The last game in the blue Atari logbook from 1982 is probably Yars' Revenge, so they don't have challenges for _E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial._ Here's my suggestions. There's three games, so try to win (once or multiple times) from easy to hard on difficulty B. Pro: win game 3 (only Elliot present). Master: win game 2 (Elliot and FBI agent who steals the phone). Wizard: win game 1 (Elliot, FBI agent, and Scientist who captures E.T.). Then see how many times you can win game 1 before running out of energy and what score you can reach. My high score sheet says I ended on round 7 with 79931. Note: getting more than 31 candies, you get 1000 points for each additional, but it costs you 700 energy each when you start the next round. Also there's 3 Easter Eggs in this: get phone, give Elliot 7 pieces then revive flower. Each time you get something, and the third time you should get initials.
I was 5 years old when E.T. came out and I remember getting it and loving it. I even managed to beat the game a few times while I was still very young. I think calling it The worst game of all time became the popular thing to say and honestly when reviewers crap on it they lose credibility with me. Your review was very thorough and fair just like all of your reviews. Well done.
Amen. I loved this game and was shocked when I heard people years later complaining. Play circus Atari for awhile and then play this. I was wowed by this game. Same with Raiders
I know right!? Read the instructions and learn how the game works and it's pretty fun! Stressful in the highest difficulty but fun adventure game, before it's time
I got this for Christmas growing up and I loved it. I never have quite understood why everyone hates it. Is it a great game? Probably not. But my fond memories of it tell me that I enjoyed it at the time. Call me crazy.
The game was hated, because no one knew how to play it. Somewhere along the way, it got the reputation as "the worst video game ever made." For an Atari 2600 game, it doesn't look that bad, let alone the worst game ever made. Even James Rolfe (AKA AVGN) has admitted that's he's played many games that are way worse than E.T.
@@NeoKokoro20 Even folks who knew how to play it quickly became frustrated with the clunky, repetetive gameplay. Calling it the worst ever is a stretch for sure, but it definitely deserved its reputation as a big disappointment.
When I was watching your review of the game I couldn't help but think of another game review I saw of the game that wasn't as positive. His description of the game made me laugh though. He said: "Remember that part of the movie when ET is falling down holes a lot and then can't get out of them and then dies and then Elliot walks over to him for CPR and then he gets up and walks around some more and then some guy picks him up and takes him to ancient Rome?" He probably didn't like it because he didn't learn how to play it. Peanut Butter Gamer is a funny guy and doesn't swear in his videos like a lot of others do but a common thing I noticed is that he doesn't pay much attention when it comes to things like directions.
The developer of this game, Howard Scott Warshaw is a member of an Atari Facebook group and is a great guy to interact with. He recently wrote a book giving his side of the story. I got this game for Christmas when it came out and thought it was decent. Ironically I saw the movie 10 years later and did not like it.
E.T. on the Atari 2600 is such a amazing, innovative and fun game for the time. I still play it regularly. Personally, I don't understand why this game got so much hate, got thrown into a landfill, and got accused of being the worst video game of all time, and being the cause of the video game crash of 83. I don't get that at all. This game should be remembered as a masterpiece.
I enjoyed it too, but E.T.'s big problem was that you couldn't just pop it in and play it with some degree of success. You had to read the manual and figure it out *first*.
The answer is that little kids (under 10?) couldn't play it and win it. It was so frustrating their parents took it back to the store. Someone said an online version fixed the pixel-checker where you fall back in the pit as soon as you come out. They obviously didn't playtest it. At 11 or 12 I was able to read the manual and win it. A bicycle chase action game would have done better; I just learned the arcade programmers had started working on Paperboy in 1982.
Now that's just silly. SKYRIM is still played regularly. DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is a masterpiece. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA was innovative. But E.T.? C'mon man, lol. Was it the worst game ever? Of course not. But using those superlatives to describe this colossal bomb (which absolutely deserves its reputation as a stinker) is absurd. I'm glad you enjoy it, but that praise is wayyyyy over the top.
