Should someone remake E.T.?

[+Random Terrain]

We get it. You like ET.

 

....

 

Good thing I was still in diapers when this turd came out. Seriously, I played for the first time yesterday, for a good solid 20 minutes or so. Endless falling in pits, falling, falling, falling, collecting phone pieces, getting them stolen by the CIA guys, eating candy, falling in a pit 7x in a row. Run out of energy and the boy comes to bail you out... My gawd, and you wonder why this game gets a bad rap.

We get it. You're bad at playing video games. You might want to play on Game 3 like it says in the tips sheet. Part of playing many video games, especially during the Nintendo years, is mastering certain skills to beat the game. The only skills you really have to master in E.T. are avoiding the wells, getting out of the wells, and dealing with the FBI Agent and the Scientist.

 

This video shows how you can get out of the wells:

 

youtube.com/watch?v=zh4U3BwlTcY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh4U3BwlTcY

 

I can make a new video that specifically shows how you can avoid or deal with the FBI Agent and the Scientist. This video shows me dealing with the humans, but I don't spell it out in detail:

 

youtube.com/watch?v=mcAoIThBDyA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcAoIThBDyA

 

I'll start working on a little FBI Agent/Scientist video right now before I forget about it. And although I made a video showing how to get out of the wells, I should probably make one showing how to run around the wells at high speed without falling in.

[Emehr]

There's a difference between a bad game, a game you don't like, and a game you don't like because someone on the internet told you it was a game you're not supposed to like.

 

Bad Game: a game that is poorly designed, poorly programmed, lacks any originality, and is mostly unplayable. E.T. is none of these. There's a gotcha when approaching and leaving pits but anybody with any basic form of deductive reasoning will figure it out pretty quickly. I was 8 years old when E.T. came out. Our family promptly lost the manual and guess what? We still figured the game out and didn't whine about falling in pits "all the time".

 

A Game You Don't Like: It could be Street Fighter II, Pac-Man, E. T., Super Mario 64, or Legend of Zelda. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's a bad game. Just because you suck at it doesn't mean it's a bad game.

 

A Game You Don't Like Because Someone On The Internet Told You It Was A Game You're Not Supposed To Like: So far the only answer here is E.T. because people won't shut the hell up about how it's the worst game ever and stating it as a fact because seanbaby said it 15 years ago or whenever.

 

And whats with the hashtags on the tags for this topic? Isn't that redundantly redundant? Also, what's with the choice of terms for the tags?

[+Random Terrain]

And whats with the hashtags on the tags for this topic? Isn't that redundantly redundant? Also, what's with the choice of terms for the tags?

He seems to do that with every topic he creates as if he thinks it's going to convert somebody. Next he'll add off-topic tags for his favorite foods and choice of toilet paper.

[AtarinDave]

There's a difference between a bad game, a game you don't like, and a game you don't like because someone on the internet told you it was a game you're not supposed to like.

 

Bad Game: a game that is poorly designed, poorly programmed, lacks any originality, and is mostly unplayable. E.T. is none of these. There's a gotcha when approaching and leaving pits but anybody with any basic form of deductive reasoning will figure it out pretty quickly. I was 8 years old when E.T. came out. Our family promptly lost the manual and guess what? We still figured the game out and didn't whine about falling in pits "all the time".

 

A Game You Don't Like: It could be Street Fighter II, Pac-Man, E. T., Super Mario 64, or Legend of Zelda. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's a bad game. Just because you suck at it doesn't mean it's a bad game.

 

A Game You Don't Like Because Someone On The Internet Told You It Was A Game You're Not Supposed To Like: So far the only answer here is E.T. because people won't shut the hell up about how it's the worst game ever and stating it as a fact because seanbaby said it 15 years ago or whenever.

 

And whats with the hashtags on the tags for this topic? Isn't that redundantly redundant? Also, what's with the choice of terms for the tags?

