This was supposed to be the first episode of a six part documentary series called 'Signal to Noise', made by Xbox Entertainment Studios. However, in July 2014, it became apparent that mother company Microsoft was going to shut down Xbox Entertainment Studios. Because of this, no other episodes of 'Signal to Noise' were made. See more »
Quotes
Himself - Narrator:
[Discussing the chances that the digging of the dump being successful]
You're saying that there's a possibility that this could turn out to be a giant waste of time?
Himself - Waste Disposal Expert & Historian:
I think I've said it before: I'll bet the car, I won't bet the house.
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I don't want to spoil the ending of "Atari: Game Over", but it's one of the major reasons this was a disappointment. The filmmakers go to great lengths to play up the urban legend of the long-buried "E.T." cartridges that supposedly killed the video game industry in 1983, but the end result is an underwhelming payoff to say the least.
But the movie itself is all over the road, covering everything from the history of Atari, the guy who actually made "E.T.", the key players in the company, the guy who oversaw the actual burial, a legion of tourists who dropped by to see the excavation, the dispelling of the myth that "E.T." killed the industry . . . to Ernest Cline and his DeLorean thrown in for good measure, apparently. There's just so much going on.
As such, the best parts of the movie are the interviews with Atari personnel. These are the most worthwhile of the talking heads, and I would love to have seen more. To the movie's credit, it does have some nice production values. But the ending feels like a cheat on the part of the filmmakers, especially with so much editorializing.
5/10
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I don't want to spoil the ending of "Atari: Game Over", but it's one of the major reasons this was a disappointment. The filmmakers go to great lengths to play up the urban legend of the long-buried "E.T." cartridges that supposedly killed the video game industry in 1983, but the end result is an underwhelming payoff to say the least.
But the movie itself is all over the road, covering everything from the history of Atari, the guy who actually made "E.T.", the key players in the company, the guy who oversaw the actual burial, a legion of tourists who dropped by to see the excavation, the dispelling of the myth that "E.T." killed the industry . . . to Ernest Cline and his DeLorean thrown in for good measure, apparently. There's just so much going on.
As such, the best parts of the movie are the interviews with Atari personnel. These are the most worthwhile of the talking heads, and I would love to have seen more. To the movie's credit, it does have some nice production values. But the ending feels like a cheat on the part of the filmmakers, especially with so much editorializing.
5/10