Atari: Game Over documentary about the E.T game

I came across this trailer for a documentary about the Atari 2600 E.T game and what it did to the company called Atari: Game Over

 

That looks like a lot of fun. But only available on Xbox?? I assume it'll get a standard release at some point.

dan c

 

I still don't believe that the ET game was the sole demise of Atari. Still will be a fun watch though.

Question....Wouldn't digging up hundreds or even thousands of "rare" cartridges and flooding the market with them make them worthless?

 

For anyone interested, Howard Scott Warshaw (E.T. programmer and a helluva nice guy) made a 4-part documentary about programming the Atari VCS several years ago called "Once Upon Atari" - really gives a nice idea what it was like to work there, straight from the mouths of many of the original game designers. For anyone interested in classic games, I can't recommend this DVD highly enough:

http://www.onceuponatari.com/episodes.html

Exactly - there was never anything "rare" about E.T. - they actually produced more carts than there were systems out there. which is why these were buried in the first place!

And I personally forgive Howard for E.T. - he did create "Yar's Revenge", after all...

 

Wasn't he given a really short time to create the ET game as well? Basically "We need an ET game fast. Have to us by Monday morning!!"

 

The only thing "rare" about these cartridges is that they were buried in a landfill. It's a pretty common title to come across in the wild, and I was one of those that bought it new when it first came out.

 

Well, the way I heard it, Spielberg wanted the game to be a maze-chase like Pac-Man but Howard didn't think that was a good idea and created a unique concept. Atari already sold a gazillion crappy Pac-Man cartridges (which was IMO the start of their demise) and there was a feeling that they could do no wrong as long as they slapped a hot license on something - a far cry from the early Nolan Bushnell days. I think Howard wrote the entire game in 5 months and accepted the project as a challenge. I do know that Atari paid something like 20 million dollars just for the home game rights...

But no, there's nothing rare at all about E.T. - I buy and resell Atari carts all the time and you can get unopened originals for five bucks.

And as far as "worst game ever made", that's a bunch of crap - I can probably name at least 50 worst games on the VCS alone.

 

If you search eBay, there are over 70 E.T. cartridges on sale. You can get a sealed one for as little as $5 to as high as $595.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/E-T-Atari-2...7798?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item1e8eb1ad56

Loose cartridges are about $1.

 

Here's an interview with Howard from 1997 conducted by my good friend Scott, if anyone's interested:

http://www.2600connection.com/interviews/howard_scott_warshaw/interview_howard_scott_warshaw.html

 

If the game is so common, then I just don't get the whole "let's dig up the landfill and uncover the discarded stock" hoopla. Am I missing something? What's the point?

 

It's a legend that I've been hearing since the 80s. People want physical evidence that it is true even though it's been confirmed dozens of times by the people that were involved.

I suppose there are also collectors that want the ability to own a "landfill" copy of E.T.

 

Is the legend simply that Atari dumped their surplus E.T. carts in a landfill? Isn't this something businesses do with surplus stock all the time? I still just don't get the fascination.

Does it have something to do with them dumping the cartridges, and then lying about it or something?

I could understand the interest if it was a rare game, or an iconic game that everyone loved. But a common game that most owners thought sucked? It's just escaping me for some reason.

 

No, they actually somehow made more E.T. carts then there were Atari systems and literally buried the rest. I don't get the fascination here either...

 

I've worked in manufacturing for years, and we throw things away regularly - often things that sell for quite a bit retail and which had to be covered up so outside people wouldn't see them for fear it would devalue the stuff in the stores. The only difference between now and then is that if the E.T. cartridges were surplus today, they probably would be ground up and recycled. It's never been a secret that the cartridges were thrown out, but I suppose (some) people find it hard to believe.

 

Normally you want your collectibles to be prestine. But in this case stains are a PLUS! I'll burry some $5 copies in my yard for a few years. PRESTO! Landfill copies!

What would have been funny is if instead of ET they would have found Hoffa.

 

Don't laugh, but collectors pay a premium for something of a particular lineage. Go look at that eBay action I linked to; all you'd have to do is have it certified that your beat up, mud stained copy of E.T. was from the LANDFILL and you could add another $500 to the asking price.

 

I was always under the impression that no one from Atari or elsewhere ever confirmed or denied this, thus adding to the legend.

 

I believe the fascination is connected with young girls and boys hearing about this and being stunned tens of thousands of precious Atari cartridges were simply buried. Standard procedure, perhaps, but it was mind-blowing to 80s kids.

Then the rumors were never fully addressed and often relegated to urban legend status, so the discovery that this 'myth' is true adds to the glow...

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

I don't think Atari would ever officially state the cartridges were thrown out, and the company has been bought and sold so many times that official records no longer exist. In my experience, only a handful of people are involved in these decisions so it wouldn't even be common knowledge within the company. I've seen whole pallets of product scrapped with only an engineer or two and an executive signing the papers, then a couple of guys in the warehouse carry out the scrapping and then everybody forgets about it because it's the cost of business.

 

I would assume they certified all copies they dug up already? Otherwise how could you really certify it later?

 

In the video I saw they found a bunch of crumpled boxed and loose cartridges, all covered in landfill filth. Certainly not enough to get excited about. I suppose they'd have to have somebody from a guarantee organization standing by to make sure that no one slipped outside copies into the pile, but so far as I could tell they were just throwing them on a table as they found them and weren't that concerned about selling them.

 

Yes, but E.T was never rare to begin with.

 

Entire myth summarized in less than 4 minutes...

The Gaming Historian

 

E.T could have been a good game with a few months of time to program it instead of 4 or 5 weeks.

See also: Pac-Man for the 2600.

 

Because PacMan had an origial arcade version to compare to...I would say it was worse than ET.