Not trying to "force religion" at all, but I believe in Jesus. Anyway, interesting replies. I don't think E.T. is the worst game because someone told me as if it was fact. I really do think it sucks, but I like the graphics !. However, when you list the porn games as well as Indy 500, then E.T. isn't the worst game ever. But it still is really bad in my opinion. But really, I think if someone made a remake of this game it would sell off the internet!

[godzillajoe]

Whoah! Indy 500?! That game is a blast with two players.

 

I'm gonna beat E.T. this week.

 

All the hate has inspired me.

 

Gave it a quick go earlier and the pits are annoying but really the only time they're an issue is leaving the forest to the right and the buildings to the left

 

And even that can be remedied if you use the transport zones.

 

Now, the scientist and FBI bastards, they suck but you can either slam down the button and kick in the nitrous and run away or "send them home"

 

Difficult and frustrating at times, yes, but not unplayable.

 

And that's the last I have to say about it.

 

No one's gonna win the argument anway

[Muzz73]

I had always heard that E.T. was not necessarily the worst game of all time, or even the worst 2600 game, but that it was Atari's worst game ever. I might agree to that.

 

Worst 2600 game ever? Nope... I owned Sorcerer by Mythicon temporarily. I acquired it in a trade, played it a couple of times, then immediately gave it away. Ugh...

[+Random Terrain]

Gave it a quick go earlier and the pits are annoying but really the only time they're an issue is leaving the forest to the right and the buildings to the left

Yeah, I always avoid those sides:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et-map.html#forest

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-et-map.html#washington_dc

 

 

 

Now, the scientist and FBI bastards, they suck but you can either slam down the button and kick in the nitrous and run away or "send them home"

When you send a human back on a well site, he'll often get stuck because another human is trying to come up from Washington, D.C., and since two humans can't be on the screen at the same time, you are free to explore that site for useful zones. If you enter a well to get a phone piece and stay too long, there's a chance that the human might get unstuck, but in general, you are free to do what you want until you leave that site.

 

 

 

I'm gonna beat E.T. this week.

No one ever really beats E.T. You can finish a round, but you can keep playing after that and add to your score. How many rounds can you finish? If you know how to play and have your Atari 2600 plugged into an uninterruptible power supply, you can play day after day, building up your score.

[godzillajoe]

Actually, I played it again and managed to get E.T. home. The hardest part is keeping the humans off the screen while waiting for the ship. But I just camped on the "Send Humans Away" spot until there were just a few seconds left and ran to the landing zone.

 

10 minutes.

 

Yeah, this game is impossible!

[Andromeda Stardust]

RT, let's just agree to disagree here. Yes, I've read your tutorials. I did get an official tips sheet for it as well and your site is far more informative. I'm fairly well versed at multiple video game genres new and old although I'm no self-proclaimed expert. Some game types I prefer over others.

 

I popped in ET and I think it can be agreed upon that it is a poorly designed game. But at least I have played it, something that 98% of ET critics online have never done. So my opinion that it sucks is my own and not that of someone else's review/comments on the Internet. And despite it's being a bad game, I will still probably play it from time to time and dick around with it to see if I can improve a bit. The pits are incredibly annoying. Whether or not proper techniques can be learned for pit avoidance is moot considering that the pits cost time and energy and it is frustrating for any gamer to keep falling into the same pit multiple times.

 

A good game you can only blame yourself when you die or screw up, not the controller (assuming it's well made and working properly), and you certainly cannot blame not the game nor it's programmer. A game can be bad for any number of reasons, and ET fails on multiple points. Shoddy mechanics (pits, pits, pits...) and lack of a clearly defined objective for starters. Yes there is a bloody manual which can even be referenced online if you don't have access to a real copy, but honestly so many games out there just put a controller in your hand and hit RESET or FIRE to start the game and it's pretty obvious what you have to do.

