In September 1983, Atari dumped truckloads of game cartridges and other equipment in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. For decades, people argued over whether the story was true. In 2014, a dig proved it was, and 881 of the recovered cartridges later sold on eBay for more than $107,000.
The dumping was reported at the time. “That September, according to newspaper accounts, 14 trucks backed up to the dump and dropped their loads,” NPR reported. Company officials said the waste was mostly broken and returned merchandise, including consoles, boxes and cartridges.
The scale was big. James Heller, a former Atari manager, told the Associated Press he was tasked in 1983 with disposing of 728,000 cartridges from a warehouse in El Paso, Texas. The Smithsonian says the cartridges were buried “to prevent people from scavenging them,” and that concrete was allegedly poured over the site.
Local legend said the pile was full of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” Atari’s famous flop. The truth was messier. The 2014 dig turned up more than 60 titles, including Asteroids, Missile Command and Centipede, according to the AP.
That dig happened on April 26, 2014, with a film crew and the city’s blessing. Backhoes and bulldozers worked through the concrete-covered site while about 200 residents and fans watched, according to the AP. “It was pitch dark here that night, but we came with our flashlights and found dozens of games,” recalled city official Armando Ortega, who remembered visiting the site in 1983.
Just over 1,300 games came out of the ground, according to the Digital Archaeological Record. Film director Zak Penn said he felt “pretty relieved and psyched that they actually got to see something.” Former landfill manager Joe Lewandowski, who helped arrange the dig, has a new nickname. “Now they call me the Indiana Jones of garbage,” he told New Mexico Magazine.
The cartridges went to market in 2015. In all, 881 sold on eBay for $107,930.15, with the top price hitting $1,535, according to the AP. The buyers came from 45 states and 14 countries. Lewandowski kept 297 cartridges in reserve, and 23 went to museums, including the Smithsonian, which says its recovered E.T. cartridge bears a City of Alamogordo serial number verifying it came from the landfill.
Atari’s name still turns up in surprising places, and usually in contexts outside of video games. Phoenix, for one, is planning an Atari-branded hotel.
Hence then, the article about in 1983 atari buried about 700 000 game cartridges in an alamogordo new mexico landfill the 881 that were dug up and sold on ebay brought in more than 107 000 was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( In 1983, Atari buried about 700,000 game cartridges in an Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill; the 881 that were dug up and sold on eBay brought in more than $107,000 )
Also on site :
- Ivanka Trump Shares Rare Family Photos From Her Grandmother’s 100th Birthday Celebration, With Special Wishes From These Unexpected Stars
- Pedro Pascal Was Surprised Tony Gilroy Made ‘Behemoth!’ “So Intimate And Healing”: “I Thought You Were Gonna Be Mean”
- Oatly Is Dropping Three New Flavors for Fall