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E.T. Cartridges Found in New Mexico Landfill After 30 Years

This article is over 10 years old and may contain outdated information

One of gaming’s biggest urban legends has turned out to be true.

Anyone with even a faint interested in video games will no doubt be aware of the great market crash of 1983, which was reportedly so bad that it led to Atari burying thousands of unsold copies of E.T – The Extra Terrestrial in a New Mexico landfill, or so goes the urban legend. Today, that story is a myth no more, as construction workers have unearthed the legendary cache of video games in the New Mexico desert.

Witness the glorious unmasking of an urban legend below:

The dig, which was sponsored by Xbox Entertainment Studio, saw Microsoft partnering up with a documentary team to dig into the dirt and film the results. The documentary, which will focus on the changing landscape of the video game industry, is expected to come out next year, and it is part of a broader push by Microsoft to produce original video content for Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners.

The pictures come courtesy of Microsoft’s Major Nelson, who says that a substantial amount of cartridges were unearthed, and weren’t just limited to E.T. – Centipede, Space Invaders, and Asteroids game boxes were also discovered in the landfill.

Source: Xbox Wire

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