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E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

polygon.com

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Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#31

Post by joezydeco »

grecy wrote: post #30
nostromo wrote: post #19

I saw a funny, but also sad, bit by a comedian once. I wish I could remember his name. " Everything you've ever owned is still out there," he said. "Remember those rollerblades you used once in 1994? Those still exist. Except maybe in little pieces. Maybe in the ocean." Maybe in 20 years someone will dig up a few of those millions of plastic Guitar Hero guitars that are now wasting away in landfills for a documentary…

I look forward to the day humans are forced to mine landfills to get previous goods. It will be amazing when the cheapest (maybe only?) way to get is to recycle old discarded stuff.

I always thought we would have swarms of nanobots that chewed on the landfills for a decade or so and sorted the mess into tidy piles of pure elements.

Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#32

Post by dllthomas »

grecy wrote: post #30
nostromo wrote: post #19

I saw a funny, but also sad, bit by a comedian once. I wish I could remember his name. " Everything you've ever owned is still out there," he said. "Remember those rollerblades you used once in 1994? Those still exist. Except maybe in little pieces. Maybe in the ocean." Maybe in 20 years someone will dig up a few of those millions of plastic Guitar Hero guitars that are now wasting away in landfills for a documentary…

I look forward to the day humans are forced to mine landfills to get previous goods. It will be amazing when the cheapest (maybe only?) way to get is to recycle old discarded stuff.

Yeah, I've been wondering if mineral rights in landfills would make sense as an investment. It's an interesting collection of stuff-humans-once-had-use-for, and as recycling tech improves...

Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#34

Post by robterrell »

_delirium wrote: post #24
TehCorwiz wrote: post #3

I'm both amazed and disappointed that this urban legend turned out to be true. The former because who the would do that in the first place? The latter because who the would do that in the first place?

I don't think it was ever in doubt, or really an urban legend. It was an openly reported fact at the time, in multiple newspapers, and confirmed by an Atari spokesperson. The Alamogordo Daily News ran a series of articles, and the main controversy at the time was local indignation that Atari might be dumping electronic waste in New Mexico without permits, which led to some changes in dumping laws. That a bunch of uns…

That was my recollection too -- it was an only slightly remarkable thing at the time, mostly because such a high profile title was such a dud that it was literally buried.

I recall Apple did the same thing with its stock of Mac XLs (which is to say, Lisas with the ROMs replaced and the twiggy drives swapped for a 3.5" floppy). Wait til these guys hear about that.

Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#35

Post by justinhj »

kstenerud wrote: post #20

I actually liked the E.T. game. It was probably one of the games I played the most as a child (next to Pitfall). Pac Man, on the other hand, was terrible on the Atari.

Me too. I was a kid. I got 2 games a year, one for Xmas and one for my birthday. Even if the game wasn't fun I would have played it to death.

Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#36

Post by oldmanpants »

I just don't understand why anyone would want to find the games. Is it just for the documentary? I'm sure there's all sorts of 'new old stock' in landfills all over the world. Stuff much more interesting than a [very] bad video game for a console very few of us still have.

I suppose it wouldn't surprise me if limited edition numbered authentic landfill ET cartridges were a sought after collectible in the near or distant future.

Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#37

Post by otterley »

joezydeco wrote: post #31
grecy wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I look forward to the day humans are forced to mine landfills to get previous goods. It will be amazing when the cheapest (maybe only?) way to get is to recycle old discarded stuff.

I always thought we would have swarms of nanobots that chewed on the landfills for a decade or so and sorted the mess into tidy piles of pure elements.

What do you then do with the nanobots?

Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#38

Post by philwelch »

otterley wrote: post #37
joezydeco wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always thought we would have swarms of nanobots that chewed on the landfills for a decade or so and sorted the mess into tidy piles of pure elements.

What do you then do with the nanobots?

Turn half off and have the other half chew through them, recursively.

Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#39

Post by rockyleal »

oldmanpants wrote: post #36

I just don't understand why anyone would want to find the games. Is it just for the documentary? I'm sure there's all sorts of 'new old stock' in landfills all over the world. Stuff much more interesting than a [very] bad video game for a console very few of us still have. I suppose it wouldn't surprise me if limited edition numbered authentic landfill ET cartridges were a sought after collectible in the near or dist…

Microsoft. It is a convoluted PR stunt for Xbox.

http://www.tekrevue.com/excavate-atari-landfill/

http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/10/microsoft-invites-you-to-att...

Everyone, including HN, is falling for it.

Re: E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill

#40

Post by ars »

grecy wrote: post #30
nostromo wrote: post #19

I saw a funny, but also sad, bit by a comedian once. I wish I could remember his name. " Everything you've ever owned is still out there," he said. "Remember those rollerblades you used once in 1994? Those still exist. Except maybe in little pieces. Maybe in the ocean." Maybe in 20 years someone will dig up a few of those millions of plastic Guitar Hero guitars that are now wasting away in landfills for a documentary…

I look forward to the day humans are forced to mine landfills to get previous goods. It will be amazing when the cheapest (maybe only?) way to get is to recycle old discarded stuff.

For some elements maybe.

Iron, glass, paper and plastic will never run out though. And we already recycle lots of metals.

You would probably like this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification That's how you recycle bulk garbage, but it's expensive in terms of energy, so we have to solve that first.

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