What amazes me about this whole saga is that Atari made more copies of ET than there were consoles to play it on and still didn't realise they were being stupid.
What amazes ME is that Atari paid 25mln for license and hired just.one.guy. to make the entire game! I know that back in those days game "studios" were nothing more that a room with 3-4 people, but come on, couldn't they give the guy some helping hands?
I remember watching a documentary about Atari and the game crash (the one that actually proved the burial myth) with my Dad who grew up with a 2600, and I remember their being a section with Howard Scott Warshaw where he explained what he was thinking when he made the outline for the game. If I remember correctly he was trying to capture the parts of the movie that stuck out to him and I ended up feeling like what he was going for, could've been decent on paper, but with the whole time crunch thing, was destined for failure.
My mom bought me a 2600 around 88-89 and I didn't even ask her to buy me games for it. Pac-Man, Golf, and maybe a third forgotten game. The NES solved a lot of problems lol.
I remember playing it as a kid. I always thought that it was rather boring but not terrible. It was really easy to beat once you understood the game play properly
This was one of the first video games I ever played, I was four or five when my dad bought a used 2600 and a bunch of games from a coworker. Of course all the manuals were missing, so in addition to nobody in my family having much gaming experience we were on our own to figure the mechanics out.
This game gets way too much blame for the video game crash. It's was good old greedy bosses making bad choices and trying to blame a developer for thier incompetence. It's good to know that we've learned so much more in 40 years... Also the new Mexico dump was a tax write off and was full of copies of very good games that they failed to sell. They didn't understand that when you've sold a game to 86% of the people who own the console,aybe you shouldn't try and print another 100k copies for them to not buy. Ataris c suite killed the company not Howard's game. It still a bad game though, but it technically the first ever open world game. Can't blame the guy for having ambition
In fairness, ET wasn't the only game found in that landfill. There were numerous copies of countless other games. Atari had a real quality control issue and shovel-ware was abundant. ET wasn't the sole cause of the video game crash, nor was it the needle that broke the camels back. It was the giant brick thrown directly at the camels head. The brick was also incendiary. And released murder hornets. And smack talked about your momma.
One of my first gaming memories is playing ET with my brother and neither of us having any idea what we were supposed to be doing. I'd completely forgotten about the sometimes-inescapable holes, though, until this video brought that traumatic memory flooding back! 😂
I remember trying to play it and I couldn't figure out how to play it. If I remember correctly, the booklet that came with it contained no information regarding game play, but then again, there might not have been any booklet at all. At the end of the day, I couldn't play it. I think I was able to move up and down on that one screen with ET in the middle of it. That was it. I would it out once in a while and try again still couldn't play
Is it me, or does the scientist chasing ET look like Dr Zoidberg from Futurama - and the boy who finds ET at the bottom of a pit looks like Ernie from Sesame Street? 😮
I remember when ET came out for the Atari 2600. It was bad, but there was worse. At the time, I figured it was for toddlers or little kids. To get out of those pits, you started at the side of the hole, or jump up the sides to stand on the little shelf on the upper right or left, then you'd be on the edge of the hole when you out. It was a crappy game but not nearly as abysmally bad as Atari 2600 Pac Man. Mountain King was another one that made no sense. Less sense than ET. I still have my Atari 2600 and my games and oddly, I have two copies of ET. My Mom said two different people probably bought me a copy for Christmas. Regardless of your feelings about Nintendo, they saved the video game industry and upon reflection, I'm not surprised that they keep super tight control over their IP.
One thing for sure the Atari 2600 doesnt seem good for, is adventure games. They didnt have memory to do anything like that. I seriously cant buy that the monopoly over video games of Atari actually meant "the video game industry".
Adventure was actually pretty good and it's consider a precursor to the legend of zelda series but yeah the 2600 did had its limits and E.T. was just too ambitious for its time if it was made for the NES a few years later it would've had more memory and processing to work with
@10:26 It took decades for the US market to recover? I'm pretty sure by the end of the 80s video games market was a boom again. Otherwise, great video.
According to the "Every year in video games ranked from worst to best" video on this very channel, it was something like 2005 before the industry managed to make as much money again.
