Those games might not be the best but they’re definitely expensive.

Last week, 100 of the 13,000 Atari 2600 cartridges, found in the Old Alamogordo landfill site, were auctioned earlier this week on eBay and raised $37,000 USD for the Alamogordo Council. The names of the Atari 2600 cartridges on sale were: Asteroids, Defenders, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Missile Command, Star Raiders, Warlords and many more.

The highest grossing game was an E.T. cartridge in it’s original box. Furthermore the E.T. cartridge went for $1,537 USD. According to Tularosa Basin Historical Society Vice President Joe Lewandowski told KRQE-TV:

“It seemed like every seven to ten minutes it went up a thousand dollars, a thousand dollars, so it was just instantaneously 24, 25, 26 it just kept on going way beyond anything we expected.”

The Alamogordo Council spent approximately $50,000 USD excavating the New Mexico site. So to earn back that money, the council unanimously agreed to sell 800 of the 1300 cartridges on eBay. However the other 500 will be sent to museums around the world.

The Old Alamogordo landfill site was excavated for an Xbox Live exclusive documentary called “Atari: Game Over.” “Atari: Game Over” will be released on November 20, 2014.

My Opinion:

I think it’s great that the Alamogordo Council agreed to excavate the old landfill site so I’m OK with them selling 800 of the cartridges. Moreover, I think that the fact that some of the cartridges will be going to museums is a big step for gaming as a medium.

Lucy Pallent is an Associate Writer at MONG. She is a girl gamer from a rock in the middle of nowhere and is the world’s biggest n00b. She likes Nintendo, JRPGs and food. Feel free to follow her random ramblings on Twitter.