Skip to main content

New Xbox documentary series will explore buried 'E.T.' cartridge legend

New Xbox documentary series will explore buried 'E.T.' cartridge legend

Share this story

Xbox One 1024px
Xbox One 1024px

Microsoft has been putting together an eclectic selection of television series to launch exclusively on the Xbox next year, and today it's announcing an exciting new addition: a documentary series produced by Simon Chinn, producer of Man on Wire, and Jonathan Chinn, producer of Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days. The still-unnamed series will debut on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 next year, and will focus on how technology has changed entertainment, business, and the world at large.

Documentaries will cover how tech has impacted the world

The first entry in the series will address a subject of particular interest to gaming lore: the legend of Atari's buried E.T. cartridges. The game, made in the early 80s, was allegedly so bad that Atari buried truckloads of units in a New Mexico landfill — though that legend hasn't been definitively confirmed. Word came out earlier this year that a film crew planned to excavate and document what was found at the landfill, and it now appears that Xbox Entertainment Studios will be home to what's shot there.

Microsoft hopes to begin releasing shows on Xbox in the first half of next year. It's also lining up a Halo series that's executive produced by Steven Spielberg, a comedy about retired pro-skaters, and a reality series about street soccer, but none have set release dates just yet. It's clearly an ambitious effort, and Microsoft appears to be making sure that it'll have plenty of talent and titles on board when it finally begins to launch.