ET - 1986?

[as_the_gavel_falls]

Here's a weird one:

 

[Room 34]

Man, I never needed to see that cart THAT up-close!

 

Yeah, that is strange... I mean, I've seen LOTS of carts that were put out in '85 and '86 with updated copyright dates on the labels... but WHY would they be reissuing E.T.? I know the company changed ownership in the interim, but you'd think Tramiel would know about this particular game's notoriety (and lack of retail interest).

[Inky]

Hasn't this been discussed before?

[MegaManFan]

Yup. I brought it up when I found one at a secondhand store and bought it for a buck. I was shocked because I thought they'd all been landfilled.

[King Atari]

Wow, that's pretty cool. I mean, the label, not the game. Where did you find it?

 

I can't see a reason for Atari re-releasing it, except maybe they found some extras, and didn't want to bury them again, or they wanted to give the game another go (ha!).

 

When they buried all the carts, I don't think they wanted to wipe the earth clean of all E.T. cartridges, just to get rid of the overwhelming stock. But, I'd think you would find the earlier 1982 carts still on shelves, not a re-release.

[Nukey Shay]

Hasn't this been discussed before?

 

It's certianly been disgust before

 

Thank you...thank you...

[rockman_x_2002]

Yup.  I brought it up when I found one at a secondhand store and bought it for a buck.  I was shocked because I thought they'd all been landfilled.

 

Perhaps Tramiel raided the landfill and put the carts together again.

[Tempest]

If you take a look at the spaceship windows, this one has diamonds where the early ones have a different shape (I can't rmember what, but they were different).

 

Tempest

[Nukey Shay]

Huh? They look the same to me

 

 

 

Perhaps it had to be re-licensed? There was an early lawsuit filed against Speilberg & Co. about the originality of the story

 

 

Personally...I like this one:

 

Go Home or go come? That'll confuse the little bastage.

[Room 34]

It's the copyright year at the bottom...

[Nukey Shay]

It's the copyright year at the bottom...

 

Yes yes...but the question is "why was it changed?"

[Nukey Shay]

Oops...I didn't realise that my post might be mistaken as a followup to the topic...when it was supposed to be a followup regarding the "window" shapes.

[Room 34]

There are a ton of silver label (and picture label) games that had updated labels printed in 1985 and 1986.

 

My best guess as to why is this:

 

Prior to the Tramiels the official name of the company was "Atari, Inc." In the Tramiel era, it was "Atari Corp." Notice that both the year AND the name of the company in the copyright are changed.

[Room 34]

Oops...I didn't realise that my post might be mistaken as a followup to the topic...when it was supposed to be a followup regarding the "window" shapes.

 

Ah ha.

 

Yeah... the picture itself looks exactly the same to me in both.

 

Oh... except the colors are slightly off between the two. Let's get into another debate over that like with the "orange" Waterworld. Oh PLEASE, let us get into a debate over that.

 

[Nukey Shay]

That would make sense Any existing stock that hadn't been destroyed probably needed to be changed regardless of how well it happened to be selling at the time.

[tyranthraxus]

Well in 1986 E.T. was re-released to theatres. At the time ET was not

on video, Spielberg for years insisted it wouldn't be on VHS but

eventually relented.

 

I have a 5200 Choplifiter with date and name change. Likley they had

some games lying around the warehouse and my guess is that games

not alread labeled had new ones made and shipped. I can't see those

cheapskates actually removing the old labels and putting the virtually

identical new one on.

[Bryan]

Go Home or go come?  That'll confuse the little bastage.

 

I want to know who all of ET's 'friends' are supposed to be. Let's see, we've got a Tree, A yellow thing in the tree with red socks, and a goiter under its right arm, A very happy potato chip, A Don King cherry dude with a baloon, and a piece of purple toast with jelly. ET himself appears to have whatever skin disease Michael Jackson claims to have, and kinda looks like a white gangsta to me. The foreign designer of the cart knew enough about ET to rename it "ET Go Home", but obviously didn't know enough to realize that ET was not a Saturday morning cartoon show.

 

Maybe the alternate spelling was for a Mystique version. (I didn't just go there, did I?)

 

-Bry

[King Atari]

Maybe the alternate spelling was for a Mystique version.  (I didn't just go there, did I?)  

 

Yes, yes you did.

 

*Plays that dirty E.T. hack*

[surfnmadness]

The labels would have a different copyright date too if Atari had moved to another printer for the labels. The new printer would have updated it for their print machines. I am sure around 1985-86 Atari was searching for other methods to cut cost. Label making was probably one of them.