The N64 was released with no pack-in game. I bought an N64 for my nephews (and of course one for myslef), and had to separately buy the only two games in existence for us. Pilot Wings and Super Mario N64.
I can tell you exactly why Super Breakout was chosen as the pack-in for Atari 5200: It supports analog control and 4-players, which were the systems flagship features that distinguished it from the competition (and sells more controllers!). Even in the end very few 5200 games had true analog control or 4-players, and yet this one supported both. I believe multiplayer is important for a pack-in because it involves other potential-owners who might then run out and get one after having so much fun on a friend’s console. It turns every owner into an ambassador who recruits and exposes other potential customers. :) While I think Combat worked well as a pack-in for the 2600 it was an odd choice since it was one of only two 2600 games that required a second player. I had a twin brother to play with in the ‘80s so it didn’t phase me but I can see that being an issue for many since you can’t enjoy it solo. Then again, the other 2p-only game was Slot Racers, which is still my absolute favorite Atari 2600 game. For my twin brother and me it was basically the 2600 version of Super Mario Kart Battle Mode. Still, they needed something that could be enjoyed by an only-child after getting it for Christmas from apathetic adults who want nothing to do with it after setting it up. Even Pac-Man was better for that common scenario.
Pac-Man for the Atari VCS could have been AND should have been a financial windfall. I remember all the hype and ad's about Pac-Man coming for the VCS and all the excitement and anticipation it created. Until we saw the actual game, that is. Nobody expected an arcade perfect port, Space Invaders was the perfect compromise and we expected the same from Pac-Man. But it was a turd where Space Invaders was the TIT's!
Atari is a case of clowns running the circus. The designer of Atari's horrible Pac-Man (not worth remembering) said he doesn't understand the criticism , and doesn't think that Pacman 8k is an improvement. A 7th grader with a copy of "How to program computer games" could have designed a better Pacman port.
Cyberpunk 2077 for the Xbox One, it didn't release with the machine initally, you had to wait six months, and when it did, it was fully of game breaking bugs and wouldn't even work properly with that model of Xbox! You also get a lot of complaints from Americans of Kieth Courage and Altered Beast being lacklusture pack-ins for their respective machines.
I wasn't including modern consoles but good shout anyway! Yeah noticed a lot of hate for Keith Courage when I was researching this, but I've always though it was a decent game, certainly not terrible.
@@TheLairdsLair Keith Courage is the most bland, lazy, uninspired type of platformer. “Gotta make some enemies. How about bird that poop eggs on you? Walking guns with arms? Do it!” Then again, I hated Xexyz and the platforming parts were pretty similar. I don’t care if it was based on an anime… that just makes it even more of a shameless, uninspired, cash grab.
Funny thing is, I grew up with Donkey Kong on the 2600 and I loved it! I grew up in a small town, didn't know anyone with a ColecoVision or Intellivision, and we didn't have an arcade, so that was the only version of Donkey Kong I knew. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.
Wasn't Asteroids the pack in game for the 7800 in Europe? That game (although I still enjoy it to this very day) was ancient by that time. In North America, we got Pole Position II which wasn't super exciting either, but not terrible.
Yes it was, a built-in game though, more than a pack-in. So it is in the ROM of every single PAL 7800 sold and couldn't be swapped out for anything else. That said it still had decent name recognition (especially as the sequel Blasteroids had just been released in the arcades at this time) and was a nicely enhanced port of the arcade game with the excellent addition of a two-player mode. Given that most people who bought a 7800 did so because it played all their existing 2600 games, I don't think it would have disappointed them. I did actually cover 7800 Asteroids in my video on consoles with built-in games too.
Pack-in titles definitely matter. People hear a successful system like the Genesis had a 1989 release and imagine that by 1990 everyone had one. In 1990 most Americans had just bought their NES and weren't looking to upgrade yet. In the US the Sega Genesis didn't start selling in real numbers until the first price drop and the Sonic pack-in change, and it didn't become a Nintendo k****r until the next price drop and the Mortal Kombat pack-in change in 1993, and it's biggest US sales weren't until 1996. (The MK bundle also came with two six button controllers, and is why I didn't even know the Big3 was the 'default controller' until TH-cam)
Worst game pack-in I ever got was Flight Simulator 2000 for Atari XE. Luckily, it also came with Bug Hunt cartridge and Missile Command was built into the system.
Yeah, I did consider that for inclusion myself. But I know what they were trying to do with it, give you the kind of game you'd usually only get on a computer and something the NES just couldn't do.
I didn’t realize Burgertime was a pack in for some markets for the Intellivision II, mine came with Lock N’ Chase. Both great games. Let’s see what the AMICO pack in’s have to offer!
