Worst Atari 2600 Company ever?

[eddhell]

1 hour ago, VectorGamer said:

I can't think of any other shitty game ever released that I have more hatred for. 2600 Pac-Man sucks in every phase of the game.

spoken like a true arcade pac-man addict.  They preyed on our weakness, the must-have need for a home version....everybody bought it.  Then hated it.  Then turned away from Atari. 

 

hell, even the LCD handheld knockoffs like Epoch man were better than that crap...

it's also funny how many knock offs there were, in all systems and genres, that never satisfied the itch!!  no home system port of pac-man has ever provided the same gratification as the original arcade version to me....

Edited November 13, 2019 by eddhell

[high voltage]

But that happens on every console released, there's always the 'worst companies', game library for NES is a good example.

Edited November 13, 2019 by high voltage

[VectorGamer]

7 minutes ago, eddhell said:

  no home system port of pac-man has ever provided the same gratification as the original arcade version to me....

I enjoy Pac-Man Arcade and the 8K Pac-Man on the Atari 2600. Pac-Man Collection for the 7800 is really good too.

[eddhell]

1 minute ago, VectorGamer said:

I enjoy Pac-Man Arcade and the 8K Pac-Man on the Atari 2600. Pac-Man Collection for the 7800 is really good too.

Those play very well, i DO enjoy them also!  And if those were the versions released to us back then, 1982 to 1983 would probably played out very different for Atari, even E.T. could have easily been forgiven!

[VectorGamer]

7 minutes ago, eddhell said:

Those play very well, i DO enjoy them also!  And if those were the versions released to us back then, 1982 to 1983 would probably played out very different for Atari, even E.T. could have easily been forgiven!

If  that 8K Pac-Man would've come out back in 82 it would've been the highest selling 2600 cartridge of all time.

[Rom Collector]

I hate Atari if for no other reason, Swordquest Earthworld. I'm still pissed they claimed it to be a sequel to Adventure, when it was really just a POS. They ripped off this 14 year old (and many others) of their hard earned money, for this garbage. I hope they're proud of themselves. Smoke in Hell!

[Atariperson23]

19 hours ago, Supergun said:

Mythicon was by far the worst. They made one horrible game, cloned it twice, sold it as 3 different games, and all 3 are not only pure garbage; they are borderline unplayable.

 

terrible graphics, horrendous sounds, piss poor collision detection, etc.

 

(and for the guy who mentioned us games, space jockey & word zapper (etc.) are at least playable & enjoyable games) and Coleco donkey Kong is also playable. the basic gameplay is there.

True. I still remember seeing the epic Sorcerer box art and thinking it'd be a solid game. Boy, i've never been more disappointed ever since.

[keithbk]

I agree that the Swordquest games and Pac-Man were HUGE disappointments.

 

And I consider E.T. to be a reasonably good game that I played and beat in my youth quite often; I actually enjoyed it and thought the opening screen was brilliant.

 

And while these games may have played a part in the "great game crash," I think people need to remember that most of us who received the Atari in our childhood (most likely between 1978-1980) outgrew the system by 1983.

 

In 1977, when Star Wars came out, I was 9 years old. In 1980 (Empire Strikes Back), I was 12. In 1983 (Return of the Jedi), I was 15.

 

I got my Atari in 1978, when I was 10. By 1983, I was 15, in high school, and the Atari was not something I turned to in order to have fun. 

 

My interest in Atari mirrored my appreciation of Star Wars.

 

When I saw Star Wars in the theater, it was incredible. I couldn't stop thinking about it! Same with Atari!

 

By 1980, Empire came along, and the storyline matured right along with me. It was the sweet spot. And in 1980, the Atari games were getting good. VERY good.

 

Then 1983 rolled around. I was in High School. I saw Jedi. Ewoks? Really? Too childish for me.

 

And that was it. The ride was over. I saw Star Wars and Empire dozens of times in the theater. With Jedi, once was enough. The ride was over.

 

In 1983, the Atari games did not meet my maturing tastes for entertainment. I discovered Zork and it fascinated me. Actually, everything coming out of Infocom at the time was brilliant. And with the Commodore 64 and a bit of effort, I could create my own games. I had matured beyond the limits of the Atari.

