Atari's Landfill Adventures, I now have the proof it's true.

[chas10e]

I haven't posted, or even been, on Atariage for almost 10 years, and I thought I would dip in tonight to see what was happening in the scene since I put my collecting on standby. The first thing I find is that the old urban legend was completely true. It's really made my day. Happy Christmas all.

welcome back & Have a Merry New year

[Retro Rogue]

That would be the believers, Marty included. He was saying all along in this thread for years before the dig happened, that the loot was returned/unsold merchandice, not "millions of ETs"

Well to Moycon's original point of people trying trying to "change the myth," there were actually several different versions floating around for years in the media. That's one of the things I'm tracking in my book (Atari Shock - From Alamogordo Trash to Pop Culture Treasure) is the evolution of these various myths and claims.

 

As far as what I was right about, even then Jim provided far more details than what we were initially able to get through interviews. We weren't able to track down Jim in time for the 2012 release of Business Is Fun, as we had been referred to him just before we got into publishing it. Most of what we had came from the people above him, and now Jim filled in the blanks. Alamogordo was an emptying out of El Paso, but the other side of that is El Paso was the receiving point for games and hardware being returned from stores for credit (i.e. that's usually marked as "defective inventory") plus the regular defective inventory the Service Center hub would work on and refurbish. At first the games and such were being sent back to California for destruction but then Jim got orders it was too costly and to destroy it locally, which is what lead to Alamogordo. I've got an article on all this in the next issue of RETRO for anyone that's interested in learning more and not waiting for the book. I couldn't talk about a lot of this earlier because the documentary producers had asked me to hold off until it aired.

 

I just wish they'd of dug a little deeper and busted the caps. Might be more treasure troves under there. I'd like to see a landfill VCS, for starters...

There were console and computer parts recovered, but most of the hardware is going to be the stuff from the actual service center area in El Paso (El Paso was both a manufacturing plant and the Service Center headquarters). Most of the actual hardware was being destroyed in California. And when I mean destroyed I mean put into a 1500 horsepower hammermill and smashed to pieces and having it's metals stripped. As mentioned, I have full color pictures of this and the Alamogordo burial that are currently being scanned (600 dpi Tiff) that I'll be including in this book and that we'll be including a few of in the second edition of Business Is Fun. There's also some in the RETRO article. The pictures being scanned include pictures of the concrete cap being poured. And really what was being covered didn't look much different than the area they dug up and the pictures that were shown on the net such as this one:

 

 

In the 1983 ones that are being covered by the cap, it looks like a ton of Defenders and what looks like Star Raiders or Yars' Revenge (orange-red boxes). There really was no difference between the capped area and the uncapped area, other than Jim wasn't sure how much concrete he'd need for the whole thing and ran out.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Retro Rogue

[Christophero Sly]

That would be the believers, Marty included. He was saying all along in this thread for years before the dig happened, that the loot was returned/unsold merchandice, not "millions of ETs"

No. I'm sorry. I'm sure you meant well with that comment, and I rather step in a bear trap than revisit the old arguments of this thread, but that comment perpetuates a intolerable distortion of the record, and I cannot let it go unchallenged.

 

There is only one member of Club #3, and he isn't Marty.

 

Marty (and I) will have to be content with membership in Club #2.

 

We know now and have solid proof that Marty moycon was right all along...

Edited December 27, 2014 by Christophero Sly

[Byte Knight]

Just curious - is this the most replied-to thread in AtariAge history?

[+Random Terrain]

We know now and have solid proof that Marty moycon was right all along...

 

 

 

Related posts:

 

atariage.com/forums/topic/66637-ataris-landfill-adventures-i-now-have-the-proof-its-true/?p=830547

 

atariage.com/forums/topic/66637-ataris-landfill-adventures-i-now-have-the-proof-its-true/?p=1139883

Regarding the odds, given the original Alomogordo newspaper article, I'm about 95% certain that Atari buried something out there.

I'm with you on this one, probably reems and reems of that old used white printer paper with the light green horizontal lines across it. The old carpeting left over when they carpeted the building. Broken office chairs. Blown monitors. A leaky hot-tub. The list goes on and on.

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

In response to RT's post on the subject, I believe that whatever proof Moycon needed to see, was provided and verified but the dig team in the new Atari documentary. There were also at least a thousand witnesses present, so whatever lack of evidence existed in 2005 when the original post was made, we have now.

 

Archaeology is a wonderful tool.

[Christophero Sly]

Proof of 5 million E.T. carts? Surely you jest.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Christophero Sly

[Andromeda Stardust]

Maybe not 5 million, but we have documented proof that ET's were buried there, amongst a bunch of other games...

[rgr1973]

I did it!!!! I made it through 83 pages and it only took 4 days!!!