An old mobile game about a biker who's been dead almost as long as his career and that you could play for free right now, a terrible flashy and confusing port of Astrosmash and a boring port, I mean, re-imagining of Moon Patrol. You'd wish to have that Blackjack and Poker game.
I always assumed that they gave Combat away with the 2600 because no one in their right mind would buy it. At least you could play pac man on your own. You never wanted to, but you always had the option.
Combat was one of the best games of its day. In 1977 Combat was as good or better as the mostly black and white arcade games that still used screen overlays it was competing against. For $179.99 in 1977 playing Combat on your TV was mind blowing.
Conclusive proof that console manufacturers have always been...hmm, how can I put this politely... lets say "less than insightful" when it comes to said pack-in titles.
Virtua Fighter for the 32X came out much later than the Saturn version. Also remix has the same gameplay, just different graphics. But I agree that outside of Japan, this wasn't a good pack in.
The story of: 1 Terrible Video About Console Pack-Ins that doesn't take the context in consideration. Pac-Man was not seen as a terrible port back in those days, it sold like pancakes and kept selling even after the crash. It was a bad port but it was fun, more that what could be said about the 8-bit computer version that doubles the quantity of dots to gobble due to the terrible decision of stretching the maze. Blackjack and Poker was developed in an age before exciting hits like Space Invaders and Pac-Man existed. The Intellivision was originally sold as the cornestone of a powerful computer and this title was a wonder in its time. Niether the VCS or the Channel F had the processing power to make a competent Blackjack and Poker recreation. Donkey Kong for the VCS or Gemini is the same situation as with Pac-Man. The game was as good as the system and budget allow and was considered a good port. Don't use the homebrew one as proof that something better could have been done, the people at Coleco didn't have PCs that ran VCS emulators to test the game and get them arcade perfect in time. The Saturn was a terrible system to program, it was almost a miracle that they managed to make the game run and have it in time for the release of the machine. Sure, they later released Remix, but it took them quite a while to finally understand how to make the machine work at a 40% of what it could do. There were real terrible pack-ins that even back in the day were highly criticized: Gyromite, Hang-On and Safari Hunt, Columns, Keith Courage (subpar game with a terrible history on why it was made a pack-in) and Cybermorph. There, you have your actual 5 terrible pack-ins. You should take a break.
Having been around through all of that era and having read a huge amount of magazines and press from all of that time too I totally disagree with you on every single point you made. It's well documented that the poor port of Pac-Man caused record returns for Atari and started the big decline for them. Donkey Kong on the 2600 wasn't ever considered a good port either, especially when compared to the Colecovision and Intellivision. Hang-On and Safari Hunt were well received games and helped the Master System sell like hot cakes in the UK/Europe, the former having big name recognition from the arcades helped. Columns? If you are talking about the Game Gear pack-in then that is just laughable, as it was very well received and a perfect pack-in next to Tetris on the Game Boy. And I was waiting for for somebody to bring up the old trope of CyberMorph being terrible and widely panned when the evidence suggests anything but. I mean just look at some of these reviews from the time - Edge 8/10, Mega Fun 85%, ST Computer 80%, ASM 9/12, Play Time 85%, Score 80%, Die Hard Game Fan 98%, ST Format 87%, Atari ST User 95%, Game Fan 391/400, Game Informer 8.5, Hyper 83%, Joypad 83% and I could go on . . . . I'd rather not take a break, because that would mean not doing important research like this.
The pack-in game is still being practiced today. The Playstation 5 comes with Astro's Playroom and it is an excellent game.
The N64 was released with no pack-in game.
I bought an N64 for my nephews (and of course one for myslef), and had to separately buy the only two games in existence for us. Pilot Wings and Super Mario N64.
It was in the UK, Mario 64 was the pack-in.
@@TheLairdsLair Those cheeky #%&@#! were sticking it to the US ?!?
Then there's Dangerous Streets for the Amiga CD32.
Now that is an amazing shout and I wish I had included it now!!!!!
I can tell you exactly why Super Breakout was chosen as the pack-in for Atari 5200:
It supports analog control and 4-players, which were the systems flagship features that distinguished it from the competition (and sells more controllers!). Even in the end very few 5200 games had true analog control or 4-players, and yet this one supported both. I believe multiplayer is important for a pack-in because it involves other potential-owners who might then run out and get one after having so much fun on a friend’s console. It turns every owner into an ambassador who recruits and exposes other potential customers. :)
While I think Combat worked well as a pack-in for the 2600 it was an odd choice since it was one of only two 2600 games that required a second player. I had a twin brother to play with in the ‘80s so it didn’t phase me but I can see that being an issue for many since you can’t enjoy it solo. Then again, the other 2p-only game was Slot Racers, which is still my absolute favorite Atari 2600 game. For my twin brother and me it was basically the 2600 version of Super Mario Kart Battle Mode. Still, they needed something that could be enjoyed by an only-child after getting it for Christmas from apathetic adults who want nothing to do with it after setting it up. Even Pac-Man was better for that common scenario.