E.T. isn't that bad. Games like Action 52 (NES and Sega Genesis), Sonic 06 (PlayStation 3 and X-Box 360), Star Fox (Atari 2600), Dark Castle (Sega Genesis and Philips CDI), and Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing (PC). Games that have broken controls, awful graphics that do the console it's on no justice, glitches galore, awful design, dull frustrating gameplay. Games that make you think: "Who thought this was acceptable as a finished product?" Also the video game market crash of 1983 may have also been caused by the rising popularity of home computers. Which could not only play games but could also do a number of other things.
Thanks for the fair review of E.T. Most people that review this game just like to make fun of it. Honestly, I like E.T. It isn't my favorite game on the 2600 by a long shot, but it is fun and doesn't deserve all the hate it gets, in my opinion.
Well, parents still took it back in December or after Christmas because little kids didn't like it. So despite selling perhaps net 2 million in 1982-3, it went off Billboard's top 10 list because of the returns.
You're right. It's not that ET was THAT bad (which it was). It was just the exclamation point on many other Atari games that were much worse. The crash occurred because of the terrible quality of many previous releases.
I had this game as a 5 year old kid and I liked it just fine. I will allways defend it as a solid overall Atari game. If may be the worst MARKETED game of all time due to the idiotic amount of copies made, but I still enjoyed it just fine. I was legit shocked 15 years later when I saw all of the internet hate for it. It will always be good in my book.
I could win this game. I could not win _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ on my own. In fact everything I did was in the instruction manual, or later on the internet. If I'd known you could call Atari and they'd send you the walkthrough for _Raiders_ I'd have done it, even though I played it at a friends' house where I stayed for a week.
So, list of 10 Atari 2600 games with title screens: 10. Gravitar 9. Double Dunk 8. Rampage 7. Crystal Castles 6. Phoenix 5. California Games 4. Desert Falcon 3. Joust 2. Mario Bros. 1. Centipede (despite the fact that the arcade version never had a title screen of its own, plus the false advertising of a title screen with better detailed mushrooms than the arcade version and than you start playing and there just rectangles🫤). Sorry for the rant but that’s always “bugged” me😉😅.
This put me in a weird nostalgic place seeing it 6 years late. My wife and I started dating in March of 2014, and we were hanging out at her place watching the documentary on the E.T. dump site this video mentioned later, less than a year into our relationship.
I actually like E.T., and I have owned it for many years. I enjoyed your review! I look forward to seeing all of your 2600 reviews, they are very well put together and informative.
I remember as a kid in the early 90's my friend bought an old 2600 and a few carts at a yard sale. ET was on of the carts. Too bad the 2600 was broken and we never got it fixed.
Definitely. I didn't discover anything on my own in _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ and could only win it when the internet showed me how. The programmer also took away some points (which is obscure) so even if you won it on the first life, not using a grenade and finding the easter egg, you couldn't get full "points" with the manlift going all the way up to the ark.
very calm review - i liked video a lot, and i want to play the game) i have never seen a film, so i have no hate to the game because it is not close enough to the original, but gameplay... it is not a complete game: find and collect several piece... for example Addams Family for NES and many other games have same goal, but different core of gameplay, and it is funny and tricky platmorming, so "the way" is more interesting than 'destination', but here you just have to check all pits and it is not so interesting to do what if i put 3 coins and 3 cockroachs under 10 paper cups and let you lift them one by one until you find all 3 coins, would it be "The Game"? i believe it would not, there has to be some kind of art you can learn and master, even gambling based on counting and probability control
Another good review. You are right that the pits are indeed awful, Pitfall... that made me chuckle. This is a challenging game a la Adventure on level 3- the pieces are always in different places. I liked it as a kid and I had the manual which did assist a good deal. I still play it to this day.
1. E.T. 2. Centipede 3. Off the Wall 4. Dig Dug 5. Fatal Run 6. Gravitar 7. Mario Bros. 8. Crystal Castles 9. SprintMaster 10. Kangaroo These games have title screens
Colonel Llama add to the list Millipede, Super Baseball, Super Football, Secret Quest, Save Mary, Tunnel Runner, Rampage and all 3 of the SwordQuest games
Patsfan 4life The only ones i'd consider as late releases are Off the Wall, Fatal Run and SprintMaster since they were release in the late 80's. Most of the other games in this list were made before 1984.
Great review Phil! E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is technically a decent game despite it's poor reputation if one just bothers to read the manual. I guess that was a lot to ask of many kids back in the day for some reason.
