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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 2600)
Encyclopedia
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (also referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 adventure
video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600
video game console
. It is based on the film of the same name
, and was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw
. The objective of the game is to guide the eponymous character through various screens to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone that will allow him to contact his home planet.
Warshaw intended the game to be an innovative adaptation of the film, and Atari thought it would achieve high sales figures based on its connection with the film, which was extremely popular throughout the world. Negotiations to secure the rights to make the game ended in late July 1982, giving Warshaw only five weeks to develop the game in time for the 1982 Christmas season. The end result is often cited as one of the worst video games released and was one of the biggest commercial failures in video gaming history.
E.T. is frequently cited as a contributing factor to Atari's massive financial losses during 1983 and 1984. As a result of overproduction and returns, millions of unsold cartridges were buried
in a New Mexico
landfill. The game's commercial failure and resulting effects on Atari are frequently cited as a contributing factor to the video game industry crash of 1983.
E.T. is an adventure game
in which players control an alien (E.T.) from a top-down perspective. The objective of the game is to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone. The pieces are found scattered randomly throughout various pits (also referred to as wells). The player is provided with an on-screen energy bar, which decreases as time passes. To prevent this, the player can collect Reese's Pieces
, which are used to restore the energy of the character; when enough are collected, the player can call Elliot to obtain a piece of the telephone. After the phone pieces have been collected, the player must guide the character to a call-ship area, which allows him to call his home planet. When the call is made, an interplanetary spaceship appears on-screen, and the player must reach the spaceship in a given time limit. Once the spaceship is reached, the game starts over, with the same difficulty level, while changing the location of the telephone pieces. The score obtained during the round is carried over to the next iteration. The game ends when the energy bar depletes, or the player decides to quit.
The game is divided into six environments, each representing a different setting from the film. To accomplish the objective of the game, the player must guide E.T into the wells. Once all items found in a well are collected, the player must levitate E.T. out of them. An icon at the top of each screen represents the current area, each area enabling the player to perform different actions. Antagonists include a scientist
who takes E.T. for observation and an FBI
agent who chases the alien to confiscate one of the collected telephone pieces. The game offers diverse difficulty settings that affect the number and speed of humans present, and the conditions needed to accomplish the objective.
125 million. Following the commercial success of the film in June 1982, Steve Ross, chief executive officer (CEO) of Atari's parent company Warner Communications
, started negotiations with Steven Spielberg
and Universal Pictures
to acquire the license to produce a video game based on the film. In late July, Warner announced its exclusive worldwide rights to market coin-operated and console games based on the movie. Although the exact details of the transaction were not disclosed in the announcement, it was later reported that Atari had paid US$20–25 million for the rights, a high figure for video game licensing at the time. When asked by Ross what he thought about making an E.T.-based video game, Atari CEO Ray Kassar
replied, "I think it's a dumb idea. We've never really made an action game out of a movie." An arcade game
based on the E.T. property had also been planned, but this was deemed to be impossible given the short deadline.
After negotiations completed, Kassar called Howard Scott Warshaw
on July 27, 1982 to commission him as developer of the video game. Kassar informed him that Spielberg asked for Warshaw specifically and that development needed to be completed by September 1 to meet a production schedule for the Christmas holiday. Though Warshaw had spent over a year working on consecutive development schedules for games (seven months working on Yars' Revenge
and then six months on Raiders of the Lost Ark), he accepted the offer based on the challenge of completing a game in a short time frame and at Spielberg's request. Warshaw considered it an opportunity to develop an innovative Atari 2600 game based on a movie he enjoyed. Kassar reportedly offered Warshaw US$200,000 and an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii
in compensation. Kassar then told him to arrive at the San Jose Airport
a few days later to have a meeting with Spielberg.
