Great video game crash of 1984.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-10-02 04:16pm

On various retro sites or hall of fame sites they refer to the crash of video games in 1984. I find this interesting cause I have no memory of such an event. Im not saying it did not happen, just that it went over my head.

I was in 7th and 8th grade in 1984 and paid attention to world events, but this one escaped me. I did not notice any go wrong.

Did anyone of you remember this event or even realize it happened?

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-10-02 04:34pm

Not really...at the time I was probably playing my Atari or C-64 merrily and only noticed sometime in 85 the Nintendo.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-10-02 04:34pm

It's because the home videogame market was pretty much considered to be in big financial trouble by 1983 after Atari and other companies began to lose tons of money due to poor quality games and bad marketing. By 1984 the market was basically dead.

It's wasn't until 1985 when the NES was released in North America that home videogaming was reborn as a profitable market.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-10-02 06:24pm

At the time I was plunking away on my C-64. Trading game at lunch time like the total geek I was.

I remember the coin-op market dying out, but it did linger on for a few years. Then arcades largely disappeared outside of places like minature golf, etc.

I worked in an arcade from time to time in 1988. By then most of the machines were old, and the new games were designed to suck down quarters like crazy. (ie Smash TV, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and such. )

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2003-10-02 07:09pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:It's because the home videogame market was pretty much considered to be in big financial trouble by 1983 after Atari and other companies began to lose tons of money due to poor quality games and bad marketing. By 1984 the market was basically dead.

It's wasn't until 1985 when the NES was released in North America that home videogaming was reborn as a profitable market.

Didn't they overestimate how many games they would sell, which may have been a major reason? From what I've readHere, Atari had to bury 10 million unsold cartariges in a landfill because they made more copies of the Pac-Man game than Atari systems in use, and they thought that E.T. could sell off the success of the movie.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2003-10-02 11:35pm

IIRC, they produced more E.T. games then there were consoles.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-10-02 11:48pm

Uraniun235 wrote:IIRC, they produced more E.T. games then there were consoles.

Such a stupid move is worthy of a strip in Dilbert, except that it would be true.

There is some pretty interesting reading on the egos of some of the company's at the time. Not all that different from some corporate leadership during the dot com boom.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-10-03 12:00am

Nevermind that ET was probably also the worst game ever made for any system.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2003-10-03 12:06am

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Nevermind that ET was probably also the worst game ever made for any system.

Wrong.

Arcade Tron <----------- Worst Video Game ever made, BAR NONE.

I wonder if I could slip on down to one of those landfills and pick up a copy of a[size=0]half-disintigrated[/size]Pac-Man game for the Atari. Not that I have an Atari, or anything. Be a cool collectors item though.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-10-03 12:08am

They were crushed and covered with concrete to prevent people from doing just that. And they were all ET cartridges...

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2003-10-03 12:12am

Darth Garden Gnome wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:Nevermind that ET was probably also the worst game ever made for any system.
Wrong.

Arcade Tron <----------- Worst Video Game ever made, BAR NONE.

YOU must be on Crack, Herr Garden Gnome. Arcade Tron fucking RULED. LIGHT CYCLES? TANKS! COME ON! you been playing in the damned herb garden again? Sniff a bit too much miracle-Gro? Bah, Fucking GAUNTLET fucking sucked. Sucked the Gay right out of liberace's anus. And Fucking Dragon's Lair. Fucking Dick the Dickless. stupid piece of shit ass licking whore of a game. Shit.

(By the way, don't take the name calling seriously, I have much respect for any sentient who can stand in the sun, day after day, winter, spring, summer and fall. without complaining, slowly having the color bleached from their painted skin...)

(No offense to GALEs either)

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-10-03 12:17am

Tron ruled...well the Light Cycles ruled...the rest of the game could go to hell given how much worse it got after a while.

Gauntlet...quarter muncher.

Dragon's Lair...pussy version of Space Ace(ah the memorization games)

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-10-03 12:17am

Chardok, we're talking about home videogames.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2003-10-03 12:23am

Chardok wrote:YOU must be on Crack, Herr Garden Gnome. Arcade Tron fucking RULED. LIGHT CYCLES? TANKS! COME ON!

The tank part ESPECIALLY sucked. You get one god damn hit, and you're dead, while the enemy tanks get thirty fucking hits, and all your shots are off and bouncing off walls and missing and crap. There are way better tank games out there. Light cycles were okay: it was kind of like a 2-player Snake. Then was that retarded door level where you just shot out the door and walked in. I can't even remember the last level.

Seriously, I've never played a worse game. Tron can bite me.

Sniff a bit too much miracle-Gro?

Hey! It can be good for you...in small amounts...

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2003-10-03 12:24am

Methinks Darth Garden Gnome is not familliar with the specifics of E.T.'s gameplay, in particular the facts that the game centered around ~15 items that show up in holes in the ground at very rare rates, and that getting out of each hole involes E.T. floating slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwly out for an ungodly large part of a minute. Repeat a couple hundred more times and you might find one of the items you're looking for. Repeat that whole process a dozen more times again.

Perfect example for game design rule #0: Games are called games because they're not supposed to be fucking boring.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2003-10-03 12:32am

Darth Utsanomiko wrote:<snip>

Er....let me revise my original statement: Tron is the worst game I've ever played. You wouldn't catch me dead playing a game based after ET as it was, but that was insane.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-10-03 12:54am

Darth Utsanomiko wrote:Methinks Darth Garden Gnome is not familliar with the specifics of E.T.'s gameplay, in particular the facts that the game centered around ~15 items that show up in holes in the ground at very rare rates, and that getting out of each hole involes E.T. floating slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwly out for an ungodly large part of a minute. Repeat a couple hundred more times and you might find one of the items you're looking for. Repeat that whole process a dozen more times again.

Perfect example for game design rule #0: Games are called games because they're not supposed to be fucking boring.

Sounds like a Temple of Veeshan raid in EQ...

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2003-10-03 01:18am

I still have ET for 2600 it was a gift but yeah sucks donkey balls then there the alluded too Custers Revenge for 2600............

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2003-10-03 01:23am

Xenophobe3691 wrote:Sounds like a Temple of Veeshan raid in
EQ...

What, you mean 80% of the game is basically watching this:

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2003-10-03 01:52am

yeah they made the game in THREE WEEEKS and the Quality shows