I remember an older kid reading a Choose-Your-Own Adventure story to an 8-year-old neighbor, so I don't think kids that age or younger read the manuals.
COMMENTOR: This game doesn't deserve the hate. People were just too lazy to read the manual. It was fun. ME: No, it wasn't. It's every bit as poor as its reputation. Not the worst game ever made by any stretch, but outside of its striking title screen, it easily deserved its bad rap. Should have been called, "Falling into Holes: The Game".
I think it's insulting to say 6-8 year-olds were too lazy to read the manual. If this had been a good action bicycle chase game they'd have played it and kept it. Instead due to its flaws, parents had to return it after Christmas. The hate came later when they grew up and said it ruined their Christmas.
@@sandal_thong Agreed, and while there may have been a number of kids who tried to plug-and-play it, that should have been expected given the target audience of the film. Spielberg approved it, but his first reaction to the proposed gameplay was, "Couldn't you make it more like Pac-Man?" He understood that it needed to be easily accessible. Your idea of a bicycle chase game is a good one.
@@speedgriffon2504 Thanks. I recently learned the programmers at the arcade division of Atari started working on Paperboy in 1982. Atari 2600 programmers had to work alone, but I don't know about arcade or computer programmers. Someone said they outsourced some 2600 games in 1983 as well as some 5200 games in 1982-3. I think the contractor might have used a team, since Jungle Hunt and Moon Patrol look and sound so good. Unfortunate that Mario Bros. and Joust look so bad, though people say the gameplay is well done.
Great review as you give a very non-biased opinion. I'll have to try this game one day. Lets calculate the winning formula for this game: Energy = ReesesPieces ^2 * ElliotSaves - (Pitfalls + AgentCaptures + Movements) / Randomizer LOL...simple.
great vids I subbed , I grew up in this era , and i would say we all thought pac man was waaaay worse than ET , was a lot of sad kids that got pacman for xmas
Excellent review and discussion on the 1983 NA Game Crash... I've been thinking on and off about doing a dedicated video to that very thing... and I agree wholeheartedly with all your points (except Pac-Man was so bad... loss of confidence in the maker of the console). ET was not that bad... I think 1) Not exactly the typical and expected 2600 game and 2) Ahead of its time. Heh heh. Making my way through your videos.
One of the problems regarding Shovelware is that Atari itself is to blame for low-quality games they released as well as a glut (they released 33 in 1983!). But I think it comes down to Pac-Man, despite it being a best-seller from its release in March 1982 through January 1983. But not Atari Pac-Man turning people off to console games, though there had to be some disappointment. At the time, there was Pac-Man Fever which meant kids would play any version of Pac-Man like the Coleco Tabletop Arcade handheld, or any dots-in-a-maze game like Mousetrap, Lock 'n' Chase, Alien, etc. So they could have used it to launch a new system (like the 5200) or the Atari computers, since the Atari VCS/Sears Video Arcade/2600 was from 1977. Whichever, people would have bought it to play Pac-Man. Instead they double-downed on the 2600, which they found a way of producing cheaper in Hong Kong and/or Taiwan, but they did sell 2-5 million more Atari consoles in 1982 on top of the 10 million they sold 1977-1981. People bought consoles to play games. Once you got the Atari, you were then "locked in." They had a lot of game cartridges out, perhaps too many from the early years that looked bad, didn't sell and took up shelf space. But this also meant games before 1982 had a price advantage over new releases. Wikipedia said there were 27 games that sold over 1 million. If you only bought those games (there were magazines with reviews in 1982, but who read them?) that still cost a lot. I think investor confidence was hurt first, then retailer confidence when they couldn't move product, and finally consumer confidence.
I thought D.K., Jr. was a new game by Atari and bought it, perhaps in 1988. Getting past those fast chompers on the conveyors was nearly impossible on fast. I've since learned they had bought out the Coleco games library and repackaged their 1983 game under the Atari red label. One of the last Atari games I bought new in the box. I should have known by then to play games before buying them, if possible.
I prefer to play my Atari video games their original game controllers. So I will only play E.T. with an actual Atari joystick controller. Besides the Sega Genesis controllers are Left Handed and I play Right Handed.
