I figured this would be better suited for TV/Media rather than Gaming. Remember E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600? For those unfamiliar with it, it was a god-awful game (which I've actually had the displeasure of "playing") that's considered to be both one of the worst games of all time and one of the biggest flops in video game history. Legend says that millions of unsold copies were buried in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Now, thanks a Canadian company called Fuel Industries, we will soon find out how much truth there is to the story... KRQE It should be noted though that it isn't just ET cartridges that are said to have to buried there, but also actual Atari consoles, as well as other games such as the 2600 Pac-Man port. So the documentary will probably not focus solely on the ET legend, but rather the burial in general.
I spent many hours on that stupid game. It's probably the reason why I've never rewatched the move. It should stay buried like me.
They should open up the landfill and replace the game cartridges with all video tapes, DVD's, and Blu-rays of the movie.
The only part of the E.T. game that I can play is the third game, the one that doesn't have the FBI guy and the scientist. The FBI guy steals your stuff, the scientist grabs you and takes you back to his lair. Repeatedly. The third game doesn't have either of those, and is the only one that a lazy-ass like me can finish.
The Atari 400/800 computer version was better, IMO. My biggest problem with it wasn't the people trying to steal E.T. and his equipment, but the horrible noises the game made when they were nearby. Someone clearly didn't playtest the thing very well. Aside from that, I found the game to really get my adrenaline going in parts and it definitely felt like a race against time to get everything put together to "phone home".
Oh that game, endless maps of holes in the floor, gotta see what there is, and ET looked more like a scorpion with a bloated tail. I did find that legend of burial rather entertaining so this should be fun to watch
I worked on some early episodes of The Electric Playground, in one of the episodes the hosts interviewed the guys who made the game. I recall them saying that the game wasn't meant to be finished or make much sense. It was coded enough to get it out the door and that's it.
How can people hate this game and not make any mention of 2600 Pac-Man? That makes the E.T. game look like Call of Duty.
Seriously! Arcade Pac Man was: Deedeedeedeededededededededededededededededede dee! wrglewrglewrglewrgle..boowup! blgblgblgblgblgblgblg... wokka wokka wokka wokka wokka... Atari Pac Man was: Do! do! do! do! dun dun dun...dun dun dun... dun dun dun dun...
I can believe that. My brothers and I were big into the 2600, and they released games at a pretty fast clip, and they were expensive for the day too. I remember playing the ET game, I think one of my neighbors had it, but I don't recall it being as horrible as described.
I had to look that game up to see what you were talking about. Pac-Man 2600 looks like the textbook definition of a cheap rush job.
I think if you know what you're doing the game isn't super horrible. It's still pretty bad though. The only problem is the goals of the game are so vague that it's not exactly clear what you're supposed to do. Compared to Pitfall where you ran your guy left and right and collected points.
IIRC wasn't the development cycle for this game something insane like eight weeks? Basically the movie was a surprise smash hit and they decided they needed a videogame NOW to capitalize on it.
This interview with Howard Scott Warshaw should shed some light on E.T. as well as Atari in general. Howard was the designer of E.T and several other major Atari titles from the 80s era.
Ah, those were the days. You had to account for every byte of code with a hard memory ceiling and ensure you didn't exceed 32767 lines. Back when coding discipline was mandatory, rather than the quaint idea it's become in the past 2 decades.