Atari Landfill to Be Dug Up

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**LordofHats**

So video games are finally old enough for some archeology I guess XD

A documentary crew has received approval to dig up the New Mexico desert site where Atari supposedly buried millions of unsold pieces of Atari 2600 software and hardware. The crew hopes to finally confirm or refute one of gaming's most enduring urban legends once and for all.

The city council in Alamogordo, New Mexico granted approval this week for Ottawa-based multimedia and marketing firm Fuel Industries to excavate the site some time in the next six months for a documentary it's filming, local news site KRQE reports. This year also marks what will be the 30 year anniversary of the assumed September 1983 burial, which came during the height of the great video game crash. That sudden market reversal supposedly left Atari with millions of unsold and unsalable cartridges and systems, which were dumped in an Alamogordo landfill and later covered in concrete.

While at least one Atari employee has cast doubts on the plausibility of the story, the dumping was reported in contemporaneous reports in the Alamogordo Daily News and The New York Times. The former paper got confirmation from the garbage disposal company that was used for the burial, and the latter got confirmation from an Atari spokesperson, so it's pretty unlikely the production company is walking into an Al Capone's vault-type situation.

Still, there are questions that remain unanswered. While the 3.5 million unsold copies of E.T. are most commonly cited as the likely bulk of the burial, reports suggest the dump may also contain unsold consoles, PCs, and even prototypes of the Atari Mindlink controller. There's significant disagreement as to how much material was dumped in the landfill, with reports ranging from 9 to 20 full dump trucks.

Personally, we're hoping Fuel Industries decides to chip away portions of the massive dumping and sell them off to collectors, Berlin Wall-style. After all, who wouldn't love to own a piece of gaming history that can also serve as a paperweight?

**IronWarLeg**

That is pretty cool, never heard of this before. Its like the search for Jimmie Hoffa for gamers lol, only we know where it is...

**MrMoustaffa**

I'm just worried they'll accidentally find the rumored ET landfill.

Could you imagine the horrors that lie waiting there? Screw the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones should have raided the Tomb of Atari.

**Palindrome**

Supposedly the contents of the landfill were crushed and then concreted over so even if they do find anything it will likely be in a very small bits.

**DA's Forever**

Wait... So whats the point then? Just to prove it's there I'm guessing?

**LordofHats**

I guess. To prove its there and what it's contents are.

**DA's Forever**

Huh, seems like an odd thing to spend ones money on...

**Wyrmalla**

I suppose if the contents have been crushed they may find the odd small component intact. Whether said bits are worth selling off is probably a moot question however, seeing as the people doing it would be seeing most of their revenue from the documentary. =P

**purplefood**

DA's Forever wrote:
Huh, seems like an odd thing to spend ones money on...

This is the perfect thing to spend money on.
It's the logical conclusion to mythbusters.
Eventually there will be an Interpol-esque agency for investigating myths no matter how big or small.
Great Wall of China from space? Build an entire space station to check.
Hitler knew about the Holocaust? Time machine to check.

**DA's Forever**

purplefood wrote:
DA's Forever wrote:
Huh, seems like an odd thing to spend ones money on...

This is the perfect thing to spend money on.
It's the logical conclusion to mythbusters.
Eventually there will be an Interpol-esque agency for investigating myths no matter how big or small.
Great Wall of China from space? Build an entire space station to check.
Hitler knew about the Holocaust? Time machine to check.

Gentlemen, this man, he knows the future.

**KalashnikovMarine**

Hitler knowing about the holocaust or not is a myth/in question at all?

**Corpsesarefun**

KalashnikovMarine wrote:
Hitler knowing about the holocaust or not is a myth/in question at all?

I don't think the great wall of china being from space is in question either...

**4oursword**

I think/hope he meant if it's visible from space. Which it's not, apparently.

**Ouze**

Wow. I've been reading about this forever, but we'll finally know for sure. Exciting!