 

Most Atari games only needed a second look at the manual for reference to decide what game variation does what. The rest is self explanatory. SHMUPS: shoot every thing that moves and avoid enemy ships/fire. Platformers: run and jump over pits and defeat or avoid enemies. Adventure style games: find hidden objects, explore dungeons, flee or fight baddies. Maze games: eat the dots. Puzzle games: eliminate bricks or tiles. Sports: score a goal. Fighting: KO your opponent. Racing: stay on the road, go fast, dodge other cars. ET: Collect candy and phone parts. Avoid agents and scientists. Fall down pits, pits, and more pits. wtf?

 

If someone really wants to try to remake this game, a parody with new mechanics is the way to do it, because neither the concept not the execution of ET hold up. Bad games with proven concept that merely failed in execution have been remade multiple times to great reception (Pacman), but ET is best left as a relic of the past and as reminder of poor game design.

 

We get it. You're bad at playing video games. You might want to play on Game 3 like it says in the tips sheet. Part of playing many video games, especially during the Nintendo years, is mastering certain skills to beat the game. The only skills you really have to master in E.T. are avoiding the wells, getting out of the wells, and dealing with the FBI Agent and the Scientist.

This video shows how you can get out of the wells:

youtube.com/watch?v=zh4U3BwlTcY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh4U3BwlTcY

I can make a new video that specifically shows how you can avoid or deal with the FBI Agent and the Scientist. This video shows me dealing with the humans, but I don't spell it out in detail:

youtube.com/watch?v=mcAoIThBDyA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcAoIThBDyA

I'll start working on a little FBI Agent/Scientist video right now before I forget about it. And although I made a video showing how to get out of the wells, I should probably make one showing how to run around the wells at high speed without falling in.

Edited August 4, 2014 by stardust4ever

[godzillajoe]

Atari Landfill Adventures might be fun

 

You're a hipster doofus. Avoid the bulldozers, landfill rats and seagulls as you try to dig up E.T. carts and get them to eBay

 

Of course the pits you dig as you search can kill you if you fall into them.

[high voltage]

I thought those landfill ETs gonna be on ebay, I want one. And a tee too.

[Emehr]

Not trying to "force religion" at all, but I believe in Jesus.

That's nice but tags aren't a place to list your favorite things. It's gotta have something to do with the topic. Jesus isn't relevant. Religious discussion isn't allowed here anyway. Your second tag, Atari, is a no brainer. Seeing as this is the "Atari 2600" sub-forum, it goes without saying that your topic is going to be about Atari.

 

Also, you don't need the hashtag ('#') in your tags. That's a Twitter and Facebook requirement.

[Retro Rogue]

I thought those landfill ETs gonna be on ebay, I want one. And a tee too.

 

There were only 171 recovered, with a portion of those going to museums, etc. The ones the city kept are probably tied up in red tape, etc. (you know how slow city government is) or they're probably waiting for the documentary to come out.

[AtarinDave]

 

There were only 171 recovered, with a portion of those going to museums, etc. The ones the city kept are probably tied up in red tape, etc. (you know how slow city government is) or they're probably waiting for the documentary to come out.

Also I believe they recovered a copy of Centipede...! I mean, why would they throw away Centipede?!?!?!

[Retro Rogue]

Also I believe they recovered a copy of Centipede...! I mean, why would they throw away Centipede?!?!?!

 

They recovered 1,377 games (besides hardware), the bulk of which was 21+ different titles. With regards to Centipede, this wasn't a dumping of bad games - that's part of the myth. This was a dumping of games returned from stores for credit. Some even still had the shrink wrap and price tags still on them (shrink wrap is added by the retailer). This wasn't the first dumping of returned stock they did, and wasn't the last. Though before 1982 they hadn't dealt with that before.

[+Random Terrain]

Here's that new video showing how you can deal with the the FBI Agent and the Scientist:

 

youtube.com/watch?v=bs035F0h3Qo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs035F0h3Qo

 

Is it good enough or are there things I need to add?