Just like the angry videogame nerd said at the end of this movie it’s not a bad game it’s just seen as bad because people didn’t know how to play they didn’t want to learn because at the time Atari games were just pick up and start doing stuff and you know what to do after a minute or less
What do you expect from under-ten-year-olds? Their parents had to return the game in December or after Christmas. What a bummer. All because Atari didn't playtest this game (or fix the pitfall glitch) like the Imagic documentary showing them making Atlantis and kids playing it.
The last game in the blue Atari logbook from 1982 is probably Yars' Revenge, so they don't have challenges for _E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial._ Here's my suggestions. There's three games, so try to win (once or multiple times) from easy to hard on difficulty B.
Pro: win game 3 (only Elliot present).
Master: win game 2 (Elliot and FBI agent who steals the phone).
Wizard: win game 1 (Elliot, FBI agent, and Scientist who captures E.T.).
Then see how many times you can win game 1 before running out of energy and what score you can reach. My high score sheet says I ended on round 7 with 79931. Note: getting more than 31 candies, you get 1000 points for each additional, but it costs you 700 energy each when you start the next round.
Also there's 3 Easter Eggs in this: get phone, give Elliot 7 pieces then revive flower. Each time you get something, and the third time you should get initials.
I was 5 years old when E.T. came out and I remember getting it and loving it. I even managed to beat the game a few times while I was still very young. I think calling it The worst game of all time became the popular thing to say and honestly when reviewers crap on it they lose credibility with me. Your review was very thorough and fair just like all of your reviews. Well done.
Amen. I loved this game and was shocked when I heard people years later complaining. Play circus Atari for awhile and then play this. I was wowed by this game. Same with Raiders
The only thing that soured the game for me was falling in the pits and not figuring out the best way to get out of them.
I could never figure out what to do. Probably didn't read the manual. It helps a lot.
ET is my favorite game on the Atari 2600. I still play it and still love it.
I know right!? Read the instructions and learn how the game works and it's pretty fun! Stressful in the highest difficulty but fun adventure game, before it's time
Its one of my ten Desert Island games
This game used to piss me off. When I was a kid. I finally get to see the ending after 35 years lol.
I got this for Christmas growing up and I loved it. I never have quite understood why everyone hates it. Is it a great game? Probably not. But my fond memories of it tell me that I enjoyed it at the time. Call me crazy.
The game was hated, because no one knew how to play it. Somewhere along the way, it got the reputation as "the worst video game ever made." For an Atari 2600 game, it doesn't look that bad, let alone the worst game ever made. Even James Rolfe (AKA AVGN) has admitted that's he's played many games that are way worse than E.T.
@@NeoKokoro20 Even folks who knew how to play it quickly became frustrated with the clunky, repetetive gameplay. Calling it the worst ever is a stretch for sure, but it definitely deserved its reputation as a big disappointment.
When I was watching your review of the game I couldn't help but think of another game review I saw of the game that wasn't as positive. His description of the game made me laugh though. He said:
"Remember that part of the movie when ET is falling down holes a lot
and then can't get out of them and then dies and then Elliot walks over to him for CPR and then he gets up and walks around some more and then some guy picks him up and takes him to ancient Rome?"
He probably didn't like it because he didn't learn how to play it. Peanut Butter Gamer is a funny guy and doesn't swear in his videos like a lot of others do but a common thing I noticed is that he doesn't pay much attention when it comes to things like directions.
The developer of this game, Howard Scott Warshaw is a member of an Atari Facebook group and is a great guy to interact with. He recently wrote a book giving his side of the story. I got this game for Christmas when it came out and thought it was decent. Ironically I saw the movie 10 years later and did not like it.
E.T. on the Atari 2600 is such a amazing, innovative and fun game for the time. I still play it regularly. Personally, I don't understand why this game got so much hate, got thrown into a landfill, and got accused of being the worst video game of all time, and being the cause of the video game crash of 83. I don't get that at all.
This game should be remembered as a masterpiece.
I enjoyed it too, but E.T.'s big problem was that you couldn't just pop it in and play it with some degree of success. You had to read the manual and figure it out *first*.
The answer is that little kids (under 10?) couldn't play it and win it. It was so frustrating their parents took it back to the store. Someone said an online version fixed the pixel-checker where you fall back in the pit as soon as you come out. They obviously didn't playtest it. At 11 or 12 I was able to read the manual and win it.
