Dive Brief:
- The new documentary that covers the search for "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" video games that occurred at a landfill in New Mexico will premiere in the fall of 2014.
- The film, called "Atari: Game Over," covers the search for old Atari video game cartridges that were dumped at a landfill in Alamogordo, NM in the 1980s. At the time, the game was deemed a failure, and millions of copies were sent to the site for disposal.
- The Alamogordo City Commission in New Mexico announced it would have 700 of the Atari cartridges available for purchase at the New Mexico Museum of Space History.
Dive Insight:
The excavation initially ran into some roadblocks in March, when environmental regulators put a temporary halt to plans. The state environmental officials rejected an excavation plan as the project was set to begin, and requested a new plan before work at the site received clearance. In April, after an updated plan received approval, it was reported that millions of cartridges were dug up at the landfill site. Crews dug for hours to locate the approximately five million cartridges buried at the site. A local waste contractor and Fuel Entertainment acquired the rights to excavate the landfill.