Ataris failure and the collapse of the western console market opend the way for both the capture of that market by nintendo and sega, and the bost in popularity of PC games as a home gaming option. Like trees sprouting after a forrest fire, newer, better methods of gaming sprouted from the collapse of an old way.
This game deserved to fail…. 6 weeks to develop it!!! When the concept is explained it doesn’t sound that bad(In the context of the time) But with Less than 6 weeks to implement you are going to get trash. I think consumers where right to reject it so badly and lose faith in the market casing it to crash. It seems that lessons where learnt from this and in the long run was a benefit to the games industry. I would love to see more of these tackling topics like battlefront 3, the fall of free radical and maybe the death of licensed games.
The fact that the game is as "finished" as it is amazing considering it was done in 6 weeks. It's still a bad game, but nowhere close to being the worst video game ever made.
I think it is rather unfair to criticize the sound of a more than 40 year old gaming console from today's perspective... remember we thought polyphone ringtones were cool 25 years or so ago and today's kids would pity us 😅
Atari is a classic example of the Icarus fable, in their hubris they flew too close to the sun and inevitably went down in flames. In retrospect it was good for the industry, because Japanese companies like Nintendo and Sega were able to learn from their mistakes and succeed where they failed. Well, maybe not so much Sega as their attempts to follow up on the Genesis/MegaDrive’s success were almost as poor as Atari’s post-2600 fortunes, but still.
Actually, ET should actually not even be the top 10s worst games. There were a lot of worse Atari games for the system, and nobody seems to mention them for some reason despite them do exist. How this misconception remains this prevalent is saddening. Because ET is just an average game in the context of its release.
Unfortunetly, it feels like you left a lot info to misinform the audience to keep the old myth alive. It is true that ET was among the games in the landfill, but its also other games, which was a lot more than ET infact. Plus, while the game its average, it was actually not the worse game in the same, far from it. A few other documentaries mention this, among of them was Gaming The Systems's video "The World’s Most Unfairly Treated Game". If anything 5 weeks and manage to do this ambitious idea on an ATARI 2600 title was kind of surprising when you apply context to the game... As well as reading the dang manual, which is kind of like Skipping the tutorial and cutscenes in a game and are confuse on what to do.
I really thought we were done overemphasizing the contribution that this game individually provided to the 1983 crash, but you guy really dug in your heels eh?
I think ET was the peak of this issue and became the posterchild especially in hindsight, but from what ive read, every game was really bad for a long time. the industry was filled with shit sponsored games for 1980s wankers
I dont care how cold this take is. ET sucked. The movie I mean. I saw it like once as a kid and was so bored I never watched it again easily one of the most overrated movies of all time.
That would explain why we haven't had contact yet. They played the game first, then realized we're nowhere near ready for the real ETs to show themselves. 😂
Let me guess every one at triple jump got writers block so you decided to do this hack story that every video game youtube channel has done to death a million times over
We can't wait for the Bluepoint Games remake of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It's going to be amazing 👽
I genuinely still cannot get over that this was somewhat real and not just a myth. Almost like discovering the Holy Grail.
Whoever's doing the audio in triple jump videos is an absolute legend. It has always been super nice, but this is audio gold
What amazes me about this whole saga is that Atari made more copies of ET than there were consoles to play it on and still didn't realise they were being stupid.
Yes, as they were hoping it would sell lots more consoles, like what happened with Space Invaders.
What amazes ME is that Atari paid 25mln for license and hired just.one.guy. to make the entire game! I know that back in those days game "studios" were nothing more that a room with 3-4 people, but come on, couldn't they give the guy some helping hands?
I remember watching a documentary about Atari and the game crash (the one that actually proved the burial myth) with my Dad who grew up with a 2600, and I remember their being a section with Howard Scott Warshaw where he explained what he was thinking when he made the outline for the game. If I remember correctly he was trying to capture the parts of the movie that stuck out to him and I ended up feeling like what he was going for, could've been decent on paper, but with the whole time crunch thing, was destined for failure.
My mom bought me a 2600 around 88-89 and I didn't even ask her to buy me games for it.
Pac-Man, Golf, and maybe a third forgotten game. The NES solved a lot of problems lol.
