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THE STEAMING PILE

The Atari 2600 version of ET is often cited as the worst game of all time and the catalyst for the crash of the video game industry in 1983. Only in America. In Europe the game industry was thriving thanks to the computers that had been bought by parents thinking they would turn their kids into little-Einstein's. It turned out computers were great for games...and they are still better than the consoles. If you ever get to play the ET game, you'll realise straight away it's not as bad as some make out and that you have played worse! This is my own list of the the grim, the bad and the ugly.

A quick note on my modus operandi. I have been playing computer and video games for a long time. For me the most important elements of any game are the playability, a reason to play beyond simply racking up a massive score and that reaching the endgame is down to the skills you learn on the journey. This list only includes games I have actually played!

GAME

PLATFORM

YEAR

PUBLISHER

WHY?

Pac Man

Atari 2600

1982

Atari

Significant changes made during the conversion from the coin-op made the game unplayable. A lazy approach to the programming made the game difficult to even look at due to constant screen flicker.

Heimdall

Atari 2600

1982

Atari

Too much trial and error killed an experience compared to looking for your car keys by as one reviewer. You move, you die. If they had spent a fraction of the efort spent on the graphics and technical aspects, this could have become a franchise.

Dungeon Keeper

Android/iOS

2014

EA

Embarassing reboot of an excellent game. Tried to jump on the microtransaction industry and as a result just about every basic gameplay process is paywalled. The bloke that did the original also stuck the boot in.

Fallout 76

Cross platform

2018

Bethesda

Considering the pedigree of the Fallout franchise the same company managed to deliver a steaming turd. The media were surprisingly kind, the paying punters were as good as mugged. Broken in every way, Fallout 76 could have killed the franchise.

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Email: dasler@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter: @Dasler
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