Atari's Landfill Adventures, I now have the proof it's true.

[TI99Kitty]

The good news is, gold doesn't corrode or tarnish, so whether they are crushed or not doesn't matter.

 

-Rob

 

 

I say we all charter busses from our various locations, and we can all meet there and start digging. I own some land in Deming, so we can set up camp there.

 

Ok, I'm not serious.... but seriously...

 

But seriously, we could tunnel our way to the old landfill -- that way we'd be underneath the concrete, and it would be easier to get to all those E.T. carts! O_O

 

Of course, now I hear Chief Wiggum from "The Simpsons" saying, "No, no, stupid. Dig up!" ^_^

[rbudrick]

The good news is, gold doesn't corrode or tarnish, so whether they are crushed or not doesn't matter.

 

-Rob

 

 

I say we all charter busses from our various locations, and we can all meet there and start digging. I own some land in Deming, so we can set up camp there.

 

Ok, I'm not serious.... but seriously...

 

But seriously, we could tunnel our way to the old landfill -- that way we'd be underneath the concrete, and it would be easier to get to all those E.T. carts! O_O

 

Of course, now I hear Chief Wiggum from "The Simpsons" saying, "No, no, stupid. Dig up!" ^_^

 

Tunneling through a garbage dump. Ahhh, the good old days.

 

Best Idea EVER.

 

-Rob

[TI99Kitty]

But seriously, we could tunnel our way to the old landfill -- that way we'd be underneath the concrete, and it would be easier to get to all those E.T. carts! O_O

 

Of course, now I hear Chief Wiggum from "The Simpsons" saying, "No, no, stupid. Dig up!" ^_^

 

Tunneling through a garbage dump. Ahhh, the good old days.

 

Best. Idea. EVER.

 

-Rob

 

Fix'd. ^_~

[+Random Terrain]

If you are going to tunnel, there's only one way to do it:

 

If it would be impossible to get permission to dig, couldn't we go to China and dig up until we hit the landfill from the other side? It works in cartoons.

[yuppicide]

If RT helps dig the tunnel and there really is a bunch of ET cartridges, I'm betting he reaches orgasm twice in less than 18 seconds.

[frogstar_robot]

Take that quote, add a picture of a landfill and an E.T. cartridge, and that'd be a great t-shirt.

 

20 pages and a year or three ago somebody wanted a poster so I faked up a poster. So just for this necromancy on the thread, I've faked up your T-Shirt. Though slapping an image of an E.T. cart over an image of the "I Want To Believe" poster isn't that hard and you COULD have that made into an iron-on if you really want.

 

[uglyclone]

If you are going to tunnel, there's only one way to do it:

 

If it would be impossible to get permission to dig, couldn't we go to China and dig up until we hit the landfill from the other side? It works in cartoons.

You just quoted yourself. This right here is how portals to alternate realities are created

[rbudrick]

If you are going to tunnel, there's only one way to do it:

 

If it would be impossible to get permission to dig, couldn't we go to China and dig up until we hit the landfill from the other side? It works in cartoons.

You just quoted yourself. This right here is how portals to alternate realities are created

 

 

Reminds me of that time I ran a GBC emulator on a Palm IIIc and the GBC emulator was running an NES emulator...in black and white. I went back in time at about one frame per minute. At that rate I should find out exactly what was buried on the site about 6,437,114 years after the sun burns out. Damn! I would just barely miss it! Astronomically speaking, of course. This is not considering the collision of the Milky Way with Andromeda, nearby supernovas destined to happen well before this (wiping out our planet, even from many light years away), the expansion of the sun, guaranteed collision with NEOs, and a bit of human (or whatever species come after us) error with our weapons and other bullshit. If only I could have overclocked that damn Palm IIIc, I could have saved the world. Years from now, people will say I tried to warn the world, but it was too late. Why won't anyone listen!!?? Perhaps this post will find the right eyes centuries from now and save your ancestors. They will thank me then and you should now.

 

That, and your ancestors should really fucking dig up that damn landfill. This means YOU futurefolk!

 

Hey, what year is it now? Is it working?

 

-Rob

Edited January 14, 2010 by rbudrick

[The Bat]

 

Is this you guys? I am sure that this vid's been linked in here before, but I didn't ahve time to check all 40 pages, and the 'vid' mpg you guys are talking about in '05 doesn't work

 

Is this video a fake?

[Inky]

This thread is still alive?

[Rik]

Why so many even care about this landfill thing is an even bigger mystery to me

[rbudrick]

Why so many even care about this landfill thing is an even bigger mystery to me

 

Funny, I feel the same way about Amelia Earhart and Chupacabra, but some people still are interested in those. For those that aren't interested in the topic at hand, why post here? If nothing else, I suppose such posts keep the thread alive, so carry on serving the opposite purpose intended.

