E.T. Atari 2600 Is Not The Worst Game Ever, How To Play, & High Score Documentary

[nosweargamer]

8 hours ago, socrates63 said:

Ah yes, Waterworld. Earlier this year, I bought the blu-ray release by Arrow that is supposed to have a longer and better cut... which I haven't watched yet 🙁 Have you seen it?

I heard about it, and was curious, but I've only seen it on VHS, and snippets of it when it's been on TV. It's not my favorite movie, but I do like it and wouldn't mind seeing that cut one day.

[HDN]

You know, over the past few days, ET has really grown on me. Thank you all for showing me.

[TrekMD]

7 hours ago, HDN said:

You know, over the past few days, ET has really grown on me. Thank you all for showing me.

But, but, but it's the most horrible video game ever made!  It killed the gaming industry!   What a bunch on nonsense, right?  😉

[HDN]

8 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

But, but, but it's the most horrible video game ever made!  It killed the gaming industry!   What a bunch on nonsense, right?  😉

I can see how people could say it's horrible... If they hadn't read the manual. Just read it! Not that hard after you do.

[TrekMD]

1 hour ago, HDN said:

I can see how people could say it's horrible... If they hadn't read the manual. Just read it! Not that hard after you do.

You got it!  😉

[nosweargamer]

1 hour ago, HDN said:

I can see how people could say it's horrible... If they hadn't read the manual. Just read it! Not that hard after you do.

One of my pet peeves is YouTubers, podcasters and such who complain about games without learning how to play them. I am not saying they need to master the games, but at least take a minute or two to skim the manual.

This was more understandable before internet. I bought several used games without manuals and had no idea what I was doing. (Try playing Swordquest or Raiders of the Lost Ark without one! 😆) But now almost every manual is a 10 second web search away.

Ok, I'll get off of my soapbox now...

[HDN]

5 minutes ago, nosweargamer said:

One of my pet peeves is YouTubers, podcasters and such who complain about games without learning how to play them. I am not saying they need to master the games, but at least take a minute or two to skim the manual.

This was more understandable before internet. I bought several used games without manuals and had no idea what I was doing. (Try playing Swordquest or Raiders of the Lost Ark without one! 😆) But now almost every manual is a 10 second web search away.

Ok, I'll get off of my soapbox now...

I love old Atari manuals. I am so blessed to have my 2600's previous owner save all of this stuff. So fun to read this stuff.

[RickR]

I think it's just lazy journalism.  ET isn't a terrible game, but Atari paid too much for the license, rushed the development cycle, and produced too many carts.  It resulted in a financial loss that contributed to a gigantic loss in 1983. 

 

[HDN]

4 minutes ago, RickR said:

I think it's just lazy journalism.  ET isn't a terrible game, but Atari paid too much for the license, rushed the development cycle, and produced too many carts.  It resulted in a financial loss that contributed to a gigantic loss in 1983. 

 

Similar thing with Pac-Man. Who makes more copies of a game than consoles in homes? Truly idiotic.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I think the thought was that the 2600 port of Pac-Man would put more 2600 consoles in homes.  Then again I don't think anyone would have seen how iconic Pac-Man would become either.  Pac-Man went from game character to pop culture in no time...and people expected too much out of Atari and the 2600 then.  I was always under the impression the 2600 could have done a better rendition of the game. 

I remember the first time I seen the 2600's Pac-Man I thought, "This was made by the same people that made my 5200's Pac-Man?  No way.". Then you didn't see a game from Atari being made by one or more people...it was Atari that made it or it was Activision that made it.  So, to me, both Pac-Man games were made by the same place and my thought process was more like how could you get one close to arcade perfect and one not even close to anything?

Either way, both Pac-Man and E.T. are fun no matter what.  

9 hours ago, nosweargamer said:

One of my pet peeves is YouTubers, podcasters and such who complain about games without learning how to play them. I am not saying they need to master the games, but at least take a minute or two to skim the manual.

This was more understandable before internet. I bought several used games without manuals and had no idea what I was doing. (Try playing Swordquest or Raiders of the Lost Ark without one! 😆) But now almost every manual is a 10 second web search away.

Ok, I'll get off of my soapbox now...

Manuals are a must...especially with the 2600.

[nosweargamer]

3 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

I think the thought was that the 2600 port of Pac-Man would put more 2600 consoles in homes.  Then again I don't think anyone would have seen how iconic Pac-Man would become either.  Pac-Man went from game character to pop culture in no time...and people expected too much out of Atari and the 2600 then.  I was always under the impression the 2600 could have done a better rendition of the game. 

I remember the first time I seen the 2600's Pac-Man I thought, "This was made by the same people that made my 5200's Pac-Man?  No way.". Then you didn't see a game from Atari being made by one or more people...it was Atari that made it or it was Activision that made it.  So, to me, both Pac-Man games were made by the same place and my thought process was more like how could you get one close to arcade perfect and one not even close to anything?

Either way, both Pac-Man and E.T. are fun no matter what.  

 

12 hours ago, HDN said:

Similar thing with Pac-Man. Who makes more copies of a game than consoles in homes? Truly idiotic.

Appparently 2600 Space Invaders would end up selling more copies of the game than systems that had been sold before it's launch. So I'm guessing Atari figured that other hot games would produce similar results. Selling home video games was uncharted territory, so I can give them a little leeway. After all, both ET and Pac-Man where huge sellers (just not as much as they hoped) and if they made more Space Invaders than systems at the time, they would've looked smart.

However overproduction in a market that would become super-saturated did lead to the downfall of Atari and the video game crash. You live and learn...and sometimes take an entire industry down with you.

I think the differences between 2600 and 5200 pacman can be chalked up at least in part to the freedom the individual programmers had. On one hand that freedom led to some great games. On the other hand, it threw a moldy Creamsicle onto the background of Pac-Man. Oh well.

[Arenafoot]

I bought the game new, late in the existence of it..... probably 1987. So I had the game manuals, but I never knew til now what the building icon did AND that you could eat the Reese's Pieces for more points! That changes the game for me!!! That makes sense now!

Thanks!