[Or: “The Extra-Collectible”]

A Canadian film studio has been given permission to excavate an Atari landfill in Alamogordo,* New Mexico, where horrible games went to die.

Of particular interest in the Atari landfill is an old E.T. video game. The game had been created after the 1982 Steven Spielberg movie, but the game was universally panned as being awful. Now, however, people are clamoring for copies of the game and the old Atari games have become quite the hit on eBay.

Fuel Industries wants to search the Alamogordo landfill to see how many of the old Atari games they can recover. They have been given six months to search the landfill, and many will be curious to see what they find. Word has it that in 1983 nine semi-trucks dumped various Atari toys in the landfill, including many copies of the coveted E.T. game.

Reportedly it wasn’t just “E.T.” (extra-terrible?) that was buried, but other games and entire systems as well. Seems like F.I. is looking to profit from the failures of others.

Rule for people and/or companies who develop craptacular products – don’t bury or destroy them. Shelve them in a warehouse and wait 10 to 30 years** while they amass a cult following, then sell them as “collectibles” for ridiculous prices on eBay.

* No, it’s not Allamagoosa’s hometown.

** Average length 15-20 years, until the kids mature into late-30-something adults and contract nostalgitis.