One of the best and oddest stories to come out of the pre-video game crash era is the tale of Atari's E.T. The title was notoriously bad, and Atari decided to bury approximately five million units in the New Mexico desert.

The story, which many believe to be urban legend, is true. According to the New York Times of September 28, 1983, 14 truckloads of cartridges and consoles were dumped in an Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill. Now, someone wants to dig them up (after Atari founder Nolan Bushnell pretended to do just that last month).

Fuel Industries, a marketing company from Alberta, Canada, has struck a deal with the town of Alamogordo. The firm will be filming the excavation for a documentary. The arrangement will give Fuse half a year to complete the project, which includes the 30th anniversary of the dump.

The big question isn't what they'll find, but if all those THQ uDraw units will be lonely if E.T. leaves. That is an urban legend.

[Source: WRQE]