Allegedly the cause of video game giant Atari's downfall in 1984, 3.5 million unsold copies of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial video game were uncovered next to the first atomic bomb site in New Mexico eight months ago. Now, the film documenting the $50,000 dig is being released. It was a blatant attempt to cover up Atari's biggest embarrassment: a flop video game designed to piggy back off of Steven Spielberg's massive box office success.

The clincher? It was universally derided and only sold 1.5 million copies – chump change. Atari bit the bullet and, deciding to wipe the slate clean, planted all 3.5 million unsold copies deep underground in 1983. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for 31 years, the game passed out of all knowledge.

Until it was uncovered. Queues of diehard gamers and truth seekers snaked through the desert, hoping to witness history and maybe snatch a copy. Still in dust-repellent shrink wrap, the 1,300 games found in the dig became property of Alamogordo, Mexico. The 800 games fetched a total of $37,000 in an online auction from bidders in Canada, Germany and Sweden. 

Screenwriter turned filmmaker Zak Penn (X-Men 2, Avengers) explores the fabled urban legend known as ‘The Great Video Game Burial of 1983’ through his thrill-ride documentary Atari: Game Over. To sift fact from fiction, Penn and his team interviewed creator of the E.T. video game Howard Scott Warshaw. The film, which has just garnered an Academy Award nomination, debuts February 2 and, naturally, follows an exclusive preview available on Xbox.

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