Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Science Fiction Author Ernest Cline Making His Way To The Atari Landfill
Many will be making the pilgrimage to Alamogordo, New Mexico on April 26 to be a part of a film documenting the unearthing of one of gaming's greatest legends. Rumor has it that the fabled "Atari landfill" contains thousands of unsold copies of the E.T. Atari 2600 video game. Among the attendees will be gamer and author Ernest Cline. In his time-machine.
Cline is most well-known for writing video game science-fiction novel Ready Player One, but he also wrote the film Fanboys. In a blog post on his personal site, he declares himself a giant E.T. fan. When the now infamous E.T. game released in 1982, Cline said he loved it. It was only later when the internet came about that he learned many had dubbed it "the worst game of all time." Cline doesn't agree, and will be traveling to the dig site to take part in history.
The post (which you can read in full here) also serves as a great primer on the history and myth surrounding the event. Local newspaper clippings from 1983 clearly show damaged and decaying Atari cartridges at the landfill, but are they still there? And are there as many as the internet would have us believe? Rumors have swirled for decades that thousands of copies of the game are buried at the site, a telltale sign of the great game industry crash of 1983. We will see on April 26.
Cline will be bringing along signed copies of his book and other pop-culture merchandise to hide in town at the event, so if you plan on attending be sure to follow him on Twitter as he tweets out hints and clues.
As for the time machine, Cline will be traveling to Alamogordo in his DeLorean DMC-12 of Back To The Future fame, which is currently being borrowed by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. If that doesn't sound like a fun road-trip, I don't know what does.
[Source: Ernie's Blog]
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
