What you see above is not only a photo of what many argue to be the worst game ever made, it’s an end to nearly three decades of myth about Atari and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
It’s been tossed around a lot in the gaming community that during September 1983, several semi-trucks dumped millions of dollars of Atari product in a New Mexico landfill. It sounds a little ridiculous, but it’s 100% true, as confirmed by the efforts today by an excavation team.
A team constructed of game developers, fans, and even a film crew met up to either confirm or deny the myths once and for all. Sure enough, they’ve found tons of game cartridges and systems several feet beneath the desert floor. All the product is related to Atari 2600, from games like Centipede, to surplus game systems. And, of course, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, one of the most costly games ever made. A game so bad and ill-conceived that it would spell the end of Atari as the world knew it.
Here are some images that have been shared on Twitter during the past couple hours:
Director Zak Penn will be filming the event for the rest of the day before making a documentary out of it. No release date is estimated. For now, gamers can go to sleep knowing that one of the greatest myths was true all along.
