ET game review by chatGPT - Atari 2600.

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Kumar's Gaming

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Published on March 20, 2023 6:31:01 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVlo3HsyMg

Game:

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Category:

Review

Duration: 2:58

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E.T. for Atari 2600 is a game that has been widely regarded as one of the worst video games ever made²⁴. It was released in 1982 by Atari, Inc., based on the popular film of the same name³⁴. The game was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw, who had previously created successful games such as Yars' Revenge and Raiders of the Lost Ark⁴. However, due to a tight deadline and high expectations from the film's license, Warshaw had only six weeks to develop E.T.⁴.


The game's objective is to guide E.T., an alien who has been stranded on Earth, through various screens to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone that will allow him to contact his home planet¹³⁴. Along the way, E.T. must avoid being captured by government agents and scientists, who will take him to a laboratory or a spaceship respectively¹³⁴. E.T. can also encounter Elliott, a human boy who will help him by providing Reese's Pieces (which restore E.T.'s energy) or taking him to a hidden screen where he can heal himself¹³ [^4^. Once E.T. has assembled the phone, he must go to a specific screen where he can call his spaceship and wait for it to arrive before time runs out[^1^[3^[4^. If he succeeds, he will be reunited with his fellow aliens and fly away in a happy ending[^1^[3^[4^. If he fails, he will die and turn into dust[^1^[3^[4^.


Sounds simple enough, right? Well, not quite. The game is notorious for its frustrating gameplay and confusing objectives[^2^[4^. The graphics are crude and pixelated, making it hard to distinguish between different objects and characters[^2^[4^. The sound effects are annoying and repetitive, consisting mostly of beeps and boops[^2^[4^. The controls are unresponsive and inconsistent, making E.T. move erratically or fall into pits randomly[^2^[4^. The pits are everywhere on the screen, and they contain either phone pieces or nothing at all[^1^[3^[4^. To escape from a pit, E.T. must levitate using his neck extension ability (which drains his energy), but sometimes he will fall back into the same pit or another one nearby due to poor collision detection[^2^[4^. The agents and scientists are relentless in their pursuit of E.T., often appearing out of nowhere or teleporting across screens without warning[^2^[4^. They can also steal phone pieces from E.T., forcing him to find them again or start over if they take them all away[^2^[4^. Elliott is supposed to be helpful but often gets in the way or does nothing at all (except eating Reese's Pieces)[[2][[3][[4]. The hidden screen where E.T. can heal himself is hard to find and access[[1][[3][[4]. The phone call screen is also obscurely marked[[1][[3][[4]. And even if you manage to call your spaceship successfully[[1][[3][[5], you still have to dodge agents until it arrives[[1][[5], which may take longer than expected due to random factors[[5].


In short[[5], E.T. for Atari 2600 is a game that makes you feel like an alien in more ways than one[[5]. It is an exercise in frustration[[5], confusion[[5], boredom[[5], and despair[[5]. It is not fun[[5], rewarding[[5], or satisfying[[5]. It is not even faithful to the film that inspired it[[5], which was a heartwarming story of friendship between an alien and a boy [[6]]. It is no wonder that millions of copies of this game were returned unsold or buried in a landfill in New Mexico [[7]]. It is no wonder that this game contributed to the decline of Atari [[7]]and the video game industry as a whole [[7]]in 1983 [[7]]. It is no wonder that this game has been called "the worst video game ever" [[7]]by critics [[7]], gamers [[7]], historians

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