machine getting that treatment, I'd throw myself in front of the sledgehammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maibock Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 Ah well, I just try to make sure my products bring something good to most people (even if it's just something good to criticize) HSW lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Mitchell Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Should there be a local/ regional newspaper with the article .. which would be a primary source for the NYTimes article? Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurking Horror Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Yars revenge is my favorite 2600 game. Great interview with the programmer! I hope Inky's quest for the mythical dump will succeed. But beware! They say that if you break the old seal of the dump a great evil will fall over earth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Should there be a local/ regional newspaper with the article .. which would be a primary source for the NYTimes article? I would think so, maybe if Inky gets in contact with the local library they can suggest some online newspaper databases with the relevant local papers. At the very least they probably have microfische copies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Should there be a local/ regional newspaper with the article .. which would be a primary source for the NYTimes article? I would think so, maybe if Inky gets in contact with the local library they can suggest some online newspaper databases with the relevant local papers. At the very least they probably have microfische copies. GAH! I forgot about contacting the library (and no, I haven't heard back from any of the people I emailed on it either), as I had to watch the kids while my wife took our youngest to the doctor on monday. I'll get back on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smf_4ever Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Oh.. because of this post and interview.. I checked out HSW's website and snaged the DVD... This is a VERY cool disc!!! I suggest anyone that liked the stella at 20 stuff (sans the technical talking) get this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cootster Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 That article is a hilarious Poltergeist parody . . . Wonder why that film never got a game? Anyway, I've said it before, I'll say it again, and once my current college term is over, I will return to digging on it for final confirmation: They were never buried. Quite a lot of them (at least a 5-figure number) were bought by a game-shop owner in Colorado Springs and converted into the legendary Beagle Bros. carts. As for the rest, they filled the dollar bins back up with the things in the late period, so that's where a lot of them went . . . The others could have been dumped, but I can't believe it was in this fashion. There is no humongous landfill filled with E. T., and if there was, why go all the way to NM? Don't California, Nevada, and Arizona have plenty of places to dump stuff? And also, why do it in secret (especially if you let the New York Times in on it)? Nobody wanted the carts then, nobody really foresaw the collector's market, and they weren't exactly going to get looters. And HSW is right, everyone in the company would have known. You couldn't cart off that much inventory without it being highly obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapdash Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 That article is a hilarious Poltergeist parody . . . Wonder why that film never got a game? I'm pretty sure that was one that was announced (by Sega? Universal?), but I don't have my DPCG handy right now. They were never buried. Quite a lot of them (at least a 5-figure number) were bought by a game-shop owner in Colorado Springs and converted into the legendary Beagle Bros. carts. This is the second time I've seen you bring that up, but I haven't seen anyone else make that claim. Have I just been missing a thread, or do you know something you're not telling us, or are you just trying to start a rumor or provoke a reaction? There is no humongous landfill filled with E. T., and if there was, why go all the way to NM? Don't California, Nevada, and Arizona have plenty of places to dump stuff? Note that the cartridges supposedly came from El Paso TX. It's still a valid question, but at least that would answer why the dump isn't closer to CA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 If those E.T. cartridges are not buried, someone better let Snopes know: http://www.snopes.com/business/market/atari.asp In this case the rumor was accurate, although it wasn't the first time Atari had destroyed cartridges, nor was E.T. the only game dumped in New Mexico. (Rumor had it that Atari's Borregas Street warehouse sat atop crushed and buried game cartridges as well.) Some other video game manufacturers attempted to rid themselves of excess inventory by selling it at sharply reduced prices, but Atari, stuck with millions of games and consoles that were largely unsellable at any price, sent fourteen truckloads of merchandise from their plant in El Paso, Texas, to be dumped in a city landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico in late September 1983. In order to keep the site from being looted, steamrollers crushed and flattened the games, and a concrete slab was poured over the remains. They are misleading people if it's not true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cootster Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 That article is a hilarious Poltergeist parody . . . Wonder why that film never got a game? I'm pretty sure that was one that was announced (by Sega? Universal?), but I don't have my DPCG handy right now. They were never buried. Quite a lot of them (at least a 5-figure number) were bought by a game-shop owner in Colorado Springs and converted into the legendary Beagle Bros. carts. This is the second time I've seen you bring that up, but I haven't seen anyone else make that claim. Have I just been missing a thread, or do you know something you're not telling us, or are you just trying to start a rumor or provoke a reaction? I know that someone involved with the production of them points to getting the shells from someone at Atari really cheap because they were going to get thrown away anyway. Perhaps it wasn't this lot, it may have been some later, smaller dumping. The actual creator of them has been much harder to track down, and there'll be an article here containing that interview once I do so. The question I most want an answer to is "How did you expect to make a profit selling them at $10?" There is no humongous landfill filled with E. T., and if there was, why go all the way to NM? Don't California, Nevada, and Arizona have plenty of places to dump stuff? Note that the cartridges supposedly came from El Paso TX. It's still a valid question, but at least that would answer why the dump isn't closer to CA. Hhhhhhmmmm . . . Makes a bit more sense then, as Alamagordo isn't too far from El Paso . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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