Urban Legend proven

[Baby Lee]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmK77NNIcAAQ33b.jpg

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QH10KA6X--/j1uoqjumnnvyuaz4brmh.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmLPtSWCQAAwlg5.jpg

['Hamas' Jenkins]

That's awesome.

At one point I know AVGN was planning a movie that was going to focus on a trip to the burial grounds.

[jAZ]

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[Valiant]

If it was already known, with the company saying they buried them. I guess I am not understanding the legend?

[TEX]

If it was already known, with the company saying they buried them. I guess I am not understanding the legend?

Exactly what I thought as well.

[KC_Connection]

That's awesome.

At one point I know AVGN was planning a movie that was going to focus on a trip to the burial grounds.
He filmed it a while back, it might be almost done now.

[ForeverChiefs58]

Here story is explained:


ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — A decades-old urban legend was put to rest Saturday when workers for a documentary film production company recovered "E.T." Atari game cartridges from a heap of garbage buried deep in the New Mexico desert.

The "Atari grave" was, until that moment, a highly debated tale among gaming enthusiasts and other self-described geeks for 30 years. The story claimed that in its death throes, the video game company sent about a dozen truckloads of cartridges of what many call the worst video game ever to be forever hidden in a concrete-covered landfill in southeastern New Mexico.

The search for the cartridges of a game that contributed to the demise of Atari will be featured in an upcoming documentary about the biggest video game company of the early '80s.

As a backhoe scattered a huge scoop of 30-year-old trash and dirt over the sand, the film crew spotted boxes and booklets carrying the Atari logo. Soon after, a game cartridge turned up, then another and another.

Film director Zak Penn showed assembled gaming fans one cartridge retrieved from the site and said that hundreds more were in the surrounding mounds of garbage.


About 200 residents and game enthusiasts gathered early Saturday at the old landfill in Alamogordo to watch crews search for up to a million discarded copies of "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" that the game's maker wanted to hide forever.

"I feel pretty relieved and psyched that they actually got to see something," Penn said as members of the production team sifted through the mounds of trash, pulling out boxes, games and other Atari products.

Most of the crowd left the landfill before the discovery, turned away by strong winds that kicked up massive clouds of dust mingled with garbage.

By the time the games were found, only a few dozen people remained. Some were playing the infamous game in a makeshift gaming den with a TV and an 1980s game console in the back of a van, while others took selfies beside a life-size E.T. doll inside a DeLorean car like the one that was turned into a time machine in the "Back To The Future" movies.

Among the watchers was Armando Ortega, a city official who as a teenager back in 1983 got a tip from a landfill employee about the massive dump of games.

Workers sift through trash in search for decades-old Atari 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' game …
"It was pitch dark here that night, but we came with our flashlights and found dozens of games," he said. They braved the darkness, coyotes and snakes of the desert landfill and had to sneak past the security guard. But it paid off as they found dozens of crushed but still playable cartridges.

The game's finding came as no surprise to James Heller, a former Atari manager who was invited by the production to the dig site. He says in 1983 the company tasked him with finding an inexpensive way to dispose of 728,000 cartridges they had in a warehouse in El Paso, Texas. After a few local kids ran into trouble for scavenging and the media started calling him about it, he decided to pour a layer of concrete over the games.

"I never heard about again it until June 2013, when I read an article about E.T. being excavated," he remembers. He was not aware of the controversy and never spoke out "because nobody asked."

The documentary about the search is being developed by companies including Xbox Entertainment Studios, and the film is expected to be released later this year on Microsoft's Xbox game consoles.

The city of Alamogordo agreed to give the documentarians up to 250 cartridges and plan to sell the rest that are unearthed.

Mayor Susie Galea hopes this brings more tourists to this southeastern New Mexico town that is home to an Air Force base and White Sands National Monument.

"Lots of people just pass through, unfortunately," she said.

The "E.T." game is among the factors blamed for the decline of Atari and the collapse in the U.S. of a multi-million-dollar video game industry that didn't bounce back for several years.

With the whether-or-not E.T. was buried in Alamogordo controversy solved, the other, subtler debate remains. Was it the worst game ever unleashed on gamers?

Tina Amini, deputy editor at gaming website Kotaku, says the game tanked because "it was practically broken" with that the E.T. falling into traps that were almost impossible to escape and would appear constantly and unpredictably.

The game designer, Howard Scott Warshaw, says he does not mind his creation being called that. "It may be a horrible game, but 32 years after, you are here, talking to me about it. It's a tremendous honor," that it still generates public discourse.

He, however, manages to stress that the company took too long to secure the rights for the game and with Christmas production schedules pressing he was left with just five weeks to design, write and test "the worst game ever."

