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Atari: Game Over (2014)

Updated: Oct 18, 2023

My quick rating - 7.0/10. This documentary chronicles the fall of the Atari Corporation through the lens of one of the biggest mysteries of all time, dubbed “The Great Video Game Burial of 1983.” Rumor claims that millions of returned and unsold E.T. cartridges were buried in the desert, but what really happened there? I personally remember reading about this when I was a teen and always thought it was nonsense. However, it is quite interesting to see what this actually does dig up. As far as the documentary goes, there is some quality interviews with founder Nolan Bushnell and the fact they had the game engineer Howard Scott Warshaw on site for the reveal was pretty captivating. This does give some insight into Warshaw and his involvement in the making of E.T. which I did actually own back then and it was garbage. BUT in my opinion, there were TONS of games far worse for that system. Atari just kept churning out cartridge after cartridge of dribble. For the nostalgia of anyone who grew up with the console as their first gaming system, it is a must-see type of thing. Enlightening information about how the company was to be employed along with some great on-site scenes to give you a feel for the location. This and the actual dig site being excavated to find the supposed "millions" of E.T. cartridges that had nowhere else to go but into the ground was intriguing.

You can check this one out on a few freebies along with a couple of paid streamers.

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