Warshaw used those days to design the structure of the game and segmented the concept into four ideas: world, objective, path to achieve the objective, and obstacles. He envisioned a three-dimensional cube world as the setting and adapted part of the film's plot, E.T. phoning home, as the goal. Warshaw then conceived that E.T. would need to assemble a special phone to call his ship and arrive at a special landing site to achieve this goal. He considered obstacles as an element that would determine the success of a game, and experienced difficulties when taking into account the time constraints and technical limitations of the console. Inspired by the movie, adults were implemented as antagonists that would chase the alien. Feeling more adversity was needed, Warshaw included a time limit for players to accomplish the goal. Pits were devised as an element to hide the pieces of the phone as well as expand the game's world.
Warshaw and other Atari executives presented this design to Spielberg, who did not express enthusiasm. Spielberg instead asked him to create a game similar to Namco
's Pac-Man
. Believing the concept too derivative of a common game design, Warshaw proceeded with his concept, which he felt would capture the sentimentality he saw in the original film. In retrospect, however, Warshaw stated that Spielberg's idea might have had merit. He spent the remaining time programming the game. Atari anticipated enormous sales based on the popularity of the film, as well as the stability the video game industry was experiencing in 1982. Due to time limitations, Atari decided to skip audience testing for the product. Emanual Gerard, co-chief operating officer of Warner at the time, later suggested that the company had fallen into a false sense of security by the success of its previous releases, particularly its console version of Pac-Man
, which was commercially successful despite poor critical reaction.
called Atari's procurement of the intellectual property its "biggest coup". In early December 1982, the New York Times reported that video games based on successful movies, specifically E.T., would become "an increasingly profitable source" for video game development. At first, retailers ordered more supplies than what was expected to be sold, but Atari received an increasing number of order cancellations as new competitors entered the market, an event the company had not anticipated. John Hubner and William Kistner of InfoWorld
attribute the cancellations to changes Atari initiated between its relationship between distributors. On November 1, 1982, Atari informed them that their contracts were canceled and that exclusive deals would be established with select distributors. Hubner and Kistner believed the action prompted retailers to cancel orders, which Atari had not properly tracked.
E.T. met with initial commercial success. It was among the top four on Billboard magazine's "Top 15 Video Games" sales list in December 1982 and January 1983. The game eventually sold 1.5 million units, becoming one of the best-selling Atari 2600 titles. However, between 2.5 and 3.5 million cartridges went unsold. Hubner and Kistner commented that the large amount of produced cartridges would have resulted in excess inventory regardless of E.T.s success. Though the game was a best seller during the holiday season, retailers stated that its sales figures did not meet expectations despite an increase in consumer interest in video games. Warner Communications also expressed disappointment at the number of sales. The poor sales and excess inventory prompted retailers to steadily discount the price. Former J. C. Penney
employee Al Nielsen mentioned that his copy of the game was discounted five times from US$49.95 to less than a dollar. According to Ray Kassar, about 3.5 million of the 4 million produced were sent back to the company. Despite sales figures, the quantity of unsold merchandise, coupled with the expensive movie license and the large amount of returns, made E.T. a financial failure for Atari. Next Generation Magazine
reported that Atari earned US$25 million in sales, but netted a loss of US$100 million. By 2004, the cartridges were still very common and priced at very low amounts.
E.T. was negatively received by critics, with common complaints focused on the plot, gameplay, and visuals. New York
magazine's Nicholas Pileggi
described it as a loser when compared to other games Atari could have released like Donkey Kong
and Frogger
. Kevin Bowen of GameSpy
's Classic Gaming called the gameplay "convoluted and inane", also criticizing its story for departing from the serious tone of the film. Author Steven Kent described the game as "infamous" within the industry, citing "primitive" graphics, "dull" gameplay, and a "disappointing story". An editor for The Miami Herald
described it as a difficult game to learn to play, but felt it was worth dedicating the time.
