Atari: Game Over - Yay! Netflix

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Leisher
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Post by Leisher »

Documentary on the ET game.
The film will premiere exclusively via Xbox One, Xbox 360, and xboxvideo.com on Thursday, Nov. 20 – free on all of these platforms for both Gold and Silver (aka free) Xbox Live members.
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Malcolm
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Post by Malcolm »

XBox exclusive? Suck it, Microsoft. Also, WL2 has an easter egg where you find a huge cache of buried ET games in the desert.



Edited By Malcolm on 1416607308
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Post by GORDON »

It's on Netflix.

It will probably correct what you think happened with that game. An hour and 6 long, it's worth a watch if only for the history lesson.
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Post by Malcolm »

GORDON wrote:It's on Netflix.

It will probably correct what you think happened with that game. An hour and 6 long, it's worth a watch if only for the history lesson.
What do they think I think happened?
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Post by GORDON »

They think you think ET, and its developer, sunk Atari.
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Post by Malcolm »

GORDON wrote:They think you think ET, and its developer, sunk Atari.
Not by itself. But it was certainly a kick to the balls at a time when they were already teetering on the brink of death.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
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Post by GORDON »

Well, it sort of expands on the circumstances and gives you context. There's a good line in the show that sums it up but I wont spoiler it.
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Post by Leisher »

“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
Malcolm
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Re: Atari: Game Over - Yay! Netflix

Post by Malcolm »

Saw this in its entirety. Almost makes me wish I was born a couple decades earlier. Almost.

First off, about E.T. the game:

1) Does it get more hate than it deserves? Yeah. Howie was a decent programmer who said yes to a schedule that would have handed any other engineer an incomplete product. In that, it's remarkable.

2) On the flip side, fuck that game. It sucked, and it sucked hard. No one told him (Howard Scott Warshaw) his head was up his ass gameplay-wise while he was smashing technical barriers.

It's hilarious that it was more popular after it got buried than before.

As for the documentary itself, I'm a bit disappointed it didn't go over the real reasons why Atari died out, other than a crappy abridged epilogue in the form of a few lines each from the company bigwigs. I'd like to see the same type of film done on Commodore International and its C64, C128, and Amiga machines.
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Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
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Re: Atari: Game Over - Yay! Netflix

Post by TheCatt »

Console Wars does a good job of the Sega story, if that interests you.
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Re: Atari: Game Over - Yay! Netflix

Post by Malcolm »

Sega was the second to last console I ever bought. I played the fuck out of Sonic 2 and 3, NHL 94, 95, 96, X-Men, Jungle Strike, and others I'm most likely forgetting.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
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Re: Atari: Game Over - Yay! Netflix

Post by TheCatt »

Malcolm wrote:Sega was the second to last console I ever bought. I played the fuck out of Sonic 2 and 3, NHL 94, 95, 96, X-Men, Jungle Strike, and others I'm most likely forgetting.
Never had one, a college friend did, we played the hockey game to death.

You'd probably like the book.
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Re: Atari: Game Over - Yay! Netflix

Post by Malcolm »

TheCatt wrote:You'd probably like the book.
I'm in need of new holiday reading fodder. I might look it up.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
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