Review of Atari: Game Over (2014) by Alejandro C — 20 Jan 2016

Atari: Game Over is a fascinating and sometimes comedic documentary. It tells about the rise and fall of an industry that was nearly extinct due to it's own greed and the unearthing of urban legend after years of speculations.

For many years it has been said that the video game crash of 1983 was caused by the infamous Atari 2600 game "E.T.," based on the Spielberg film. The game was apparently so bad that it eradicated the video game market at the time. According to legend, Atari had no choice but to bury every copy of the game in a New Mexico landfill in Alamogordo. In 2014, an excavation was conducted, and what they found was more than what they expected.

If you're a colossal nerd, like I am, you'd know that this landfill discovery was a huge moment in video game culture. So actually learning about how it happened right from the beginning is truly interesting. It's not a flawless documentary; it has it's problems. You won't find Social Network level drama in this film, but it's an enjoyable and nostalgic journey through how one of history's greatest forms of art and industry was revolutionized.