Critics bemoaned the repetitive gameplay involved with falling down holes. Emru Townsend of PC World
discussed the game with a group, and found a universal dislike for the pits that E.T. falls into, describing it as "monotonous". Writer Sean "Seanbaby" Reiley
also criticized the pits, claiming that they are "time-consuming" and "difficult to leave without falling back in". Trent Ward, a former Next Generation Magazine reviewer, commented that this element prompted him to immediately return the game for a refund after purchasing it in his youth. Classic Gaming commented that despite the negative reception, the game can be enjoyable after the player has learned to navigate the pits.
In published materials written over a decade after its initial release, E.T. has been universally panned by critics and is frequently listed as the worst video game ever. Reiley ranked it number one in a list of the 20 worst games of all time in Electronic Gaming Monthly
's 150th issue. Michael Dolan, deputy editor of FHM
magazine, has also listed the game as his pick for the worst video game of all time. Townsend placed E.T. at the top of his list of worst video games, noting that, "about a third of the people I quizzed came up with this title almost instantly, and it's not hard to see why." GameTrailers
ranked the game the second worst on their "Top Ten Best and Worst Games of All Time" list.
Critics often attribute the poor quality to the short development time. Townsend commented that the rushed development was very apparent after playing the game. Warshaw's contributions to the game have been met with mixed responses. Classic Gaming called the game poorly designed, while IGN
's Levi Buchanan stated the "impossibly tight schedule" given to Warshaw absolves him of blame. Warshaw does not express regret for his part in E.T., and feels he created a good game given the time available to him.
, GameTrailers, and Bowen cite the game as the first poor quality film–video game tie-in
. Patrick O'Luanaigh of SCi Games called it the most famous disaster story among film-inspired video games as well as within the industry. Describing it as one of the "games that changed the world", GamePro stated that E.T. established a standard of subpar quality video games based on movies. They further commented that other publishers adopted similar marketing and production practices with licensed movie properties. The publication listed the game as the second "worst movie game ever", citing it as an example of how poor gameplay can bring negative reception to strong licenses.
magazine Earl Paige reported that the large number of unsold E.T. games along with an increase in competition prompted retailers to demand official return programs from video game manufacturers. The game is also considered to be one of the causes of the video game industry crisis of 1983. By the end of 1982, Atari had begun to lose dominance as more competitors entered the market. Poor critical reception and lack of a profitable marketing strategy made this game one of many cited decisions that led Atari to report a $536 million loss in 1983 and led to the company being divided
and sold in 1984. GameSpy's Classic Gaming called E.T. Atari's biggest mistake, as well as the largest financial failure in the industry. Reiley commented that the game's poor quality was responsible for ending the product life of the Atari 2600. Occurring soon after Pac-Mans negative critical response on the Atari 2600, E.T.s poor reception was attributed by Kent to a negative impact on Atari's reputation and profitability. Authors Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost echoed similar comments about Pac-Man and E.T.s combined effect on the company's reputation and the industry's reaction. Buchanan also cited the game as a factor to Atari and the industry's crash. He stated that the large amount of unsold merchandise was a financial burden to Atari, which pushed the company into debt.
On December 7, 1982, Kassar announced that Atari's revenue forecasts for 1982 were cut from a 50 percent increase over 1981 to a 15 percent increase. Immediately following the announcement, Warner Communications' stock value dropped by around 35 percent—from US$54 to US$35—resulting in the company losing US$1.3 billion in market valuation
. Kassar sold five thousand of his Warner shares a half hour before the announcement. This prompted an investigation for insider trading
against him by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Atari attempted to regain their market share by licensing popular arcade games for the Atari consoles. The games, however, did not reverse Atari's decline and they went further into debt. In 1983, the company had decreased its workforce by 30 percent and lost US$356 million. Other companies—Activision
, Bally Manufacturing, and Mattel
—experienced similar results as the industry declined.
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 is regarded by some as an urban legend
, with skeptics—including Warshaw—disregarding the official accounts.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It is based on the film of the same name
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
, and was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw
Howard Scott Warshaw
Howard Scott Warshaw is an American former game designer who worked for Atari in the early 1980s, where he designed and programmed the games Yars' Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and infamously, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial...
