2 ms·

I spent hours playing E.T. with friends as a kid. We noticed something unusual about the game compared to other Atari 2600 titles—it came with a relatively larg

by wslh 2y ago

I spent hours playing E.T. with friends as a kid. We noticed something unusual about the game compared to other Atari 2600 titles—it came with a relatively large manual [1]. We were used to simply turning on a game and immediately moving or shooting, relying on pure reflex rather than needing instructions. I remember the falling problem as an annoying thing but not the most annoying: trying to understand the game at first. It is critical to highlight that E.T., the movie, was a huge success, and there were many products related to that. It is important to highlight that there was a lot of pressure to put this game in the market [2]. [1] https://archive.org/details/E.T._The_Extra-Terrestrial_1982_Atari/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/E.T._The_Extra-Terrestrial_1982_... [2] https://www.npr.org/2017/05/31/530235165/total-failure-the-worlds-worst-video-game https://www.npr.org/2017/05/31/530235165/total-failure-the-w...

sumtechguy 2y ago
On top of that Atari had a very rushed schedule from concept to shipping out the door for cartridge was usually 4 weeks. Longer if it was really special.
unclebucknasty 2y ago
Likewise, I played for hours and actually enjoyed it. I also really loved Adventure, Superman and similar. That second linked article (npr.org) is a really interesting read about E.T.'s programmer and his experience during and after making the game, although the story ends a bit abruptly. TLDR; he loved being a rockstar programmer for Atari and was paid millions, but had to move on and find a career/life afterwards. Spoiler alert: he went on to become a SV therapist, helping others with similar experiences. Somehow, the whole thing feels prescient for a lot of current-day devs on the eve of "The Great AI dev takeover". On his perspective around the game itself, a couple of quotes of particular interest: "There's a difference between frustration and disorientation," he says. "Video games are all about frustration. It's OK to frustrate a user. In fact, it's important to frustrate a user. But you don't want to disorient the user." Also, this resonates: "Spielberg looks at me and he goes, 'Couldn't you just do something like Pac-Man?'" I remember playing the game with an older family member looking on. As was apparently the case with Spielberg, his eyes absolutely glazed over. But, he got a real kick out of watching me play Space Invaders and laughed out loud as the aliens sped up. So, the gameplay itself was the biggest complaint about the game. There's a YT video that gets more into the gameplay issues, with matching visuals. [0] In any case, it's insane that he went from concept to finished game in only 5 weeks. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj7iICS64iI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj7iICS64iI
- aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA 2y ago
  Adventure was captivating.
da_chicken 2y ago
I remember the hard part being trying to remember what all the symbols did. They were hard to remember. The game was pretty fun once you figured it out, though. And it was brutally difficult on the highest levels. I don't know if I ever beat it with both the FBI and scientist on. The pits were annoying and definitely a fatal flaw, but really the problem was just that the game was more complicated than an Atari 2600 could really pull off.

by wslh 2y ago

sumtechguy 2y ago

On top of that Atari had a very rushed schedule from concept to shipping out the door for cartridge was usually 4 weeks. Longer if it was really special.

unclebucknasty 2y ago

Likewise, I played for hours and actually enjoyed it. I also really loved Adventure, Superman and similar. That second linked article (npr.org) is a really interesting read about E.T.'s programmer and his experience during and after making the game, although the story ends a bit abruptly. TLDR; he loved being a rockstar programmer for Atari and was paid millions, but had to move on and find a career/life afterwards. Spoiler alert: he went on to become a SV therapist, helping others with similar experiences. Somehow, the whole thing feels prescient for a lot of current-day devs on the eve of "The Great AI dev takeover". On his perspective around the game itself, a couple of quotes of particular interest: "There's a difference between frustration and disorientation," he says. "Video games are all about frustration. It's OK to frustrate a user. In fact, it's important to frustrate a user. But you don't want to disorient the user." Also, this resonates: "Spielberg looks at me and he goes, 'Couldn't you just do something like Pac-Man?'" I remember playing the game with an older family member looking on. As was apparently the case with Spielberg, his eyes absolutely glazed over. But, he got a real kick out of watching me play Space Invaders and laughed out loud as the aliens sped up. So, the gameplay itself was the biggest complaint about the game. There's a YT video that gets more into the gameplay issues, with matching visuals. [0] In any case, it's insane that he went from concept to finished game in only 5 weeks. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj7iICS64iI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj7iICS64iI

aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA 2y ago
Adventure was captivating.

da_chicken 2y ago

I remember the hard part being trying to remember what all the symbols did. They were hard to remember. The game was pretty fun once you figured it out, though. And it was brutally difficult on the highest levels. I don't know if I ever beat it with both the FBI and scientist on. The pits were annoying and definitely a fatal flaw, but really the problem was just that the game was more complicated than an Atari 2600 could really pull off.