I remember playing it as a kid. I always thought that it was rather boring but not terrible. It was really easy to beat once you understood the game play properly
This was one of the first video games I ever played, I was four or five when my dad bought a used 2600 and a bunch of games from a coworker. Of course all the manuals were missing, so in addition to nobody in my family having much gaming experience we were on our own to figure the mechanics out.
Still waiting on a modern remake of Joust.... Nothing quite like ostrich-mounted combat to get the blood pumping!
Big fan of this format. Interesting video lads/ladettes/others
Great presenting again, Ben!
The Goldbergs had a great episode about the sheer disappointment of ET 2600
Knowing that documentary was published 10 years ago at this point.... where does the time go :'IIIII
This game gets way too much blame for the video game crash. It's was good old greedy bosses making bad choices and trying to blame a developer for thier incompetence. It's good to know that we've learned so much more in 40 years... Also the new Mexico dump was a tax write off and was full of copies of very good games that they failed to sell. They didn't understand that when you've sold a game to 86% of the people who own the console,aybe you shouldn't try and print another 100k copies for them to not buy. Ataris c suite killed the company not Howard's game. It still a bad game though, but it technically the first ever open world game. Can't blame the guy for having ambition
In fairness, ET wasn't the only game found in that landfill. There were numerous copies of countless other games. Atari had a real quality control issue and shovel-ware was abundant. ET wasn't the sole cause of the video game crash, nor was it the needle that broke the camels back. It was the giant brick thrown directly at the camels head. The brick was also incendiary. And released murder hornets. And smack talked about your momma.
One of my first gaming memories is playing ET with my brother and neither of us having any idea what we were supposed to be doing. I'd completely forgotten about the sometimes-inescapable holes, though, until this video brought that traumatic memory flooding back! 😂
HS Warshaw is a sort-of motivational speaker these days. He's got some wild stories.
The fact that they found them… heck, the fact that someone looked and found them is amazing.
This is the BEST format Triple Jump do ❤️
Imagine where we would be if this game never existed or was actually okay.
I remember trying to play it and I couldn't figure out how to play it. If I remember correctly, the booklet that came with it contained no information regarding game play, but then again, there might not have been any booklet at all. At the end of the day, I couldn't play it. I think I was able to move up and down on that one screen with ET in the middle of it. That was it. I would it out once in a while and try again still couldn't play
I love this format!
I loved this game as a kid. The Atari wasn't known for its variety in games. It was so different at the time.
Is it me, or does the scientist chasing ET look like Dr Zoidberg from Futurama - and the boy who finds ET at the bottom of a pit looks like Ernie from Sesame Street? 😮
Does ET have a wilson? Great video Triple Jump!
I remember when ET came out for the Atari 2600. It was bad, but there was worse. At the time, I figured it was for toddlers or little kids. To get out of those pits, you started at the side of the hole, or jump up the sides to stand on the little shelf on the upper right or left, then you'd be on the edge of the hole when you out.
It was a crappy game but not nearly as abysmally bad as Atari 2600 Pac Man. Mountain King was another one that made no sense. Less sense than ET.
I still have my Atari 2600 and my games and oddly, I have two copies of ET. My Mom said two different people probably bought me a copy for Christmas.
Regardless of your feelings about Nintendo, they saved the video game industry and upon reflection, I'm not surprised that they keep super tight control over their IP.
One thing for sure the Atari 2600 doesnt seem good for, is adventure games. They didnt have memory to do anything like that. I seriously cant buy that the monopoly over video games of Atari actually meant "the video game industry".
Adventure was actually pretty good and it's consider a precursor to the legend of zelda series but yeah the 2600 did had its limits and E.T. was just too ambitious for its time if it was made for the NES a few years later it would've had more memory and processing to work with
One of the things nowadays is that people try playing it without the instructions. Not that it makes it much better.
More! More videos like this please 🤠
Funny, my brother owns a non-landfill copy of the game (which is in my custody).
My first console was an Atari 2600 Jr. It was fun, but was replaced a few months later by a Gameboy - fun times!
I unfortunately had this game, my parent got it for me as a child
@10:26 It took decades for the US market to recover? I'm pretty sure by the end of the 80s video games market was a boom again. Otherwise, great video.
