SoulBlazer Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 (edited) So I was watching some videos today on YouTube and came across this. This may be old news to everyone here, but this is the first time I'd heard about this. The TLDR version -- there was a small and short lived computer company in England that did ripoffs...I mean, 'inspired' ports of popular Atari games, and they stole the Atari 2600 E.T. game idea, made some changes to it, and released it on the ZX Spectrum -- with voice! Also stick with the first minute, the guy is playing it up on purpose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwdOZjS6N4U&t=3s Edited September 9, 2017 by SoulBlazer 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KaeruYojimbo Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 There was a piece on Abbex in Retro Gamer Magazine a few issues back that mentioned the game. That was the first I'd ever heard of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 <vomits in hat> That looks worse than the VCS game! Once again I am astounded at the poor quality of some Spectrum stuff, and somewhat relieved not to have been exposed to it as a kid. I think it would have put me off games for good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 Never seen this one before. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 The Spectrum was 48k compared to the 2600 so why the Hell does it look so much worse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 The Spectrum was 48k compared to the 2600 so why the Hell does it look so much worse?More memory isnt enough to overcome compromised graphics hardware. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum_graphic_modes My Ferrari has 620HP, why is it so slow just because it has square wheels? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 More memory isnt enough to overcome compromised graphics hardware. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum_graphic_modes My Ferrari has 620HP, why is it so slow just because it has square wheels? Touche 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 To be fair, there are good programs for weak hardware and lousy programs for powerful hardware. This is the worst of both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 Anyone here ever played the offical ET computer game on the Atari 8-bit? I know it's different but curious how good or bad it is compare to the 2600 "classic". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC1964 Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 The Spectrum was 48k compared to the 2600 so why the Hell does it look so much worse? Well if you could somehow add 32 gigs of RAM to a ColecoVision it won't look better than a PS4. The 2600 did have a palette of 256 colors compared to the Speccy's 16. And that speccy color clash... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Larry Bundy (Guru Larry) does good work. I discovered him through recommended videos watching Metal Jesus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 (edited) MegaManFan, on 13 Sept 2017 - 9:37 PM, said:Larry Bundy (Guru Larry) does good work. I discovered him through recommended videos watching Metal Jesus. Yeah, I discovered his channel thanks to that video and have listened to all of his recent stuff the last few days at work. (listened since I'm working, but it works fine as a podcast. ) I wish he said the sources he used, and the new one on the 'top five games that were released on purpose incomplete' is terrible, but all in all I like his stuff. Edited September 14, 2017 by SoulBlazer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbd30 Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 I also learned from Larry that Sonic the Hedgehog was used as an enemy in some British computer game before he starred in the Sega Genesis game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Jesus Christ that is horrible. Never heard of that computer, but if that's what a typical game looked like for it, its a wonder people played games at all. I was spoiled by my 64 bitd though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Jesus Christ that is horrible. Never heard of that computer, but if that's what a typical game looked like for it, its a wonder people played games at all. UKs most famous, and they were proud of it. Most awful "computer" I've ever encountered. Sinclair did stuff which never worked and got an OBE for it. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Guy in the video said one thing that made that et better was you could float before hitting the bottom. I could have sworn you could levitate before hitting bottom on 2600 as well, its just the unexpectedness of falling in to start with, coupled with your fall speed likely took people by surprise with insufficient time to react usually. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Well if you could somehow add 32 gigs of RAM to a ColecoVision it won't look better than a PS4. The 2600 did have a palette of 256 colors compared to the Speccy's 16. And that speccy color clash... I was thinking about this to come to the conclusion why would anyone do that????? The point I was making was that the Spectrum had 48K and somehow they made the game look far worse than the humble 2600 version. I never said anything about converting a vintage system into a PS4 so perhaps you should read my question again with a little more clarity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 UKs most famous, and they were proud of it. Most awful "computer" I've ever encountered. Sinclair did stuff which never worked and got an OBE for it. Go figure. It was the system of choice at the time in the UK and went head to head with the C64. To this day I still have friends who will defend the original Spectrum and its wonderful merits although personally I always favoured the C64. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari PAC-MAN Fan Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Damn. That looks awful. I usually like ZX Spectrum games. Of all the games you could port to the Specky, why E.T? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 It was the system of choice at the time in the UK and went head to head with the C64. To this day I still have friends who will defend the original Spectrum and its wonderful merits although personally I always favoured the C64. My neighbour and I, we had the C64/fdd (well, I had an C128/fdd), and the guy below had a Speccy. We always laughed at him. Mostly the Spectrum was the system of price, not choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 My neighbour and I, we had the C64/fdd (well, I had an C128/fdd), and the guy below had a Speccy. We always laughed at him. Mostly the Spectrum was the system of price, not choice. True, for at school the rich kids all had C64's while the rest had Speccy's. I was the exception for I preferred my 800XL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 I also learned from Larry that Sonic the Hedgehog was used as an enemy in some British computer game before he starred in the Sega Genesis game. And that it was almost ported to the Amiga & Atari ST computers, which would have been awesome unless Tieritex did the port... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted September 18, 2017 Share Posted September 18, 2017 That's pretty wild, I disagree with the reviewer that the game is better on the ZX. Other than the talking, which I would have thought was awesome at that time, the game looks terrible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted September 18, 2017 Share Posted September 18, 2017 Anyone here ever played the offical ET computer game on the Atari 8-bit? I know it's different but curious how good or bad it is compare to the 2600 "classic". I have placed it a little. But I got the cartridge at a user group swap without manual, so I never knew what I was doing (sounds familiar? lol) Definitely looks different. You are in a suburb with lots of cookie-cutter houses around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 It was the system of choice at the time in the UK and went head to head with the C64. To this day I still have friends who will defend the original Spectrum and its wonderful merits although personally I always favoured the C64. LOL Commies vs Speccies. I was a die hard Commie back in the 80s. Even programmed some games for it. Spectrums were laughable, and Speccies defending their machine with its crappy looking games and silly sounding bleeps even more. 'Oversized chocolate bars' we used to call them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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