 

I only went back for nostalgia's sake.

[keithbk]

I just watched the movie on Atari "Easy to Learn, Hard to Master," which covers the rise and the fall of Atari, and I was reflecting, with the benefit of hindsight, on what moves would have saved Atari.

 

First, the biggest thing was they needed to introduce a new system with backwards compatibility within 4 years of the launch of the 2600. The lifespan of home Pong games should have given you a good example of how long technology lasts before obsolescence.

 

I think the 5200 was the WRONG move, because it could not play the 2600 games, and all it offered were titles already released for the 2600, but "better graphics." The controllers were awful. For a dedicated system, if the controllers are bad, the system simply will not catch on. Intellivision fell on this one key shortfall. The disc was an awful design; ColecoVision was much better with a similar design. And the 5200 was HUGE. Needlessly huge. It has a footprint larger than most VCRs.

 

Something like the 7800 should have been introduced by 1981, but with the concept that it would receive the computer peripheral keyboard attachment. Backwards compatibility preserves the value of the 2600 games while opening a world to new games. Phase out production of 2600 new titles and focus on new 7800 titles (not just ports) and push the system to the limits to compete with the home computer market (the VIC 20/C64).

 

Second, the only way Atari could survive this move would be to retain their best game developers. If they had taken David Crane's suggestion of giving game developers a bonus based on sales, the loss of their best designers could have potentially been avoided. Can you imagine if these guys were developing games for a system with the 7800's capabilities in 1981? ColecoVision wouldn't stand a chance. 

 

In the end, Atari hurt themselves by losing their best designers, creating their own competition, then falling to a flood of competing cartridges of varying quality.

[schuwalker]

6 hours ago, keithbk said:

I agree that the Swordquest games and Pac-Man were HUGE disappointments.

 

And I consider E.T. to be a reasonably good game that I played and beat in my youth quite often; I actually enjoyed it and thought the opening screen was brilliant.

 

And while these games may have played a part in the "great game crash," I think people need to remember that most of us who received the Atari in our childhood (most likely between 1978-1980) outgrew the system by 1983.

 

In 1977, when Star Wars came out, I was 9 years old. In 1980 (Empire Strikes Back), I was 12. In 1983 (Return of the Jedi), I was 15.

 

I got my Atari in 1978, when I was 10. By 1983, I was 15, in high school, and the Atari was not something I turned to in order to have fun. 

 

My interest in Atari mirrored my appreciation of Star Wars.

 

When I saw Star Wars in the theater, it was incredible. I couldn't stop thinking about it! Same with Atari!

 

By 1980, Empire came along, and the storyline matured right along with me. It was the sweet spot. And in 1980, the Atari games were getting good. VERY good.

 

Then 1983 rolled around. I was in High School. I saw Jedi. Ewoks? Really? Too childish for me.

 

And that was it. The ride was over. I saw Star Wars and Empire dozens of times in the theater. With Jedi, once was enough. The ride was over.

 

In 1983, the Atari games did not meet my maturing tastes for entertainment. I discovered Zork and it fascinated me. Actually, everything coming out of Infocom at the time was brilliant. And with the Commodore 64 and a bit of effort, I could create my own games. I had matured beyond the limits of the Atari.

 

I only went back for nostalgia's sake.

You have a couple years on me, age might play a factor here...

 

Dad picked up a 2600 Sears Telegames too in '78 for reference.

 

For me, '83 was a incredible year of gaming - just looking at Activision's catalog that same year. I was also a arcade junkie, now you're also getting those arcade ports of '82 and '83 released. This time I was also heavy into the Colecovision scene so that was another added bonus.

 

My computer perspective relied solely on Dad's Ti-99 computer... playing tons of Parsec with the speech module - good memories! One of the neighbor kids had a C64 which got me into that scene. Looking back, I think I really only got into the C64 because in '85 there was zero, zilch for the console scene. I did love me some C64 Bruce Lee! 

