by Ben Mapp
Every once in a while a story comes along and just makes you smile. In 1983 a rumour was started that Atari had all of the unsold editions of their E.T. video game adaptation buried in the desert in an attempt to forget all about the game’s appalling reception and even more appalling sales.
Every once in a while a story comes along and just makes you smile. In 1983 a rumour was started that Atari had all of the unsold editions of their E.T. video game adaptation buried in the desert in an attempt to forget all about the game’s appalling reception and even more appalling sales.
By 2014, the rumour had faded into obscurity and became something of an urban myth. For over thirty long years it was believed by a few that perhaps a million (or more) cartridges of this critically-panned fossil were still there, still hidden under the sands of New Mexico, to this very day.
For the filming of a documentary which is due to air on Xbox Live later this year, Microsoft attempted to prove once and for all whether or not this myth was true – and today, on the 26th April 2014, and three whole decades later, it appears that the truth is finally out.
Several well preserved cartridges have indeed been found along with some paraphernalia of the year the cartridges were buried (giving legitimacy to the find).
The excavation is based at a landfill in Alamogordo, and is still ongoing. Whilst it’s certainly possible that this could all be an elaborate publicity stunt or a hoax (for whatever reason), at the moment it all seems rather authentic.
For the filming of a documentary which is due to air on Xbox Live later this year, Microsoft attempted to prove once and for all whether or not this myth was true – and today, on the 26th April 2014, and three whole decades later, it appears that the truth is finally out.
Several well preserved cartridges have indeed been found along with some paraphernalia of the year the cartridges were buried (giving legitimacy to the find).
The excavation is based at a landfill in Alamogordo, and is still ongoing. Whilst it’s certainly possible that this could all be an elaborate publicity stunt or a hoax (for whatever reason), at the moment it all seems rather authentic.
RSS Feed
