Remember back in April when thousands of Atari 2600 cartridges were recovered from a New Mexico landfill? The long rumored titles– which included crushed copies of E.T.– that sat buried in the city of Alamogordo for over 30 years are now up for sale on eBay. I guess it’s true what they say: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Asteroids, Swordquest EarthWorld, and Defender are among the titles available for purchase with bidding starting at $50.00 per copy. Though most copies are sitting around that $50 bid point, the infamous E.T. boxes are already going for prices of $500 (at the moment)– which is laughable considering it is regarded by some as one of the worst video games ever created, which was one of the reasons Atari decided to send several trucks filled to the brim with unsold E.T. copies to be buried in the desert.
If you’re worried about authenticity, don’t fret: each cartridge comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity from Alamogordo, and an official document detailing the 1983 burial and 2014 excavation. If you’re interested in making a pricey purchase however, bear in mind that there is no guarantee your copy will work, which is pretty much common sense considering they’ve been buried for over three decades.
Of the 1,300 cartridges the city voted to distribute a couple of months ago, Alamogordo plans to sell somewhere between 700-800 copies to gage interest and the value of the titles. Also, some of the discovered games will be put on display in several museums around the world. Rome already has an exhibit dedicated to the games entitled “E.T. The Fall: Atari Buried Treasures.”
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Would you be willing to fork over a huge chunk of cash for a memento of one of the weirdest parts of gaming history? Or, do you think this is just a waste of money? Let us know in the comments below.
[HT: eBay]
Featured Image:Â Atari: Game Over
The fact that it’s the worst game ever made notwithstanding I would LOVE to have a copy. I have a 5 1/4″ floppy collection of old ID Software games in their original cardboard sleeves, and even a crushed copy of “E.T.” would make a fantastic addition to the wall of nostalgia.
They have defiled a sacred place. May the diggers and buyers be cursed until the day ALL relics stolen from this place are returned!!
It was definately the worst game ever to be made. no wonder they dumped the crap and if your dumb enough to pay for this old crap nobody of its time wanted to buy then you deserve to be burried with the next dumpload of good ol USA sheeeet
Just pointing out that all those games were buried because despite quality, or lack thereof, if you produce more product then there are consumers to buy them you’re left with a ton of unsold stock.
Nintendo made sure to clamp down on that with an iron grip which did wonders for retailers who were weary of further carrying video games.
no its was just a really shitty game. the shitest of all games ever made by men. learn ya games dumbass. They didn’t produce ‘too many’ IT WAS ABSOLUTEY SHIT AND EVERYONE KNEW IT. fucking 14 year old femnazi
That’s an exaggeration that’s been perpetuated because it makes an interesting story. The game was bad, but not really that bad for the standards of the day, and it wasn’t the only game buried. There were several games just as bad or worse made about the same time, and the video game market had completely crashed. They had too many of them, and too many of many other carts, and they dumped them all.
I have a copy of that God foresaken crap fest stored away somewhere. I’d be tickled pink to get $10 for it.