Title: The man who made ‘the worst video game in history’
Context: Fast. Cheap. Good. You can have two.
Synopsis: There’s a million cautionary tales throughout the (relatively) brief history of software development that highlight the myriad ways with which it is possible to screw it up. And of all these many, many, many sagas, one of the most apocryphal — until now — has been the legend of Atari’s port of Steven Spielberg’s ET for their 2600 gaming console way back in 1982. The software was so poorly received that it is rumored to have actually led to the downfall of Atari itself. Whether this particular detail is true or not, the underlying narrative itself should ring familiar to anyone who designs or builds contemporary software for the lessons we still refuse to learn in spite of our shared history. Ridiculously short deadlines? Check. Lack of compelling product vision? Indeed. Overworked staff driven to the point of failure? Oh, you betcha. Those who refuse to learn their history, are doomed to release sub-par software. Again.
Best Bit: “Is ET really the worst game of all time? Probably not. But the story of the fall of the video game industry needed a face and that was ET.”
via bbc.com
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