the world's worst video game (or so it is rumored) is atari's game "E.T. - the extra-terrestrial".
the game was SO bad that atari reportedly took the games out to a dump in arizona new mexico (*thanks, pjevans) and buried them in the old alamogordo landfill. for years, this rumor has been circulating - and, until now, it was just that - a rumor.
but an intrepid group of video archaeologists decided the truth must be unearthed! were there REALLY extra-terrestrials buried in arizona new mexico? did area 51 truly exist, but only in arizona new mexico?
follow me below the orange space ship for the truth finally has landed!
for those of us who were hard core gamers back in the days of space invaders, (before mario brothers and nintendo), atari was the ONLY game in town! hours spent at that little box with the joy stick that eventually would stop working (mostly due to over exhuberent sticking that wore out the points) was the first experience i had at understanding algebra - and loving the math that made that cursor knock out another space ship.
then, after the movie E.T., atari developed a new game - one so bad, they chose to bury the excesses of their endeavor. even snopes got in on the fun - not labelling the rumor as "FALSE" - rather, snopes called this a "LEGEND".
well, now that "LEGEND" has an ending befitting all good legends - the truth is indeed buried in that arizona new mexico landfill!
Game creator Howard Scott Warshaw, who had five weeks to create the game for Atari, speculated that the E.T. games found looked like they could still be played.
"It is the fastest video game developed in video game history, as far as I know," Warshaw said.
He said before the games were found, he was excited to see that so much attention was being drawn to his game.
"Here is the way I look at it," Warshaw said. "It might be here; it might not be here. I don't know. Thirty-two years ago, I did a game that people called 'the worst game of all time' that toppled a billion dollar industry. Maybe it is true; maybe it is not. The fact is I did something 30 years ago that is still getting people gathered together, enjoying it, getting some excitement. So, the idea that I can be in the center of that kind of fun and excitement really makes me feel good."
the stories of the buried games and why they were dumped orbited the news back in the early 80s as atari tried to put out it's latest console, the 5200. that model was incompatible with the older games (the supposed reason), but the real reason was the games were not selling, especially, e.t. - a game so bad that it was being returned to atari by the millions by the distributors.
the history of gaming from the early launch of space invaders and pac man and more is a fascinating one - and now, a canadian film crew has made a documentary unearthing one bit of that history.
here's an excerpt of the fun filled day that netted the long buried treasure...
enjoy the discovery - and, as a personal aside, dat's my COUSIN, LEE MONTGOMERY, (a professor of electronic arts at UNM) - good lookin' fella, yep.
enjoy and have fun - and, most of all, remember back to those days spent at the console trying to get mario through the traps! and, i can't wait for the documentary to come out - i'll be there enjoying the discovery in full!
as the director says,
Zak Penn, film director for a documentary about the game and why Atari decided to bury its games, said, "E.T. is definitely here," as he presented the first game found at the site.
"We didn't come out here for nothing, and it wasn't a total waste of time — awesome," he said.
[... and, as a personal aside, dat's my COUSIN, LEE MONTGOMERY, (a professor of electronic arts at UNM) featured in the video thumbnail - good lookin' fella, yep.