The Worst Video Game
E.T. the Extra Terrestrial is widely considered to be the worst video game and is credited as one of the largest contributing factors to the video game crash of 1983. The game was based off of the hit movie E.T. and you were supposed to guide the little extra terrestrial through many screens to collect 3 parts of a interplanetary telephone so he could call his home planet. There was an energy bar that would deplete anytime the player completed an action, and could be restored by finding Reese’s Pieces scattered throughout the game. This game was produced by Atari who had also made the hit game of Pong just a few years prior.
Although there was so much build up to the game there were many flaws with this game and many are due to its short development time and therefore rushed development. The game initially took off and sold 2.6 million copies, but after just 1 month over half a million copies were returned because the game was said to be very confusing and difficult to learn as well as the graphics were considered crude. Another flaw of the game was that it did not seem to convey the same emotions as the movie, which was one of the reasons that the movie was so successful.