Worse Than E.T.? Pac-Man And The Day Atari Lost The Video Game War

[Justin]

On a recent episode of Into The Vertical Blank Podcast, they discuss Pac-Man being released on the Atari 2600, if it was worse than E.T. or did more damage to Atari and the industry as a whole than E.T. ever did.

Into The Vertical Blank explores how Atari’s rushed release of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 hurt the company’s reputation even more than the impact of E.T. and examines how it marked a turning point, fueling disappointment and contributing to Atari’s decline:

 

 

[Marco1019]

There's been extensive discussion about these two games both on Atari.io and other sites. I even recall a Twitch stream where there was some discussion about E.T. and how it really isn't a bad game.

[RickR]

I've been saying this for a long time! 

I know a lot of people really like 2600 Pac Man, especially those that never played the arcade version prior.  And this is all fine. 

But honestly, it was a back-breaker for me and many others.  Embarrassing to show to friends, a lot of us decided to move on to a system that was more advanced because of Pac-Man.  Colecovision and its arcade ports made it look even more silly.  NOTHING about Pac Man is quite right...sounds, colors, graphics, and gameplay are all off from the original and that makes it a bad game IMO.  And yes, I get it...it was the only Pac Man we got and we all played it a ton.  Standing on it's own merits, it's not bad at all.  But compared to the orig arcade version, it was a stinker.  Too much hype, not enough quality. 

Battlezone (which we are playing over in High Score Squad) is a good comparison because it doesn't look at all like the arcade original either.  But the game is still great because they captured the gameplay spot on.  Plus, the changed graphics look GOOD and are understandable given the limitations of the 2600. 

E.T. isn't the greatest game in the world, but at least it had that really nice opening screen and it provided a complex game if you read the manual.  And RickR says "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is a far worse game than E.T.!  I know, I know...Raiders was ambitious and is kind of fun to play now.  But back then, with no internet for clues, it wasn't fun at all to trial-and-error through the game.  How many hours did I waste trying to get into that opening on the cliff with a parachute before realizing you have to USE the branch instead of avoiding it?  AAAAARGH!