Unsold Atari videogames dumped in a desert?

Unsold Atari videogames dumped in a desert? - Game Cartridges

I've heard about a massive amount of Atari consoles and video game cartridges (most of them were unsold copies of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) buried in a sort of dump in the middle of a desert in the early 80's.

Is this an urban legend or did this really happen?






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Unsold Atari videogames dumped in a desert? - Rusty broken cars placed on sand
Unsold Atari videogames dumped in a desert? - Metal ruins of damaged cars
Unsold Atari videogames dumped in a desert? - Woman in Black Dress Standing on Brown Field Under Blue Sky



What state has thousands of unreleased Atari games in the landfill during the video game crash of 1983?

In September 1983, Atari discreetly buried much of this excess stock in a landfill near Alamogordo, New Mexico, though Atari did not comment about their activity at the time.

Where are the Atari games buried?

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.

What is the rarest Atari game?

13 Extremely Rare Atari 2600 Games All Collectors Want
  • 1 E.T. (1982) Sold for $100,000.
  • 2 Pepsi Invaders (1983) Worth $800. ...
  • 3 Gauntlet (1983) Worth between $3,000 and $5,000. ...
  • 4 Karate (1982) Worth $2,000. ...
  • 5 Superman (1979) Worth more than $10,000. ...
  • 6 Gamma-Attack (1983) ...
  • 7 Birthday Mania (1984) ...
  • 8 Extra Terrestrials (1983) ...


  • How many copies of ET were buried?

    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.



    Excavating the Atari E.T. Video Game Burial Site-Game|Life-WIRED




    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

    Images: Kevin Bidwell, Rachel Claire, Rachel Claire, Ekaterina Belinskaya