Why were Atari games buried?

In September of 1983, Atari found itself with a surplus of game cartridges that they needed to remove from its warehouse in El Paso, Texas. They decided to bury the games in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to prevent people from scavenging them.
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Why did they bury Atari games?

Legend has it that Atari buried millions of unsold and returned copies of E.T., and perhaps other titles, in a New Mexico dump as the company struggled to stay afloat.
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How many Atari games were buried?

Contrary to the urban legend that claims millions of cartridges were buried there, Heller stated that only 728,000 cartridges were buried. Remnants of E.T. and other Atari games were discovered in the early hours of the excavation, as reported by Microsoft's Larry Hryb.
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Why do we dug Atari?

We dug Atari because this spectacle provided the necessary means to directly access the contemporary past for purposes of archaeological and historical research.
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What company buried 700000 video games?

In 1983, rumors circulated: Atari was bankrupt, and was dumping truckloads of games into a New Mexico landfill. Victim to the "Video Game Crash," the company buried 700,000 cartridges in the desert. The story became an obscure pop culture legend -- until "The Atari Tomb" was unearthed in 2014.
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Excavating the Atari E.T. Video Game Burial Site-Game|Life-WIRED

What company saved the video game crash of 1983?

The North American video game console industry recovered a few years later, mostly due to the widespread success of Nintendo's Western branding for its Famicom console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), released in October 1985.
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Why did Atari flop?

This was attributed to several factors, including market saturation in terms of game consoles and available games, as well as a trend away from console games in favor of personal computers. The recession was harsh on everyone in the video game industry, including Atari.
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What destroyed Atari?

As competition intensified, companies engaged in price wars both in games and consoles. This further confused consumers and led to lower-quality components being used to maintain profit margins. Believe it or not, Steven Spielberg's ET is widely considered to have been the final nail in Atari's coffin.
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Why was Atari discontinued?

It ran into problems in the early 1980s. Faced with fierce competition and price wars in the game console and home computer markets, Atari was never able to duplicate the success of the 2600. These problems were followed by the video game crash of 1983, with losses that totaled more than $500 million.
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What is the most sold Atari game?

The best-selling video game on the console is Pac-Man, a port of the arcade game of the same name programmed by Tod Frye. Originally created by Toru Iwatani and released in 1980, Pac-Man was later ported to many home video game consoles, beginning with the Atari 2600 in 1982.
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What was the last Atari game?

The final licensed Atari 2600 games released in North America were Ikari Warriors, MotoRodeo, Sentinel, and Xenophobe in early 1991, and the final licensed games released in Europe were Klax and Acid Drop in 1990 and 1992 respectively.
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What is the oldest Atari console?

First called the Atari Video Computer System, 1977's Atari 2600 fits multiple games in its ROM storage. The system came with two joysticks and two controllers for multiplayer fun.
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Why did Nintendo sue Atari?

In December 1988, Atari filed a lawsuit against Nintendo for unfair competition under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Nintendo responded in November 1989, counter-suing Atari for unfair competition, as well as infringing both its copyright and patent for its cartridge authentication system.
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Was there a video game before Atari?

In 1972 Magnavox released the world's first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey. It came packaged with board game paraphernalia such as cards, paper money and dice to enhance the games.
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What led to the downfall of Atari?

Atari's decline began after the Video Game Crash of 1983, heavily impacted by the failures of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Pac-Man on the Atari 2600. Quality control issues and market oversaturation led to financial instability, ultimately causing the company to lose its foothold in the industry.
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Why do you think Atari buried all of their games in a landfill?

In September of 1983, Atari found itself with a surplus of game cartridges that they needed to remove from its warehouse in El Paso, Texas. They decided to bury the games in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to prevent people from scavenging them.
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What company sued Atari?

Nintendo sued Atari for, among other things, unfair competition, patent infringement, copyright infringement, and trade secret violations.
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Who bought out Atari?

Hasbro Interactive purchased the Atari brand and intellectual property for just $5 million in 1998, but was taken over by French software publisher Infogrames in December 2000. Infogrames completed the total acquisition of Atari Inc. in October 2008, making it a wholly owned subsidiary for the first time since 1984.
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What game made Atari popular?

Pong (1972)

The first game ever developed by Atari Inc., Pong was one of the most influential video games ever created and the first to gain widespread mainstream popularity.
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Which Atari is worth the most money?

All prices were taken from PriceCharting.com and were accurate at the time of publication.
  • 8 Superman ($389)
  • 7 River Patrol ($832)
  • 6 Mangia ($1,249)
  • 5 Pepsi Invaders ($3,500)
  • 4 Eli's Ladder ($5,419)
  • 3 Out of Control ($6,008)
  • 2 Red Sea Crossing ($10,400)
  • 1 Air Raid ($33,433)
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Why was Atari Pac-Man bad?

Despite its commercial success, Pac-Man was panned by critics for poor graphics and sound, and for bearing little resemblance to the original game.
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What game has made the most money ever?

The Top 10 Best-Selling Video Game Franchises of All Time
  • Pokémon — $90 billion. ...
  • Mario — $30.25 billion. ...
  • Call of Duty — $17 billion. ...
  • Wii — $14.808 billion. ...
  • Pac-Man — $14.107 billion. ...
  • Space Invaders — $13.93 billion. ...
  • Dungeon Fighter Online — $11.8 billion. ...
  • Street Fighter — $11.279 billion.
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Who is the richest game creator?

In December 2021, Forbes estimated that Newell had a net worth of $3.9 billion and owned at least one quarter of Valve. According to Charlie Fish, the author of The History of Video Games, as of 2021 Newell was the richest person in the video game industry.
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