That's an interesting argument and does make sense, but Super Breakout was never ever going to encourage people to buy a 5200!
Pac-Man for the Atari VCS could have been AND should have been a financial windfall. I remember all the hype and ad's about Pac-Man coming for the VCS and all the excitement and anticipation it created. Until we saw the actual game, that is. Nobody expected an arcade perfect port, Space Invaders was the perfect compromise and we expected the same from Pac-Man. But it was a turd where Space Invaders was the TIT's!
Atari is a case of clowns running the circus.
The designer of Atari's horrible Pac-Man (not worth remembering) said he doesn't understand the criticism , and doesn't think that Pacman 8k is an improvement.
A 7th grader with a copy of "How to program computer games" could have designed a better Pacman port.
Cyberpunk 2077 for the Xbox One, it didn't release with the machine initally, you had to wait six months, and when it did, it was fully of game breaking bugs and wouldn't even work properly with that model of Xbox!
You also get a lot of complaints from Americans of Kieth Courage and Altered Beast being lacklusture pack-ins for their respective machines.
I wasn't including modern consoles but good shout anyway!
Yeah noticed a lot of hate for Keith Courage when I was researching this, but I've always though it was a decent game, certainly not terrible.
@@TheLairdsLair Keith Courage is the most bland, lazy, uninspired type of platformer. “Gotta make some enemies. How about bird that poop eggs on you? Walking guns with arms? Do it!” Then again, I hated Xexyz and the platforming parts were pretty similar. I don’t care if it was based on an anime… that just makes it even more of a shameless, uninspired, cash grab.
Funny thing is, I grew up with Donkey Kong on the 2600 and I loved it!
I grew up in a small town, didn't know anyone with a ColecoVision or Intellivision, and we didn't have an arcade, so that was the only version of Donkey Kong I knew. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.
Wasn't Asteroids the pack in game for the 7800 in Europe? That game (although I still enjoy it to this very day) was ancient by that time. In North America, we got Pole Position II which wasn't super exciting either, but not terrible.
Yes it was, a built-in game though, more than a pack-in. So it is in the ROM of every single PAL 7800 sold and couldn't be swapped out for anything else. That said it still had decent name recognition (especially as the sequel Blasteroids had just been released in the arcades at this time) and was a nicely enhanced port of the arcade game with the excellent addition of a two-player mode. Given that most people who bought a 7800 did so because it played all their existing 2600 games, I don't think it would have disappointed them.
I did actually cover 7800 Asteroids in my video on consoles with built-in games too.
Pack-in titles definitely matter.
People hear a successful system like the Genesis had a 1989 release and imagine that by 1990 everyone had one. In 1990 most Americans had just bought their NES and weren't looking to upgrade yet.
In the US the Sega Genesis didn't start selling in real numbers until the first price drop and the Sonic pack-in change, and it didn't become a Nintendo k****r until the next price drop and the Mortal Kombat pack-in change in 1993, and it's biggest US sales weren't until 1996.
(The MK bundle also came with two six button controllers, and is why I didn't even know the Big3 was the 'default controller' until TH-cam)
Worst game pack-in I ever got was Flight Simulator 2000 for Atari XE. Luckily, it also came with Bug Hunt cartridge and Missile Command was built into the system.
Yeah, I did consider that for inclusion myself. But I know what they were trying to do with it, give you the kind of game you'd usually only get on a computer and something the NES just couldn't do.
In otherwords for Pac-Man for Atari 2600 as a pack in game: Differs slightly from the original. (2:33)
I actually always really liked 2600 Donkey Kong.
At least somebody did!
It's Spider Kong all over again. (6:16)
I liked it too. It wasn’t a bad port considering the limitations of the 2600.
The worst pack-in game at launch - was for the N64.
There was no pack-in game for the N64.
I didn’t realize Burgertime was a pack in for some markets for the Intellivision II, mine came with Lock N’ Chase. Both great games.
Let’s see what the AMICO pack in’s have to offer!
