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E.T. (Atari 2600)
Dec. 27th, 2024 05:06 pm82 days until the vernal equinox
This game is legendarily bad. Well, okay, it isn’t really as bad as its reputation makes it sounnd. It’s become a rite of passage for game reviewers to review this game. Since it’s not actually that bad (I’ve played Alf and Ren & Stimpy: Time Warp, damn it), it’s become a rite of passage for game reviewers to point out that E.T. is in fact, not the worst game ever, and no, this game is not singlehandedly responsible for the Video Game Crash of 1983 although Atari didn’t help by ordering so many copies that they expected people to go out and buy an Atari 2600 just to play this. Atari survived the crash but barely. They made another massive blunder with the Jaguar. As of 2023, Atari’s focus is on “video games, consumer hardware, licensing, and blockchain.” Okay.
They fared better than Pan Am, anyway.
As for the Alamogordo burial, that’s all true. Not just E.T., though. All sorts of different games, along with beer cartons and Starburst wrappers.
There’s also a defense of this game out there that veers into antivax propaganda for no reason. Sigh.
It suffers from being completely incomprehensible, of course, but once you know what you’re doing, it’s pretty short. It’s greatest sin is that it’s too ambitious for its console, with a control setup that’s way too complicated for a joystick and one button and also some toggle switches on the console itself. It’s like Bart vs. the Space Mutants in that regard, except less janky and more clunky.
That’s not to say there isn’t jank. If you walk off the right edge of this forest screen, you’ll end up in a pit. It doesn’t matter where you cross the screen edge.
( clickity-pok )
burning question: What would happen if E.T. and Mr. T had a baby? Well, you’d get Mr. E.T. I think he’d sound something like this: I pity the foo who doesn’t phone home.
This game is legendarily bad. Well, okay, it isn’t really as bad as its reputation makes it sounnd. It’s become a rite of passage for game reviewers to review this game. Since it’s not actually that bad (I’ve played Alf and Ren & Stimpy: Time Warp, damn it), it’s become a rite of passage for game reviewers to point out that E.T. is in fact, not the worst game ever, and no, this game is not singlehandedly responsible for the Video Game Crash of 1983 although Atari didn’t help by ordering so many copies that they expected people to go out and buy an Atari 2600 just to play this. Atari survived the crash but barely. They made another massive blunder with the Jaguar. As of 2023, Atari’s focus is on “video games, consumer hardware, licensing, and blockchain.” Okay.
They fared better than Pan Am, anyway.
As for the Alamogordo burial, that’s all true. Not just E.T., though. All sorts of different games, along with beer cartons and Starburst wrappers.
There’s also a defense of this game out there that veers into antivax propaganda for no reason. Sigh.
It suffers from being completely incomprehensible, of course, but once you know what you’re doing, it’s pretty short. It’s greatest sin is that it’s too ambitious for its console, with a control setup that’s way too complicated for a joystick and one button and also some toggle switches on the console itself. It’s like Bart vs. the Space Mutants in that regard, except less janky and more clunky.
That’s not to say there isn’t jank. If you walk off the right edge of this forest screen, you’ll end up in a pit. It doesn’t matter where you cross the screen edge.
( clickity-pok )
burning question: What would happen if E.T. and Mr. T had a baby? Well, you’d get Mr. E.T. I think he’d sound something like this: I pity the foo who doesn’t phone home.
