Why was 2600 VCS Pac-Man so hated?

[SuperSprint]

PacMan was shown in the catalog pre-release, and IIRC in Atari magazine for members of the Atari club. I still have a copy of the catalog on my desk. I remember pre-ordering PacMan, Ms.Pac, and IIRC Crazy Climber.

 

[RedWolfJC]

It's interesting to read some perspective on the game from those of you that lived through the release of the game and were really excited for it. Did anyone see any kind of preview of the game, pictures, or anything? I can only imagine how pissed I would have been being blindsided like that.

I was 10 when I got the game, I'm pretty sure we got it in '82 as a Christmas present...and I do remember that we played the hell out of it after we got it.
I know I was really excited for it. I don't remember seeing any previews for it though.
If this commercial came out before the game's release, I'd say nobody should have been surprised though

 

[Robotron Jon]

It's always interesting how they try to sell games as "fun for the whole family" - I don't think my parents have ever played a video game.

 

[Mattroid]

That came later too with Nintendo, Sega and even Playstation. There is only a break now where most people call the Wii "Wii" and not "Nintendo" that I have noticed. But all the systems before that people just called them "Nintendo" and similar for the other brands I've mentioned.

I hear this a lot, but this wasn't true down here, at least not with the people I knew. I guess it was with the 2600 since we all just called it "Atari" at the time. And then yeah, the NES was just "Nintendo" but that made sense at the time.

Once SNES and Genesis came around, that's exactly what we called them. I had friends who had the Master System, which is what we called a "SEGA." The SNES was always referred to S-N-E-S (I now hear people refer to it as "Ess-Ness" which is completely foreign to me...those same people call the N-E-S, then "Ness").

I don't know, I guess since we all knew of the different systems, we had to be able to distinguish between them all, or else someone would inevitably ask "Which 'Nintendo'?"

Though I have always found it amusing that "old people" refer to all game systems as "Nintendos." That cracks me up to this day.

 

[spmahn]

I hear this a lot, but this wasn't true down here, at least not with the people I knew. I guess it was with the 2600 since we all just called it "Atari" at the time. And then yeah, the NES was just "Nintendo" but that made sense at the time.

Once SNES and Genesis came around, that's exactly what we called them. I had friends who had the Master System, which is what we called a "SEGA." The SNES was always referred to S-N-E-S (I now hear people refer to it as "Ess-Ness" which is completely foreign to me...those same people call the N-E-S, then "Ness").

I don't know, I guess since we all knew of the different systems, we had to be able to distinguish between them all, or else someone would inevitably ask "Which 'Nintendo'?"

Though I have always found it amusing that "old people" refer to all game systems as "Nintendos." That cracks me up to this day.

People pronouncing the Super Nintendo and Nintendo Entertainment System phonetically as "snes" and "nes" is only something I've heard within the last few years. I don't know if it's just a regional thing I was never aware of like Soda vs Pop (soda is the correct pronunciation BTW), or if it was just something some hipster douchebag came up with one day and it stuck, but either way, it just sounds wrong.

You pronounce each letter separately, it is N-E-S and S-N-E-S. They are not words, they are initialisms. Super Nintendo and Regular Nintendo are also acceptable terms, but at no time should either of these two consoles be referred to as "snes" or "nes"

 

[cleverlyj]

I don't see how it is much worse than 2600 VCS Ms. Pac-Man.

personally, pacman is a lot worse. it sucks so bad i've never been able to play it for more than a couple minutes. if you look at ms pacman, it is a pretty decent port. obviously, it is very blocky, but there are a lot of things that make it great. the 'attract mode' which is similar to arcade ms pac. the physical ms pac character is quite good, with the bow, she looks good. the fruits bounce as they do in the arcade version, it has the logo, and it has the opening music. it may lack intermissions, but it is a quality game.

here is a quality remake that someone did on atariage, which is much more alike to the arcade version. i think this would've sold a lot better...