Playing cards or 11's okay then. (4:18)
An old mobile game about a biker who's been dead almost as long as his career and that you could play for free right now, a terrible flashy and confusing port of Astrosmash and a boring port, I mean, re-imagining of Moon Patrol. You'd wish to have that Blackjack and Poker game.
ATM, lawsuits is the only game being played at Intellivision.
I remember there was an Atari ST bundle that was all Fun School games, you would have been pissed if you got that for Xmas!
Especially if you had asked for the Power Pack!!!
Odyssey^2: Speedway, spinout and crypto-logic. Three games in one that were all mind numbing yawns.
This is great! Super Breakout? WTF Atari?!!!
But the ultimate question is, "Does it work?" Well, does it? No, it doesn't. (8:20) - AVGN
I always assumed that they gave Combat away with the 2600 because no one in their right mind would buy it. At least you could play pac man on your own. You never wanted to, but you always had the option.
Combat was one of the best games of its day.
In 1977 Combat was as good or better as the mostly black and white arcade games that still used screen overlays it was competing against.
For $179.99 in 1977 playing Combat on your TV was mind blowing.
Alternate title for this channel: No video game companies had a f'ing clue what they were doing until Nintendo came along.
I don't think that's true, every company made their fair share of mistakes, Nintendo included.
Ha ha funny sound effects 👍😀
The "blaaaaagh!" placeholder? 😅 It's a nice touch. 👍
Conclusive proof that console manufacturers have always been...hmm, how can I put this politely... lets say "less than insightful" when it comes to said pack-in titles.
Virtua Fighter for the 32X came out much later than the Saturn version. Also remix has the same gameplay, just different graphics. But I agree that outside of Japan, this wasn't a good pack in.
I know you like the Jaguar (me too) and gave Cybermorph a shout but it really was bad enough to be in this list.
I really like CyberMorph, it's one of my favourite pack-ins ever as I said!
@@TheLairdsLair Even as someone who bought a Jaguar brand new from K-B Toystore and broke the seal on Cybermorph myself, I honestly don’t see how. ;)
I'm not alone, the press of the time loved it and most Jaguar fans I know like the game, so you are very much in the minority I think! :P
The story of: 1 Terrible Video About Console Pack-Ins that doesn't take the context in consideration.
Pac-Man was not seen as a terrible port back in those days, it sold like pancakes and kept selling even after the crash. It was a bad port but it was fun, more that what could be said about the 8-bit computer version that doubles the quantity of dots to gobble due to the terrible decision of stretching the maze.
Blackjack and Poker was developed in an age before exciting hits like Space Invaders and Pac-Man existed. The Intellivision was originally sold as the cornestone of a powerful computer and this title was a wonder in its time. Niether the VCS or the Channel F had the processing power to make a competent Blackjack and Poker recreation.
Donkey Kong for the VCS or Gemini is the same situation as with Pac-Man. The game was as good as the system and budget allow and was considered a good port. Don't use the homebrew one as proof that something better could have been done, the people at Coleco didn't have PCs that ran VCS emulators to test the game and get them arcade perfect in time.
The Saturn was a terrible system to program, it was almost a miracle that they managed to make the game run and have it in time for the release of the machine. Sure, they later released Remix, but it took them quite a while to finally understand how to make the machine work at a 40% of what it could do.
There were real terrible pack-ins that even back in the day were highly criticized: Gyromite, Hang-On and Safari Hunt, Columns, Keith Courage (subpar game with a terrible history on why it was made a pack-in) and Cybermorph. There, you have your actual 5 terrible pack-ins.
You should take a break.
Having been around through all of that era and having read a huge amount of magazines and press from all of that time too I totally disagree with you on every single point you made. It's well documented that the poor port of Pac-Man caused record returns for Atari and started the big decline for them. Donkey Kong on the 2600 wasn't ever considered a good port either, especially when compared to the Colecovision and Intellivision.
Hang-On and Safari Hunt were well received games and helped the Master System sell like hot cakes in the UK/Europe, the former having big name recognition from the arcades helped. Columns? If you are talking about the Game Gear pack-in then that is just laughable, as it was very well received and a perfect pack-in next to Tetris on the Game Boy. And I was waiting for for somebody to bring up the old trope of CyberMorph being terrible and widely panned when the evidence suggests anything but. I mean just look at some of these reviews from the time - Edge 8/10, Mega Fun 85%, ST Computer 80%, ASM 9/12, Play Time 85%, Score 80%, Die Hard Game Fan 98%, ST Format 87%, Atari ST User 95%, Game Fan 391/400, Game Informer 8.5, Hyper 83%, Joypad 83% and I could go on . . . .
I'd rather not take a break, because that would mean not doing important research like this.
😀👍🍻