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For 30 years in the circles of fans of video games goes the legend that somewhere in New Mexico millions of cartridges are buried with "the most terrible game of all times and peoples." Just the other day, the veracity of this legend has been proven. But first I will tell you the whole story from the very beginning.
In the 80s of the last century, video games were, to put it mildly, not very intricate. Remember the Atari 2600 console, popular in those years, and everything will be clear to you right away. Games for her were developed by all who were not too lazy to do this, therefore, as a rule, they were not distinguished by high quality and artistic performance. Especially monstrous were the games for popular in those years movies, as they had to be released as soon as possible in order to have time to make money on the wave of popularity of this or that film.
One of such low-profile games was the adaptation of Steven Spielberg's film “Alien” (1982). The film has become incredibly popular, so the release of the game based on his motives did not cause any doubts. The game, developed in a hurry in just five and a half weeks, turned out to be so miserable that it still bears the title of "The worst game in the history of mankind." Moreover, the release of this game is considered the beginning of the greatest crisis of the video game market, which occurred in 1983. The low quality of games has led to a sharp decline in demand for gaming consoles and related products, which has led to the bankruptcy of many companies and, in fact, to a kind of reset of the entire industry.
The company Atari, which developed the game, suffered huge losses instead of getting rich due to the popularity of the Spielberg film. And since the game cartridges had already been released several million, but no one bought them, and if they did, they returned them, it was decided to clear the warehouses and bury them near the town of Alamogordo, which is the administrative center of New Mexico. This event was not advertised anywhere, and information about it was leaked to the people by pure chance. This gave rise to one of the greatest urban legends in the world of video games, which has stirred the minds of gamers for over 30 years. Where were the cartridges buried with such a terrible game, and did these cartridges exist at all?
Last year, the authorities of Alamogordo gave the go-ahead to the excavations in the place where the game cartridges were allegedly buried in 1982. The event was organized by a small team of enthusiasts who, with the support of Microsoft Corporation, decided to make a documentary about one of the most interesting stories in the world of video games. All attempts to discover the burial site before this point were in vain, so no one had any particular hope of success.
However, on April 26, 2014, the excavations gave the first fruits. Several hundred cartridges were found, which were surprisingly well preserved. In addition to the "Alien" were found and other not very successful games, which also went to the trash in 1982. Who knows how many more millions of cartridges the documentary team will find in the earth’s thickness. Even the game designer Howard Scott Vorshaw, who in 1982 created this most unfortunate game, was invited to the site of the excavation.
Many gamers around the world followed with interest the progress of this unusual investigation and were looking forward to its first results. It is pleasant to realize that some myths turn out to be true, and even more pleasant is the fact that there are people who spend their time and energy trying to get to the truth. Soon, with the assistance of Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studios will be released a documentary film in which viewers will tell this story in all its details. The film will initially be available exclusively to subscribers of the Xbox Live service, but we all know that very soon it will appear on the Internet.
The article is based on materials .
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