Where is the Atari landfill?

Alamogordo
In September of 1983, Atari found itself with a surplus of game cartridges that they needed to remove from its warehouse in El Paso, Texas. They decided to bury the games in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to prevent people from scavenging them.

How many ET Atari games were buried?

728,000 games
More than 1,300 cartridges were found at the dig. Former Atari manager James Heller was at the excavation, and confirmed that 728,000 games had been buried there, many of them successful titles, as well as inoperable spare parts.

Did ET ruin Atari?

As early as January 1983, after Atari admitted that the game had sold poorly, an industry executive said that “the lesson of E.T. has not been lost on the industry”.

Where did the Atari video game burial take place?

April 26, 2014 (2014-04-27) The Atari video game burial was a mass burial of unsold video game cartridges, consoles, and computers in a New Mexico landfill site, undertaken by American video game and home computer company Atari, Inc. in 1983.

Where was the Atari buried in New Mexico?

Atari, Inc., City of Alamogordo, New Mexico. Excavated. April 26, 2014 (2014-04-27) The Atari video game burial was a mass burial of unsold video game cartridges, consoles, and computers in a New Mexico landfill site, undertaken by American video game and home computer company Atari, Inc. in 1983.

Why was the Atari 2600 buried in a landfill?

It was Atari’s first dealings with the landfill, which was chosen because no scavenging was allowed and its garbage was crushed and buried nightly. Atari’s stated reason for the burial was that it was changing from Atari 2600 to Atari 5200 games, but this was later contradicted by a worker who claimed that this was not the case.

How much money did burial make for Atari?

It was believed that the game would be successful enough not only to earn an estimated $500 million, but also to boost sales of the console itself by several million as gamers sought to play the home conversion.