Microsoft is planning a series of documentaries set to stream on the Xbox One and Xbox 360, starting with one about the rumour surrounding the Atari 2600 version of ET, considered by many to be the worst video game ever made.
The documentary will investigate a patch of desert that is supposed to be the burial site of over a million cartridges of the game, a landfill where Atari hid its shame after horrible reviews and sales wrecked the potential for a bankable movie tie in game. Of course it might all be hearsay and nonsense, but that's what the documentary is set to find out.
This will be part of a series of documentaries originally airing exclusively on the Xbox platform as part of Microsoft's Entertainment Studios, the boss of which Nancy Tellem said: "These stories will expose how the digital revolution created a global democracy of information, entertainment and commerce, and how it impacts our lives every day."
The ET documentary sounds somewhat similar to the plot of the AVGN movie which can't come sooner at this point. With filming of the former expected to begin next year, it's going to seem somewhat redundant watching a movie about whether or not there are millions of Atari games down there, when we'll know for a fact whether it's true or not before the film even comes out.
Still this sounds like a pretty interesting series and original programming is clearly the way to go, with both Amazon and Netflix already financing their own developments.
[Cheers Eurogamer]