 

-Rob

[jahfish]

Why so many even care about this landfill thing is an even bigger mystery to me

 

Funny, I feel the same way about Amelia Earhart and Chupacabra, but some people still are interested in those. For those that aren't interested in the topic at hand, why post here? If nothing else, I suppose such posts keep the thread alive, so carry on serving the opposite purpose intended.

 

-Rob

 

well, it used to be a myth and since the newspaper articles have been found it turns out to be true. not that it is a milestone in the history of atari, but it was an interesting side-effect of the videogame crash.

[tisaperfectdayelise]

Why so many even care about this landfill thing is an even bigger mystery to me

 

Funny, I feel the same way about Amelia Earhart and Chupacabra, but some people still are interested in those. For those that aren't interested in the topic at hand, why post here? If nothing else, I suppose such posts keep the thread alive, so carry on serving the opposite purpose intended.

 

-Rob

 

well, it used to be a myth and since the newspaper articles have been found it turns out to be true. not that it is a milestone in the history of atari, but it was an interesting side-effect of the videogame crash.

[fiddlepaddle]

well, it used to be a myth and since the newspaper articles have been found it turns out to be true. not that it is a milestone in the history of atari, but it was an interesting side-effect of the videogame crash.

It was never a myth to me. I remember seeing a photograph on the front page (maybe business section? computer section?) of the San Jose Mercury News at the time (it was a big deal to programmers in silicon valley).

 

---edit---

 

Hey! Only ten more posts, and we'll be at a thousand!

Edited January 23, 2010 by fiddlepaddle

[TheRedEye]

I haven't looked at this thread in four years, but just in case no one has found these yet:

 

InfoWorld, December 5, 1983

 

"Atari is still trying to dig its way out from under the inventory avalanche. Late in September of this year, people around Alamogordo, N.M., were amazed when 20 trucks filled with Atari games, VCSs and home computers ended up in the local dump, where they were crushed by a bulldozer. Atari says they were defectives, but kids who scavenged the dump said the games were playable."

 

Fortune, January 9, 1984

 

"Fierce competition in the home computer market and misjudgment of demand for video games led to a $536-million loss in the first nine months of 1983 for Warner Communications' Atari division. In September an Atari plant dumped 14 truckloads of video cartridges and computer equipment at the city landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Scoffs an analyst, "That's not real good inventory management." The company says the products were defective. Warner was judged to have the poorest quality of management of all 250 companies."

[moycon]

I haven't looked at this thread in four years, but just in case no one has found these yet:

 

InfoWorld, December 5, 1983

 

"Atari is still trying to dig its way out from under the inventory avalanche. Late in September of this year, people around Alamogordo, N.M., were amazed when 20 trucks filled with Atari games, VCSs and home computers ended up in the local dump, where they were crushed by a bulldozer. Atari says they were defectives, but kids who scavenged the dump said the games were playable."

 

A story debunked by actual kids who lived right down the street from said dump and who like everyone else, heard the story but saw nary a hint of proof it was actually true. (Kinda like the chupacabra!)

No sea of carts, no kids running around the neighborhood with free games. No nothing. I once joined and posted on an Alamogordo message board looking for people who lived in that immediate area and could share their tales about it, same thing.

 

The jist....Yeah we heard about it.

Nothing more. No pics, no first hand accounts, no proof.

Even the mayor of Alamogordo thinks Atari pulled a fast one to write off millions. "Cooking the books" he called it.

 

Nice story though, probably something Atari cooked up right before submitting their tax returns for the year.

[Retro Rogue]

Nice story though, probably something Atari cooked up right before submitting their tax returns for the year.

 

Oh, BS. You sound like one of those loonies that still says we never landed on the moon. I've got copies of the Alamogordo Daily News over a several day period tracking the multitude of trucks arriving each day, the dumping, and the eventual crushing and pouring of concrete because of the pilfering, as well as coverage by both AP, UPI, Time and more, statements by Atari reps trying to cover their ass stating is was non-functioning equipment, and on (including specific cartridge names and hardware that was found at the time). It was exactly the opposite of what you state - they got in trouble *because* they were trying to hide all the warehouses full of stock across the country(including dumping in manners such as this, or playing numbers games with reported sales) while posting high projected gains. That started in late '82 when they had to post a much lower re-evaluation of their projections less. Conveniently Kassar and a few other executives dump stock just before the announcement, leading to the SEC investigation. That was the reason for all of this continued playing of stock, not some fantasy tax write off. They were already having massive losses to be written off, there's no need to pull some individual stunt with a few semi's full of stock for a "tax write off". I have no doubt that it was *not an E.T. mass burial*, we are in agreement there. But there was a mass dumping of console and computer stock there. Curt and I have been deeply digging in to this crash time period and the early 70's Atari formation period the past seven or so months, and it's not something we're taking lightly.