. The objective of the game is to guide the eponymous character through various screens to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone that will allow him to contact his home planet.
Warshaw intended the game to be an innovative adaptation of the film, and Atari thought it would achieve high sales figures based on its connection with the film, which was extremely popular throughout the world. Negotiations to secure the rights to make the game ended in late July 1982, giving Warshaw only five weeks to develop the game in time for the 1982 Christmas season. The end result is often cited as one of the worst video games released and was one of the biggest commercial failures in video gaming history.
E.T. is frequently cited as a contributing factor to Atari's massive financial losses during 1983 and 1984. As a result of overproduction and returns, millions of unsold cartridges were buried
Atari video game burial
The Atari video game burial was a mass burial of unsold video game cartridges, consoles, and computers in a New Mexico landfill site, undertaken by American video game and home computer company Atari, Inc. in 1983. The goods disposed of through the burial are generally believed to have been...
in a New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
landfill. The game's commercial failure and resulting effects on Atari are frequently cited as a contributing factor to the video game industry crash of 1983.
Gameplay
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
in which players control an alien (E.T.) from a top-down perspective. The objective of the game is to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone. The pieces are found scattered randomly throughout various pits (also referred to as wells). The player is provided with an on-screen energy bar, which decreases as time passes. To prevent this, the player can collect Reese's Pieces
Reese's Pieces
Reese's Pieces are a peanut butter flavored candy manufactured by The Hershey Company for the North American market; they are also available in Ireland & The United Kingdom. They are circular in shape and covered in candy shells that are colored either yellow, orange, or brown. They can be...
, which are used to restore the energy of the character; when enough are collected, the player can call Elliot to obtain a piece of the telephone. After the phone pieces have been collected, the player must guide the character to a call-ship area, which allows him to call his home planet. When the call is made, an interplanetary spaceship appears on-screen, and the player must reach the spaceship in a given time limit. Once the spaceship is reached, the game starts over, with the same difficulty level, while changing the location of the telephone pieces. The score obtained during the round is carried over to the next iteration. The game ends when the energy bar depletes, or the player decides to quit.
The game is divided into six environments, each representing a different setting from the film. To accomplish the objective of the game, the player must guide E.T into the wells. Once all items found in a well are collected, the player must levitate E.T. out of them. An icon at the top of each screen represents the current area, each area enabling the player to perform different actions. Antagonists include a scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
who takes E.T. for observation and an FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent who chases the alien to confiscate one of the collected telephone pieces. The game offers diverse difficulty settings that affect the number and speed of humans present, and the conditions needed to accomplish the objective.
Development
The process began in July 1982 and was completed before the end of the year. Total production costs were estimated to be US$United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
125 million. Following the commercial success of the film in June 1982, Steve Ross, chief executive officer (CEO) of Atari's parent company Warner Communications
Warner Communications
Warner Communications or Warner Communications, Inc. was established in 1971 when Kinney National Company spun off its non-entertainment assets, due to a financial scandal over its parking operations and changed its name....
, started negotiations with Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
and Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
to acquire the license to produce a video game based on the film. In late July, Warner announced its exclusive worldwide rights to market coin-operated and console games based on the movie. Although the exact details of the transaction were not disclosed in the announcement, it was later reported that Atari had paid US$20–25 million for the rights, a high figure for video game licensing at the time. When asked by Ross what he thought about making an E.T.-based video game, Atari CEO Ray Kassar
Ray Kassar
Raymond E. Kassar was president, and later CEO, of Atari Inc. from 1978 to 1983. He had previously been vice-president of Burlington Industries, a textile company....
replied, "I think it's a dumb idea. We've never really made an action game out of a movie." An arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
based on the E.T. property had also been planned, but this was deemed to be impossible given the short deadline.
