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April 2014 Retro Gaming Article


April 27, 2014 Retro Gaming Blog Post:

Conspiracy theorists question the good condition of Atari detritus excavated from the Alamogordo landfill

ET game found in the muck at the Alamogordo Landfill While we have aging frat-boys romping through Pacific Northwest forests in search of Bigfoot, there are others who still dispute NASA's Moon landing in '69. The internet has given a "microphone" to anyone who wants to share a mind-addled idea or opinion.

These individuals seemingly scan the Net for mirth that fuels their need to be bitter and angry. They post their frustrations into any input-box they can find on the Web while their parents quietly discuss the best way to reclaim their basements for laundry and storage needs.

I don't recall the source, but I recently came across a brilliant challenge that everyone should pose to themselves prior to posting to social media:
If you wouldn't say it on a public stage in a crowded auditorium, don't post it to social media!

Imagine if people actually thought before posting to these online services. That would be wonderful, but is hopelessly unrealistic. You can't have heros without villans, thus we struggle onward doing our best to react properly with grace and accord.

How the fuck can someone cry "Fake" only 20 minutes after the Atari Landfill Legend is verified by archeologists, filmers, fans, and those licensed to drive life-size versions of my favorite Tonka trucks? Do these conspiracy theorists honestly believe the crew brought a box of muddied ET game boxes into the Alamogordo landfill, dug a hole and then emerged victorious with faux relics of this Atari lore?

ET game found in the muck at the Alamogordo Landfill I was following the action on social media and admittedly was stunned by how quickly they found Atari product and the good condition of many items. I'd have thought that anything paper-based would have disintegrated years ago into a gooey paste that would ruin anything in close proximity. I was made aware of a thing I largely ignored in school; Science!

I have Atari 2600 games on my bookshelf that are in worse condition than some of the landfill finds. Apparently, the culprit is oxygen. While we find it necessary for life, it can have ill effects on items we'd like to preserve. Buried in a landfill, oxygen is forced out under the massive weight of dirt, cement and garbage piled atop the Atari games. This lack of oxygen and water plays a role in unintentional preservation.

Myth vs Fact in the Atari Legend

Rumor had it that Atari dumped 14 truckloads containing millions of ET The Extraterrestrial games into a New Mexico landfill. Generally, Atari fans sought answers to three components of the Atari Legend.

  1. Did Atari really dump excess product into a landfill?
  2. How much was really dumped and did it include games and hardware?
  3. Were other games besides ET dumped?


1 - Did Atari really dump excess product into a landfill?
Bloated know-it-alls have quickly stepped forward to mock doubters of the Atari Legend's basis. They chortle as though they once had Sunnyvale swipe-cards to Atari's HQ (they did not) and had even driven one of the Alamogordo-bound trucks.

For average folks, like myself, our connection to Atari are the countless childhood hours wiggling a joystick in front of the family TV and the excessive hours similarly spent as adults. Most rational people did indeed wonder if Atari really dumped product into a landfill and was it the one in Alamogordo? The Atari community is full of gracious knowledgeable people. I become vexed with people who are so desperate to validate their knowledge that they belittle others in the process.

ET at the Alamogordo Landfill 2 - How much was really dumped and did it include games and hardware?
Many of us, upon accepting the idea of an Atari Landfill, wondered if prototype hardware or any hardware might be in Alamogordo. As to quantity, "Millions" has a nice ring to it, but coupled with the notion that it was all ET games... did they really have millions of unsold ET carts? Experts in this area pointed out that the El Passo, TX warehouse contained software/games, not hardware. Hardware was in the Sunnyvale location. It was further noted that less than one million games were dumped.

3 - Were other games besides ET dumped?
The Atari Legend has been so closely associated with the ET game, it has been widely accepted that ET alone was dumped in the landfill and - being the worst game ever made - it caused the video game crash of 1983. All untrue, but many people wondered what titles were buried and did they have any commonality? Were there any "good" games or was the dump comprised of awful poor-selling games. ET was certainly unearthed in Alamogordo, but they also found over 20 other titles as well. We saw Phoenix, Centipede and Raiders of the Lost Ark in the photos. I heard mention of Defender and Space Invaders.

A Few More Discoveries

Apparently they found some CIB (albeit smashed) games with price tags from various retailers. That might indicate that dumped games were not simply sitting unsold in storage, they may have been returned by retailers.

From NPR:
The game's finding came as no surprise to James Heller, a former Atari manager who was invited by the production to the dig site. He says in 1983 the company tasked him with finding an inexpensive way to dispose of 728,000 cartridges they had in a warehouse in El Paso, Texas. After a few local kids ran into trouble for scavenging and the media started calling him about it, he decided to pour a layer of concrete over the games.

The dig seemed to span 2 days (Friday & Saturday, April 25-26, 2014) and revealed that the landfill in Alamogordo, NM contained a lot of Atari games. There were games in boxes as well as scattered manuals, document and carts. Everything seemed to be related to games as opposed to internal Atari documents. The Fuel film crew along with archeologists confirmed the site as the legendary Atari Landfill. Some say this brings this tale to a close, but it confirms an interesting and pivotal time in video gaming history - the crash of '83.

The next question is how long until cracked carts and tattered manuals start appearing on eBay? Can the city of Alamogordo turn the Atari Landfill into a profit center for gaming tourism. :)

Here are a lot more Atari Landfill Dig images.

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