The Man Who Made "The Worst Game Ever"

Started by bayonetbrant, February 22, 2016, 06:28:06 AM

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bayonetbrant

February 22, 2016, 06:28:06 AM
The story behind the man who created the ET game for the Atari 2600

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35560458

QuoteThe video game of Steven Spielberg's ET is considered to be one of the worst of all time and has even been blamed for triggering the collapse of Atari. Howard Scott Warshaw, the gifted programmer who made it, explains how it was rushed out in a matter of weeks - and how he feels about those events in California now.
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Jarhead0331

#1
February 22, 2016, 07:30:51 AM
There is a whole documentary on this that recently ran on cable. Not sure if it was showtime or HBO.
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Tpek

#2
February 25, 2016, 04:11:51 AM
I thought Big Rigs was supposed to be the worst game ever.

Bison

#3
February 25, 2016, 03:08:02 PM
E.T. by far is the most notorious.  But then again there were a lot of crappy and unplayable games that were made back then in the good ol' days.

BanzaiCat

#4
February 26, 2016, 07:21:51 AM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on February 22, 2016, 07:30:51 AM
There is a whole documentary on this that recently ran on cable. Not sure if it was showtime or HBO.

I think you're referring to Atari: Game Over. It's on Netflix and also Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/126870177

QuoteIn September 1983, the Alamogordo Daily News of Alamogordo, New Mexico, reported in a series of articles that between ten and twenty semi- trailer truckloads of Atari boxes, cartridges, and systems from an Atari storehouse in El Paso, Texas, were crushed and buried at the landfill within the city. It was Atari's first dealings with the landfill, which was chosen because no scavenging was allowed and its garbage was crushed and buried nightly. Atari officials and others gave differing reports of what was buried,but it has been speculated that most unsold copies of E.T. are buried in this landfill, crushed and encased in cement.The story of the buried cartridges was regarded by some as an urban legend, with skeptics—including Warshaw—disregarding the official accounts.

It's a very interesting documentary, though it tries to cover a lot in the hour-something length it covers. It also becomes more of an archaeological hunt for the lost cartridges than anything else. The guy that wrote Ready Player One is in it too, as are several other personalities including a very brief George RR Martin appearance.
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