 

Another big Star Wars fan here as well. Speaking of Jedi, I love there's a divide here being contingent on age. I loved that movie when it came out; consequently, seen it around a dozen times. It did hold the time spot for a while for me. Think that reverted back when Empire was released on home video in '84. One of my good friends, around the same age as you, just absolutely loathes that movie as well.

 

Interesting hearing different views from different age groups in my favorite years of gaming as well as the movies.

[VectorGamer]

9 hours ago, keithbk said:

Can you imagine if these guys were developing games for a system with the 7800's capabilities in 1981? ColecoVision wouldn't stand a chance.

I don't know about that. What was great about the ColecoVision were ports of both popular and not-so-popular (but fun) arcade games. I played the crap out of Carnival, Mouse Trap, Venture and Donkey Kong on the ColecoVision BITD. They were all great games for the time.

 

But I get your point that Atari should have moved forward with a console that was backward compatible out of the box with the 2600. By the time the Atari 7800 came out, I lost interest in video games pretty much anyway and started playing pinball instead.

 

One more comment on 2600 Pac-Man: I don't want to attack Tod Frye, but I was amazed in watching an interview with him where he was totally oblivious to the expectations of porting Pac-Man to the 2600. He came across as not seeing any of its shortcomings as a big deal. He made a lot of money off of it though.

[zzip]

27 minutes ago, VectorGamer said:

One more comment on 2600 Pac-Man: I don't want to attack Tod Frye, but I was amazed in watching an interview with him where he was totally oblivious to the expectations of porting Pac-Man to the 2600. He came across as not seeing any of its shortcomings as a big deal. He made a lot of money off of it though.

I saw that.   I used to give him the benefit of the doubt before that because I had heard that management decided to ship his first proof of concept.   But seeing how he couldn't see anything wrong with the game makes me think he was part of the problem.

 

15 hours ago, Rom Collector said:

I hate Atari if for no other reason, Swordquest Earthworld. I'm still pissed they claimed it to be a sequel to Adventure, when it was really just a POS. They ripped off this 14 year old (and many others) of their hard earned money, for this garbage. I hope they're proud of themselves. Smoke in Hell!

Did they actually sell it as an Adventure sequel?    My friends and I were going through an adventure game phase and just getting into D&D, so the name and cover art alone made it seem like something we had to have.    We even enjoyed it at first..    but when we were making a general lack of progress in the game, we soured on it. 

 

10 hours ago, keithbk said:

Something like the 7800 should have been introduced by 1981, but with the concept that it would receive the computer peripheral keyboard attachment. Backwards compatibility preserves the value of the 2600 games while opening a world to new games. Phase out production of 2600 new titles and focus on new 7800 titles (not just ports) and push the system to the limits to compete with the home computer market (the VIC 20/C64).

I think 82 was about the right time for a replacement,  in 1982, they were still squeezing new power out of the 2600 and taking games to another level, so it still had some life in it.    But backwards compatibility would have helped a lot.   I think the crash was inevitable because of how fast the industry grew.

[davyK]

Activision were better at the technical aspect of games than they were at game design. Many of their games are pretty limited even for the time. They overused the idea of time trialling for example. However there are plenty or really excellent games throughout their time on the 2600. Kaboom!, Stampede, Megamania, Keystone Kapers, Space Shuttle, Freeway ( 2 player), Decathlon, Beamrider, Chopper Command, Dragster, Fishing Derby, Frostbite, HERO, Pressure Cooker and Tennis are still excellent games even today.

 

Far from the worst developer. Just too many good ones that outweigh the overhyped games.

Edited November 14, 2019 by davyK

[FroggoGamer]

I think it would be easier to pick a "worst game' than worst game company. I'm also of the mindset that there were some good and bad in nearly every game company. 

 

I will say this much, as a kid I hate Sky Jinks, and that would have topped my list back then, but now I don't think it is all that bad. 

 

But if you have to pick a worst game company for the 2600, it could be argued Atari itself was the worst. Yes, they made the company but also broke it. The fact that people are making games today that outshines most of the original library is evidence of that fact. Obviously, games like ET and PacMan were rushed out, and compared to what these games could gave been with a bit of polish, then it could be argued that they were the worst. Granted, I like both games but we have seen improvements on both games by those who hack and make homebrews. 

