ET the Game: Revision?

SilentScope001 · 07-27-2007, 02:07 AM

Some time ago, there was an argumet over the "worst game ever", ET for Atari. Someone said that it was really bad, and another person said it was really fun. I, knowing nothing about ET, ignored it. But after hearing the discussion between fans of ET and enemies of ET, I decided to go and search for any resources about the game. And I found it.

Behold, the Video Strategy Guide for ET, The Game!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-pzd...elated&search=

From the looks of that guide, the game actually looks semi-fun, especially the time limit. Collecting dots and phone pieces may be boring, and falling can become pretty annoying. Overlal, the concept was orignal, and I like it.

What I was wondering is if there should be a revision? Keep the gameplay, but change/improve the story and make it, well, less annoying and more understandable to the consumer? Getting rid of those pits, for instance?

*tk102* · 08-02-2007, 05:47 PM

Heh heh, how'd I miss this thread earlier?

Those were wells, not pits!

And they wells weren't *that* bad -- you had to search them for phone pieces and not let yourself fall all the way down or you'd lose energy. Catching yourself just before touching down was the key.

I didn't think the game was boring -- it was challenging sure, maybe a little redundant, but it was pretty cool when you got that spaceship to land and then you got all the bonus for the Reese's Pieces (dots, say you) that you collected.

As you say the whole game was a quite creative and I haven't played another game like it. Trying to find that Call Spaceship zone while avoiding the FBI guy or running out of life force as the clock counted down -- that was the essence of the movie.

Does it need a revision? For who? Atari 2600 players? PC gamers? Really no one would buy it except some weird collector.

SilentScope001 · 08-03-2007, 02:15 AM

Quote:

As you say the whole game was a quite creative and I haven't played another game like it. Trying to find that Call Spaceship zone while avoiding the FBI guy or running out of life force as the clock counted down -- that was the essence of the movie.

Does it need a revision? For who? Atari 2600 players? PC gamers? Really no one would buy it except some weird collector.

I've been thinking of what would happen if such an innoviate gameplay gets transplanted in another game. I've been thinking "Is gameplay important", and by using this unique gameplay but trying to appeal to the modern-day gamer, it might boost the popularity of said game with such a unique gameplay. Maybe.

*tk102* · 08-03-2007, 09:41 AM

Sadly, the quaint reality abstractions that were required in 80s video games and the Atari 2600 aren't appealing to todays gamers. Some of my best childhood memories involve "all-day" arcades, but I admit to getting bored when I play emulators of those games today. (Google MAME32 if you don't know what it is.) Retro games are still fun, but only in small doses. Hmm, I guess that was their intent -- sap you for a couple bucks in quarters and let someone have a turn. Maybe it's just that us modern gamers expect hours and hours of gameplay and that's a lot to ask from a couple kilobytes of ROM. But I digress...

Are you talking about porting some concepts from E.T. to another (modern) game?

Dagobahn Eagle · 08-03-2007, 12:29 PM

What a weird game concept.

More here.

*tk102* · 08-03-2007, 12:48 PM

Wow...I've never seen the game slammed so hard as in this article:
http://www.snopes.com/business/market/atari.asp

I must be truly in the minority on this one.

Quote:

Basing a video game on a movie rather than an established arcade hit or a tested game premise (and expecting it to sell simply because of the popularity of the film) was a questionable enough decision, but the sheer awfulness of the finished product was unprecedented...the result was a virtually unplayable game with a dull plot and crummy graphics...When distributor returns were added to the 5 million unsold Pacman cartridges and another 5 million useless E.T. cartridges, Atari found itself with tons of unsellable merchandise to dispose of, which led to the rumor that Atari buried millions of E.T. cartridges in a landfill in the New Mexico desert...In this case the rumor was accurate

Crummy graphics? At least they mentioned Pac-Man in the same breath.

SilentScope001 · 08-03-2007, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Are you talking about porting some concepts from E.T. to another (modern) game?

Yeah, that is what I am referring to. Taking the best of the modern-day gaming with the concepts in ET. Though I could see that it may take some time, and due to my inexperience, it is likely to be just a text-based game if I ever actually venture forth on making something like this.

Achilles · 08-03-2007, 02:00 PM

I really enjoyed the game, but then again, I was about 8 at the time.

*tk102* · 08-03-2007, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentScope001

Taking the best of the modern-day gaming with the concepts in ET.

I still don't understand exactly what ET concepts you try to use.

SilentScope001 · 08-04-2007, 12:26 AM

Quote:

I still don't understand exactly what ET concepts you try to use.

1) Run around gathering three pieces of the phone.
2) You have an Energy bar that represents how much health you have, and you waste health whenever you move. So you got a timelimit to find the phone pieces, and you can heal yourself by eating the Resse's Pieces.
3) There are locations you have to go to, like the Call Spaceship square, and you have to head there, then back to the Landing Site to get OUT of the area and win the levle.

Basically that's it.

Aash Li · 08-04-2007, 12:42 AM

I think if Atari remade ET, theyd have to revist that new mexico landfill again. lol

I wonder if theyd replace the toy guns with walkie-talkies like they did in the movie... and would they replace all the cars with "eco-friendly" cars? Maybe fine ET for carbon emissions? 'cause you know that spaceship cant be good for global warming...

*cough* sorry... couldnt resist. lol

*tk102* · 08-04-2007, 12:55 AM

Geek points to Aash Li!

JediKnight707 · 08-04-2007, 02:07 AM

I couldn't see this game ever being remade, even the concept of it. But it would seriously keep me entertained for about 3 seconds.

HerbieZ · 08-04-2007, 05:09 PM

I dunno. I think if you made this game on the Source engine. Still with the unexplained crap going on like falling into holes and flying out and getting chased by lab technicians, it'd be great playing whilst drunk.