E.T. is awesome

[Good_Times]

I'll have to try it as an adult, not played it in 35 years. I remember the kid across the street got it, and it was a big deal at the time. We all went over to play it (along with fluffernutters and Kool-Aid!) and I clearly recall several of us looking at each other with "whaaaaaaa?" expressions, heh.

 

The "worst game EVER!!" and "It KILLED the industry!!" nonsense is baseless foolishness. If I've heard correctly, didn't Howard create the game within a matter of weeks, under holiday season/studio pressures?

It seems that certain haters love to focus on ET's 'failure' while negating Mr. Warshaw's masterworks, tsk tsk tsk...

 

[Northcoastgamer]

Here's one of the first (If not the first) documented videos that shows the easter egg turning E.T. black and the score changing to HSW (Mr. Warshaw's initials) as E.T. moves around. This was recorded over 32 years ago. At the 17:39 mark E.T. turns black. Enjoy!

 

[Inky]

 

This game always intrigued me, and I never understood the mechanics. A few days ago, I read the manual and beat the game with a couple hours. It's a very early roguelike with plenty of great qualities and features.

 

No.

 

I agree that ET is not a bad game by a long shot , but a roguelike? I just don't see it.

[G-type]

Yar's Revenge is overrated, almost to the same degree E.T. is underrated.

[ZylonBane]

Yar's Revenge is overrated, almost to the same degree E.T. is underrated.

 

If that were true, which it isn't, it would mean Yars' Revenge was credited with saving the video game industry. Which it isn't.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

 

I'm guessing because it sold bad, and there had long been a rumor that most ET carts were buried in a landfill (that was only confirmed as fact within the last few years), so it's legend grew out of that.

 

"It sold poorly" becomes "it was a bad game" then "the worst game ever" in retellings.

 

There were actually newspaper reports of the dump around the time it happened, so it was know to be a fact. But over the years it evolved from "Atari dumped unsold merchandise in a landfill" to "Atari buried millions of unsold E.T. games in the desert because it was the worst game ever."

[whisperingloon]

 

in other words exactly the same premise as "Haunted House" Just a bigger world with pits and icons. My 11 year old self had no problems figuring it out.

 

Ha! I NEVER thought of it like that! A whole new perspective...and a bit more appreciation.

[thorr]

I was in college in the 90's when I proudly proclaimed that I loved the game E.T. to my friends and found out at that time about its bad reputation. I was born in November, 1974. I had no problems with the game at all because I almost always played it on game mode 3 where the bad people didn't chase me. In that mode, the game was a race against the clock, and a treasure hunt similar to Adventure. When I was in the mood for an extra challenge, I would play with just one bad guy and try to win it and it was very challenging and fun because of the extra challenge that I was not normally accustomed to. Then I would try it with two bad people and it was only then that it got to the point of frustration and not as much fun. Being that this was game mode 1 and the default, I can see why people hated the game. Too bad they didn't just try the Select function and make it more enjoyable. The pits never bothered me either. You just had to know what triggered them and how to avoid them. This took me all but a few tries to figure out. It certainly wasn't something that bothered me to the point of not playing the game. It was just another part of the challenge that ate up the time in my race against the clock. I still play E.T. and it is still fun, and I still mostly play it on mode 3. Same thing with Raiders of the Lost Ark. I love the treasure hunt aspect and there are a few different ways to win it that I enjoy trying to do. It's funny because the harder ways to win it earn you less points at the end (or rungs on the ladder or whatever).

[Keranu]

This is a great post, I loved it haha. Can't say I disagree with the OP at all.