 

[Robotron Jon]

personally, pacman is a lot worse. it sucks so bad i've never been able to play it for more than a couple minutes. if you look at ms pacman, it is a pretty decent port. obviously, it is very blocky, but there are a lot of things that make it great. the 'attract mode' which is similar to arcade ms pac. the physical ms pac character is quite good, with the bow, she looks good. the fruits bounce as they do in the arcade version, it has the logo, and it has the opening music. it may lack intermissions, but it is a quality game.

here is a quality remake that someone did on atariage, which is much more alike to the arcade version. i think this would've sold a lot better...

It's not bad but still incredibly dated looking. I couldn't play this for more than a few minutes.

Few of the old atari games are worth playing in my opinion. Old arcade games are a lot more fun.

 

[SuperSprint]

Though I have always found it amusing that "old people" refer to all game systems as "Nintendos." That cracks me up to this day.

In our house the Atari was just "The "Atari". But my dad referred to the cartridges as tapes for it and the VIC-20....

 

[gutsman004]

When I owned an Atari,I called it either the Atari or Atari 2600. The NES I always called the Nintendo and the SNES I simply called the Super Nintendo.
The 2600,NES,and SNES monikers I mainly use online and in online searches.

 

[CrazyKongFan]

I had the Sears version too...I'm pretty sure we just called it an Atari. I got Pac-Man I think the day it came out...man was I disappointed Ms Pac wasn't as bad. It wasn't the same mazes, but at least it had 4, just like the arcade. Oh, and it's "Pop", not "Soda"

 

[DanoND]

Saying its better than ET isn't saying much at all.

 

[RedWolfJC]

You know, I haven't played it in years, I'm gonna go fire it up...
Maybe I'll play a game of ET as well.

 

[RedWolfJC]

You know, I haven't played it in years, I'm gonna go fire it up...
Maybe I'll play a game of ET as well.

OK, that took about 5 minutes...
What a steaming pile of crap. Actually 2 steaming piles. Man those games are horrible. I don't know what I was thinking back in the day.

The controls are just horrible on PacMan, it's like any time you try to change direction it seems like it takes a full second after you move before the Pac changes direction, I'm not sure if I'm describing it right, I guess the best way to say it, is it almost feels like he's slipping on ice... and don't get me started on how horrible the maze is.

ET just pissed me off... I'm sure if I played it for a while I would be able to avoid falling in the pits, over and over again. But today (unlike back when I was 10) I have better things to do with my time.

 

[texasmame]

Please explain it to a gamer that was not active at the time. I ran into the game at a friends place five or so years after it was released. For me the *bonk* *bonk* *bonk* is almost iconic and the game is okay, much better than ET. I don't see how it is much worse than 2600 VCS Ms. Pac-Man.

Um. . . there is no comparison between Pac and Ms. Pac for the 2600. Pac was a rushed piece of shyte and Ms. Pac is a damn fine port.

Had they only given Frye more time to complete Pac. . .

 

[texasmame]

Here is a very interesting article on the limitations of the 2600;

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/03/racing-the-beam/

I have this book up on eBay right now if anyone is interested in it. Good, albeit a technical, read.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...76675&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_1704wt_934

 

[texasmame]

It's interesting to read some perspective on the game from those of you that lived through the release of the game and were really excited for it. Did anyone see any kind of preview of the game, pictures, or anything? I can only imagine how pissed I would have been being blindsided like that.

I recall my experience vividly. Went to Bradlees with my friend David Leigh - his mom took us - and we got our copies of Pac-Man.

A massive Atari fanboy (still am), I remember playing it with him that night - I tried to defend the game while Dave tore it apart. He was right - it was horrible.

The information for games back in day was scant, save for the monthly mags (which I still have quite a nice collection of) and great Atari catalogs. I don't seem to remember either way about seeing any screen shots of it or whatnot in advance.

 

[texasmame]

It's not bad but still incredibly dated looking. I couldn't play this for more than a few minutes.

Few of the old atari games are worth playing in my opinion. Old arcade games are a lot more fun.

Yars' Revenge begs to differ.

Playing that on an actual 2600 is still just as challenging and fun now as it was back then. Greatness!