Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
The E.T. Atari: Game Over Documentary Airs This Month On Xbox Live
The documentary covering the excavation of the Atari E.T. cartridges from a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico that made headlines this summer has an air date.
The documentary's director, Zak Penn, tweeted that Atari: Game Over will air on Xbox Live on November 20.
The excavation of the fabled cache of Atari E.T. cartridges in the dessert is the aspect of the film that made headlines recently, but the film is also an examination of Atari's success and eventual failure focusing on Howard Scott Warshaw. Warshaw had the unenviable task of designing, developing, and releasing the E.T. game in a matter of weeks.
The documentary was meant to be part of a long-term initiative by Microsoft to create entertainment for Xbox Live under the Xbox Entertainment Studios header. The studio was closed, however, in July.
I had an opportunity to see an early cut of the film at Comic Con this year. It's not a formal review, but you can read some of my feedback on the film by heading here.
[Source: @zakpenn, via Polygon]
Our Take
The cut of the film I saw at Comic Con was entertaining and contained a suprising amount of humor and some unexpected cameos. I'm looking forward to seeing how the final film came together later this month.
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.
