I’m sure most of you are familiar with the rumors of Atari’s executive management and their decision to bury their unsold copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600. For those of you not familiar with this game, E.T. is widely considered the worst mistake in video game history. The game was so awful and had built up so much hype leading to its miserable release, many attribute E.T. towards causing the video game industry collapse of the early 1980’s. Needless to say, the game stunk pretty fierce. Rumor has it that Atari had roughly 1 to 5 million cartridges left unsold once word broke about this terrible game. What do you do with all of that left over merchandise, you ask? You bury it in a toxic dump next to the site of the original US atomic bomb test, of course! Anyways, that’s what the rumor said at least. We all just chalked this one up to conspiracy theory for the longest time. But, stop the presses! Apparently, the rumors are true. Atari (aka: the mischeveous litter bugs) actually did bury tons of their game cartridges out in the countryside of New Mexico. Zac Penn decided to go probing around in the alleged site and film a documentary about the event. You can check out how this filmmaker uncovers the Atari Alamogordo video game burial here. He ended up uncovering a variable treasure trove of buried Atari cartridges. The discarded games include the aforementioned E.T. along with  Defender, Breakout, and entire Atari consoles. Tsk Tsk. Someone needs to learn how to recycle.Here’s the big news for you game collectors out there. The city of Alamogordo voted to auction off nearly 1,000 of these buried items sometime this month or next. We’ll keep you guys updated as to when they begin their auctions. Keep in mind, these games have been buried for a long time. They most likely won’t be in the best shape.
To celebrate Atari’s shame, we’ve decided to dig up our own treasures on the ‘Bay. These are strictly collector’s finds. Games such as Nintendo World Championships and Stadium Events typically sell on eBay well over $1,000. So, be prepared if you need these games or prototypes to ‘complete the collection.’ And, don’t forget to bring a shovel! 🙂
Doctor 512 Junior N64 cartridge emulator for game developers
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil N64 Not For Resale Demo Cartridge RARE
X-Men Sega Genesis 32X (Mega Drive) Prototype/Samp
More Sega Genesis Prototype Carts
METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER PREMIUM PACKAGE
Nintendo World Championships NES
Rare NBA Elite 11 Lanyard (Game didn’t release)