[Christophero Sly]

Maybe not 5 million, but we have documented proof that ET's were buried there, amongst a bunch of other games...

Exactly.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I did it!!!! I made it through 83 pages and it only took 4 days!!!

It was 50-something back when I first did it...

[Retro Rogue]

Maybe not 5 million, but we have documented proof that ET's were buried there, amongst a bunch of other games...

 

That's a bit of twisting of the facts there unless I'm misinterpreting what you're trying to say. Even ignoring the 5 million part of the legend, the other half of the legend was that the game was so bad Atari had to dump it in the desert. That's not what happened, and that certainly was not verified by the dig nor by the person who buried these in the first place. This had zero to do with the burial of bad games or a burial of ET. The fact that there were some ETs in the over 60 titles there in no way validates the claim that this was an ET burial. In fact the only thing the dig verified is what was already known and well covered back in 1983. That Atari buried product there in 1983, it came via El Paso, and that product was considered defective. These were all just a wide array of games being returned for store credit as part of the process Atari normally gave retailers to allow them to replace old stock with new.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Retro Rogue

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

That's a bit of twisting of the facts there unless I'm misinterpreting what you're trying to say. Even ignoring the 5 million part of the legend, the other half of the legend was that the game was so bad Atari had to dump it in the desert. That's not what happened, and that certainly was not verified by the dig nor by the person who buried these in the first place. This had zero to do with the burial of bad games or a burial of ET. The fact that there were some ETs in the over 60 titles there in no way validates the claim that this was an ET burial. In fact the only thing the dig verified is what was already known and well covered back in 1983. That Atari buried product there in 1983, it came via El Paso, and that product was considered defective. These were all just a wide array of games being returned for store credit as part of the process Atari normally gave retailers to allow them to replace old stock with new.

Marty, I think you misinterpreted what I said. The news stories of the time stated that games were buried in the desert; this much has been proven true by the dig event if not by past documentation.

 

Urban Legend changed that to "Millions of ETs" and possibly millions more of Pacman.

 

So the urban legends were partially true. Legend did specify that "Atari games" were buried there, and "Atari games" were dug up and found in 2914.

 

I am simply stating that the disbelievers in the Atari burial myth can believe now because the burial was not a myth. The myth is all the surrounding speculation that added to it over time, just like with oral tradition.

[moycon]

 

I am simply stating that the disbelievers in the Atari burial myth can believe now because the burial was not a myth.

 

And I will simply state you are incorrect. A burial wasn't the myth. Burials happen daily and are a fact. This topic has always been about the E.T. burial that happened in the 80's. It was a game so bad, most consumers returned the game shortly after buying. It's was a game so bad it killed off the video game industry in the 80's. Atari paid 20+ million for the licencing and everyone returned the game. It was really that awful. To this day 20 somethings will go on YouTube and tell you how wretched the game is. They will explain to you it was so bad, they buried millions of them all in the desert, ran a bulldozer over them, and poured a ton of concrete on top of the carts. LOL That recent dig didn't prove anything in my eyes (a disbeliever). Has anyone seen the photos from the dig? Am I wrong in saying in any given shot it looks liked there was 5% carts (usually NOT E.T.) and 95% cardboard, plastic, and molding whatever. Sorry, the myth was busted, maybe the truth was not, but the myth was. Like you said, myth is the surrounding speculation, and it's something millions of people come to accept over time. One person does not a myth make. Doesn't work that way.

 

 

Related posts:

 

atariage.com/forums/topic/66637-ataris-landfill-adventures-i-now-have-the-proof-its-true/?p=830547

 

atariage.com/forums/topic/66637-ataris-landfill-adventures-i-now-have-the-proof-its-true/?p=1139883

 

Yep, anything but millions of E.T. carts (which you know as well as I do was silly). Still, thanks for overstating the obvious.

[Rhomaios]

The burial wasn't really a myth, more of a bad legend. Truth that got exaggerated. I don't think anyone is disagreeing with that, except Youtube kids, but who really pays attention to them anyway? Not anyone here.

[moycon]

except Youtube kids, but who really pays attention to them anyway? Not anyone here.

 

There was a time YouTube wasn't a thing. Before the internet even existed it was magazine article writers and news paper reporters. There was a good reason E.T.'s image appeared in the advertising for the recent dig. It's the same reason E.T. was the cart they were looking for when they excavated. Don't kid yourself people paid attention and people believed. Some still do. For some E.T. will always be the worst video game ever made.

[Andromeda Stardust]

We still don't know what proportion of games lies under the caps, and probably never will. It may be statistically different from what was uncovered. If it was returned merchandise, there were probably consoles too, but those likely came in a different truck-load and remain untouched. Fact is they didn't finish the job they started. They just unburied the first thousand or so carts and said, "Okay boys, you can stop digging now that we found what we were looking for..." If a prospector finds a gold nugget or rare jem in the Earth, does he just stop? Hell no, he digs deeper searching for more, because where one is found, there will likely be more...

