Just when you thought Atari 2600 consoles and its accessories were dead and buried, along comes a finding that’s like no other on this planet. A single E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Atari game cartridge, still in its original box, sold for $1,537 to a buyer in Canada.
Known as one of the worst games invented, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial drew the highest bid over 100 other Atari games that were auctioned on eBay by Alamogordo, New Mexico officials.
Joe Lewandowski, a consultant for the film companies that documented the dig, says the eBay auction generated just over $41,800. According to him, online bidders snapped up other items from the dig from countries that included Sweden and Germany.
There were reports that truckloads of the game (along with others) were buried in the landfill in the early ’80s since the game received poor reception when it came out in 1982 and was seen as a reason in Atari’s demise.
City documents show that Atari consoles and more than 1,300 games were found at the site including E.T., Centipedes, Warlords and Asteroids.
The remaining game cartridges will be sold through eBay over the next few weeks.
I’ve got one. I’ll happily sell it for $1,500.
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