Atari’s 1983 ‘E.T.’ Game Cover-Up Unearthed In New Mexico By Xbox Docu Crew – How Bad Was It?

Fuel Entertainment and XBox Studios earned a ton of press this weekend when an excavation crew unearthed hundreds of buried cartridges of Atari‘s 1982 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial video game in a dumpsite in Alamogordo, N.M. The archaeological discovery confirmed a long-held legend in the gaming world that Atari had buried millions of unsold units of what’s believed to be one of the worst games ever made when it tanked over 30 years ago. Saturday’s dig was filmed for a Fuel/XBox docu directed by Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, Incident at Loch Ness) and produced by Oscar-winning docu producer Simon Chinn (Searching for Sugar Man, Man On Wire) and his cousin, Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn (American High) for their Lightbox banner. Docu series Dumping the Alien: Unearthing the Atari Graveyard is set to air this year on Xbox One and Xbox 360. Just how bad was the E.T. game, famously rushed into production to capitalize off of Steven Spielberg’s hit blockbuster?


Click here to view full content