Company to try and dig up buried E.T games?

[AmigaJay]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a486364/et-cartridge-graveyard-to-be-excavated.html

It's gone past April 1st surely!?

[TL]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a486364/et-cartridge-graveyard-to-be-excavated.html

It's gone past April 1st surely!?

Yeah this is all over the internet now seemingly and it's nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt.

The urban myth of the New Mexico landfill was debunked years ago now and covered in the Atari history book in more detail. All that is there is a load of old broken parts and useless obsolete tech that is no good to anyone.

Some of the stories I am reading are utter bullshit, there is one on Retro Collect that claims there is long lost prototypes buried there  :112:

[AmigaJay]

Yeah I see Marty who co wrote the book said this on a reply to a post;
"part of the transition the unused cartridge stock of a group of titles (not just E.T.), console parts and computer parts were all dumped there in New Mexico"
So maybe some carts were dumped, would be still interesting to see what would turn up, we have of course seen all sorts been chucked in skips around the country from people clearing companies property not knowing what they are.

Like you say though, it's probably all knackered parts, but good luck to them if they think or know something no one else does.

[TL]

Yeah I see Marty who co wrote the book said this on a reply to a post;
"part of the transition the unused cartridge stock of a group of titles (not just E.T.), console parts and computer parts were all dumped there in New Mexico"
So maybe some carts were dumped, would be still interesting to see what would turn up, we have of course seen all sorts been chucked in skips around the country from people clearing companies property not knowing what they are.

Like you say though, it's probably all knackered parts, but good luck to them if they think or know something no one else does.

Stuff like cartridge shells though and boards would have just been reused though, so it will most likely be just a load of old ROM chips covered in concrete.

[Rogue Trooper]

Yeah I see Marty who co wrote the book said this on a reply to a post;
"part of the transition the unused cartridge stock of a group of titles (not just E.T.), console parts and computer parts were all dumped there in New Mexico"
So maybe some carts were dumped, would be still interesting to see what would turn up, we have of course seen all sorts been chucked in skips around the country from people clearing companies property not knowing what they are.

Like you say though, it's probably all knackered parts, but good luck to them if they think or know something no one else does.

Stuff like cartridge shells though and boards would have just been reused though, so it will most likely be just a load of old ROM chips covered in concrete.

Plus: Wasn't whatever did end up going to landfill, end up being crushed under the treads of the machinery, before being dumped in? It wasn't just tipped in as was, then topped over with concrete.

[onthinice]

They may find former Teamster's Boss James Hoffa or other things the Mafia wants hid.

[Rogue Trooper]

Quote from EDGE's 'The Making Of ET The Extra Terrestrial'


Howard Scott warshaw:'I just don't buy the whole landfill story.think it through.Atari was in dire financial straits.They could either ship millions of unsold cartridges to the desert, ride tractors over them and bury them under concrete as if they were nuclear waste, which would have cost a fortune, or they could recycle them, reuse the ROMS and save on burial expenses.which would you choose?.Plus, i was pretty tied into the whole Atari gossip grapevine and there were plenty of people who'd loved to tell me they were buying a ton of my games'.

[onthinice]

That is a good point. Looking back, Atari was making decisions that could have made this urban legend seem more plausible. Wonder if they tried to file an insurance claim for damaged or missing products?

[AmigaJay]

Though who really recycled back in the 80s?! Nobody! probably was cheaper just to bury stuff back then, try that nowadays and it would take 10 years of red tape to go through!

[zapiy]

Yeah I would agree, dumping was definitely the cheaper option. Retooling and so on would have not been as cheap. We be interesting what they find.

[DreamcastRIP]

Some of the stories I am reading are utter bullshit, there is one on Retro Collect that claims there is long lost prototypes buried there  :112:

Careful, Laird. People get banned for saying such truths! 

[Rogue Trooper]

There was another similar 'myth' doing the rounds about hardware being destroyed, not sure how aware of claim folks are, but it was that:


'Williams drove over Marble Madness II arcade boards with a steamroller, to legally destroy inventory for tax purposes'.

Truth was:

Marble Madness II was never manufactured.Mark Cerny, creator of Marble Madness,  said the prototype of Marble Madness II performed so badly at test locations, Atari decided not to mass produce the game.At best he thinks between 10 and 12 prototype boards were ever made.

[TrekMD]

That's just not as dramatic and you know how people like their drama!  LOL

[Rogue Trooper]

That's just not as dramatic and you know how people like their drama!  LOL

Hell yeah! what's a few prototype arcade boards and a steam roller , compared to millions of carts, 14 freight trucks  meeting a fecking big hole and a lot of concrete?

 

Apparently there's supposed to be some band, who in their video are 'seen' at claimed burial ground of E.T carts digging up part of said remains....

[Rogue Trooper]

Found another piece by Howard Scott Warshaw, talking about the E.T burial myth, few more good points raised:

If Atari were dumping what they classed as worthless material, why on earth would they hire steamrollers (to crush the carts flat) and then have extra cost of cement+trucks, all to stop people stealing stuff no-one wanted in 1st place?
as he put it: 'it's like buying a security system for an outhouse, to keep people from staeling the contents, it's absurd'.


Plus, look at the numbers involved in these claims: 14 truck drivers driving said carts to landfill site, steamroller drivers, cement truck drivers etcand yet not one of these drivers has ever been found?.