A bicycle chase action game would have done better; I just learned the arcade programmers had started working on Paperboy in 1982.
Now that's just silly. SKYRIM is still played regularly. DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is a masterpiece. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA was innovative. But E.T.? C'mon man, lol. Was it the worst game ever? Of course not. But using those superlatives to describe this colossal bomb (which absolutely deserves its reputation as a stinker) is absurd. I'm glad you enjoy it, but that praise is wayyyyy over the top.
Especially if you play it as a young kid. I couldn't figure out what to do. Pissed me off lol.
E.T. isn't that bad. Games like Action 52 (NES and Sega Genesis), Sonic 06 (PlayStation 3 and X-Box 360), Star Fox (Atari 2600), Dark Castle (Sega Genesis and Philips CDI), and Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing (PC). Games that have broken controls, awful graphics that do the console it's on no justice, glitches galore, awful design, dull frustrating gameplay. Games that make you think: "Who thought this was acceptable as a finished product?"
Also the video game market crash of 1983 may have also been caused by the rising popularity of home computers. Which could not only play games but could also do a number of other things.
any LJN games besides maxium carnage, superman 64
I don’t get why people say this is the worst. There are so many worse unplayable stinkers.
I told you before, man, Its not THAT bad!
You are so right! But Tax Avoiders on the other hand...
Thanks for the fair review of E.T. Most people that review this game just like to make fun of it. Honestly, I like E.T. It isn't my favorite game on the 2600 by a long shot, but it is fun and doesn't deserve all the hate it gets, in my opinion.
You're welcome. E.T. gets a very unfair rap.
Thanks for this! My six-year-old son is obsessed with Atari and the last two videos I showed him I had to turn off because of F bombs.
This is a very good game for Atari. Its bad reputation is more a product of the video game crash than anything else. IN MY OPINION.
The version that fixes it's bigs makes ET a decent game.
Well, parents still took it back in December or after Christmas because little kids didn't like it. So despite selling perhaps net 2 million in 1982-3, it went off Billboard's top 10 list because of the returns.
You're right. It's not that ET was THAT bad (which it was). It was just the exclamation point on many other Atari games that were much worse. The crash occurred because of the terrible quality of many previous releases.
Agreed. The same type of thing is happening with superhero films right now -- a glut of lower-quality films is dampening enthusiasm.
I had this game as a 5 year old kid and I liked it just fine. I will allways defend it as a solid overall Atari game. If may be the worst MARKETED game of all time due to the idiotic amount of copies made, but I still enjoyed it just fine. I was legit shocked 15 years later when I saw all of the internet hate for it. It will always be good in my book.
I could win this game. I could not win _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ on my own. In fact everything I did was in the instruction manual, or later on the internet. If I'd known you could call Atari and they'd send you the walkthrough for _Raiders_ I'd have done it, even though I played it at a friends' house where I stayed for a week.
So, list of 10 Atari 2600 games with title screens:
10. Gravitar
9. Double Dunk
8. Rampage
7. Crystal Castles
6. Phoenix
5. California Games
4. Desert Falcon
3. Joust
2. Mario Bros.
1. Centipede (despite the fact that the arcade version never had a title screen of its own, plus the false advertising of a title screen with better detailed mushrooms than the arcade version and than you start playing and there just rectangles🫤).
Sorry for the rant but that’s always “bugged” me😉😅.
This put me in a weird nostalgic place seeing it 6 years late. My wife and I started dating in March of 2014, and we were hanging out at her place watching the documentary on the E.T. dump site this video mentioned later, less than a year into our relationship.
Atari 2600 Road Runner 1989 has a title screen
I actually like E.T., and I have owned it for many years. I enjoyed your review! I look forward to seeing all of your 2600 reviews, they are very well put together and informative.
I remember as a kid in the early 90's my friend bought an old 2600 and a few carts at a yard sale. ET was on of the carts. Too bad the 2600 was broken and we never got it fixed.
I rather play E.T than Indiana Jones.
Definitely. I didn't discover anything on my own in _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ and could only win it when the internet showed me how. The programmer also took away some points (which is obscure) so even if you won it on the first life, not using a grenade and finding the easter egg, you couldn't get full "points" with the manlift going all the way up to the ark.