After negotiations completed, Kassar called Howard Scott Warshaw
Howard Scott Warshaw
Howard Scott Warshaw is an American former game designer who worked for Atari in the early 1980s, where he designed and programmed the games Yars' Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and infamously, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial...
on July 27, 1982 to commission him as developer of the video game. Kassar informed him that Spielberg asked for Warshaw specifically and that development needed to be completed by September 1 to meet a production schedule for the Christmas holiday. Though Warshaw had spent over a year working on consecutive development schedules for games (seven months working on Yars' Revenge
Yars' Revenge
Yars' Revenge is a video game developed for the Atari 2600 in 1981. It was created by Howard Scott Warshaw, who also wrote the 2600 titles Raiders of the Lost Ark and the much-derided E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial...
and then six months on Raiders of the Lost Ark), he accepted the offer based on the challenge of completing a game in a short time frame and at Spielberg's request. Warshaw considered it an opportunity to develop an innovative Atari 2600 game based on a movie he enjoyed. Kassar reportedly offered Warshaw US$200,000 and an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in compensation. Kassar then told him to arrive at the San Jose Airport
San Jose International Airport
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport is a city-owned public-use airport serving the city of San Jose in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is named for San Jose native Norman Yoshio Mineta, who was Transportation Secretary in the Cabinet of George W...
a few days later to have a meeting with Spielberg.
Warshaw used those days to design the structure of the game and segmented the concept into four ideas: world, objective, path to achieve the objective, and obstacles. He envisioned a three-dimensional cube world as the setting and adapted part of the film's plot, E.T. phoning home, as the goal. Warshaw then conceived that E.T. would need to assemble a special phone to call his ship and arrive at a special landing site to achieve this goal. He considered obstacles as an element that would determine the success of a game, and experienced difficulties when taking into account the time constraints and technical limitations of the console. Inspired by the movie, adults were implemented as antagonists that would chase the alien. Feeling more adversity was needed, Warshaw included a time limit for players to accomplish the goal. Pits were devised as an element to hide the pieces of the phone as well as expand the game's world.
Warshaw and other Atari executives presented this design to Spielberg, who did not express enthusiasm. Spielberg instead asked him to create a game similar to Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
's Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
. Believing the concept too derivative of a common game design, Warshaw proceeded with his concept, which he felt would capture the sentimentality he saw in the original film. In retrospect, however, Warshaw stated that Spielberg's idea might have had merit. He spent the remaining time programming the game. Atari anticipated enormous sales based on the popularity of the film, as well as the stability the video game industry was experiencing in 1982. Due to time limitations, Atari decided to skip audience testing for the product. Emanual Gerard, co-chief operating officer of Warner at the time, later suggested that the company had fallen into a false sense of security by the success of its previous releases, particularly its console version of Pac-Man
Pac-Man (Atari 2600)
In 1982, Atari Inc. released a port of Namco's hit arcade game Pac-Man for its Atari 2600 video game console. Like the original arcade version, the player controls the titular character with a joystick...
, which was commercially successful despite poor critical reaction.
Reception
Anticipation for E.T. was high in 1982, and it was a sought-after Christmas gift. Prior to the game's release, NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
called Atari's procurement of the intellectual property its "biggest coup". In early December 1982, the New York Times reported that video games based on successful movies, specifically E.T., would become "an increasingly profitable source" for video game development. At first, retailers ordered more supplies than what was expected to be sold, but Atari received an increasing number of order cancellations as new competitors entered the market, an event the company had not anticipated. John Hubner and William Kistner of InfoWorld
InfoWorld
InfoWorld is an information technology online media and events business operating under the umbrella of InfoWorld Media Group, a division of IDG...
attribute the cancellations to changes Atari initiated between its relationship between distributors. On November 1, 1982, Atari informed them that their contracts were canceled and that exclusive deals would be established with select distributors. Hubner and Kistner believed the action prompted retailers to cancel orders, which Atari had not properly tracked.