[+save2600]

Big thumbs up for championing the relatively easy playability of E.T. RT!

 

No need to change a thing, 'cept maybe if you want to add some 'Baby Elephant Walk' music in the background as you tame scientists and FBI agents.

[freewheel]

If some internet doofus who probably wasn't even born when the game was released hadn't posted it on his stupid blog or YouTube channel, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. It took on a life of its own after that.

 

This sure seems to be a common belief these days, but what some of you young'uns don't realize is that we were calling E.T. "one of the worst games ever" back in about 1985 or so.

 

Are there worse games for the 2600? Of course! But hardly anyone owned them back in the day (seriously, mentioning the adult games brings a chuckle, most people hadn't even HEARD of them until Youtube and the like). Are there worse games for other systems? Absolutely! Systems that did not exist when E.T. go its reputation. Some of us are a tad older than blogs or Youtube, and trust me - for mainstream, readily-available games that average people actually played, E.T. was long-considered up there in the pile of stinkers. It's only the advent of the Internet and ROM trading that most people have discovered just how much more awful games get.

 

Where does that leave E.T. today? Well it's obviously not quite as bad compared to even worse dreck, but this recent "oh c'mon guys, it's really not so bad, this is just Youtube hype" meme really has to die. Trust me, it long ago earned its reputation. Just because people have since discovered even WORSE games doesn't suddenly make it a good game. The same goes for Pac-Man - it's a rushed-together piece of shit that only vaguely resembles the original. Provably could have been done a lot better (Ms, Jr). It's a horrible port. But somehow because of Firefly and Custer's Revenge, there's a recent trend to call it a not-bad game.

 

I'd say both of these games have earned their reputations as "the 2 worst 2600 games the average person owned".

[+Random Terrain]

This sure seems to be a common belief these days, but what some of you young'uns don't realize is that we were calling E.T. "one of the worst games ever" back in about 1985 or so.

I wasn't calling it "one of the worst games ever" and no one I knew was.

 

 

 

Are there worse games for the 2600? Of course! But hardly anyone owned them back in the day (seriously, mentioning the adult games brings a chuckle, most people hadn't even HEARD of them until Youtube and the like).

The adult games seemed to be mentioned in just about every video game magazine back then. They were also talked about in the mainstream news. If you are talking about little kids who couldn't read and didn't watch the news, then that's probably true for them. There's a good chance that the rest of us who were old enough to read were curious about the adult games and wondered what we were missing.

 

 

 

Some of us are a tad older than blogs or Youtube, and trust me - for mainstream, readily-available games that average people actually played, E.T. was long-considered up there in the pile of stinkers. It's only the advent of the Internet and ROM trading that most people have discovered just how much more awful games get.

I didn't find out that most people supposedly hated E.T. until after I got Internet access in 1999.

[freewheel]

It took me all of 3 seconds looking at the Wikipedia article to find this reference from 1984, when it was already being referred to as "one of the worst":

 

http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1984&pub=6&id=16

 

(page 51)

 

It's always possible that not everyone travelled in the same circles back then, but I find it exceedingly difficult to believe anyone who followed the news or read video game magazines at the time, that is also unaware of the incredibly poor critical reception E.T. got back in the 80s.

 

 

I actually find it strange. Just as the common belief is that everyone loved this game and now hates it "because they're told to by Youtube", I've done the opposite. I pretty much loathed the game at the time and only in recent years have started to appreciate it a bit. Especially as I get more exposed to the real dogs on the system, which were generally rare enough to never have played in the 80s. The helpful "hack" makes it easier to play, too. I don't care how many manuals or tips people tell me, I cannot deal with those goddamn pits even after all these years.

 

However the best part of the game is that the cart is perfect for mod testing. It's one of the few readily-available games that gives nice, bright graphics and repeating audio as soon as the console is turned on, no switches required. Makes for quick prototyping and experimentation.

