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ET found in landfill [Xbox troll = ban]

Megatron

Megatron

Member
I just hope when the time comes to put this on the marketplace, Microsoft remembers the 360. This documentary should be shown on both and should be free to Live subscribers. It won't be, but it should.
 
L

Lunar15

Member
I'm actually kind of shocked that GAF is so shocked. Maybe I'm gullible, but I always had no problem believing this was true.
 
L

LastNac

Member
INDIANA_JONES_RAIDERS_LOST_ARK-0-129.jpg
 
B

Bsigg12

Member
StoopKid said:
Really didn't know that.

I still don't get the whole exclusive tv shows to xbox thing.
Click to expand...

Isn't Sony also looking into exclusive programming for their platforms? It's kinda rolling on that trend of Netflix and Amazon offering exclusive TV shows that are actually worth a damn. What this Xbox TV initiative turns out to be has yet to be seen a and won't be seen for a while.
 
N

npa189

Member
Its a bit shocking to see how well preserved these are, but I guess a landfill is fairly dark and dry being in the desert. WTF happened to major nelson? I used to listen to his podcast around 360 launch, he was a pretty candid, normal dude then, total corporate stooge now.
 
K

kick51

Banned
Cthulhu_Steev said:
Quite, that's like refusing to watch Fanboys because The Phantom Menace turned out to a load of old tut.
Click to expand...



Seems like this would just bring more publicity to the E.T. story.

and AVGN's movie is not exactly aiming for wide appeal anyway, so it's kinda funny seeing people claiming it's gonna hurt his film somehow, but then again, people have been wanting that movie to die since day 1 for some odd reason. *shrug*
 
A

Alienous

Member
Lunar15 said:
I'm actually kind of shocked that GAF is so shocked. Maybe I'm gullible, but I always had no problem believing this was true.
Click to expand...

It seemed to be "So crazy it just might work" when I first heard about it.

Then the coincidence of burying 'ET' in New Mexico made me a partial non-believer.

Probably just the result of someone somewhere having a sense of humour.
 
S

StoopKid

Member
Bsigg12 said:
Isn't Sony also looking into exclusive programming for their platforms? It's kinda rolling on that trend of Netflix and Amazon offering exclusive TV shows that are actually worth a damn. What this Xbox TV initiative turns out to be has yet to be seen a and won't be seen for a while.
Click to expand...

I thought sony made shows for different networks.
Like the boondocks and breaking bad.

Netflix is $7 available on multiple devices.

Black-Box said:
Probably exclusive to Xbox video.
Click to expand...

This sounds better.
 
A

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
GAMERG0D said:
It's going to still come out
Click to expand...

AVGN thoughts
Well it’s a big year for what started as a little urban legend about Atari dumping their shitty games in a landfill. There will be two movies, both to be released this year. One is Microsoft’s documentary, the real life story in which they dig up the games. The other is, of course, my own independent fictional take, Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (more exciting updates to follow in the coming months).



Of course today is the big landfill excavation and everybody and their grandma is contacting me about it. I’ve known about the project for a while, and I’ve been in talks with them. Why I have never posted anything is because I respect the secrecy of any project as much as my own. I was going to be involved at the excavation, but of all dates, it landed on my daughter’s one year birthday, which is my priority.



As I’ve expected, they’ve unearthed the motherload of shit, but think about how many people threw that game in the garbage. I’m sure you can dig up any landfill and find at least a few copies of that game. I bet there’s some in my backyard. But anyway, I guess everyone’s expecting a response from me, or some kind of reaction. Well it’s strangely hilarious. It’s weird. The kind of thing where the planets align by some mysterious stroke of fate. When I first heard about the plans to dig up the games, I was beyond shocked. 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?



I remember back in 2007 when I first started writing the AVGN movie, I did a lot of heavy research on the landfill. There was A LOT more information available about it back then, however there was less interest. It was more like a cult thing that only few people knew about. But the few people who were, were obsessed. Over the years, it’s gained more widespread attention. I’ve watched the story grow bigger. And now it’s huge, which oddly enough, makes my “alternate reality” fictional take on the story more timely than ever.
Click to expand...