E.T. met with initial commercial success. It was among the top four on Billboard magazine's "Top 15 Video Games" sales list in December 1982 and January 1983. The game eventually sold 1.5 million units, becoming one of the best-selling Atari 2600 titles. However, between 2.5 and 3.5 million cartridges went unsold. Hubner and Kistner commented that the large amount of produced cartridges would have resulted in excess inventory regardless of E.T.s success. Though the game was a best seller during the holiday season, retailers stated that its sales figures did not meet expectations despite an increase in consumer interest in video games. Warner Communications also expressed disappointment at the number of sales. The poor sales and excess inventory prompted retailers to steadily discount the price. Former J. C. Penney
J. C. Penney
-External links:*...
employee Al Nielsen mentioned that his copy of the game was discounted five times from US$49.95 to less than a dollar. According to Ray Kassar, about 3.5 million of the 4 million produced were sent back to the company. Despite sales figures, the quantity of unsold merchandise, coupled with the expensive movie license and the large amount of returns, made E.T. a financial failure for Atari. Next Generation Magazine
Next Generation Magazine
Next Generation Magazine was a video game magazine that was made by Imagine Media publishing company . It was affiliated to and shared editorial with the UK's Edge magazine. Next Generation ran from January 1995 until January 2002. It was published by Jonathan Simpson-Bint and edited by Neil West...
reported that Atari earned US$25 million in sales, but netted a loss of US$100 million. By 2004, the cartridges were still very common and priced at very low amounts.
Critical response
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine's Nicholas Pileggi
Nicholas Pileggi
Nicholas Pileggi is an Italian-American author and screenwriter.-Career:Pileggi is best known for writing the book Wiseguy, which he adapted into the movie Goodfellas, and for writing the book and screenplay Casino. The movie versions of both were co-written and directed by Martin Scorsese...
described it as a loser when compared to other games Atari could have released like Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (video game)
is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. It is an early example of the platform game genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Jumpman must rescue a damsel in distress, Lady, from a...
and Frogger
Frogger
Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one. To do this, each frog must avoid cars while crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of...
. Kevin Bowen of GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's Classic Gaming called the gameplay "convoluted and inane", also criticizing its story for departing from the serious tone of the film. Author Steven Kent described the game as "infamous" within the industry, citing "primitive" graphics, "dull" gameplay, and a "disappointing story". An editor for The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
described it as a difficult game to learn to play, but felt it was worth dedicating the time.
Critics bemoaned the repetitive gameplay involved with falling down holes. Emru Townsend of PC World
PC World (magazine)
PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
discussed the game with a group, and found a universal dislike for the pits that E.T. falls into, describing it as "monotonous". Writer Sean "Seanbaby" Reiley
Seanbaby
Sean Patrick Reiley , better known as Seanbaby, is an American writer best known for his comedy website and frequent contributions to video game media outlets Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1UP.com. He is also a regular contributor to the humor website Cracked.com...
also criticized the pits, claiming that they are "time-consuming" and "difficult to leave without falling back in". Trent Ward, a former Next Generation Magazine reviewer, commented that this element prompted him to immediately return the game for a refund after purchasing it in his youth. Classic Gaming commented that despite the negative reception, the game can be enjoyable after the player has learned to navigate the pits.
In published materials written over a decade after its initial release, E.T. has been universally panned by critics and is frequently listed as the worst video game ever. Reiley ranked it number one in a list of the 20 worst games of all time in Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
's 150th issue. Michael Dolan, deputy editor of FHM
FHM
FHM, originally published as For Him Magazine, is an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.- History :The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994 when Emap Consumer Media bought the magazine, although the full For...
magazine, has also listed the game as his pick for the worst video game of all time. Townsend placed E.T. at the top of his list of worst video games, noting that, "about a third of the people I quizzed came up with this title almost instantly, and it's not hard to see why." GameTrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
ranked the game the second worst on their "Top Ten Best and Worst Games of All Time" list.
Critics often attribute the poor quality to the short development time. Townsend commented that the rushed development was very apparent after playing the game. Warshaw's contributions to the game have been met with mixed responses. Classic Gaming called the game poorly designed, while IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Levi Buchanan stated the "impossibly tight schedule" given to Warshaw absolves him of blame. Warshaw does not express regret for his part in E.T., and feels he created a good game given the time available to him.