Edited August 5, 2014 by freeweed

[7800]

I've played FAR worse 2600 games than E.T. It certainly isn't the worst game... could it have been better? Sure! So could many other 2600 titles.

 

As far as a remake, I would love to see some new ideas implemented from homebrewers, and translated into fully functional E.T. games. Not hacks, but newly created games from the ground up. We all should know by now what the 2600 is capable of, a new E.T. game could be awesome if done right.

[almightytodd]

...I played for the first time yesterday, for a good solid 20 minutes or so. Endless falling in pits, falling, falling, falling, collecting phone pieces, getting them stolen by the CIA guys, eating candy, falling in a pit 7x in a row. Run out of energy and the boy comes to bail you out...

Simple explanation. There are no "pits" in Adventure.

 

...Which brings me to the one only true criticism I have of E.T... ...they made the most difficult, challenging, un-winnable version of the game, "Game 1", and then didn't make it clear that there are two other less challenging game versions to START WITH AND LEARN SOME RUNNING/NAVIGATION/ENERGY MANAGEMENT SKILLS so you can work out the "puzzle" aspect of the game without being constantly harassed by the two human adversaries. Have you ever tried playing "Game 3"? Did you even know it exists? There's plenty of satisfaction to be had in collecting the three phone pieces, having E.T. "phone home", and waiting at the space craft pick-up spot. And without the FBI agent and Scientist constantly on your ass, keeping yourself from falling in the pits is not terribly difficult.

 

almightytodd, on 03 Aug 2014 - 4:49 PM, said:

 

...And the thing that always puzzles me, is how "Adventure" is so frequently ranked as one of the BEST Atari games ever, and yet the game-play and objectives (collect stuff, avoid or defeat enemies) are really quite similar. This is especially confusing to me when you compare the graphics in these two games (...you're an adventurer... ...that's you... ...a square block...).

Simple explanation. There are no "pits" in Adventure.

 

Yeah, I get that, but in Adventure there are also these dragons you have to fight with a sword, except the objective of the game is to collect items from castles that require that you're carrying a key to unlock, and then you have to drop the key to pick up the item you're trying to collect, and oh yeah, you have to drop whatever you're carrying to pick up a sword to fight the dragon... ...oh and there are these bats that just come out of nowhere and grab whatever you're carrying out of your hand... ...And EVERYBODY always plays the HARDEST game version of Adventure FIRST; no one EVER starts with Game version 1... ...tell me again how this is the greatest game that ever was and it's not in any way frustrating as hell? ...But E.T. is an unplayable steaming turd? ...oh, and in Adventure, you're a square block...

 

[Crazy Climber]

- Stardust

The truth is you never gave ET a chance. You think you did but you didn't. It's not your fault and I will explain why...

 

It's simple top down conditioning. Basically a good way to see top down conditioning in action is backwards song lyrics. When someone tells you what you are supposed to hear, you hear it. A fun trick to do is listen to the backwards song lyrics FIRST and try to tell what it's supposed to be, 9 times out of 10 you will not know, because nobody told you what you were supposed to hear. Top down conditioning happens in life waaaaaay more than we even know, it's scary really but anyways...

 

This applies to ET big time. As a youth I absolutely LOVED this game. Sure, I loved pretty much every Atari game but I played the shit out of ET. When I got an Atari again about 12 years ago ET was one of the first games I purchased. I popped it in, listened to the hum of the theme and got my nostalgia blast and shelved it again for a few years. Upon joining here a few years later I saw all the hate for ET and couldn't believe it. I went home and played it, completely forgot the point of the game, wondered about a little, hit a few pits and thought "wow, this game is terrible"

 

TOP DOWN CONDITIONING

I felt the game sucked because I had been told it sucked. I jumped right on the hate ET bandwagon. So much time had passed I forgot how much I liked it when I was a kid. So many newer and better things were available I forgot to appreciate what a big deal it was at the time. Thanks to RT's site I gave it another chance and quickly remembered how good it was (for it's era) and once again appreciate it. It really is strange how the mind can work. I felt like a "sheple" to qoute RT, lol.