Edited January 26, 2010 by wgungfu

[moycon]

I've got copies of the Alamogordo Daily News over a several day period tracking the multitude of trucks arriving each day, the dumping, and the eventual crushing and pouring of concrete because of the pilfering, as well as coverage by both AP, UPI, Time and more,

 

If you haven't already please make this information available to us, I personally haven't seen any of it so don't compare me to a fuckin loony. Of course we landed on the moon. The evidence that supports it is OVERWHELMING, it's indisputable and readily available. After seeing the mountain of evidence, it was easy to determine the people who claimed the moon landing was a hoax were confused.

 

Just because I choose to not blindly believe every story I hear without a shred of evidence except for (So far) redundant, often conflicting news paper articles that no one has ever been able to verify first hand (even when I personally have asked locals), and fuzzy, out of focus, shit for pictures that looks like stock footage of any dump anywhere in the world. (Actually some of the photos posted as proof look like they were taken of the ocean floor) Doesn't make me a loony. Although truthfully I haven't kept up with this thread so I may have missed some important evidence.

 

You show me the evidence of millions of E.T. carts being buried (that's what we are talking about here, not worthless, out of date equipment, not office furniture, not even a pallet of E.T.s. Millions of E.T. carts. is the story I was commenting on) and I'll believe you. I said in the past, that dump was supposedly crawling with reporters, kids, workers and security. You'd expect their to be some great first hand stories and pictures, especially if you go to the source and ask for it. I didn't find much. I even sent emails to people who worked for Atari at the time. (That made me think even more the tale of millions of E.T.s buried was BS)

 

Still, it was plain we visited the moon after seeing the evidence....So I can't wait to see the wealth of new evidence in this scenario. I've stated in this very thread I think Atari just buried a bunch of worthless crap and probably a few pallets of carts and wrote off millions of them, (The mayor apparently agrees with my theory) but if you have the proof to the otherwise, point me in the right direction so we can put this thread to rest once and for all!!

[Retro Rogue]

If you haven't already please make this information available to us,

 

We most certainly will be in the book, that's the reason for all this research. Otherwise it's easily available through any pay newspaper archive in pdf format if you want to pony up the money like we did. We've been laying out a lot of money doing this research, as well as research on the Amiga/Atari/Commodore happening, early Atari and more, besides the multitude of interviews, and have also been happy to share some of our resources here as we go along. Paid for pdfs from a news service who has specific licensing of said copies, is not one of those resources. But as stated, you can go to any of these paid services and get them your self.

 

I personally haven't seen any of it so don't call me a fuckin loony.

 

I didn't call you a "fuckin looney", I said you were sounding like a looney. But that context was obviously lost on someone completely out of touch with what was going on at Atari at that time - someone who tried to (completely out of context) place a small dumping as a "tax write off" in the face of Atari's millions of dollars a day losses that were the actual write offs. Someone who won't take a blanket of news coverage from the time, but offers the loose "a couple of kids who lived down the street" and "I asked on a message board once..."

 

You show me the evidence of millions of E.T. carts being buried

 

Looks like you didn't bother to read through my post. I stated there were no millions of E.T. carts buried there.

 

(that's what we are talking about here, not worthless, out of date equipment, not office furniture. Millions of E.T. carts. is the story)

 

No, what we're talking about here is a dump. The title is "Atari's Landfill Adventures". And I don't recall stating office furniture and out of date equipment, unless that's a weak attempt at sarcasm. It was unsold stock - game cartridges (including Pac-Man, Raiders, and E.T.), consoles, and computers and peripherals.

 

And I'll believe you.

 

Translation of what's actually implied by your entire response - "Post up all the material you paid for, and if you don't then I can say it doesn't exist." Sorry, not playing that game. Besides what people are already finding on google news search from the time, it's available at any pay news archive in pdf format for you to get a copy of. Likewise, if you have any reliable free sources you want to share that actually discount said dumping with verifiable proof, feel free. Asking people on a Alamogordo discussion forum and claiming some kids down the block said so to you once does not qualify. At least not in any acceptable academic research.

Edited January 26, 2010 by wgungfu

[moycon]

Looks like you didn't bother to read through my post. I stated there were no millions of E.T. carts buried there.

 

Oh well then you stated I sounded like a loony for nothing, that's what I was referring to. The tale that millions of E.T.s were buried in the desert.

You know the one. That most copies of E.T. were returned to the store by consumers and millions and millions of them had to be crushed and buried.

