50 Best Tech Products ...

[Bill Lange]

Check out this 50 Best Tech Products list ...

 

http://tech.msn.com/products/articlepcw.as...79864>1=9332

[+FujiSkunk]

Probably a link to the PC World article, which was talked about here.

[almightytodd]

Yes, clicking on the picture from the MSN main page just takes you to the PC World article. I think a more significant link to follow from the tech.msn.com page, is this one, which takes you to an article titled, "The 10 Worst Games of All Time". Ranked number one is Atari's E.T. I believe this is totally undeserved and is the result of an urban legend, born of ignorance. I totally agree with the opinions expressed by Duane Alan Hahn, who explains that if you actually bother to read the manual, and come to understand how to play the game, not only is it definitely not the worst game ever, it's actually one of the best.

 

It is definitely inaccurate to claim that the game "caused" the collapse of the home videogame industry. Atari suffered financially because of it, but that was more due to over-production than to the game itself not being a good game. If the pits had been made smaller (available now as a hack) and perhaps game 1 and 3 had been swapped (...so that the game versions became progressively more difficult the higher the game number... ...intuitive to how most other Atari titles were programmed), it might even had been a huge success. And if Atari had more than five weeks to program it to where they could have done some user testing of it, before rushing it into production to meet the holiday season deadline, these drawbacks might have been discovered and corrected.

 

I noticed another thread starting here, talking about the original Atari port of Pac Man. That game is also on the list, at spot number five...

[Cassidy Nolen]

Almightytodd,

 

I do agree that ET gets a bum rap. I enjoyed it very much as a kid and I did not have a problem figuring out what to do. The fact is the "first" generation of something rarely is embraced in its time. Compared to Combat, games like ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Riddle and the Waterworld series are complicated. By todays standards they are not but I think 25 years ago they were. Look at Computer Space versus Pong. CS is a MUCH more visually appealing and complex game. Pong is the beginning and it "trained" the consumer. Its just bad timing that ET gets a brunt of the attack.

 

IMHO it is Pac Man that deserves the full brunt. It was THE most anticipated port to come to the system since Space Invaders. The game very easily COULD have been 8K but Atari said NO and made it the 4K flickerfest it is. Todd Frye was the only programmer that would take it on and by then the mega bonuses for programmers had begun. I think it was a financial motivation, poor planning on the entire project and the marketing that actually described the 2600 version as "while different from the arcade" that was the understatement. The young industry also faced a customer care mindset that is no longer in place today. Can you imagine going back to Best Buy today and saying "yeah, I don't like this game, I want another one thats more fun"? They don't give a crap what you like, its simply an outlet for hucking electronica none of us really need. 900 versions of Grand Theft Auto and Ipod accessories.

 

In closing my rant, I personally think had Frye held out and said 8K is required to make a perfect port (or as close as it could be on the 2600) I do think the industry would have stood stronger. The returns, atmosphere of customer care, the product loss of faith and frankly Atari management are all to blame. Give Howard Scott Warshaw a break about ET

 

 

Back to your regularly scheduled thread.

C

[JimmydelaKopin]

I would say that giving the E.T. game the license instead of releasing it as a game on its own merits was what done it in.

The game is fun to play, once you know what you're doing. (A "spoony" pal of mine decided to try it out without reading the manual. You can guess the results...though it might have had something to do with his oral surgery....) It's no great shakes in the graphics department--but what 2600 game is, really?

The problem is that they used the E.T. license to try to push it, when the game has little to do with the movie.

[jetset]

E.T. sucked moreso because of the difficulty than anything else. Same reason that Smurf was on that list. Smurf was popular back in the day because of the graphics, but the gameplay was horrendous. ET was the same. there's nothing more frustrating than constantly falling in those random pits then having to levitate up to the top which took forever. Then if you accidentially hit the side you fell back down. I TRIED to like ET but I never could.