He's got the right idea.
 
N

Netherscourge

Banned
Are those things worth anything? I have 8 Atari 2600 games and a working console with 1 controller. I have Superman, ET, Yars Revenge, Asteroids, Chopper Command, Empire Strikes Back, Combat and Zaxxon. All cartridges. No boxes or manuals though.

I cant believe they dug up a landfill to find that stuff.
 
A

Apdiddy

Member
My reaction: Unbelievable.

I can't believe Atari couldn't have found a better place for the unsold copies of E.T. than a landfill. Give them to charities, children's homes, etc. (yes, I know E.T. is a horrible game and should never be played). Recall them until a 'better version' is released where more time is given to perfect/complete the game.

I guess those were different times. If a company like Atari did that today, they would get lambasted in the media for weeks over it.
 
D

Doffen

Member
Alfredo said:
Once the documentary is out, Microsoft should revive Game Room with an E.T. release...and Sunset Riders.
Click to expand...

Better yet, make it part of the "interactive video future" that Microsoft talked about.
"Watch the documentary, play the abomination"
 
A

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
Apdiddy said:
My reaction: Unbelievable.

I can't believe Atari couldn't have found a better place for the unsold copies of E.T. than a landfill. Give them to charities, children's homes, etc. (yes, I know E.T. is a horrible game and should never be played). Recall them until a 'better version' is released where more time is given to perfect/complete the game.

I guess those were different times. If a company like Atari did that today, they would get lambasted in the media for weeks over it.
Click to expand...

Warehouse space is expensive. They were still selling them in stores and if 5 million copies showed up "Free at your local store" it completely devalues what was already on the shelves. That they did it is not unbelievable in the least.
 
Nydius

Nydius

Member
What a complete waste of money by Microsoft. This is the kind of thing I expect from a company when they're top of the industry, not when they're struggling to compete and have execs talking about retail channel drawdowns.

The E.T. Landfill was the stuff of urban legend and most gamers accepted it as real. The 1983 crash was fact and fairly well known by anyone who studied the industry. I can't imagine either group of people cared whether this was dug up or not. It was one of those things where people would go there and try their luck at testing the urban legend only to return with their own tales to perpetuate the legend. Now? Congrats, there's a landfill that doesn't really shed any new information on what was known about the industry at the time. Whoop-de-do.

This is little more than a Microsoft publicity stunt and typical Microsoft hubris. The money Microsoft spent on this would have been better used in any number of their divisions at Redmond, not just Xbox.

My six-year-old self thought ET was a great game back in 1982.
 
T

TheBaronOfNA

Banned
Captiosus said:
What a complete waste of money by Microsoft. This is the kind of thing I expect from a company when they're top of the industry, not when they're struggling to compete and have execs talking about retail channel drawdowns.

The E.T. Landfill was the stuff of urban legend and most gamers accepted it as real. The 1983 crash was fact and fairly well known by anyone who studied the industry. I can't imagine either group of people cared whether this was dug up or not. It was one of those things where people would go there and try their luck at testing the urban legend only to return with their own tales to perpetuate the legend. Now? Congrats, there's a landfill that doesn't really shed any new information on what was known about the industry at the time. Whoop-de-do.

This is little more than a Microsoft publicity stunt and typical Microsoft hubris. The money Microsoft spent on this would have been better used in any number of their divisions at Redmond, not just Xbox.

My six-year-old self thought ET was a great game back in 1982.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt that it was a lot of money.
 
T

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
Apdiddy said:
My reaction: Unbelievable.

I can't believe Atari couldn't have found a better place for the unsold copies of E.T. than a landfill. Give them to charities, children's homes, etc. (yes, I know E.T. is a horrible game and should never be played). Recall them until a 'better version' is released where more time is given to perfect/complete the game.

I guess those were different times. If a company like Atari did that today, they would get lambasted in the media for weeks over it.
Click to expand...

Unsold merchandise gets destroyed/landfilled all the time. Nowadays more materials are recycleable, but still, you can only give away so many stuff out to charities.
 
