Excavated Atari E. T. games are going up for sale

Justin Kahn

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excavated video game cartridges auctioned

The Atari E.T. cartridges that were recently dug up in a New Mexico landfill after more than 30 years are will soon be auctioned off. According to reports, the cartridges are being auctioned off by the City of Alamogordo after a recent City Council vote. The cartridges legally belong to the city of Alamogordo and will be sold off on eBay and the council's website.

The cartridges were buried out in the New Mexico desert after the game industry collapse in 1983 and following the game's extremely poor reception. It is considered by some to be the worst video game ever made after being rushed through development to release alongside Spielberg's Oscar nominated 1982 film.

The city will only auction off around half off the found cartridges. The remaining 500 or so, will either be kept as mementos or donated to various museums globally. 

For those interested, we will get more details on the dig via the upcoming Microsoft-backed documentary series, which appears to still be in the works despite studio closures. News hit that Microsoft was closing its Xbox Entertainment Studios, but reports suggest it shouldn't have an effect on the Signal to Noise series set to detail Atari and its infamous E.T title.

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Probably be nice to know if they work or not. I imagine some folks have an old Atari 2600 collecting dust in the closet and they'd like to try it out.
 
Probably be nice to know if they work or not. I imagine some folks have an old Atari 2600 collecting dust in the closet and they'd like to try it out.
Let's hope they don't, for everyones sake. There's a reason they were sent to landfill, and it wasn't to protect the general populace from having their minds blown from the sheer intensity of such and overwhelmingly intense gaming experience.
 
I would not care if it worked or not just to own a piece of that history would be great (I own fully working 2600 & ET but this is different).
 
They buried that game because it sucked terribly. It sucked then, it still sucks. No fond memories of something that sucked.
 
I wanted how much is ACTIVISION PitFall would sell for today? Okay I see the price is $30 to $99 wow.
 
Probably be nice to know if they work or not. I imagine some folks have an old Atari 2600 collecting dust in the closet and they'd like to try it out.
It's a known fact that the game was a pile of crap so even if some people do have an old console to play it on why would they waste money on it and even if they did there's no guarantee it will still work. I don't think any normal minded person is going to buy a cartridge to play the game, they'll more than likely want it as a momento.
 
Probably be nice to know if they work or not. I imagine some folks have an old Atari 2600 collecting dust in the closet and they'd like to try it out.

E.T. is not rare, it is one of the most common cartridges you can find. They didn't bury all of them of course, just overstock along with tons of other games and consoles (E.T. had nothing to do with the video game crash contrary to popular myth). You can buy copies on ebay and play without resorting to landfill trash, or just download the ROM and play it in an emulator. Also it isn't actually that bad of a game, at least compared to most 2600 offerings.
 
"It's worthless - fifty dollars from a vendor in the mall. But I take it, bury it in a landfill in New Mexico for thirty years and it becomes priceless. Like the Ark. Nerds will kill for it. Nerds like you and me."
 
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