WHEN VIDEO-GAMES GO WRONG!!!
What was the worst *console video-game you ever played?
{
*I chose console because at least a major company put there stamp of approval on it. You can post PC game titles, especially if it's from a major design company/team. I just wanted to stay away from all the baragain bin trashware titles that grandma bought you, but some of those may be funny as well. So heck Post Anything.}
Or which game were you lured into purchasing by marketing and/or screenshots, box art, hype, reviews etc... that left you feeling like you were scammed?
***
The first one that comes to mind was E.T. for the atari 2600. Not just because of the lackluster graphics, this game was the most boring thing I have ever seen. I'll find a screenshot and a review of it, becasue there is just too much to be said about how aweful this game? actually was. The only thing I could wish for, was that after I fell into a pit, the FBI agent would burry me alive. GamePlay? I'm still not sure if there was gameplay. - Zenassem
Orwell ("
1984") may have seen this games coming...
Quote: "It's also been said that this cart single handedly started the great video game crash of 1984. -Unknown source, anonymous"
***
It contained every conceivable thing that can make a vide-game bad.
{Possibly The Design Doc looked like this-)
I. - We'll make a game based on hit movie.
II. - We can have a huge pea-green landscape with holes scattered
across it.
III.- The player can walk around this empty place, throwing themselves
into these holes (most of which contain........ Nothing!).
IV. - To make the game have a mystical feel, we'll provide a manual
thatmakes the user believe that there is actually a game here.
V. - The Big Event of the game is, ET can heal a plant at the bottom
of one of these holes.
VI - Finally we will code this Epic adventure in 4 weeks to coincide
with the movie!
Here are some reviews and Screenshots:
The Title Screen:
20% of the game you will playing? on sreens like this
20% You'll be (throwing E.T./accidentally falling) into holes like this hoping to break E.T.'s neck.
Add an additional 50% of game play trying to get out of the hole.
Here's The Highlite of the game:
Quote: "As many have noticed, the vast majority of the effort poured, or dripped as the case may be, into E.T. was spent on the opening title screen. Pretty impressive stuff for the 2600, but the game was much more satisfying if one never got past that title screen."
ET The Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 1982) F
Review
5/15/2001
I can remember all the way back to 1982 when I got ET as a
surprise Christmas present! I couldn't believe how lucky I was to get
such an expensive game! And when I saw that awesome title screen and
heard the ET theme, I thought for sure I had struck gold. I played it
for days, and somehow convinced myself it was a good game. Denial is
an ugly thing. Twenty years later, I've come to terms with my
feelings. The truth is, ET is incredibly frustrating and almost
completely devoid of fun. The object is to avoid bad guys while
collecting phone parts hidden in pits. The problem is, these pits are
EVERYWHERE! You can barely move without accidentally keep falling into
one of these annoying things! Is this supposed to be fun? Who
play-tested this crap? I've seen the movie, and I don't remember ET
falling into ONE pit, much less 100 of them! When you're not in a pit,
a symbol at the top of the screen indicates what you can do (call
Elliott, eat candy, locate piece, etc.). The game has some nice
animation, but gameplay glitches, poor design, and confusing controls
make it a struggle from start to finish. This was obviously a rush
job. Atari was ultimately forced to bury its inventory of ET
cartridges in a concrete landfill. Believe me, they did us all a
favor.
1 player Check for ET The Extra-Terrestrial on Ebay
Quote: "A spectacular sales failure for Atari, E.T. cartridges - according to legend - were returned to Atari in such overwhelming numbers that five million copies were crushed and buried in a New Mexico landfill. E.T. programmer Howard Scott Warshaw, who also programmed the vastly superior Raiders Of The Lost Ark game and the all-time classic Yars' Revenge, disputes that claim, though; while he admits that the game didn't go over well, Warshaw doesn't think that the destroyed inventory was anywhere near five million copies."
***
Resources:
http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=157
http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/atari26/q0-00/et.html
http://www.atarinvader.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=88
