Re:E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill
by flomo on Saturday April 26, 2014 @04:14PM
(#7652615)
Atari games were discounted to $1 or $2 and they were stacked to the celling at major retailers. They sat around discount stores for a decade afterward. There's still warehouses full of them.[1] The company produced millions more games than the number of systems they sold, so who would they have given them too?
[1] http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/02/gamesetinterview_ataricl...
Re:E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill
by callesgg on Saturday April 26, 2014 @04:08PM
(#7652598)
It Is a shity game. Allowing people to play it would have been bad for the brand.
Where I work, we(someone) burns the stuff that we can't sell not cause the stuff is bad, it is done to make shore the brand does not get associated with Cheap stuff.
Brand status is important.
(I know it is somewhat insane but it is the way capitalism works)
Re:E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill
by xrjn on Saturday April 26, 2014 @07:41PM
(#7653196)
One of the local super markets sends containers full of new TVs, washing machines, and more, to the local scrap yard. They didn't sell them within the period that they expected, and instead of discounting them (which would drive away consumers from more expensive products), they 'recycle' them.
Re:E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill
by gregd on Saturday April 26, 2014 @04:12PM
(#7652610)
And yet look where Atari is today..
Re:E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill
by raldi on Saturday April 26, 2014 @04:17PM
(#7652624)
If I remember correctly, the cartridges had to be destroyed for tax reasons.
Re:E.T. cartridges found in infamous Atari landfill
by smacktoward on Saturday April 26, 2014 @04:39PM
(#7652670)
> this happened back when we really didn't give a shit about the environment
The first Earth Day was in 1970: http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement
Which is not to say it was impossible in the early '80s to not give a shit about the environment, just that by that point ignorance really wasn't a good excuse anymore.
What I'm dumbfounded by is why they didn't simply give them away? It reminds me of all the stupid YouTube videos of people who wait in line to buy the latest Apple product only to smash it in front of everyone else waiting in line...