 

Hell, there could be a million Air Raids down there, for all we know!

Edited December 31, 2014 by stardust4ever

[Christophero Sly]

The burial wasn't really a myth, more of a bad legend. Truth that got exaggerated. I don't think anyone is disagreeing with that, except Youtube kids, but who really pays attention to them anyway? Not anyone here.

Not anyone here!?

 

The myth of 5 million E.T. carts was endemic here. It was practically institutionalized. For evidence of that, have a look at the "Did You Know?" section of the E.T. listing here in the rarity database.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Christophero Sly

[Andromeda Stardust]

Not anyone here!?

 

The myth of 5 million E.T. carts was endemic here. It was practically institutionalized. For evidence of that, have a look at the "Did You Know?" section of the E.T. listing here in the rarity database.

So is it like a wiki, or can only privleged contributors edit it?

 

That's a huge misstep there...

[moycon]

We still don't know what proportion of games lies under the caps, and probably never will.

Haha I agree. Not unlike Bigfoot, this myth will NEVER really die! Absence of evidence isn't proof that something doesn't exist. The undisputable proof will always be out there to find for the believers. It's why thousands of people every year go out in the woods looking for a hairy bi-pedal ape man, it's why 20 years from now on the 50th anniversary someone will probably go digging in the landfill again. This thread will never go away! The sea of E.T.s must be found.

[Rhomaios]

Not anyone here!?

 

The myth of 5 million E.T. carts was endemic here. It was practically institutionalized. For evidence of that, have a look at the "Did You Know?" section of the E.T. listing here in the rarity database.

 

I was going to say "not anymore", but I guess with stardust below you still repeating it, I guess it's still here after all...

[high voltage]

Albert better change that

[+Random Terrain]

For some E.T. will always be the worst video game ever made.

My daddy/grandpa/uncle/favorite teacher told me that E.T. was the worst game ever made and it caused the great video game crash. Are you saying that my daddy/grandpa/uncle/favorite teacher was a liar?

[AtariDude]

The best way to reply is to say that:

 

E.T. for the Atari 2600 is considered by a lot of people as one of the worst games ever made. It was not a sole cause of the great video game crash but it was a major contributor. There were a variety of factors that caused the video game crash that began roughly around 1983. Remember that video games themselves are a form of entertainment and not a necessity like food and water. There were a variety of other entertainment mediums that were competing (the beginning of music CDs, the spread of cable TV, the computer price war that brought less expensive computers into the home that played better video games that consoles did back then). This plus the fact that too many games were being made and not high quality games began the destruction of the video game market.

 

It was not until Nintendo introduced the NES in 1985 that the video game market began its comeback. Notice the use of the letters NES. Nintendo Entertainment System. They did not use the word video game on purpose. In fact the Robot that came with the early Nintendo were intended to make it seem like an entertainment system as opposed to a mere video game console. In addition, Nintendo saw that Atari allowed anyone and every one to make games for the Atari 2600 and created a lock out chip that recreated Nintendo's seal of approval for games to be released. Even then, Nintendo restricted the number of games that a content creator could produce in a year so that they would focus on creating 4 or 5 really good games instead of 20 or more crappy game. This practice would eventually hurt Nintendo when Sega introduced the Genesis and made it easier for developers to make games for the Genesis.

[Retro Rogue]

The best way to reply is to say that:

 

E.T. for the Atari 2600 is considered by a lot of people as one of the worst games ever made. It was not a sole cause of the great video game crash but it was a major contributor.

Actually no, it had very little to do with the crash or the problems at Atari. Everything that happened to Atari was already starting to happen before ET was even started as a project, and coming to a head when ET was first being released. As former Atari employees like Jerry Jessop say, ET was a symptom not the cause. Even the documentary points this out.

 

There were a variety of factors that caused the video game crash that began roughly around 1983.

It began in 1982.

 

 

It was not until Nintendo introduced the NES in 1985 that the video game market began its comeback.

Again no, that's more myth. 1985 was simply a test marketing in New York and one that didn't go that well. Additionally, the market never went away (there was product available for consumers the entire time), it was the US Consumer video game industry that did. People often state market when they mean industry. That's what started reviving, and it was during 1986. The first inklings that was happening started occurring during the summer of '86 where the consumer electronics media saw Nintendo and Atari being on the market with new consoles along with the announcement of Sega's upcoming console as being a sign that it was reviving. By the close of the '86 Christmas season the industry was being trumpeted as having been revived and with Nintendo in the lead.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Retro Rogue