There's a peanut butter company that buried all their recalled peanut butter in new mexico, hundreds of thousands of their product.
very calm review - i liked video a lot, and i want to play the game) i have never seen a film, so i have no hate to the game because it is not close enough to the original, but gameplay... it is not a complete game: find and collect several piece... for example Addams Family for NES and many other games have same goal, but different core of gameplay, and it is funny and tricky platmorming, so "the way" is more interesting than 'destination', but here you just have to check all pits and it is not so interesting to do
what if i put 3 coins and 3 cockroachs under 10 paper cups and let you lift them one by one until you find all 3 coins, would it be "The Game"? i believe it would not, there has to be some kind of art you can learn and master, even gambling based on counting and probability control
Another good review. You are right that the pits are indeed awful, Pitfall... that made me chuckle. This is a challenging game a la Adventure on level 3- the pieces are always in different places. I liked it as a kid and I had the manual which did assist a good deal. I still play it to this day.
I was able to win 6 rounds the last time I played. Yeah, one of the best games of 1982 was named Pitfall!
1. E.T.
2. Centipede
3. Off the Wall
4. Dig Dug
5. Fatal Run
6. Gravitar
7. Mario Bros.
8. Crystal Castles
9. SprintMaster
10. Kangaroo
These games have title screens
Colonel Llama add to the list Millipede, Super Baseball, Super Football, Secret Quest, Save Mary, Tunnel Runner, Rampage and all 3 of the SwordQuest games
Patsfan 4life The only ones i'd consider as late releases are Off the Wall, Fatal Run and SprintMaster since they were release in the late 80's. Most of the other games in this list were made before 1984.
How do you not have more subs?!?!
E.T. isn't very good, but you are right, there are a lot of games that are worse. Hydelide (sp) for NES comes to mind.
Great review Phil! E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is technically a decent game despite it's poor reputation if one just bothers to read the manual. I guess that was a lot to ask of many kids back in the day for some reason.
I remember an older kid reading a Choose-Your-Own Adventure story to an 8-year-old neighbor, so I don't think kids that age or younger read the manuals.
COMMENTOR: This game doesn't deserve the hate. People were just too lazy to read the manual. It was fun.
ME: No, it wasn't. It's every bit as poor as its reputation. Not the worst game ever made by any stretch, but outside of its striking title screen, it easily deserved its bad rap. Should have been called, "Falling into Holes: The Game".
I think it's insulting to say 6-8 year-olds were too lazy to read the manual. If this had been a good action bicycle chase game they'd have played it and kept it. Instead due to its flaws, parents had to return it after Christmas. The hate came later when they grew up and said it ruined their Christmas.
@@sandal_thong Agreed, and while there may have been a number of kids who tried to plug-and-play it, that should have been expected given the target audience of the film. Spielberg approved it, but his first reaction to the proposed gameplay was, "Couldn't you make it more like Pac-Man?" He understood that it needed to be easily accessible. Your idea of a bicycle chase game is a good one.
@@speedgriffon2504 Thanks. I recently learned the programmers at the arcade division of Atari started working on Paperboy in 1982. Atari 2600 programmers had to work alone, but I don't know about arcade or computer programmers. Someone said they outsourced some 2600 games in 1983 as well as some 5200 games in 1982-3. I think the contractor might have used a team, since Jungle Hunt and Moon Patrol look and sound so good. Unfortunate that Mario Bros. and Joust look so bad, though people say the gameplay is well done.
Great review as you give a very non-biased opinion. I'll have to try this game one day.
Lets calculate the winning formula for this game:
Energy = ReesesPieces ^2 * ElliotSaves - (Pitfalls + AgentCaptures + Movements) / Randomizer
LOL...simple.
great vids I subbed , I grew up in this era , and i would say we all thought pac man was waaaay worse than ET , was a lot of sad kids that got pacman for xmas
But Pac-Man was more playable than E.T. especially for little kids who didn't know better (not going to arcades).
Excellent review and discussion on the 1983 NA Game Crash... I've been thinking on and off about doing a dedicated video to that very thing... and I agree wholeheartedly with all your points (except Pac-Man was so bad... loss of confidence in the maker of the console). ET was not that bad... I think 1) Not exactly the typical and expected 2600 game and 2) Ahead of its time. Heh heh. Making my way through your videos.
