Atari landfill confirmed as dig uncovers E.T. cartridges

Copies of 1982 release E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial have been literally unearthed from the New Mexico landfill Atari allegedly buried them in.

Excavators made the discovery yesterday in a dig in Alamagordo, New Mexico – seemingly confirming the long-standing rumour that Atari attempted to rid itself of a massive disappointment by burying it out in the desert.

Polygon further reports that cartridges for various other games and additional Atari-related materials have already been discovered as well. The condition of most of the items accounted for so far is what you might expect it to be after being openly buried under sand for more than 30 years.

The landfill supposedly contains thousands of unsold cartridges, which excavators should prove true or false over the coming days.

The dig itself will be the subject of an upcoming documentary, surrounding Atari’s apparent burying of E.T. – a flop so impactful, it was blamed for console gaming’s infamous 1983 collapse.