 

Those Taiwan Cooper games take the cake for crappiest box art, though. 

[VectorGamer]

36 minutes ago, FroggoGamer said:

The fact that people are making games today that outshines most of the original library is evidence of that fact.

How many people making games today do that as their sole source of income and are under tight schedules?

[keithbk]

As to the worst game/developer...

 

Data Age gave us Sssnake. This game is AWFUL. Especially for a game introduced in 1982.

 

Seriously, I feel bad for ANY kid who got this for a present back in the day.

 

 

[keithbk]

Up against Sssnake, E.T. is a masterpiece.

 

ET looks good. Sure, the gameplay is borderline too hard, but I beat it as a kit lots of times. Once you think of ET's world like a 6-sided cube (a Rubik's cube, even), and you know the landing field is on the top, the buildings are on the bottom, and the pits are the other 4 sides, it isn't difficult. You have a lovely opening screen, some good audio, and a simple objective. If you can't get the hang of getting out of the pits, you haven't played enough because it isn't that difficult. No, Atari should not have made 4 million cartridges; that was a bad move. They only sold 1.5 million of those copies, but that's a lot of sales.

 

The ET game accurately reflects the movie, both in graphics and game concepts: avoid the people looking for you, build your phone, call home, get help from Elliot when necessary, eat Reese's Pieces, get onboard your spaceship and go home.

 

Sssnake was a horrible attempt to rip of Centipede, and it fails in every way imaginable.

 

 

[schuwalker]

I would put ssssnake against any Mythicon game... ssssnake would win


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[+save2600]

Hell, forget about the game... Sssnake's box art alone blows away all three games by Mythicon.   ?

[keithbk]

I'd rather play Star Fox, Fire Fly, or Sorcerer before Sssnake.

 

But not by much.

[VectorGamer]

I watched the video and cannot comprehend WTF is going on in Sssnake

[BassGuitari]

On 11/12/2019 at 9:36 AM, Flojomojo said:

Post-1984 Atari Corp was pretty bad. Rather than fighting for the future, they propped up the past, long past the freshness date of the 2600, dooming themselves to be little more than a brand custodian, while modern companies stole their customers and mindshare. Sounds a lot like modern "Atari," when I think about it. 

 

So Atari Corp. was a bad 2600 publisher...because they made 2600 games?

 

The cheapness of their reprinted titles is laughable, but let's not forget that some of the best original titles in the 2600 library came in those red Atari Corp. boxes, like Solaris, Jr. Pac-Man, Midnight Magic, Super Football, Radar Lock, and Secret Quest. The only problem with those games is that they should have been 7800 games, but I think that's more of an argument for Atari Corp. being a "bad 7800 company" rather than a "bad 2600 company."

 

As far as being a "brand custodian," they were all about the Atari ST, they released the Lynx, and the Jaguar was around the corner. ?‍♂️ And if you want to compare Atari Corp. to "modern Atari," well...look at Atari Corp.'s products, and then "modern Atari's" products, and then tell us which ones actually exist.

[Flojomojo]

@BassGuitari Everything you said is true, but Atari was just a shadow of its former self by this point, and left in the dust by Nintendo and even early Sega. It didn't have to be that way. 

[BassGuitari]

2 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

@BassGuitari Everything you said is true, but Atari was just a shadow of its former self by this point, and left in the dust by Nintendo and even early Sega. It didn't have to be that way. 

But what does that have to do with the quality of their 2600 titles?

[jwelsh]

I'd have to agree with Mythicon as No. 1 worst. Not 1 of their games is even an ok game. Zimag had a couple i enjoy, tanks but no tanks was ok, and i think there can be some enjoyment in Dishaster. So did Data Age. Journey escape was ok, and Frankensteins Monster was alot of fun imo.  alot of companies had a mix of good games and bad ones, Games by Apollo, Parker bros, and even Atari themselves are good examples.  I may be in the minority, but alot of the Xonox games i find pretty bad as well.

Edited November 18, 2019 by jwelsh