[Pasta Little Brioni]

It was a horrible game

[wazu]

It was a horrible game

I remember liking it.

[Why Not?]

Meh. I was hoping this was about the guy with the hook hanging from your car.

[sd4chiefs]

Here story is explained:


About 200 residents and game enthusiasts gathered early Saturday at the old landfill in Alamogordo to watch crews search for up to a million discarded copies of "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" that the game's maker wanted to hide forever.



Get a life people.

[BigMeatballDave]

THEY FUCKING THREW CENTIPEDE AWAY!

[KChiefs1]

I guess I missed this whole thing.

[Al Bundy]

I guess I missed this whole thing.

ET ended Atari.

[notorious]

I guess I missed this whole thing.

Just insane rage followed by disappointment.


The game is such a pile of trash that it's famous.

[KChiefs1]

ET ended Atari.

I knew Atari disappeared but didn't know it was ET' s fault.

[Al Bundy]

I knew Atari disappeared but didn't know it was ET' s fault.

Well not "all", but it played the biggest role.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

I remember liking it.

Unpossible!

Back to the Future for NES is the only pile of garbage close to the suck age that was ET

[Fish]

I remember being so confused and frustrated at this shit...

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[notorious]

I just read a few articles about the video game crash of 83'. Very interesting.


Atari buried Atari. They rushed ET and Pacman for Christmas and they weren't that good. There was also way too many consoles and a lack of quality games.

[Al Bundy]

I just read a few articles about the video game crash of 83'. Very interesting.


Atari buried Atari. They rushed ET and Pacman for Christmas and they weren't that good. There was also way too many consoles and a lack of quality games.

Exactly, I remember the Pac-man game. If the Atari execs had allowed the developers to do it right Pac-man probably would have saved Atari.

[notorious]

What consoles did you guys have?



We had Intellivision. My favorite games were B-17 Bomber, Both D&D games, and some racing game.

Oh ya, the Basketball game that let you draft player and kept stats was awesome.


My older brothers play the hell out of Bomb Squad.

[Al Bundy]

What consoles did you guys have?



We had Intellivision. My favorite games were B-17 Bomber, Both D&D games, and some racing game.

Oh ya, the Basketball game that let you draft player and kept stats was awesome.


My older brothers play the hell out of Bomb Squad.

I had Atari and then Nintendo.

[Prison Bitch]

Colecovision

[007]

Odyssey 2

[Bugeater]

I remember being so confused and frustrated at this shit...

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What. The. Fuck. ROFL

I do remember the Pac-Man game being a huge disappointment, but I don't remember the E.T. game at all.

[Bugeater]

I just read a few articles about the video game crash of 83'. Very interesting.


Atari buried Atari. They rushed ET and Pacman for Christmas and they weren't that good. There was also way too many consoles and a lack of quality games.
The only games that were any good for the Atari were the Activision games. Everything else was pretty much garbage.

[Al Bundy]

What. The. ****. ROFL

I do remember the Pac-Man game being a huge disappointment, but I don't remember the E.T. game at all.

God it was awful.

[Baby Lee]

I do remember the Pac-Man game being a huge disappointment.

Ironically it's sound effects are the bed effects of people playing video games on TV and movies to this day.

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[Prison Bitch]

How do you know where the ghosts are? They skip across the screen.

[Coochie liquor]

Meh. I was hoping this was about the guy with the hook hanging from your car.

I was thinking Bloody Mary, but nope..... Eff it I'll have one instead!!

[Jerm]

Awesome story....now someone needs to hunt down a Polybius machine.

[baitism]

Intellivision was awesome. I remember Snafu, Night Stalker, Burger Time, Dungeons and Dragons, and Tron: Deadly Discs. Also, the sports games cracked me up because they were just called baseball, football, soccer, etc.

[ILChief]

I loved the Atari. Pitfall, smurfs, and Popeye were my favorite games

[Baby Lee]

I loved the Atari. Pitfall, smurfs, and Popeye were my favorite games

Did you get to see Smurfette's boobies?

[ILChief]

Did you get to see Smurfette's boobies?

In all their 4 bit glory

[Bugeater]

Ironically it's sound effects are the bed effects of people playing video games on TV and movies to this day.

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:facepalm: I remember it being bad, but that's really, really bad. To be fair, I'm not sure the 2600 had the capability of reproducing an arcade quality game. I think it would have been a disappointment even with more extensive development.

[Dayze]

i never knew about the ET / Atari thing. I Just watched the video game walk through lol WTF. I don't even know what the object of that game is lol

[RippedmyFlesh]

Didn't have consoles was a little old for it but with a cassette player added this was my "gaming" rig in 85 when my buddy got an Amiga which I thought at the time would change history.

http://oldcomputers.net/pics/coco1.jpg

[barryforthewin20]

I thought if had to be well known to be a urban legend? I'm a gamer and had never heard of it.......faiiiiiilllll

[Infidel Goat]

You can play my favorite Atari game here: Adventure (http://my.ign.com/atari/adventure)

Make sure you have the difficult levels on "b" if you hope to find the magic dot and open the secret room...