 

BTW yeah I know you didn't actually call me a loony, that's why I went back and changed that, among other things. Often times I glance at a post and respond, then realize I interpreted it wrong and add to my initial thoughts (editing...one of the reasons I love being a subscriber!)

 

BTW, If I have any of the emails (Its possible I do but will take some time to find) I will forward them to you if you would like.

[Retro Rogue]

Looks like you didn't bother to read through my post. I stated there were no millions of E.T. carts buried there.

 

Oh well then you stated I sounded like a loony for nothing, that's what I was referring to. The tale that millions of E.T.s were buried in the desert.

 

No you were not. You specifically stated there was no dumping of anything at all:

 

No sea of carts, no kids running around the neighborhood with free games. No nothing.

 

In fact, I looked back, I don't see E.T. mentioned once in your post:

 

A story debunked by actual kids who lived right down the street from said dump and who like everyone else, heard the story but saw nary a hint of proof it was actually true. (Kinda like the chupacabra!)

No sea of carts, no kids running around the neighborhood with free games. No nothing. I once joined and posted on an Alamogordo message board looking for people who lived in that immediate area and could share their tales about it, same thing.

 

The jist....Yeah we heard about it.

Nothing more. No pics, no first hand accounts, no proof.

Even the mayor of Alamogordo thinks Atari pulled a fast one to write off millions. "Cooking the books" he called it.

 

Nice story though, probably something Atari cooked up right before submitting their tax returns for the year.

 

 

Nor was it in the news item you were responding to (which specifically mentions the dumping of games, VCS's and their computer line, not E.T.) -

 

InfoWorld, December 5, 1983

 

"Atari is still trying to dig its way out from under the inventory avalanche. Late in September of this year, people around Alamogordo, N.M., were amazed when 20 trucks filled with Atari games, VCSs and home computers ended up in the local dump, where they were crushed by a bulldozer. Atari says they were defectives, but kids who scavenged the dump said the games were playable."

[moycon]

No you were not. You specifically stated there was no dumping of anything at all:

 

Read this thread. My theory is Atari buried a bunch of worthless (to them) stuff when they would dump at Alamogordo (The fact Atari used Alamogordo has never been in question as far as I know) and not the millions and millions of returned E.T.s the news papers claimed and is made popular by sites like this....http://www.snopes.com/business/market/atari.asp. (5 million E.T. carts buried they claim.) It's a story we've heard since we were kids. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if Atari wrote off 5 million (or more) "defective" carts that year. Be interesting to see that information. (In a book maybe?)

 

You don't need to actually read the thread, I'll go back through some of the pages and you can judge for yourself ...

 

moycon wrote:

there is no SEA of E.T. carts in the desert in spite of people often repeating there are.

 

Atari might have buried something that week, but what it was could be anything just to seal the fact that something was buried.

 

It was always about the fact that people were saying millions of carts were buried. Burying millions of carts and no proof is what was hard to believe.

 

Couple that with the fact that E.T.s are one of the most common carts around, I don't think everyone returned their copy and Atari had to bury the unwanted mass.

 

Like I said there's better evidence Bigfoot exists then Atari buried 1 million E.T.s

 

The problem with this is that according to the Urban Legend no one hardly bought E.T. and those that did were returned...but we all know that is complete and utter BS. The first production run of E.Ts was about half of the number of Pac Man produced....and yet amazingly enough E.T. is one of the most common carts today.

 

Companies dump stuff all the time...it's true, it's not something that you invest any time or brain power in covering up (Unless you are pulling a fast one maybe).

 

I think you were just mis-understanding what I was posting, probably my fault because like a said I barely glanced at the article. Millions and millions of E.T. cartridges were on my mind because that is the myth. Just have to trust me. I feel I went out of my way to try and find people to collaborate these tales, and came up empty handed.

 

My dispute is the millions of E.T.s but also the tall tales in the news papers that all the kids in town had these free games. I was in touch with some of those kids. I can say for certain they didn't ALL get games, because the ones I was in touch with did not, nor did they know anyone that had. They only heard the tale, just like everyone else. No one I was in touch with collaborated the tales the news papers were printing. As far as I know, no-one ever has except for one or two people who popped into this thread but then disappeared forever when you tried to contact them for further info. I hope in your book you have some interviews with the local people. That would be interesting reading for sure! Seems more compelling than a collection of news articles with conflicting stories , hearing from the people those news articles are supposedly about

[fiddlepaddle]

...one of those loonies that still says we never landed on the moon.

Actually, E.T. didn't land ON the moon, he went IN FRONT OF the moon. It was in the movie; I saw it.

 

---edit---

 

OK, now, who will be the one-thousandth customer to post in this thread? The winner is...

Edited January 26, 2010 by fiddlepaddle

[+Random Terrain]

Do I win?