Atari Landfill ‘Myth’ Debunked As ‘Publicity Stunt’

The Atari landfill legend (concerning truckloads of a failed early gaming title and vintage consoles to boot dumped in the New Mexico desert) has persisted for years — but while interest in the contents of a remote spot in Alamogordo has increased with news the excavation is moving ahead, some say not to get all that excited.

The Atari landfill may sound like an indie rock band of whom you’ve never heard but the story is a long-seated and much buzzed about one, with the idea that loads of old cartridges were just languishing underground bothering many modern gamers. (Even as they agreed the title in question, Atari’s E.T., was likely the worst video game ever.)

But while the Atari landfill excavation was met with mostly piqued enthusiasm, at least one guy says that the story as it has come to be repeated isn’t exactly accurate.

PC Mag recently spoke to Marty Goldberg, co-author of Atari Inc.: Business is Fun. Goldberg seems to think that Fuel Industries’ Atari landfill excavation is a “non-issue publicity stunt,” and he’s quoted as having commented:

“There were never thousands of E.T. games buried in Alamogordo, that’s a myth that sprung up later and was also never once mentioned by the actual press articles of the time. The dump there was simply a clearing out of Atari’s Texas manufacturing plant as it transitioned to automated production methods and a focus on personal computer manufacturing.”

Goldberg continues:

“It had previously been one of the main plants for manufacturing of game cartridges and other hardware, and game manufacturing was being moved overseas to China.”

Well, that’s certainly a less fun way of putting it. Goldberg is also quoted as saying that the Atari landfill was never a lost treasure trove of suppressed games — so much so he’s “surprised” the story has spun up considering media coverage at the time:

“As part of the transition, the unused cartridge stock of a group of titles (not just E.T.), console parts, and computer parts were all dumped there in New Mexico. It was covered in detail by the Alamogordo press at the time, and is just such a non-mystery that I’m surprised by all this.”

Are you still interested in what secrets the Atari Landfill may hold?