R

Rolf NB

Member
Apdiddy said:
I can't believe Atari couldn't have found a better place for the unsold copies of E.T. than a landfill. Give them to charities, children's homes, etc. (yes, I know E.T. is a horrible game and should never be played). Recall them until a 'better version' is released where more time is given to perfect/complete the game.
Click to expand...
You can't reprogram a ROM-based cartridge. The only way you can put a different program (version) into it is to open the shell, remove the ROM chip from the circuit board and solder on a new one. At that point, it's cheaper to just manufacture the whole thing from scratch.

I'm not even sure if there ever was any opportunity for a recall. That implies the carts were already sold to retailers and consumers. I don't know the details of this case, but the carts might as well have been sitting in an Atari warehouse all along, never sold to anyone. How do you recall something that never even left your posession?
 
B

BlastProcessing

Member
BGBW said:
So I explained this story to my father and first thing he asks is why did Microsoft do this? I honestly couldn't answer him. I guessed PR but for most people it likely won't interest them and for those it does they'll find out neat and move on, doubt it'll change their opinion on Microsoft much. I mean I doubt this will appear in the papers tomorrow so the wider populace will be none the wiser. I see it is for a documentary but even there I have to ask what is Microsoft's interest in all this?

So I'll say neat and move on.
Click to expand...

Think of it this way.

1. Microsoft creates an Xbox Tv division and hires CBS Executive Nancy Tellem to run it.
2. A group pitches a Atari Documentary to Xbox TV
3. Xbox TV funds it as part of its original content plan.
4. By making the dig a public story they get free publicity for their original programing.
5. Profit

This is one of those cool situations where corporate interests allowed some people to make a cool thing.
 
P

pelican

Member
jello44 said:
E.T. was an Atari game that was the bomba to end all bombas.

They had so many unsold cartridges that they buried them in a landfill in Arizona.
Click to expand...

The story is Atari manufactured more cartridges than VSC console units sold or manufactured.

I think it is pretty fantastic MS have done this. It is one of the true myths of video games.
 
A

Alienous

Member
CaptainGyro said:
I don't get it either. It doesn't make any sense at all and yet people are still making posts like "AVGN am cry"
Click to expand...

It's more about the supposition that making a film about a mystery allows. Especially when it's been a mystery for decades.

Now that the facts are there an interpretation of what the actual truth might've been is less valid. That isn't the focus of the AVGN movie, but at least a facet. "I wonder what was really at the site", "Oh, they dug that up. There were actually games there", "Oh, ok".

I just found it weird a tie-in wasn't made, but evidently that was James' call.
 
D

Dekanach

Member
Here's the words of the Nerd about all of it:

Well it’s a big year for what started as a little urban legend about Atari dumping their shitty games in a landfill. There will be two movies, both to be released this year. One is Microsoft’s documentary, the real life story in which they dig up the games. The other is, of course, my own independent fictional take, Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (more exciting updates to follow in the coming months).

Of course today is the big landfill excavation and everybody and their grandma is contacting me about it. I’ve known about the project for a while, and I’ve been in talks with them. Why I have never posted anything is because I respect the secrecy of any project as much as my own. I was going to be involved at the excavation, but of all dates, it landed on my daughter’s one year birthday, which is my priority.

As I’ve expected, they’ve unearthed the motherload of shit, but think about how many people threw that game in the garbage. I’m sure you can dig up any landfill and find at least a few copies of that game. I bet there’s some in my backyard. But anyway, I guess everyone’s expecting a response from me, or some kind of reaction. Well it’s strangely hilarious. It’s weird. The kind of thing where the planets align by some mysterious stroke of fate. When I first heard about the plans to dig up the games, I was beyond shocked. 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?

I remember back in 2007 when I first started writing the AVGN movie, I did a lot of heavy research on the landfill. There was A LOT more information available about it back then, however there was less interest. It was more like a cult thing that only few people knew about. But the few people who were, were obsessed. Over the years, it’s gained more widespread attention. I’ve watched the story grow bigger. And now it’s huge, which oddly enough, makes my “alternate reality” fictional take on the story more timely than ever.
Click to expand...

http://cinemassacre.com/2014/04/26/e-t-atari-landfill-unearthed/

EDIT: already posted, lol
 
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