One of the problems regarding Shovelware is that Atari itself is to blame for low-quality games they released as well as a glut (they released 33 in 1983!). But I think it comes down to Pac-Man, despite it being a best-seller from its release in March 1982 through January 1983. But not Atari Pac-Man turning people off to console games, though there had to be some disappointment.
At the time, there was Pac-Man Fever which meant kids would play any version of Pac-Man like the Coleco Tabletop Arcade handheld, or any dots-in-a-maze game like Mousetrap, Lock 'n' Chase, Alien, etc. So they could have used it to launch a new system (like the 5200) or the Atari computers, since the Atari VCS/Sears Video Arcade/2600 was from 1977. Whichever, people would have bought it to play Pac-Man. Instead they double-downed on the 2600, which they found a way of producing cheaper in Hong Kong and/or Taiwan, but they did sell 2-5 million more Atari consoles in 1982 on top of the 10 million they sold 1977-1981. People bought consoles to play games.
Once you got the Atari, you were then "locked in." They had a lot of game cartridges out, perhaps too many from the early years that looked bad, didn't sell and took up shelf space. But this also meant games before 1982 had a price advantage over new releases. Wikipedia said there were 27 games that sold over 1 million. If you only bought those games (there were magazines with reviews in 1982, but who read them?) that still cost a lot. I think investor confidence was hurt first, then retailer confidence when they couldn't move product, and finally consumer confidence.
I like ET, it’s flawed but it’s able to be beaten so it’s not bad.
I played this game out as a kid ( on level 3 ). Never even knew it sucked until the internet became a thing.
I wonder how many kids new game 3 was the easiest since there wasn't a scientist or FBI guy? Little kids didn't read the manual.
@@sandal_thong well I was about 5 and I figured it out
The manual was needed to understand it.
My Hero, truly love your option on this game
The 2600 port of Donkey Kong Junior was 1000 worse than ET
I thought D.K., Jr. was a new game by Atari and bought it, perhaps in 1988. Getting past those fast chompers on the conveyors was nearly impossible on fast.
I've since learned they had bought out the Coleco games library and repackaged their 1983 game under the Atari red label. One of the last Atari games I bought new in the box. I should have known by then to play games before buying them, if possible.
Gonna start my No Swear Gamer 2600 marathon!
Congrats! Take breaks when necessary!
Same here. I just discovered him today and I'm already snuggled in blankets binge-watching his videos
I enjoy the game why? I take the time to learn something that this world we live in now have trouble doing
Just came here to see if this was the video where the No Swear Gamer swears :)
I could just never figure out how to play this.
I prefer to play my Atari video games their original game controllers. So I will only play E.T. with an actual Atari joystick controller. Besides the Sega Genesis controllers are Left Handed and I play Right Handed.
It's good for what system it was on. Hate comments commence.
Y’all gotta see the AVGN movie, it has a lot to do with the history of this game
great review
Thanks!
DR jeckle and mr hyde on nes is way worse
+godzillafanftw nate From what I hear, you are correct although I haven't had the pleasure of playing that game yet.
I didn't think it was that bad of a game either. There are a lot worse
Love your videos. Yes, bad game... but my little brother loved it. :)
Thanks!
Just like the angry videogame nerd said at the end of this movie it’s not a bad game it’s just seen as bad because people didn’t know how to play they didn’t want to learn because at the time Atari games were just pick up and start doing stuff and you know what to do after a minute or less
What do you expect from under-ten-year-olds? Their parents had to return the game in December or after Christmas. What a bummer. All because Atari didn't playtest this game (or fix the pitfall glitch) like the Imagic documentary showing them making Atlantis and kids playing it.
firefly is WORST its a broken unfinished mess compared to FIREFLY or SORCERER -ET is a MASTERPIECE
It is in my top 10......i put it in 8th place
Lol intro makes me laugh every time
There is a bug fixed version of ET around the web.
Once you get over the learning curve, ET really isn't a bad game
Fantastic atari game of the master Howard Scott Warshaw 👏👍❤
I loved this game as a kid. Haters gonna hate.
Well, so are ordinary people who just don't care for poorly-developed games.