Popular Post Justin Posted September 29, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 There's a new interview with Howard Scott Warshaw out this week. It's actually quite a nice interview and I wanted to share the article with you. This quote really hit home: “But, you know, the funny thing about the whole ET situation is if I were to take two more days, and gone in and cleaned up the well thing, the falling in, and straightened out a few more things, it probably would have made it just an OK game and we probably wouldn’t be talking about it right now. It would have literally changed history in a way that would have been much less interesting to me.” --Howard Scott Warshaw You can read the full story here: http://www.playboy.com/articles/the-guy-who-made-the-worst-game-ever-has-nothing-to-apologize-for AlamoAtari, Lost Dragon, greenween and 7 others 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormSurge Posted September 29, 2015 Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 Thanks for sharing Justin. Like I said on FB, I'm an E.T. apologist. Anyone that thinks this is the worst 2600 game, let alone video game of all-time, hasn't played many 2600 games. I have fond memories of getting this for Christmas & playing it. It wasn't my favorite game in my collection but it was fun and I enjoyed. I had no idea it had this reputation until many years later. LeeJ07, Justin, Lost Dragon and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoAtari Posted September 29, 2015 Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 Howard Warshaw was a very innovative programmer. It was the short deadline that ruined the game. I don't think that it's a bad game, it's a very frustrating game that can be difficult to play on the normal setting. greenween, StormSurge, Retrogamer81081 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenween Posted September 29, 2015 Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 Thanks for sharing Justin! Warshaw is awesome. LeeJ07, MaximumRD, Justin and 3 others 6 Quote "Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted September 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2015 I monitor our social media trends quite closely, and ever since Atari: Game Over came to the public mind on Netflix and Showtime I have seen a measurable change in how people generally approach the ET / Howard Scott Warshaw story. This story was posted to our Facebook page the same it was posted here. Since then, our post has been shared dozens of times and has been seen by nearly 10,000 people on our Facebook page alone. More importantly, most of the ET comments, which usually trend aggressively negative, this time have been overwhelmingly positive - particularly in support of Howard and the notion that ET as the worst game ever made is preposterous. You can see the post here: https://www.facebook.com/cx7800/posts/968124696564348 The turnaround in public opinion is astounding. There's been a noticeable shift away from unfounded hatred and cynicism, and towards a more reasonable understanding of the story, what happened, and that while not great it certainly wasn't the worst game of all time. It's wonderful to see Howard finally get the recognition he deserves, I think after 35 years that's a wonderful development in Atari's history. StormSurge, The Professor, Yo-Yo and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormSurge Posted September 30, 2015 Report Share Posted September 30, 2015 (edited) That's fantastic. HSW definitely did not deserve the scorn he received over the years. Edited September 30, 2015 by StormSurge LeeJ07, Justin, Lost Dragon and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari 5200 Guy Posted December 10, 2015 Report Share Posted December 10, 2015 I found E.T. to be one of the first adventure games where you had to pay attention to what you were doing. It could have used a little bit more work in the collision detection area but what was done in 5-6 weeks was astounding! It is also the only movie-based game that I have played that is true to the movie. This is more than I can say for NES movie-to-game ports. Warshaw did an awesome job and deserves and award for his programming talents. Long live E.T. the video game! The Professor, greenween, Lost Dragon and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted March 11, 2017 Report Share Posted March 11, 2017 VCS wasn't the only game to have been developed in such a short time, although most of the other games were 2K or 4K. For example, Ed Salvo cranked out a bunch of his games in short time: http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/ed_salvo/interview_ed_salvo.html Skeet Shoot - 4 weeks Spacechase - 6 weeks Racquetball - about 4 weeks Lost Luggage - about 4 weeks The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - about 6 weeks Mountain King - 6 weeks (very impressive, if true) He also did Colecovision Gust Buster in 6 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted March 11, 2017 Report Share Posted March 11, 2017 Everytime I hear someone say that ET on the 2600 is the worst game ever, I have to cringe. The game may not be perfect but, given the time he had to work on it, it is not a bad game. I have always enjoyed playing it, despite the issue with the pits. I think people just didn't read the instructions and had no clue what they were doing when they played it. nosweargamer 1 Quote 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosweargamer Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Everytime I hear someone say that ET on the 2600 is the worst game ever, I have to cringe. The game may not be perfect but, given the time he had to work on it, it is not a bad game. I have always enjoyed playing it, despite the issue with the pits. I think people just didn't read the instructions and had no clue what they were doing when they played it. exaclty Quote The No Swear Gamer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChtJuo040EOCTVziObIgVcg Host of The Atari 7800 Game by Game Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and YouTube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 It's a simple scapegoat for a complex situation. There was a crash in 83 that was a culmination of many many bad decisions and situations. E.T. wasn't a terrible game, but Atari certainly paid too much for the license, rushed the design process, and manufactured too many copies. See? Even that one game was a culmination of many bad choices. Most people just go with the simple instead of digging for the truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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