Impact and legacy
E.T. is one of the earliest video games based on a movie. GameProGamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
, GameTrailers, and Bowen cite the game as the first poor quality film–video game tie-in
Tie-in
A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
. Patrick O'Luanaigh of SCi Games called it the most famous disaster story among film-inspired video games as well as within the industry. Describing it as one of the "games that changed the world", GamePro stated that E.T. established a standard of subpar quality video games based on movies. They further commented that other publishers adopted similar marketing and production practices with licensed movie properties. The publication listed the game as the second "worst movie game ever", citing it as an example of how poor gameplay can bring negative reception to strong licenses.
Effect on the industry
The game is often cited as one of the most important titles in the industry. BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine Earl Paige reported that the large number of unsold E.T. games along with an increase in competition prompted retailers to demand official return programs from video game manufacturers. The game is also considered to be one of the causes of the video game industry crisis of 1983. By the end of 1982, Atari had begun to lose dominance as more competitors entered the market. Poor critical reception and lack of a profitable marketing strategy made this game one of many cited decisions that led Atari to report a $536 million loss in 1983 and led to the company being divided
Atari Games
Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari, Inc..-History:When, in 1984, Warner Communications sold the Atari Consumer division of Atari Inc...
and sold in 1984. GameSpy's Classic Gaming called E.T. Atari's biggest mistake, as well as the largest financial failure in the industry. Reiley commented that the game's poor quality was responsible for ending the product life of the Atari 2600. Occurring soon after Pac-Mans negative critical response on the Atari 2600, E.T.s poor reception was attributed by Kent to a negative impact on Atari's reputation and profitability. Authors Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost echoed similar comments about Pac-Man and E.T.s combined effect on the company's reputation and the industry's reaction. Buchanan also cited the game as a factor to Atari and the industry's crash. He stated that the large amount of unsold merchandise was a financial burden to Atari, which pushed the company into debt.
On December 7, 1982, Kassar announced that Atari's revenue forecasts for 1982 were cut from a 50 percent increase over 1981 to a 15 percent increase. Immediately following the announcement, Warner Communications' stock value dropped by around 35 percent—from US$54 to US$35—resulting in the company losing US$1.3 billion in market valuation
Market-based valuation
Market-based valuation is a form of stock valuation that refers to market indicators, also called "extrinsic" criteria .- Examples of market valuation methods :...
. Kassar sold five thousand of his Warner shares a half hour before the announcement. This prompted an investigation for insider trading
Insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company...
against him by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Atari attempted to regain their market share by licensing popular arcade games for the Atari consoles. The games, however, did not reverse Atari's decline and they went further into debt. In 1983, the company had decreased its workforce by 30 percent and lost US$356 million. Other companies—Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
, Bally Manufacturing, and Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
—experienced similar results as the industry declined.
Atari video game burial
In September 1983, the Alamogordo Daily News of Alamogordo, New MexicoAlamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo is the county seat of Otero County and a city in south-central New Mexico, United States. A desert community lying in the Tularosa Basin, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains. It is the nearest city to Holloman Air Force Base. The population was 35,582 as of the 2000...
reported in a series of articles that between ten and twenty semi-trailer
Semi-trailer
A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. A large proportion of its weight is supported by a road tractor, a detachable front axle assembly known as a dolly, or the tail of another trailer...
truckloads of Atari boxes, cartridges, and systems from an Atari storehouse in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
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 is regarded by some as an urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
, with skeptics—including Warshaw—disregarding the official accounts.
See also
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in video gamesE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in video gamesStarting with the release of the film in 1982 and its susbsequent 20th anniversary re-release, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial has been the subject of video games across several platforms and genres.-E.T. Fantasy Module :The E.T...
- List of commercial failures in video gaming
- List of video games notable for negative reception