Neat little doc on the supposed urban myth regarding a massive Atari game dump in a New Mexico town's landfill after the game company's end. Falsely accused for the demise of the Atari company was the ET game, made in five weeks after a crunch unrealistically asking a video game designer to make a remotely good game in such limited time. This doc focuses on the unearthing of the games in the landfill, with those who love Atari (and want the ET game's notoriety to be disregarded) being responsible for the whole big "archeological dig". If you grew up like I did with Atari, this will be of definite nostalgic value; for the generation hung up on Call of Duty and Halo, this might not be as interesting. To see where it all began, and to have experienced it (and just to be an 80s kid in all its awesomeness), this doc, not long at all and focusing intently on Atari with a sort of loving and sadness for its rise and fall, could be quite a lot of fun. It was for me.
What happened to Warshaw, ET's designer, is tragic and should never have blacklisted him so. His game was used as an excuse for the death of a beloved company when a number of other factors contributed to it. That it took this long for Warshaw's name to be cleared is unfortunate, but this dig resurrected his name, and those coming to his aid is satisfying. That so many showed up for the dig was a testament to what nostalgia and curiosity can assure.
What happened to Warshaw, ET's designer, is tragic and should never have blacklisted him so. His game was used as an excuse for the death of a beloved company when a number of other factors contributed to it. That it took this long for Warshaw's name to be cleared is unfortunate, but this dig resurrected his name, and those coming to his aid is satisfying. That so many showed up for the dig was a testament to what nostalgia and curiosity can assure.