Atari the Jedi Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 The next 15 year-old who tells me that E.T. Was the reason for the increase in the early 80s. Here's something online or while sitting in their local GameStop. I ran in and out for her and everything in its history. To me it was my child I was there and I can say there were a lot of games that were very is by no means considered the worst time. So if you hear that I'm going to jail for punching a 15-year-old kid you all my witnesses and you know why. I'm also hearing the same thing things like super Mario Brothers is the first game to have Mario 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutsy Doodleheimer Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Or Pac-Man too. These brats need to watch Game Over. And see the whole story about the game but they will still object and think they are lying. They think Call of Duty Is probably the first shooting FPS game as well as most of them enjoy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperboy Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 It's times like this that prove "Throat Punch Thursday" should be law! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RichG1972 Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Everyone knows that the Character of Mario was seen first in video game form in Donkey Kong, that's number ONE. Number 2 the CHARACTER of Mario has been around since at least 1885 on the backs of playing cards LONG before Video Games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I don't even think Wolf3D was the first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaynz Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Actually, he wasn't Mario until Donkey Kong Junior... And ET didn't quite kill the video-game industry, but between it and Atari 2600 PacMan, it showed both that the Atari 2600 was getting long in the tooth, and that Atari the unstoppable juggernaut was finally showing chinks in its armor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey.shake Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Had this same thing happen today. My wife stopped me. It was in a well-stocked gaming store* that had a Vader ("With controllers!") for $160. The dimwit behind the counter consistently interrupted my wife and I for about 30 minutes. Not the "open, across the small store" kind of interjections. Like, private "my face next to her ear" stiff. Eventually, once he saw that I was at the Atari rack, he started going on and on about E.T./the dig/etc. Now, I don't pretend to be any expert on the subject, but this guy clearly hadn't even seen that Game Over doc -- and as a result, was overflowing with all KINDS of misinformation, presented as though he were some source of immense wisdom -- all in the most "talking down to me" tone you can imagine. Except for the slightly more condescending tone he got with my wife (who actually knows what's what). When he started going on about E.T. being "truly, without a doubt, the worst", I couldn't bite my tongue any longer, and asked him if he even knew what the objective was. He didn't. I asked him if he'd played it. He stammered, clearly off-put that I'd even ask. He said he had, but neither of us believed him. He'd been enough of a know-it-all turd the whole time, I put back the stuff I was considering, and left. On my way out, I told him to try half the crappy 2600 games he had on his shelf, and he'd probably have less fun than with E.T.. An hour later, I was at a different gaming store, this one great, and full of nice people who wanted to help their customers. They sold me a Vader for $20 (which I bought almost on principle, just to spite that other place) and even asked ME about my opinion on Atari stuff, seemingly eager to learn more about the subject. It was refreshing. I don't love E.T.. It's deeply flawed. But it is not the worst game of all time. Not even close. Beyond whatever end-user enjoyment (the ultimate factor), it IS impressive in that Warshaw was able to make it happen, and its complex story and the legends around the game's history are pretty great for all the discussion they kick up. But in the age we live in, fact-checking is easy. Sorry for the rant. This post hit a little close to home this afternoon. Thanks for kinda saying what I was thinking. My wife and I were saying the same thing on the drive back to the city. [Oh, and my favorite obscure game to add to the "early Mario" list is Wrecking Crew. Stick that in their pipes when the whippersnappers start misquoting. It's not a classic title, but it's a "playable-as-Mario-and-Luigi" game, like the DK games and Mario Bros., that came out in '85, same as SMB. I think the Famicom version came out even earlier.] *...whose employees should know better. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariORdead Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 The next 15 year-old who tells me that E.T. Was the reason for the video game crash in the early 80s.they hear something online or while sitting in their local GameStop. Suddenly there am expert and everything they hear from their loser friends is true. To me it was my childhood I was there and I can say there were a lot of games that were very badm, by no means E.T. considered the worst Game of all time. So if you hear that I'm going to jail for punching a 15-year-old kid you all my witnesses and you know why. :-) I'm also hearing the same thing things like super Mario Brothers is the first game to have Mario. This would be like me going to a World War II veteran and lecturing them about the war just because I play battlefront, or even worse because saw a let's play on line of battlefront. It happens every generation though, kids only read about something and think they know it all because they read some ill informed article. I guarantee we all probably did at some point. Sort of like a lot of this generation who are ignorant about WWII and spout nonsense about the fact without the US, Germany would have won, based on poor teaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 rant Where were these stores in Boston? Last time I was there, I couldn't find any good classic game shops. The only one I found was not too far from Cambridge and had a stack of dirty N64 and SNES sports games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari the Jedi Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Amen to everybody!!!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one, it's just something that I've seen grown deeper and deeper. I think other hobbies like ham radio operators have to have knowledge about their hobby but with video games anything goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariORdead Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Amen to everybody!!!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one, it's just something that I've seen grown deeper and deeper. I think other hobbies like ham radio operators have to have knowledge about their hobby but with video games anything goes. Having to have knowledge about a hobby does not stop idiots and Know it alls from participating. Thing is videogames are no different to Music, Books, and Films. people don't need in depth knowledge of the history to enjoy the medium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey.shake Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Where were these stores in Boston? Last time I was there, I couldn't find any good classic game shops. The only one I found was not too far from Cambridge and had a stack of dirty N64 and SNES sports games. Well, the one I didn't like was about 40 minutes up the North Shore, though I don't want to name names. But this was the final "last time" I'm going there. The one I DO like is a place in Allston called Replay'd. The employees are generally very nice and helpful, and while the selection comes and goes, I rarely ever leave without picking something up. A few shelves each of NES, SNES, Genesis, and some weird stuff behind the counter -- Jaguar, 5200, TG-16, and even a Vectrex today. One of the guys there was showing me an Intellivoice module they'd gotten in as well. So, some weird stuff, and generally good about prices. And I'll take "nice people, decent selection" any day over a bunch of lame stains touting their crazy-rare carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutsy Doodleheimer Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 E.T. and Pac-Man were not the worst games on the 2600. Were they my favorite? No they weren't. But were they good enough to play? Yes they were. Pac-Man was a disappointment but was still a decent and good enough game to play on the VCS. Everyone decided to go Siskel and Ebert at the game because Pac-Man was huge in 1981-1982. And many people back then were expecting for Pac-Man to be a direct and exact rendition of the arcade game. And in E.T. Which only was given just weeks to do of course. Most 2600 games were pretty straightforward. Shooters, mazes, sports, educational games. They were self explanatory and everyone could just pick up and play without having to look through the instruction manual. In E.T. it was one of the early adventure/quest games and you need to look at the manual and thoroughly read through everything on what to search for (phone pieces randomly scattered), avoid (scientist and FBI agent), collecting candy pieces for bonus points after completing the game, and just search throughout everywhere and keep track where the landing site will be. Kids are saying it cause they never played it, heard it from online critics, or just played and kept falling in the well that they gave up. You need to hold the button and firmly move up on the joystick away from that area. What really ticks me are 12 year olds especially in youtube video comments blasting a game made from 1977-1982. The graphics suck PS4/XBox one are better. Yeah easy for you to say, this Is a game that is 35 years old they had very little RAM space in them and It's 8 bits and you know what it's an early age in the video game era. What matters is fun, charm, replay value, and reliving the years of nostalgia you had when you played this system as a kid and bringing back these fun memories. I prefer old school to modern. My latest system is a PS3 and Wii U. But playing my 1977 Heavy Sixer is just more fun and playing a simple yet very fun game with that awesome wood grain finish and metal toggle switches just stand out more than a sleek black aerodynamic system that will have hardware failure in a matter of seconds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Ok punch the guy in the throat. But how many more ET bad game debate threads will there be in the 2600 forum. At least 8 or 10 going on this last year alone. Need more people punched in the throat.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 ET mighta sucked but there's other 2600 games that outright blew. Yeah. I've played worse. Far worse. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 SSsssssnake.