According to the "Every year in video games ranked from worst to best" video on this very channel, it was something like 2005 before the industry managed to make as much money again.
7000 copies is nothing compared to 3 million plus. So what happened to the other copies?
When game crunch began
Ataris failure and the collapse of the western console market opend the way for both the capture of that market by nintendo and sega, and the bost in popularity of PC games as a home gaming option.
Like trees sprouting after a forrest fire, newer, better methods of gaming sprouted from the collapse of an old way.
What’s not mentioned is that the Raiders of the Lost Ark game was essentially as bad yet must have somehow sold more
This game deserved to fail…. 6 weeks to develop it!!!
When the concept is explained it doesn’t sound that bad(In the context of the time) But with Less than 6 weeks to implement you are going to get trash.
I think consumers where right to reject it so badly and lose faith in the market casing it to crash.
It seems that lessons where learnt from this and in the long run was a benefit to the games industry.
I would love to see more of these tackling topics like battlefront 3, the fall of free radical and maybe the death of licensed games.
The fact that the game is as "finished" as it is amazing considering it was done in 6 weeks. It's still a bad game, but nowhere close to being the worst video game ever made.
Oh hey I’m in that town
Are you digging them up now. Joking 😁😁
Time to start digging.
@@adstar1947 if there were still there I would. I probably have a better chance of finding Oppenheimer’s lost change than a copy there though.
@@Letcaster 🤣🤣🤣
I think it is rather unfair to criticize the sound of a more than 40 year old gaming console from today's perspective... remember we thought polyphone ringtones were cool 25 years or so ago and today's kids would pity us 😅
I still have my copy. Dunno if it works or not. Because my 2600 has no power lead. Or controller. 😂
Atari is a classic example of the Icarus fable, in their hubris they flew too close to the sun and inevitably went down in flames. In retrospect it was good for the industry, because Japanese companies like Nintendo and Sega were able to learn from their mistakes and succeed where they failed. Well, maybe not so much Sega as their attempts to follow up on the Genesis/MegaDrive’s success were almost as poor as Atari’s post-2600 fortunes, but still.
Shocking fact. E.T (the Atari game) is now the 2nd worst video game ever. Title now taken by Concord in September 2024.
Actually, ET should actually not even be the top 10s worst games. There were a lot of worse Atari games for the system, and nobody seems to mention them for some reason despite them do exist. How this misconception remains this prevalent is saddening. Because ET is just an average game in the context of its release.
Unfortunetly, it feels like you left a lot info to misinform the audience to keep the old myth alive. It is true that ET was among the games in the landfill, but its also other games, which was a lot more than ET infact. Plus, while the game its average, it was actually not the worse game in the same, far from it. A few other documentaries mention this, among of them was Gaming The Systems's video "The World’s Most Unfairly Treated Game". If anything 5 weeks and manage to do this ambitious idea on an ATARI 2600 title was kind of surprising when you apply context to the game... As well as reading the dang manual, which is kind of like Skipping the tutorial and cutscenes in a game and are confuse on what to do.
It's not as bad as pop culture makes it out to be...you have to actually read the manual before you play it.
This is Triple Jump. Half-assing retro content is what keeps them going.
I mean it’s not true that this game caused the crash. It was several factors.
I really thought we were done overemphasizing the contribution that this game individually provided to the 1983 crash, but you guy really dug in your heels eh?
I collect E.T. cartridges
I think ET was the peak of this issue and became the posterchild especially in hindsight, but from what ive read, every game was really bad for a long time. the industry was filled with shit sponsored games for 1980s wankers
GameMil 😂do the same games now 😂
👽👽
I dont care how cold this take is.
ET sucked. The movie I mean. I saw it like once as a kid and was so bored I never watched it again easily one of the most overrated movies of all time.
👽
That would explain why we haven't had contact yet. They played the game first, then realized we're nowhere near ready for the real ETs to show themselves. 😂
Let me guess every one at triple jump got writers block so you decided to do this hack story that every video game youtube channel has done to death a million times over
They should have put all the other Atari games in there as well since they are all trash.
😂