By Golly, It Was True!

[Jeff Strong]

Ok. I just remember it as history. Doesn't seem to me that things during my lifetime at my age should be considered legend though.

Hehe, I hear ya! The legend is not so much whether or not the burial actually happened, but what exactly was buried, and specifically in regards to the E.T. cartridges.

 

[DrainoBraino]

Because it was considered to be more of a rumor than truth, at least in regards to what exactly was dumped, so it became something of an urban legend.

From Wikipedia:
"Since the burial was first reported in the press, there have been doubts as to its veracity and scope, leading to a minority considering it an urban legend. However, the event has become a cultural icon and a reminder of the North American video game crash of 1983; and was the end result of a disastrous fiscal year which saw Atari, Inc. sold off by its parent company."

Anyway, it's just a funny story, that's all.

Exactly. No one really knew for sure if it happened. People have been trying to find the location and dig it up themselves. There are 2 separate movies coming out about this. James the Angry Nerd has been working on one for a while now. He compared this event to finding Nessie:

Imagine if you were making a movie about the search for Nessie, and then all of a sudden, somebody drains Loch Ness. What were the chances?

Oh and Raiders of the lost ark sucked even if you had the second joystick and knew how to use it.

NO! It was an ok game. For the time. I guess maybe I'm not to hard on Atari games because I was young when it came out. My dad and uncle had nearly all the games, and I liked them all. I thought they were one better than the next, I couldn't get enough.

I also recall fondly me and my girlfriend in highschool digging out the ol' Atari, setting it up in the basement, playing and beating Raiders of the Lost Ark. She also was amazing at Yars Revenge, if you know what I mean. So, yeah, good times.

 

[WhiteChocolate]

i figure that in the tech world, there aren't too many mysteries/urban legends, so it made for an interesting-enough story. especially for a saturday. (also consider that, as far as i've ever heard, no one from old atari corporate will fess up to signing off the deed.) now if someone owned up to possessing the altair #1... doubt that would get any coverage outside of slashdot though.

one wag in another forum posted a comment, something along the lines of "they were having trouble with the dig; they kept falling into the pit and having to climb back out."

 

[grashopper]

I always wondered if it was unsold copies or everyone that bought it simultaneously throwing away their copies.

 

[brakel]

I always wondered if it was unsold copies or everyone that bought it simultaneously throwing away their copies.

Unsold. Really, you wondered that?

 

[Jeff Strong]

Might wanna change the batteries in your sarcasm detector.

 

[Bowflex]

Unsold. Really, you wondered that?

Well there was some candy wrappers there. I can see people throwing away ET and some of the other awful games but why would anyone waste Starbursts? Those were definitely eaten, thank goodness! ;-)

 

[superballs]

I remember reading up on it around 10 years ago and there were various rumors surrounding it even then, mainly about the E.T. cartridges, so what exactly was buried has been an urban legend of sorts for quite awhile, and a running gag on the interwebs.

It's also funny that the Snopes entry (which was just updated this week) still lists the rumor about the E.T. cartridges as "Legend":

http://www.snopes.com/business/market/atari.asp

Great. Now I have to start believing all those Facebook posts

 

[netizen]

Great. Now I have to start believing all those Facebook posts

or that upworthy re-posts will actually Blow Your Mind!!