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 What really ticks me are 12 year olds especially in youtube video comments blasting a game made from 1977-1982. The graphics suck PS4/XBox one are better. Yeah easy for you to say, this Is a game that is 35 years old they had very little RAM space in them and It's 8 bits and you know what it's an early age in the video game era. What matters is fun, charm, replay value, and reliving the years of nostalgia you had when you played this system as a kid and bringing back these fun memories. That reminds me of that jerk who was at the last Classic Game Fest ( I think) who was an airhead putting down Zippy the Porcupine because it was Atari 2600 and not Sega Genesis. Believe me, if you see that guy again, he deserves a punch in the throat and perhaps a wedgie to go with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutsy Doodleheimer Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Firefly is the worst game on that system. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Actually, he wasn't Mario until Donkey Kong Junior... Speaking of myths, that also appears to be a myth if this flyer is really from 1981: flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=316&image=2 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_%28franchise%29#Origins "Jumpman" was called 'Mario' in certain promotional materials for the game's release overseas . . ." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Tell that kid to play some NES, far worse stuff on that platform than on VCS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TwentySixHundred Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I don't even bother arguing with those who slander games such as E.T/Pacman ect. It's fairly obvious they know nothing other then a article they have read on the internet or word of mouth smoke on the water. When a conversation like that sparks i usually ask a few questions about other Atari games or related knowledge only true fans know about, they quickly notice how ignorant their knowledge is of the system. Most the time the response is "well i never played much Atari i played Mario bros blah blah blah". Best way is to make them realize they don't know it all. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaynz Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Speaking of myths, that also appears to be a myth if this flyer is really from 1981: Hmm... the © notice is for the game, not the flyer, and the alternate cabinets I know were later production runs. I know that they came up with the mascot name BEFORE Dk Junior so that they could properly trademark him, but I'm still pretty sure that's where the name was unveiled to the 'public'. Suffice to say, though, that Mario wasn't Mario originally, and that's well documented. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I seriously know that feeling - I'm a member of a lot of FB gaming groups. Someone asked the general question yesterday morning along the lines of, "What was the first game you ever played?" After a parade of teenagers posted a dozen or so Gameboy Advance, 3DS and GameCube titles, I finally posted, "Pong. Now get off my lawn!" We had a Tele-Games home Pong variant of some kind. And now that I think about it more, I don't think that was even the first game I played - I think it was Kee Games Indy 800 when I was about seven or eight, in a bowling alley where my parents bowled regularly. But hearing teenagers and early 20-something expound like worldly-wise "experts" based on half-assed nonsense they've picked up from YouTube vids and bad blog posts makes me just want to scream. But on a brighter note, I bought a cosmetically clean, guaranteed working 4-switch Woody yesterday morning on eBay for $15 shipped, so on balance, the day was a win. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariORdead Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 TBF though, there are a lot of older gamers who spout utter nonsense as well, they are even worse as they think they have seen and done it all and are set in there ways. On the flipside there are plenty of young gamers who are genuinely interested. Those ones I give a little more leeway as they are in effect having to go back and learn it all, and I have seen more than one older gamer give them shit information. Let them learn, at least they are going to help keep the older games around when we are gone, far better than the alternative, where interest in the older systems dies with us. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari the Jedi Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 (edited) I agree AtariORdead. There are legitimate good young collectors that have to go back in time those are the ones we want to keep. There are other hobbies such as plate collecting, watch collectors etc. who have virtually vanished off the face of the earth because they did not embrace the younger generations. Each one of us back in the day was isolated to our own little neighborhood and our own knowledge experience and folklore. With the rise of the Internet people have been able to connect and the truth does come out. but I do hear older gamers do the same thing. Espousing whatever BS they heard, 90% of them couldn't program one pixel on a video game yet they also claim to be experts Edited May 30, 2015 by Atari the Jedi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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