Microsoft Just Solved One Of The Biggest Mysteries In Video Game History

Microsoft dug up a bunch of "E.T." Atari video game cartridges in the New Mexico desert Saturday afternoon that had been buried there for over 30 years.

Yes, that sounds like an odd thing to do, but finding those cartridges proved one of the most famous urban legends in video game history is actually true.

"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" was released in 1983 for the Atari 2600 video game console. The game was horrible and widely considered to be the worst of all time. According to legend, the game's developers were so embarrassed by their failure that they buried the unsold cartridges in the desert in New Mexico.

A few months ago, Microsoft said it was going to figure out whether or not the legend was true. It didn't take Microsoft's crew long to prove it was.

Mystery solved!

Here are a few tweets and photos from the event:

Urban legend CONFIRMED pic.twitter.com/NruKE7qkbm

- Larry Hryb (@majornelson) April 26, 2014

Looks like ET had some company here in New Mexico. Still in shrink wrap! pic.twitter.com/BNjKyVVcrN

- Larry Hryb (@majornelson) April 26, 2014

Here it is up close - the very first ET cartridge exhumed after 30 years pic.twitter.com/nb8tv33w8F

- Larry Hryb (@majornelson) April 26, 2014

still digging them up #EtDIG https://t.co/Gf5j1QFfkB

- Austin Paul Adamson (@apadamson) April 26, 2014