What was so bad about the E.T. game?

[JBan]

I've heard a lot of bad stuff about it, but I have never played it nor watched gameplay of it. I'm just wondering if any of you guys have an opinion on it, and why it's so bad.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I was like 8 or 9 when it came out. We got a copy of it immediately. The controls were awful, even for an Atari 2600 game. If you fell down into a hole, it was difficult as hell to get out because you could float, but the moment the screen switched back to the above ground screen, if you were anywhere near the hole or not holding the joystick at the correct angle, you'd fall back into the hole. It was never really clear what you were supposed to be doing.

Nowadays, it might not be so bad. But when ET came out, it was such a cultural phenomenon that the game was held to an incredibly high standard.

 

[Solidus1]

I'll demonstrate the problem with visuals.

 

[JBan]

I'll demonstrate the problem with visuals.

What in the actual hell. I thought it was an E.T. game, not a game based on daydreaming while you're high.

I was like 8 or 9 when it came out. We got a copy of it immediately. The controls were awful, even for an Atari 2600 game. If you fell down into a hole, it was difficult as hell to get out because you could float, but the moment the screen switched back to the above ground screen, if you were anywhere near the hole or not holding the joystick at the correct angle, you'd fall back into the hole. It was never really clear what you were supposed to be doing.

Nowadays, it might not be so bad. But when ET came out, it was such a cultural phenomenon that the game was held to an incredibly high standard.

While that sounds incredibly shitty, I'd have to imagine that you were confused as fuck when you were a child.

Also, thanks guys for the info, it was just something that randomly came to mind.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Not to mention the game was designed and finished in about 6 weeks in order to simply get it out in time for the Christmas rush. I was still pretty young during the ET craze, but I do remember a lot of it. Atari just wanted to capitalize on the fame of the movie as quickly as they could and put out an extremely bad product.

What's funny is I remember watching a documentary about this game and it's relation to the US video game crash of 1984. It was called "Atari: Game Over." It was very odd because it was a propaganda piece aimed at making this game look better than it actually was. I always remember one guy mentioning he would rather play ET than any other current video game. They also claimed that ET wasn't responsible for the video game crash because there were lots of other Atari games that were buried in that dump. However, their logic was flawed since ET was the only game that had double digit percentages in the dump.

But more than anything else, I can just comment on being a kid when it came out and in the 35 years since, I have never been more disappointed in a game than this one.

 

[Solidus1]

What in the actual hell. I thought it was an E.T. game, not a game based on daydreaming while you're high.

Although most Atari games had the same very pixilated look, this one just looked particularly bad.

 

[JBan]

Not to mention the game was designed and finished in about 6 weeks in order to simply get it out in time for the Christmas rush. I was still pretty young during the ET craze, but I do remember a lot of it. Atari just wanted to capitalize on the fame of the movie as quickly as they could and put out an extremely bad product.

What's funny is I remember watching a documentary about this game and it's relation to the US video game crash of 1984. It was called "Atari: Game Over." It was very odd because it was a propaganda piece aimed at making this game look better than it actually was. I always remember one guy mentioning he would rather play ET than any other current video game. They also claimed that ET wasn't responsible for the video game crash because there were lots of other Atari games that were buried in that dump. However, their logic was flawed since ET was the only game that had double digit percentages in the dump.

But more than anything else, I can just comment on being a kid when it came out and in the 35 years since, I have never been more disappointed in a game than this one.

LMAO, I was literally laughing in between every word. I would've been disappointed as well.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Although most Atari games had the same very pixilated look, this one just looked particularly bad.

Growing up on Atari 2600, you could imagine the shock I had when we got a NES. I was like "HOW THE FUCK DID THEY DO THIS????"

Nowadays, watching video games, I realize how far we've come and it's beyond fascinating.

 

[Solidus1]

Growing up on Atari 2600, you could imagine the shock I had when we got a NES. I was like "HOW THE FUCK DID THEY DO THIS????"

Nowadays, watching video games, I realize how far we've come and it's beyond fascinating.

I felt the same way getting a PS1 after playing a SNES for years.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I felt the same way getting a PS1 after playing a SNES for years.

I actually took a vacation from work to play Final Fantasy 10 when it came out on the PS2. I didn't do anything but play that game for 9 days straight.

I often wonder where we're going to be in 20 years when I finally reach 25 years old :emoji_grin: I know Michio Kaku thinks we can come close to holodecks in the future. I am not technologically inclined to know though.

 

[Solidus1]

I actually took a vacation from work to play Final Fantasy 10 when it came out on the PS2. I didn't do anything but play that game for 9 days straight.

I played a lot of games on PS1 & 2, but never Final Fantasy.

I often wonder where we're going to be in 20 years when I finally reach 25 years old :emoji_grin:

Are we going back in time? 5:

 

[Jacob Fox]

Are we going back in time? 5:

.

:quiet:

 

[Nikki Nitro]

My grandmother had an Atari! I played on it a few times.... I sooo wish I could've saved it. It unfortunantly got toasted in her Apartment Fire couple yra ago....

 

[JBan]

Man, I loved the PS1! The Atari 2600 wasn't my time, but I remember playing the hell out of my PS1. So much that I got my parents to buy me a PS2, which I still think is the best console of all time.

 

[Rosie]

It's so bad it almost killed the entire gaming industry. Need this Beavdoof say more?