[Bugeater]

You can play my favorite Atari game here: Adventure (http://my.ign.com/atari/adventure)

Make sure you have the difficult levels on "b" if you hope to find the magic dot and open the secret room...
Oh hell, they have Tempest on there....

[Valiant]

I thought if had to be well known to be a urban legend? I'm a gamer and had never heard of it.......faiiiiiilllll

how old are you?

Anyone who played atari knew about et hurting the company and burying millions of cartridges.

[Bugeater]

how old are you?

Anyone who played atari knew about et hurting the company and burying millions of cartridges.
I'm 45, owned an Atari back in the day and I have never heard about it until now.

[jspchief]

I remember being so confused and frustrated at this shit...

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Oh god. I remembered hating it but had buried the reasons deep in my subconscious. This brings it all back. Fuck that game and fuck atari

[Bowser]

One of my favorites from back in the day

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[jspchief]

Pitfall.

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And yes, thats Jack Black

[Bowser]

Yeah, I played the shit out of Pitfall, as well.

[Baby Lee]

I still like playing the Microsoft Arcade Pack on PC, Pole Position, Ms. Pac Man, Dig Doug

[Archie F. Swin]

If my memory serves....Atari ran of all their good developers and they (the developers) became Activision, yes?

[xbarretx]

Well, I guessed wrong. I figured this thread would be regarding the urban legend about the girl who got the hotdog stuck........... :hmmm:

[InChiefsHeaven]

Activision Chopper Command...I played the hell out of that one. Star Raiders, with the exta keypad controller was epic too. I remember playing Raiders of the Lost Ark for months...then I finally solved it. The night my brother and I figured it out was really a big deal. At the time. It was the 80's.

[Valiant]

starwars was my favorite, then played the shit out of tank. And berserker? You running around killing robots and not trying to be shot.

[ILChief]

Not Atari, but Friday the 13th for NES has to be in the discussion for worst game ever

[Al Bundy]

Not Atari, but Friday the 13th for NES has to be in the discussion for worst game ever

I agree, it was bad and Jason was impossible to beat.

[xbarretx]

Not Atari, but Friday the 13th for NES has to be in the discussion for worst game ever

No way, that was Rambo! That piece of :cuss: was horribly impossible.

http://bimg2.mlstatic.com/rambo-nes-5000-papito_MLC-F-3923079612_032013.jpg

[ILChief]

I agree, it was bad and Jason was impossible to beat.

I like how you had to throw rocks at him

[Jerm]

Friday the 13th was great just for Jason being in a purple jumpsuit.

Ridiculously tough game...

[xbarretx]

A close second to Rambo as far as crap and morbidly tough is Ghosts n Goblins....and then probably the first TMNT. :grr:

[ILChief]

Friday the 13th was great just for Jason being in a purple jumpsuit.

Ridiculously tough game...

And a green mask

[Jerm]

JAWS too...

[xbarretx]

JAWS too...

+rep! :cuss: conch shells and trying to stab him with the boat was so impossible that the whole space time continuum would collapse if you could pull it off.

Has no one felt the pain of Rambo?... I mean those damn flying skulls, the 28th degree black belt ops guys and the damn helicopter from hell as the final boss! Not to mention navigation was as confusing as Friday the 13th but much more complex.

[Bowser]

This thread got the nostalgia memories going. So apropos to nothing of the OP, I give you an arcade game I spent entirely too much time and money on back in the day...

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[Al Bundy]

I like how you had to throw rocks at him
It was something else. I always played it late at night.

[Kaepernick]

I still have my original Atari computer and floppy disk drive and various games.

I am hoping they will become a valuable collectors item before I die.

Any takers?

http://www.atarimania.com/pubs/hi_res/pub_1200xl_2.jpg

[Jimmya]

Wow, definitely a classic!

[Pushead2]

I remember being so confused and frustrated at this shit...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_Bn192kSsMw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

WHAT THE FUCK - WHO PROGRAMED THAT THINKING "HMMMM, ACCEPTABLE"

[Pushead2]

Ironically it's sound effects are the bed effects of people playing video games on TV and movies to this day.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HL2p2ANFlQ4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is straight up Pac-Man on fucking acid. Another display of pure shit.

[Pushead2]

Awesome story....now someone needs to hunt down a Polybius machine.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/Polybius_Arcade_Game.jpg

:rolleyes:

[Jerm]

Lol it's not known if it actually exists or not...