 

Top down conditioning is rampant with ET. If you constantly get all the flaws of a game hammered into your head before actually having played it what do you think you are going to notice? The flaws...you may even purposely try to find them because that's what you have been conditioned to do. I would bet money if me and my five year old daughter play this game, and I carefully explain how to play it without focusing on flaws, she will enjoy it.

 

You see, the truth is, it's not just ET that gets the "hate" ET was just a wrong place wrong time kind of thing and due to it's abundance and popularity as a franchise combined with a few noticeable "flaws" was a very easy target to get the raw end of an overall unappreciative attitude for the "way things were" back when when we were young. It will always be the butt of Atari jokes but really it's not ET that THEY are mocking, it's Atari overall. This isn't directed at you as I know you enjoy a lot of atari games but most people that go on and on about how shitty ET is, usually have a lack of appreciation for Atari overall....

 

Due to top down conditioning and a lack of experiencing things the way we did when these games were the newest greatest thing around ET will always and forever be "the worst video game ever made" but this really translates into "Man, Atari was terrible" to MOST of the younger generation. Things were different back then, we were often forced to give games a chance due to no other options. You get a new appreciation for things this way. So overall I'm not slamming you by saying "you never gave it a chance" I'm just being truthful by saying "you never had a chance to give it a chance" and you never will, but it's not your fault

 

[godzillajoe]

Not denying people hated E.T. back in the day but the internet really beat you over the head with it.

 

Also, 45 in October, I'm hardly a "young 'un"

 

Maybe it's because Atari meant hanging out with your friends and playing games.

 

Alright sick of that one, put in Warlords......Phoenix.....

 

We didn't dwell on it.

 

But no one absolutely HATED it.

 

I didn't learn I was supposed to hate it until much later

[Nukey Shay]

The counterpoint to ET starting off with the challenging variation instead of an easier one would be something like Asteroids ("Hey! Where's the UFO??"), or Berzerk ("Evil Otto is missing?!"). Powering up on the easy game or a difficult one makes little difference, really. Ms. & Jr. Pac-Man power up with the difficult variation, Space Invaders starts with the easiest one. Good programming practice is to boot up with a variation that both has broad appeal (the right amount of challenge for all age groups), while showcasing the variation that most people are likely to play once they become familiar with it. Asteroids, Berzerk, and even Adventure all lose points in that respect.

 

And yeah...pretty much EVERYONE knew about "adult" games (Custer's Revenge was pretty much the GTA:San Andreas of it's day where national news is concerned). That one was the "have video games gone too far?" example the talking heads latched onto for about a year or so. You couldn't miss a mention of it.

 

My opinion of E.T. is pretty much the same today as it was at release - meh. I could take it or leave it. As an action/adventure game...it's too easy. The game world is just too damn small to be in that category. I lost interest back then pretty quickly, and I lose interest quickly now. I understood that it was geared mainly toward younger kids, tho...so it's a fair beginning game for that genre. I was well into Ultima and such at that time. Raiders Of The Lost Ark was a good effort, however (only because it's puzzles were so difficult to figure out...so you keep experimenting to see if your character gets a little higher on the platform). Too bad you never CAN actually reach the damn thing on the end screen. Had I known that BITD, I might have experimented less.

 

Pac-Man was "Pac-Man on the 2600"...so any shortcomings there were forgiven simply because of that. Had I known what the system is actually capable of (even using techniques that were present at that time), I probably would have thought less of it. It was a fair effort, tho...and we played the hell out of it.

 

None of these are "bad games"...just some I liked more than others. Bad games make you want to throw your controllers though the window in frustration. Does ET do that? Are you joking?